DIY Project For 2005-2006 School Year

[VR3]

Well, I have a DT Center in my room, not to impressed with its enclosure at all...

So I am going to take on the task of re-creating the enclosure, just over-doing it in a sense...

I plan to use a 1.5" thick front baffle, top, back, sides will be 3/4" Thick

No bracing, as I intend to keep ALL 'DT technology' within, from port depth/width to internal enclosure size....

Here is where this gets tricky, DT uses an anti-difraction baffle... well I intend to recreate this baffle and believe I got it down...

Here is what I figure...

Step One -
1) Mark off cut out holes...
2) Cut out the woofer cut out size
3) Route down to where the woofer drops in flush mount - then route the 'slope' on the current DT baffle

This will recreate the baffle, in theory...

From there, it would be all a matter of marking where the tweeter and ports go - and I have done this with a sheet of paper, creasing it around the current baffle...

Here is what i have so far for measurements... I feel like a computer...

-- Pieces Needed –
Front And Back Panels –
W: 7” – H: 27 7/8” – 3 Needed
Top And Bottom Panels –
W: 12.75” – H: 21 7/8” – 2 Needed
Side Panels –
W: 7” – H: 10.5” – 2 Needed
Internal Dimensions–
D: 10.5”
W: 20 3/8”
H: 7”
External Dimensions–
D: 12.75”
W: 21 7/8”
H: 8.5”

-- Driver Layout/Tweeter Baffle – Front
Woofer Cutout –
1 7/8” From Side (Outer Edge) – Cut Out Hole
7 1/4” From Side (Inner Edge) – Cut Out Hole
1 3/8” From Top/Bottom Edge - Cut Out Hole
5 3/4” Cutout Hole – 2 7/8” R
Woofer/Baffle Route -
6 ¾” Overall Hole (Not Cut – Routed)
9/16” Lower Than Tweeter Overall From Beginning of Route With a 1/2” Route Around
Cutout Hole
Woofers 6” Apart (Between) (from Route), 5 ½” From Top Of Route
Route Is ¼” Wide – 3/8” High (Slope Route)
Tweeter Cutout –
1” From Top Edge – 3 ¼” From Bottom Edge
9” From Sides
3 ¼” D Cutout Hole – 1 5/8” R
¼” Route Deep Around Hole – ½” Wide
Tweeter Holes For Wires – ¾” D Bit – ¼” Out From Cutout Hole (Paper Template)

-- Terminal Layout – Back
Terminal Cutout –
Internal –
9.5” From One Side
2” From Bottom
Cutout -
2 7/8” Wide
4 11/16” Tall
Outer Dimensions – Router
½” Wide Route
¼” Deep Route

All measurements are compensated for larger wood when needed since the current enclosure only uses 1/2" Stock

Here is the enclosure design, top and bottom removed - no woofer cut outs, etc (its on paint for gosh sakes)

[VR3]

Here is the paper baffle template... Incredibly spot on...

This will help me locate where the tweeter and ports go... and even where the woofers go...will speed up the process I hope...

The parts where u can see under the paper is where it is elevated (not level) with from the enclosure - FWIW

[maggiefan]

Looks good Sid, sure will be a lot more rigid than the original. What about that entertainment center you were planning? You still gonna do it?

[VR3]

Will depend on funds... I will have the opprotunity to do alot more the upcoming school year than I did this one, I will be in there a whole year instead of just one semester.

So I may still do the TV stand thing or experiment with it.

[maggiefan]

Well, good luck with all of it anyway, you sure stay busy, got some project going all the time.....:cool:

[VR3]

I came up with an idea here...

I am going to do the front baffle with 1.5" of solid oak, stained rosewood...

The rest of the enclosure will be .75" MDF painted with truck bed liner - OR, a vinyl wrap of some kind... probally vinyl wrap...

The baffle will have a flush mounted grill that only takes up from woofer to woofer so you can still see the rosewood finish from the front with the grill on...

The grill will be hard to do, but I plan to make a test baffle out of MDF before I undertake this project and that should aid me in testing it...

This center is gonna look cool...

Oh yeah, the entire center will be routed on the edges, which makes me want to try vinyl wrap even more since I would only (in theory) need one piece since there would be no definite edge

Oh yeah - I like to stay busy...keeps me from going insane...projects galore!

Heck man, I am planning this project -FIVE- Months in advance...

