Mono Powered Heresy Project Thread

[CECAA850]

Tweeter diaphragm was OK?

[twk123]

2 hours ago, CECAA850 said:

Tweeter diaphragm was OK?

It sounded great to me. I am actually surprised how good of shape the components are considering how beat the cab is. You can actually see where the woofer ripped out of the mount and slammed into the bottom of the box.   Do you know of any good mod threads of people toning down the mid/tweet with resistors? The is thing really screams in your face and I would like a more pronounced low end considering most of the listening will be in the lower DB range.

[CECAA850]

See how it sounds after you recap it before you mod anything. 

[twk123]

17 minutes ago, CECAA850 said:

See how it sounds after you recap it before you mod anything. 

I think that is what I am going to do before anything. I have heard different things about these caps going bad as they are sealed but I need to order other parts from PartsExpress so it would be a good idea. Do you think normal Dayton Audio 5% will do the trick? I think the woofer being loose killed alot of the bass too.

[dirtmudd]

Just now, twk123 said:

I think that is what I am going to do before anything. I have heard different things about these caps going bad as they are sealed but I need to order other parts from PartsExpress so it would be a good idea. Do you think normal Dayton Audio 5% will do the trick? I think the woofer being loose killed alot of the bass too.

The h.i.e networks are modified aa 

[twk123]

 

Here is the schematic I found. Is the mid/tweeter really out of phase with the woofer?

 

Also can I use a 8.2 uF instead of the 8 uF from the sheet?

[dirtmudd]

Just now, twk123 said:

 

Here is the schematic I found. Is the mid/tweeter really out of phase with the woofer?

 

Also can I use a 8.2 uF instead of the 8 uF from the sheet?

Let me know what you do.. I have a pair of hi-sm's that need a little love..

[Marvel]

You may be able to use this mod or similar:

 

[twk123]

So I did an initial wet sand with a hand held orbital sander and 120 grit sandpaper. It is cleaning up surprisingly well. I am going to go another pass with 300 grit then some Brasso to polish.

 

Here is my initial test on the first piece.

 

 

 

 

 

Comparing sanded trim to old beat up trim.

[ryanm84]

Maybe it's me but a little character on the trim would be nice. Not beat to shreds just "interesting".

[twk123]

I made some more progress over the weekend and got the aluminum trim all done. I used an orbital polisher and wet sanded with 120 grit paper then did some hand sanding with 300 grit. It looks really good now and still has some patina to it:

 

 

[twk123]

I am now getting the cab ready to paint. The 30 year old gasket basically turned to a disgusting sticky mess so I had to hit the inside with citrus de-greaser and gave the fiberglass a rubdown as well with a final pass with rubbing alcohol to make sure its clean for the paint. I am going to spray the bottom with rattle can Truck Bed liner and see how it looks on the fiberglass and if I like it I will do the rest of the cab. If not I am probably just going to go with Satin black paint.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the boombox I made and finished in the truck bed liner. I really like the look and it reminds me of Duratex. I just want to make sure the texture looks alright on top of the fiberglass weave. The same type Dayton audio chip amp and battery pack that powers this will go into the Heresy. (Yes, I should have routed the box flush or do a better job with the wood putty but this was my first hand built cab)

 

 

[twk123]

Yesterday I got most of the paining done and I am really happy with the results. I sprayed the bottom with truck bed liner for added scratch protection but did not like the look of the texture on top of the fiberglass. Its hard to see in the photos but it looks kind of like lizard skin. So instead I just went with Satin Black enamel and really like how it cleaned up the cab.

 

Here is the cab masked off to spray the bottom:

 

 

 

Once the bottom dried I sprayed the grill and rest of the cab with the black paint.

 

 

 

Pro tip- The rattle can spray gun is a game changer. The paint flows much smoother and you wont wear out your pointer finger after a few passes:

 

 

Also get one of these. They are about $30 but its money well spent. I can paint all day and not smell a thing. In fact, you forget that paint even smells until you take it off and get nuked with fumes.

