ER18 build (for real this time!)

[slipperybidness]

Man, those look good! Very professional. What do you think the total $ and hours of labor turned out to be? I know that for a serious hobby, you probably don't keep up with it or care, I'm just curious how much investment these really took. You have a ballpark figure?

What other builds you got under your belt?

 

[mattsk8]

Man, those look good! Very professional. What do you think the total $ and hours of labor turned out to be? I know that for a serious hobby, you probably don't keep up with it or care, I'm just curious how much investment these really took. You have a ballpark figure?

What other builds you got under your belt?

I think at this point it would be easier to say that I could probably build another pair in somewhere between 40 and 60 hours. Another simple way to do it that would be a huge time saver would be to build the cabinets out of MDF, then fill and seal all of it and drop them off to my paint guy and have him just paint them .

As far as cost goes, if I don't count tools at all (including router bits, sawblades, etc.) here's a breakdown...
ER18 MTM kit- $682.00
MDF- About $40.00
Cherry hardwood for the veneer- About $100
Finish supplies- About $100 (but you'll have a lot leftover for the next project)
Sandpaper and misc supplies- About $100

So, about $1000.00 give or take.

As far as other builds go, my first build was a pair of Tritrix MTM TLs. I use these in my shop and went way overboard for shop speakers as far as finishing them goes. While they don't sound as good as the ER18s, for $130ish worth of xover and speaker components they sound amazing. Everyone that heres them can't believe thats all they cost.

I also built a pair of full size Statements. Those are just MDF cabinets right now, and I'll get to finishing those in hickory after Labor day weekend.

I'm also already signed up for my next build, which is a pair of mains and a sub for our church system. I purchased the plans for those from Bill Fitzmaurice. The mains are TLAH pros, and they're basically 5' tall line arrays. Can't wait to get that done. I'll start a build thread on that whole endeavor as well. Should get the ball rolling on those as soon as the Statements are finished, and God willing those shouldn't take more than a month of my spare time cuz I have a pretty good idea already of how I'm going to do them.

 

[Swerd]

HOLY COW, what a difference the stuffing, port, and woofer seals made!!!! I was honestly a little disappointed when I first heard these, but my goodness did that ever make a difference. W/out it they were too boomy when they shouldn't be, and sounded like they had bad mids (probably cuz the mids were being drowned by the drawn out bass). They're all good now

I'm even a day early ! Tomorrow I can sit in front of these and enjoy. Hauling them to Meniscus for the show on Saturday.

Matt - Those are really excellent results. Thank you for all the photos of your build.

I'm also very glad to hear how they sound now that the cabinets are stuffed, ported, and sealed properly.

Have fun at Meniscus and let us know all about it.

 

[slipperybidness]

I think at this point it would be easier to say that I could probably build another pair in somewhere between 40 and 60 hours. Another simple way to do it that would be a huge time saver would be to build the cabinets out of MDF, then fill and seal all of it and drop them off to my paint guy and have him just paint them .

As far as cost goes, if I don't count tools at all (including router bits, sawblades, etc.) here's a breakdown...
ER18 MTM kit- $682.00
MDF- About $40.00
Cherry hardwood for the veneer- About $100
Finish supplies- About $100 (but you'll have a lot leftover for the next project)
Sandpaper and misc supplies- About $100

So, about $1000.00 give or take.

As far as other builds go, my first build was a pair of Tritrix MTM TLs. I use these in my shop and went way overboard for shop speakers as far as finishing them goes. While they don't sound as good as the ER18s, for $130ish worth of xover and speaker components they sound amazing. Everyone that heres them can't believe thats all they cost.

I also built a pair of full size Statements. Those are just MDF cabinets right now, and I'll get to finishing those in hickory after Labor day weekend.

I'm also already signed up for my next build, which is a pair of mains and a sub for our church system. I purchased the plans for those from Bill Fitzmaurice. The mains are TLAH pros, and they're basically 5' tall line arrays. Can't wait to get that done. I'll start a build thread on that whole endeavor as well. Should get the ball rolling on those as soon as the Statements are finished, and God willing those shouldn't take more than a month of my spare time cuz I have a pretty good idea already of how I'm going to do them.

Impressive resume Yeah, I'm thinking about the TriTrix, complete kit from PE. Did you do the complete kit? Sounds like you just got the components and built cabinets from scratch? How about those in the shop? I would be scared some critters would nest up in that transmission line!

Right now, I'm working on a steampunk mod of a mid 80s Technics integrated amp. My first real audio project, mostly for some experience and if I screw it up then there isn't a whole lot of investment in it. After that claw-foot discussion (I think it was this thread?), I'm thinking about doing that on my steampunk amp.

I have a Bottlehead Quickie Preamp on the way, suppose that is up next.

As far as finishing, have you ever tried the vinyl wraps? I wonder if it is difficult or just looks cheap or cheesy when your done?

Another thing I was thinking about is getting a friend that is a graffiti artist to "tag" the cabinets, then hit it with a laquer finish. Hook those up to my Technics 1200 and commence to poppin and lockin

Out of curisosity, what is your day-job?

 

[mattsk8]

Matt - Those are really excellent results. Thank you for all the photos of your build.

I'm also very glad to hear how they sound now that the cabinets are stuffed, ported, and sealed properly.

Have fun at Meniscus and let us know all about it.

I will for sure! I can't wait to here some of the designs other guys are bringing to Meniscus as well! Hope its a good time. And thank you for all your help through this, including your thorough write up on these! As far as properly, I did only use 16oz of polyfill instead of the recommended 17-18oz, the stuff came in 16oz bags . I don't think I can hear the 1 to 2oz diff though , they sound amazing! I finished them up last night at around 10pm, so I didn't get to pound on them yet. I did push the volume envelope a bit for a 10pm listening session though, and man do I ever love them. My neighbors will be proud when I get home from work at around 6 today

 

[mattsk8]

Impressive resume Yeah, I'm thinking about the TriTrix, complete kit from PE. Did you do the complete kit? Sounds like you just got the components and built cabinets from scratch? How about those in the shop? I would be scared some critters would nest up in that transmission line!

Right now, I'm working on a steampunk mod of a mid 80s Technics integrated amp. My first real audio project, mostly for some experience and if I screw it up then there isn't a whole lot of investment in it. After that claw-foot discussion (I think it was this thread?), I'm thinking about doing that on my steampunk amp.

I have a Bottlehead Quickie Preamp on the way, suppose that is up next.

As far as finishing, have you ever tried the vinyl wraps? I wonder if it is difficult or just looks cheap or cheesy when your done?

Another thing I was thinking about is getting a friend that is a graffiti artist to "tag" the cabinets, then hit it with a laquer finish. Hook those up to my Technics 1200 and commence to poppin and lockin

Out of curisosity, what is your day-job?

The Tritrix are great speakers. I actually did get the whole kit w/ pre-cut cabinets from PE, and I'd do it again just because it's a nice kit and it saves a ton of time. The guys here recommended that for my first ever DIY build and I have no regrets at all; those speakers hold a special place in my heart . The mids and highs are great, but plan on running a sub w/ them. I don't in my shop and the bass is ok, but a sub would make them superb. The other area they're awesome is their ability to play really loud w/ minimal distortion. I've beat those poor speakers so hard and they beg for more! I run them in my shop w/ an old circa 1990 Kenwood receiver that's about 85w/ch. When I first built them, I figured I'd just abuse them cuz if I blew a woofer it would only be about $20 to replace it; but they keep right on hammering along!

As far as the vinyl goes, I have played w/ it a bit. The hardest part is getting a super smooth surface to begin w/. To answer your other question, I manage a plastics recycling center and we got a bunch of burl wood, black, and some other colors of the vinyl they use on dashboards in cars for the trim. I played w/ it a bit trying to glue it to some wood using 3M Super77 spray contact cement, but I couldn't get a uniform finsih w/ it; always ended up a teeny bit lumpy. I imagine if you used real automotive vinyl (like the stuff they wrap cars w/) it would work really well. The other area it was tough to get a decent look w/ the stuff I had was the corners where the vinyl stopped and started, you could see the edge if that makes sense.

I get my woodworking knowledge from being a cabinet maker. I had my own remodeling business for about 4 years but the economy forced the career change about 3 years ago. I'd been in construction for a while before going on my own. I did a lot of custom cabinets, trim, hardwood floors, remodels, additions, etc.

Post pics of your Technics project, I love steampunk art and can't wait to see it!

 

[slipperybidness]

I didn't take many pics during the process, just not enough confidence yet I guess. I will try to snap a few, and of course I will post some completed product pics.

I learned a lot on it, never did a lot of woodworking and I did it all with 18V ryobi tools, leaves much to be desired in the tool dept. To me, I know every mistake etc, to anyone else, it probably looks pretty good.

And yeah, it is pretty obvious that you are pretty handy with your woodworking, better than most from what I can see in the pics.

 

[slipperybidness]

Noob Question

Total noob question. How do you get your pics to post so large? Everytime I try to post something, it comes up as a thumbnail.

2nd question, since I've been looking at the TriTrix, the price has been a steady $259 for the complete kit. Is that a good price? These ever go on sale? Is there a target price I should wait to see to scoop that up?

 

[capricious]

Total noob question. How do you get your pics to post so large? Everytime I try to post something, it comes up as a thumbnail.

2nd question, since I've been looking at the TriTrix, the price has been a steady $259 for the complete kit. Is that a good price? These ever go on sale? Is there a target price I should wait to see to scoop that up?

I upload the images to photobucket.com, and post a image link here. You can upload it to any pic hosting site ... picasaweb should be ok as well.

As for the tritrix kit, i remember them going for 199 sometime back ...not sure if they were on sale or not.

 

[slipperybidness]

The Tritrix are great speakers. I actually did get the whole kit w/ pre-cut cabinets from PE, and I'd do it again just because it's a nice kit and it saves a ton of time. The guys here recommended that for my first ever DIY build and I have no regrets at all; those speakers hold a special place in my heart . The mids and highs are great, but plan on running a sub w/ them. I don't in my shop and the bass is ok, but a sub would make them superb. The other area they're awesome is their ability to play really loud w/ minimal distortion. I've beat those poor speakers so hard and they beg for more! I run them in my shop w/ an old circa 1990 Kenwood receiver that's about 85w/ch. When I first built them, I figured I'd just abuse them cuz if I blew a woofer it would only be about $20 to replace it; but they keep right on hammering along!

As far as the vinyl goes, I have played w/ it a bit. The hardest part is getting a super smooth surface to begin w/. To answer your other question, I manage a plastics recycling center and we got a bunch of burl wood, black, and some other colors of the vinyl they use on dashboards in cars for the trim. I played w/ it a bit trying to glue it to some wood using 3M Super77 spray contact cement, but I couldn't get a uniform finsih w/ it; always ended up a teeny bit lumpy. I imagine if you used real automotive vinyl (like the stuff they wrap cars w/) it would work really well. The other area it was tough to get a decent look w/ the stuff I had was the corners where the vinyl stopped and started, you could see the edge if that makes sense.

I get my woodworking knowledge from being a cabinet maker. I had my own remodeling business for about 4 years but the economy forced the career change about 3 years ago. I'd been in construction for a while before going on my own. I did a lot of custom cabinets, trim, hardwood floors, remodels, additions, etc.

Post pics of your Technics project, I love steampunk art and can't wait to see it!

I started a new thread for the steampunk mod. Just thumbnail pics until I get up to speed on the photobucket all you kids are using (just kidding, I'm prob about the same age or younger than most on here).

I'm gonna spend some time on it today, so maybe some more pics tonight or tomorrow. I'm just about done with the actual box, want to add some useless embelishments in the steampunk tradition, and about time to start putting the electronics back together.

 

[mattsk8]

I started a new thread for the steampunk mod. Just thumbnail pics until I get up to speed on the photobucket all you kids are using (just kidding, I'm prob about the same age or younger than most on here).

I'm gonna spend some time on it today, so maybe some more pics tonight or tomorrow. I'm just about done with the actual box, want to add some useless embelishments in the steampunk tradition, and about time to start putting the electronics back together.