[VR3]

Baffle Design - Grill Removed

[VR3]

No Grill!

[maggiefan]

That's gonna look cool. But 5 months, we want pics....:eek:

[VR3]

I am a picture whore...I bet 25% of my posts are of pictures...

Anyways... will be plenty of pictures, from prototyping/measurements (right now), to building, to finishing/completed...

I am actually working on the test baffle now, and will probally stay after school one day in the next few weeks to cut it out...

I plan to build two of these and buy more of these drivers and a crossover and use these as bookshelfs/centers ;)

[dkg999]

Sid - you are going to get a lot of wood movement if you make the front baffle out of solid oak! I'm afraid it will really put a lot of pressure and twisting on the drivers you have mounted. I would suggest using MDF or cabinet grade particle board for the front baffle, then veneer with a good real wood oak veneer. You can get the veneer at any big box store (Lowes, HD, Menards) with a PSA backing that is easy to apply. Oak has a lot of movement across the grain, especially if you don't have a humidity controlled environment. Nice plans! Good Luck!

[VR3]

So you don't think Oak will work eh... HMMM...........

I could use PINE...yep, PINE...hmm Would that work?

[dkg999]

The reason MDF and Particle board is ideal speaker building material, aside from the sound improvement qualities is that they are dimensionally stable. No solid wood is going to be even close to the dimensional stability of MDF or Particle board. Using one of the high grade multi-ply furniture grade plywoods would come close. MDF and Particle board are easy to work with, and will cut easier than solid wood when using something like a Jasper jig and a router to cut the driver mounting holes and recesses. If you use solid wood, the driver mounting will also work against the wood movement, causing stress and cracking in the wood.

Now, if you just have to use solid wood, cut it to shape, and then get a spay can of Zinser Bullseye Shellac, and give the whole thing about 5 coats, then use some spray polyurethane, and give it 3 more coats. Do this on all sides and in the driver holes. The goal is to seal the wood to prevent moisture movement.

Good luck young grasshopper.

[VR3]

I want to avoid 'veneer', object is to keep this a cheap upgrade, and I can get solid wood -free-

As for pine, I have made tons of enclosures out of it with no issues what-so-ever... splitting can be reduced by pre-drilling the holes though, from what I know, which I plan to do...

Thanks for all the tips...

Like I said, 5 months to plan...why not use everyday! ;)

[VR3]

DIY Project #2 -

Definitive Tech BP10B Rebuild

Multi-View Drawing Below...

Will have thicker top and bottom, upgrade from Particle Board sides, top and bottom to MDF, front/back with be 1" thick Pine, the top will have a layer of 3/4" thick Pine over the MDF, will be stained rosewood, sides will be wrapped in black ash vinyl - all edges routed, no grill,

Crossover/terminal will be moved from the bottom of the speaker above the port section with a wire managment block on the bottom to route the wires through...

Same internal dimensions, two added braces in the lower section (1/2" thick MDF), as is the brace going down the center seperating the drivers.

Multi-View is not on scale

Reason for project, no real reason - the BP10B is built like a tank, but I like a challenge, and this will be a challenge...big time.

[dkg999]

Sid - you have Monster Garage for speakers going on :eek:

[VR3]

PIMP my speakers!!!

Next up on the block is the BP6B if time/money allows.

[Mazeroth]

I would not use any pine on your speakers. It's one of the worst materials you can use.

Second, if you're going through all this trouble why not just sell you DTs and build some good speakers? I guarantee what you can sell them for and what you can build will annihilate those speakers.

To give you an idea of some free projects out there, check out Part's Express' showcase page. The Veritas are killer speakers.

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/homeaudio.html

[VR3]

I am building new enclosures because I -like- these speakers man...

I have no reason to upgrade, I just need projects to get a grade in shop next year.

As for Pine...

I like Oak myself, I can get just about any wood...

Walnut, Pine, Oak, Etc

I just want the top/front/back to be solid wood...

And I wouldnt use the word 'annilate' - these are pretty awesome speakers.

I'm not looking for new speakers ;)

[VR3]

What is the best solid-wood to use on an enclosure?

[VR3]

I think I am going to go with Oak - and I plan to treat it with the stuff that helps to keep it from contracting and expanding over time... definetely, I cant deal with vinyl, cheap/light weight wood - I want the real deal..