 

 

 

 

 

I am going to route the new motorboard plate today with the duplicator bit and get that painted. The polished trim is going on as well and maybe the driver installation. My Parts Express order with the new caps and chip amp etc is coming this Saturday so I am definitely going to get the soldering iron fired up and hopefully have the project done and rocking by Sunday. I think I am going to get one of those red rider wagons to put it on and walk around town with a Slurpee. 

 

[dirtmudd]

Here's one..

[dirtmudd]

Or you can do this..

 

 

[twk123]

A lot more progress over the weekend and the speaker is now completed! I will post final impressions and photos once I get through the last steps.

 

Once the paint dried I re-installed the aluminum trim then took the old motor board woofer plate for the grill and made a copy with my router. The replica was made from a piece of 1/2'' Plywood from Lowes and it made an exact copy.

 

Trim pieces being installed. This is where labeling each piece as you remove it becomes VERY important. This was hand built so the screw holes only align correctly with the correct piece.

 

I used a edging bit and clamps to replicate the damaged motorboard plate. My router is probably my favorite tool for its all around versatility and the joy of doing a roundover on everything I can. Except plywood, roundover does not work well on plywood.

 

If there are any imperfections or damage, make sure to do the router on the clean, undamaged side.

 

 

 

The new plate is completed and the inside rim is painted and drilled.

 

 

Freshly painted grill is stapled to the board.

 

Tweeter, Mid-Horn and Woofer are re-installed with weather stripping gasket:

 

 

Next up is the crossover and Wye network...

 

 

 

[twk123]

Now for the fun part. The networks are to be re-capped with Dayton Audio 1% and 5% caps, the Wye Mono Network built and amp installed.

 

Here is the original network:

 

 

New vs old caps:

 

 

 

Getting the wire held to the cap for soldering:

 

 

I decided to do one cap at a time so I dont lose track of the network design:

 

 

 

All the new caps have been soldered on.

 

 

 

I like to use lots of hot glue to seal my solders for added protection and corrosion resistance. Its not pretty but its going in the cab anyway:

 

 

 

[twk123]

Now for the Mono Summing Wye connection which is pretty much just combining the L/R positive leads with resistors to not fry the source device:

 

The network started as 3.5mm to RCA and RCA to 3.5mm converters:

 

 

Soldering everything:

 

 

 

Building the network:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the Dayton audio chip amp to be installed. I really like this amp for its small size and volume control:

 

 

Output cap was soldered into the wires to the crossover:

 

After doing some checks with my voltmeter I finally hooked everything up for a bench test. Success!

 

 

Here is how the network, 12V battery pack and amp are to be laid out on the back panel:

 

 

I will have listening impressions and final photos up soon. This has been one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I have worked on.

 

 

 

[dirtmudd]

Looks good!!

[twk123]

My apologies for the delay on the final photos. I have been slammed with work the last few weeks. The project is now complete and I am really excited how it turned out.

 

First off listening impressions. Aside from the lack of bass I really consider this thing a portable LaScala with the utmost detail and control even when the little amp is cranked to the max. I am really impressed by the Dayton Audio caps, the old ones made the speaker shriek but now its really reigned in and tight. The box can fill a room with sound at about 25% volume and i really. I found its best to put the speaker in the far part of the room and let it 'breath'. It is definitely missing the lower bass that I enjoy with Hip Hop and Electronic music but considering its portable its not really an issue. Also, if I put it in a corner I can get some decent bass response for more acoustic type music. Taking the speaker outside really lets the horn loaded 'throw' shine and I like to put in on my back porch to do my Kettlebell workouts when the weather is decent. Its cool to be able to have a totally powered Heresy that I can set down wherever I want to enjoy music. I have not yet tested the battery time on a full charge but I think I can get 5-6 hours of music on a middle volume.

 

Here are some final photos:

 

 

My cat quickly claimed lordship over the speaker once I set it outside. He does not have a sense of humor about these things:

 

 

Here is the new back plate. I initially had the 12v power and 3.5mm input flush for a cleaner look but the input kept falling out so I simply pulled the cable out a little and hot glued the hole. Its not pretty but it is much more secure this way. Also. notice the metal volume knob on the bottom: