Bought 3 drivers over 9 months ago, just completed my build, life got in the way.
At the beginning, I got good advice and recommendations, thanks to Skeeter, Scottmoose, and Dave at Planet 10.
I went with 3/4" MDF with internal bracing. First time I've worked with MDF to this extent. If you like making lots of circles with a router, and LOTS of sawdust, build these with MDF. In hindsight, I would go with plywood.
WAF - My wife said they look big, I thought oh oh, and said you pick the colour.
Purple Haze is what she picked, go figure. Now that she sees them, she says it would be good to redo the room. Clever lady. Of course I said yes dear. She likes them though. The gold Alpair 12's would have looked pretty good with this colour too, but they were out of stock when I ordered. I think the grey ones look good too.
My impression of the sound, basically very nice. Clear, detailed mids and highs, vocals are great. Quite good bass for a single driver. Sound very good with my little tube amp.
This is my first full range and didn't quite know what to expect. Played with the stuffing and made quite a difference, so I was glad to use nut inserts for the back. Taking the back off and on so many times would probably have stripped the screw hole.
Might build a centre speaker with the third driver, or keep for backup in case there's a problem in the future. I'll probably make some grill covers to keep prying fingers off the drivers.
Here are some pics of my build, and the final result.
At the beginning, I got good advice and recommendations, thanks to Skeeter, Scottmoose, and Dave at Planet 10.
I went with 3/4" MDF with internal bracing. First time I've worked with MDF to this extent. If you like making lots of circles with a router, and LOTS of sawdust, build these with MDF. In hindsight, I would go with plywood.
WAF - My wife said they look big, I thought oh oh, and said you pick the colour.
Purple Haze is what she picked, go figure. Now that she sees them, she says it would be good to redo the room. Clever lady. Of course I said yes dear. She likes them though. The gold Alpair 12's would have looked pretty good with this colour too, but they were out of stock when I ordered. I think the grey ones look good too.
My impression of the sound, basically very nice. Clear, detailed mids and highs, vocals are great. Quite good bass for a single driver. Sound very good with my little tube amp.
This is my first full range and didn't quite know what to expect. Played with the stuffing and made quite a difference, so I was glad to use nut inserts for the back. Taking the back off and on so many times would probably have stripped the screw hole.
Might build a centre speaker with the third driver, or keep for backup in case there's a problem in the future. I'll probably make some grill covers to keep prying fingers off the drivers.
Here are some pics of my build, and the final result.
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I broke them in as per the instructions from Mark Audio, so they probably have over 150 hours now. The first 100 hours on low to medium light music, so they are broken in well now and sound very good.
Thanks, Bill
Thanks, Bill
They certainly "stand out" compared to your other speakers. I think the grey A12 drivers look good with the purple, much better than the gold/copper drivers would IMHO.
jeff
jeff
Yes they are 'different'. When I started the first coat, I was thinking what am I doing. They are much darker than the pictures show, very deep and rich colour, so they turned out ok.
Very cool! Glad you finally built them 😀 The drivers keep getting better with time and I totally agree with using threaded inserts, makes adjusting the stuffing just so much better. I ended up adding more bracing at the top of mine and it helped as well as mine originally didn't go all the way up.
Congrats!
Scott
Congrats!
Scott
Thanks for the feedback guys.
I'm really enjoying the tunes on these speakers, they are improving with more use. I'm pumping the volume some and they are responding well. 😀
I'm amazed at the reaction of my wife's girlfriends who see these. They love them. Guess I shouldn't be that surprised. They say they are tired of black or wood grain. Well, these are the first speakers I've been 'allowed' up out of the man cave in a long time. I admit I'm getting used to the colour.
I'm considering a centre channel speaker with the spare driver I have. I've only found 2 plans for centre channel speakers, one free and one at a cost. Don't mind paying for a good plan.
Any recommendations from those that have built one or have some experience with these drivers and centres?
I'm really enjoying the tunes on these speakers, they are improving with more use. I'm pumping the volume some and they are responding well. 😀
I'm amazed at the reaction of my wife's girlfriends who see these. They love them. Guess I shouldn't be that surprised. They say they are tired of black or wood grain. Well, these are the first speakers I've been 'allowed' up out of the man cave in a long time. I admit I'm getting used to the colour.
I'm considering a centre channel speaker with the spare driver I have. I've only found 2 plans for centre channel speakers, one free and one at a cost. Don't mind paying for a good plan.
Any recommendations from those that have built one or have some experience with these drivers and centres?
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