Now I know why most cabinets are square..

[Moreants]

Lotsa work...

[Early B.]

Looks nice, but what are you gonna do with it? Are you building a 3-way design? Which drivers are you using? What is the purpose of the open baffle? What is the size of the cabinet and what specs do you expect?

[Moreants]

Looks nice, but what are you gonna do with it? Are you building a 3-way design? Which drivers are you using? What is the purpose of the open baffle? What is the size of the cabinet and what specs do you expect?

Yes a 3-way design using Seas alum/mag tweeter/ 5.5" mid and poly 8' woofer. The cabinet is not finished so the top is open yet. Woofer box seperate from tweeter/mid.

Speaker will be bi-ampable with woofer x-over on bottom and tweet/mid x-over on top in enclosed compartment. I am putting in an access door in rear top.

The cabinet is 38" x 11" x 16.5 deep. X-over being designed by Madisound (LEAP) as we speak.

[Early B.]

Where did you get those cool looking "feet?"

Is the cabinet your own design or are you using an existing design?

Let us know how the Madisound LEAP thing works. That's a nice service at a reasonable price.

[dorokusai]

Looks great, very nice DIY project.

[Moreants]

The design is from Kharma. It will end up looking like one (or a combination) of these.

http://www.kharma.com/downloads/hq_pictures.htm

I've used Madisound before with great results. $40 for a 3-way and $25 for a 2-way design.

[Zen Dragon]

Nice work. Enjoy the project and let us know if the completed product meets your expectations.

[unc2701]

How are you going to do the top? Steam bending? Kerfing? Lotta MDF + laminate?

[Moreants]

How are you going to do the top? Steam bending? Kerfing? Lotta MDF + laminate?


i'm going to frame it up and cover it with alum screening then Bondo. I'll make a profile form to keep things in line. Finishing not decided on yet.

[Moreants]

Where did you get those cool looking "feet?"

.


The base I made out of 3/4" MDF.

[unc2701]

i'm going to frame it up and cover it with alum screening then Bondo. I'll make a profile form to keep things in line. Finishing not decided on yet.

I've never used bondo in a structural sense- just as filler. Will it resonate? Are you going to add some braces front to back to fix it to?

[Moreants]

I've never used bondo in a structural sense- just as filler. Will it resonate? Are you going to add some braces front to back to fix it to?


I first rough out the walls with hardwood or sand-filled pvc then cover with screening before bondoing.. The inside walls are sprayed with undercoating and then lined with 1/2" carpet padding. Makes a heavy and very solid enclosure.

Btw, the top is sectioned off from the woofer cabinet. The pic below shows more detail. The x-over for mid/tweeter will mount on the board with the slanted front section which slides into aluminum rail and secures with 2 thumbscrews. Rear baffle will have an access door.

[schwarcw]

Very nice work! The photo's on the website are also very cool! The design where the cabinents are angled would make me crazy. I felt dizzy just looking at them. I'm interested to see the finished product and how you like the sound. Good luck!

[basmoq]

Wow, that's some impressive work, wish I still had a shop to do this kind of stuff in. Couple more years to go and I'll get a house, then it's tool crazy...

[Schris22]

hah checked out that karma site. Trying to clone them, eh? Do they use the same drivers?

Great work so far hopefully you'll get some good sound out of them =)

Keep it up

Chris

[Moreants]

Updated pics

[Moreants]

Mostly finished first one. Still deciding on wood veneer or not for top of sides.

[Grimster74]

Nice, very nice indeed. I've always wanted to venture into building speakers just never have the time.

[Moreants]

Final design. Not like any of the Kharmas but combination of several.

[Early B.]

That's freakin' gorgeous. Great job!!!

[janmike]

Very impressive.

[Moreants]

Thanks for the compliments. They are a lot of work but I'm very happy with the outcome.

Now to finish the other one.:o

[Early B.]

Got three questions --

It looks very professional. What kind of background do you have in building furniture or cabinets?

What did you use to get that shiny black coat on the speakers?

Once you're done, what is the total estimated cost?

[Moreants]

Got three questions --

It looks very professional. What kind of background do you have in building furniture or cabinets?

What did you use to get that shiny black coat on the speakers?

Once you're done, what is the total estimated cost?


1) None.

2) Front and rear are polished lacquer. Sides are reverse painted acrylic panels.

3) around $900.

[garcianc2003]

How do they sound?

[Toxis]

holy hell man, those look sexy!!! Keep up the work. Now let us know how they sound.

[Mazeroth]

Very, very nice work!

Which model of each driver are those?

[Moreants]

Very, very nice work!

Which model of each driver are those?


All Seas drivers.. P21REX poly (now disc.), 15RCY and 27TBFC/G. Would have gone with 2 x 8" or a 10" if I could do it over. I may change out the woofer to an alum driver. Considering M8a which I hear good things about.

