jocko_nc Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 Well, it has been a couple of weeks and I am back in the garage making a mess... I posted a DIY Heresy center channel project a while back. In the end, I had (2) Heresys, (2) subs, and a DIY center. Problem, the subs were built to match another set of speakers from a different house. They are all-black cubes for which I was never able to devise a grille. Time for n extreme makeover. I want a pair of subs that go with the whole vintage thing. I want the construction to be more old-school, to be similar to the Heresys. Thus, I am using veneered wood cut on a 45-degree corner and fitted with corner braces. The front baffle will be recessed to allow for a simple tweed grille. Also, I am going to ditch the internal amplifiers this time and go with a separate 2-channel amp, an H/K Citation -22 I have had laying around. The subwoofer controls onboard my AVR may work, or I may need to go with an EQ, a la a Feedback Destroyer or something. I found some sweet 1/8" white maple plywood locally for $5.00 a 4 x 8 sheet. (It helps to be where the furniture in made) I made panels from this plywood and 3/4 MDF. The resulting material is excellent, the best of both. Note: I got real furniture wood this time. Corner braces are cut from 1 5/8" thick poplar stock. Front baffle will be double-thick, MDF over birch plywood. I will edge-veneer like Klipsch did. The drivers are the same, 10.00 Dayton Reference / Hi Fidelty subs in a Precision Port enclosure tuned to 22 Hz. The Daytons are excellent drivers. Here is the concept. Stay tuned... jocko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Here is some progress... The maple ought to look sweet. I hate vinyl. I oversized the corner braces with the 1 5/8 stock, I will probably skip the cross barce I had originally planned. Careful, well-thought use of the table saw made for a good fit on the 45 degree corners. It glued up well without a proper jig for such things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 and... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 one more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted March 24, 2007 Share Posted March 24, 2007 Nice looking box, keep up the good work and pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 Here is one of the front baffles. MDF up front and birch plywood in the back, better for t-nuts to hold. I learned last time not to mount the driver flush to the front of the baffle. The subwoofer is quite thich and requires a lot of excursion travel, your grille becomes a project unto itself. This time I recessed the driver 3/4 back in to the baffle. Horray for me. Note to anyone building this way: Do not try to cut both panels at the same time. That is a rather length router bit. A jigsaw will NOT turn a corner in material that thick without tapering the cut at an increasing angle. Even is you are making two holes of the same size, do them individually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 The specs were accurate, a real good fit. Note: Like many, I don't have a proper jig for cutting holes. My router isn't even have a plunge function. I made a jig out of a small scrap of clear plexiglass. The plexiglass mounts to the router replaces the bottom panel of the router. Measure from the cutting tip over to a point on the plexiglass equal to one radius of the hole you want. Drill a small pilot hole there. Drill a similar hole at the center of the baffle. Clamp a third piece of wood to be the support, also with the same hole. Run a nail through the jig, through the baffle, and into the support. Now you can only rotate in a circle. The bit will eat down into the support, just make sure it doesn't go all the way through. When your part is done, the center point is still maintained by the support. Mark the hole on the jig as to what size hole it made. You can walk the router down into the part w/o a plunge function. jocko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 I can't quite tell if your drill is a Panasonic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 Ryobi... Lower cost but still a decent tool. With the Precision Ports. Another note, I have learned a few things since the last go-around: Tapered and / or odd size holes. I needed a 4.00 hole for the ports, since I trimmed them last time there is not a lot of room. 4.00 needs to be 4.00. I don't have a hole saw at 4.00, they may not even make one that big. Too small for the router jig. I drilled with a saw at 1.75, then widened it with a 3/8 rabbeting bit. Each pass is 3/4 larger. Three passes made 4.00. I kept the tapered cuts, since the precision port is tapered as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 The tapered hole actually looks cool and as thought I meant to make it that way... Another reason to work on the two front baffle pieces independently... It's a Ryobi, but it is a 1/2 inch drill and 18V. Came with extra battery, too. I'd highly recommend for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 Inside number one. We're just about finished with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 ok. It has been a few days. Edge veneer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 Yes, am a slob. No, I don't generally clean up as I go. First stain. Found the inevitable glue spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 Finished soon... Yes, those are Heresy cabinets holding up the temporary workbench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Beautiful work! You have a PM in a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Very nice looking, how did you figure out the size of the enclosure per the size of the driver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 The internal volume was calculated with the last attempt. These enclosures are very close. The drivers came from Parts Express, they list the driver charateristics. The last incarnation worked well, very musical yet powerful. The Daytons subwoofers are great drivers: The Titanic is a monster. The Reference is powerful, yet has much more detail than some Vandersteen 2Ce's that I did a side-by-side. The critical issue for depth is actually the length of the port tubes. For a 21 Hz tune, the overall length was something like 16 inches, if I recall correctly. I had to double up with two 2.00 tubes. Allowing space for them to breathe, the box becomes quite deep. I will take about an inch out of them this time around. I don't suppose it will make a huge difference. Also, last time I lined the enclosures with foam panels and used a good bit of polyfill. I'll do the same this time. ???. jocko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipsch Employees Trey Cannon Posted March 30, 2007 Klipsch Employees Share Posted March 30, 2007 Do you have an impedance curve of the driver in the box? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 I had to double up with two 2.00 tubes. Allowing space for them to breathe, the box becomes quite deep. I will take about an inch out of them this time around. I don't suppose it will make a huge difference. Do you mean two 2" tubes of length 8"? What's your internal volume? While an impedance sweep would verify it, it sounds like you've got a tuning closer to 30Hz... [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jocko_nc Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 Each tube will be a tad under 15 inches. Effective length will be a little less, they have a taper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.