Monitor 7 Rebuild Progress

[dkg999]

A while back I posted about a pair of Monitor 7 Series 2 speakers that I picked up for $15. These had been setting in a storage unit and had picked up enough moisture that all the corners had swelled and split open. The front and rear panels, the drivers, and the crossovers were in like-new condition. I decided to try to build replacement cabinets that were as close to original as possible, and use the original front and rear panels. The result so far, cut and test fitted, ready for glue-up:

[dkg999]

And the profile of the cabinet sides with the lock-joints milled

[F1nut]

Looking good!

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

Are you using particle board????

Looks good man...I like the joints on the corners, very nice...very nice indeed

Keep the pics coming!

[Tour2ma]

Hints of a nice shop set up...

Nice work.

[dkg999]

This is my old woodworking shop at my farm in IA. I still have some basic equipment there, and my Dad has a few of his tools in there. Right now I am waiting to get my ex out of a house that was supposed to be sold by now, and then I can buy a place out here in Northern IL. It's frustrating because I have a 15'x25' storage unit completely packed with tools and equipment. Someday I'll get the main shop set back up! I manage to get a few projects done while I am back on the farm. This is a quick one-day entertainment center project because I found a sweet deal on a demo Sony widescreen and had to get something to put it on before they delivered it!

[nadams]

Edit- I thought the pic was going to be of the workshop, then I read the discription that it was actually of the entertainment center. Nice work!

The extent of my woodworking is a small equipment rack made out of pine. That, and I'm working on building stake sides for my trailer, but that doesn't take much skill :)

[dorokusai]

Very nice.

[dkg999]

Project completed, almost! I still have to figure out how to unwarp the plastic frames on the grills and replace the grill cloth, however the main part of the project is finished! I brought these back to IL with me and have them playing in the bedroom of my apt, on the stands my EPOS ELS3's are usually on. They sound fantastic, the cabinets are sealed tight again, and the SL2500 tweeters sound good. The finish on the cabinets is a faux stone finish my girlfriend found in a can at Lowes. It's kind of along the same thought as Sid's truck bedliner spray. It came out good, and with 4 coats of spray on polyurethane, seems to be real durable. I was going to go with the cherry or walnut vinyl veneer covering, but this finish does match real well with the columns my girlfriend made for these to go on in the 3.5 season room of my cabin. Ya got to know which battles to fight and when to just let it go!

[dkg999]

And another shot of both of them!

[RuSsMaN]

Outstanding work broham. Bravo!

Cheers,
Russ

[dorokusai]

Now that's a project worth looking at, sweet. Have fun.

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

Awesome job man...

The grill cloth should pull right off, it is just glued on there... maybe even hit it with a hair dryer or something...

[dkg999]

The problem is that these are the Monitor Series 2 with the plastic grill frames, kind of like the RTi line. Something must of sat against these and warped the plastic that holds the cloth, so they look kind of warped and funny when you put them on. I may try to heat up the plastic with a heat gun and see if I can't straighten it out. If not, then I will make new frames out of 1/2" material and put some new cloth on it. Awesome sounding speakers! I'm pretty impressed with the SL2500 tweeter, not sure why but it sounds a little more forward and brighter than the RD0914 replacements I put in my SDA 2A's and my Monitor 10's. I was playing the new Bruce Springsteen CD on these tonight, pure goodness!

[dkg999]

Also note that I have now implemented the "added mass" tweak to my SDA 2A's by weighting them down with a pair of Monitor 10's. This works much better than the dirty socks behind the mid-range drivers trick :p

[nadams]

That's a helluva stack :D

Sid would be proud.....

[BobMcG]

Those 7s look absolutely beautiful! That's some fine craftsmanship. Truly nice entertainment cabinet too! Nice work.