[Mazeroth]

All Seas drivers.. P21REX poly (now disc.), 15RCY and 27TBFC/G. Would have gone with 2 x 8" or a 10" if I could do it over. I may change out the woofer to an alum driver. Considering M8a which I hear good things about.

A lot cheaper alternative would be going with dual Dayton RS225s. They're cheaper and better than the Hi-Vi. You would be using them for bass/BSC duties, and they absolutely excel in that area. They have better low-end distortion measurments than even the Seas Excel drivers, which run almost $200 each! Also, they look absolutely amazing and would fit in extremely well with your cabinets.

Your tweeter is top-notch, probably the best tweeter you can buy for under $100. As for the mid, if you want things to match you could go with another Dayton RS driver, which are almost as good as the Seas Excel drivers in that department. However, if you want to make a statement, go for the Seas!

[Moreants]

A lot cheaper alternative would be going with dual Dayton RS225s. They're cheaper and better than the Hi-Vi. You would be using them for bass/BSC duties, and they absolutely excel in that area. They have better low-end distortion measurments than even the Seas Excel drivers, which run almost $200 each! Also, they look absolutely amazing and would fit in extremely well with your cabinets.

Your tweeter is top-notch, probably the best tweeter you can buy for under $100. As for the mid, if you want things to match you could go with another Dayton RS driver, which are almost as good as the Seas Excel drivers in that department. However, if you want to make a statement, go for the Seas!


Well I finished both of them and my concern about lack of bass is gone. Moving them around a little and removing most of the polyfill helped. I am very happy with the sound from them.

Also putting them on the bases I made probably helped too. I ended up making the bases out of 2 layers of 1/2" mdf. The single 3/4" mdf wasn't going to be strong enough. The sandwiched ones are incredibly strong.

[Sweeeezle]

Very nice work man. congrats

[AlanD]

Exceptional cabinet work!

[Boonaroo]

So how was the burn in period been. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

[audiobliss]

Dude, those are remarkable. Congrats!!

[Midnite Mick]

Those are incredible!

Mike

[dipiazza]

Stunning!

Could you give a little more detail on the painted acrylic? how did that work, could you use something like that for shelving in a rack?

Thanks, They look awesome!

[Moreants]

So how was the burn in period been. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.


Extremely pleased with the sound of these speakers. The bass is thunderous and the mids and highs excellent. The cabinet design and the fact that they weigh approx. 100lbs. + each sure helps. They have surpassed my expectations and I would put them up against speakers in the $3k to $5k range any day.

Updated pic. Refinished.

[Moreants]

Stunning!

Could you give a little more detail on the painted acrylic? how did that work, could you use something like that for shelving in a rack?

Thanks, They look awesome!


I have used reverse painted acrylic on several projects now. I thought of it myself although I'm sure others have used it before.

I paint one side of a clear acrylic panel (avail. at Lowes/Menards etc..) with Paint for plastic spray paint to create a perfect black lacquer look. I have used other types of paints including brush-on craft paints with success but recommend the Rustoleum product.

I secure the panel with PL polyurethane consruction adhesive which I also use for just about everything else. It won't melt the paint and is exceptionally strong. Just clamp it up overnight. It also expands when curing so keep it an inch or so from the edges. This expansion btw also makes it an excellent adhesive for making/sealing cabinets.

Pics of techinique;

-Customized Athenas showing gloss black on smaller one and reverse painted (used craft paints) acrylic faux wood grain on other.

-DIY 8" 2-way

-Redone Boston Acoustics A60

Hope that helps.

[dipiazza]

Those all look awesome. So im guessing the acrylic is pretty thin? Was it expensive? (if you dont mind)

[Moreants]

Those all look awesome. So im guessing the acrylic is pretty thin? Was it expensive? (if you dont mind)


Acrylic is avail in several thicknesses, thicker= more$ of course. I used .080" and a panel of 28" x 36" or so was about $11.

Thinner is easier to work with but if it gets too thin it may show some warping. Thicker will look best on projects where the panel is kept flat and the edges are hidden well or integrated into the design.

[dipiazza]

Sounds good, did you buy it at a Home Depot type store?

[Moreants]

Sounds good, did you buy it at a Home Depot type store?


Yes, Ihave a Lowes near me but also bought at Menards at times. I imagine HD has it too but ours is a mess usually.

[Schris22]

WOW great job!

Look fantastic.

Enjoy

Chris

[doggie750]

beautiful................congrats.............nice .........;)
YOU should put your signature on IT.............may be start your own business.........I could be your assistant or partner.........I am a handyman with skillssss :)

[jhermance]

These look pretty damn close. Yours look pretty damn good though.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1161698694