Nice! I'll check it out. For uploading pics here (or on other forums) I use picasaweb.com. It's part of google, so if you have gmail it'll be fairly easy; as a matter of fact if you have gmail you're already set up, you just don't know it yet. I learned how to do that on this site. If you look at the little yellow box w/ a mountain on it at the top of the box you type a response in, you click on that to insert an image. The hard part for me was figuring out what I had to copy from the picasa site to paste into that box. Eventually I got it and I'm not computer savy at all, so I'm sure you'll figure it out.

As far as the Tritrix go, I paid $199 for mine w/ the cabinets about 2 or so years ago. The components were always $139, but they had a special on the cabinets. I'm not sure if they'll ever do that special again so I can't say wait or not. If I were looking to build another set, I wouldn't wait; but that's me.

 

[slipperybidness]

Nice! I'll check it out. For uploading pics here (or on other forums) I use picasaweb.com. It's part of google, so if you have gmail it'll be fairly easy; as a matter of fact if you have gmail you're already set up, you just don't know it yet. I learned how to do that on this site. If you look at the little yellow box w/ a mountain on it at the top of the box you type a response in, you click on that to insert an image. The hard part for me was figuring out what I had to copy from the picasa site to paste into that box. Eventually I got it and I'm not computer savy at all, so I'm sure you'll figure it out.

As far as the Tritrix go, I paid $199 for mine w/ the cabinets about 2 or so years ago. The components were always $139, but they had a special on the cabinets. I'm not sure if they'll ever do that special again so I can't say wait or not. If I were looking to build another set, I wouldn't wait; but that's me.

Thanks for the info. TriTrix complete kits are currently out of stock, so it's a moot point right now anyway

 

[Swerd]

Thanks for the info. TriTrix complete kits are currently out of stock, so it's a moot point right now anyway

If I remember correctly, the $200 price for the TriTrix complete kit was a sale price. It may happen again, but I couldn't say when.

For what its worth, Parts Express often had sales late in the summer.

 

[slipperybidness]

If I remember correctly, the $200 price for the TriTrix complete kit was a sale price. It may happen again, but I couldn't say when.

For what its worth, Parts Express often had sales late in the summer.

Yeah, i check them out every few days and I'm on their email distribution, so if a sale ever comes up I should know about it.

At $200, it's a no-brainer. At $260, I'm sure it's still worth it, but I'll be patient for a now. I already have 1 project in progress and the next one ordered, so no biggie to wait.

 

[mattsk8]

I'm in LOVE w/ these ER18s! I sat in my garage (yes, they're still in the garage ) listening to some Cat Stevens, then the Temptations, then some Fernando Ortega. I've listened to Fernando Ortega many times, and on one of his tracks called City Of Sorrows I heard a ucalaly for the first time . Thanks once again for the spot on build recommendation!!

Now I think I'll build a small cherry bar in the room they're going in to complement the ER18s. They deserve it

 

[mattsk8]

Grills . Tomorrow I'm going to completely disassemble them and polish them. Then I'll take some good pics. Then they go in their rightful area

 

[mattsk8]

So, at this point you guys are probably getting pretty sick of me posting pics of these , but I took some good ones last night and figured I'd share.

The finished product...

 

[Swerd]

Matt – Thanks for the photos. I haven't got tired of seeing them yet . They really came out nice looking. Your excellent wood working skills and hard work really paid off.

With time, as you listen to all your old music collection, you will have those big surprise moments when you hear something you had never noticed before. With the TL bass cabinets, you will eventually hear some bass that really makes you drop your jaw. Let us know about it when you have one of those moments.

Richard

 

[mattsk8]

Matt – Thanks for the photos. I haven't got tired of seeing them yet . They really came out nice looking. Your excellent wood working skills and hard work really paid off.

With time, as you listen to all your old music collection, you will have those big surprise moments when you hear something you had never noticed before. With the TL bass cabinets, you will eventually hear some bass that really makes you drop your jaw. Let us know about it when you have one of those moments.

Richard

Like the moment in post #115, or what I think is the mandolin in Billy Joel's Piano Man? Some of my favorite artists to listen to on these so far are Billy Joel, Mazzy Star, Natalie Merchant, Neil Diamond, and Clutch (yes Clutch; if you have really good speakers try the song Electric Worry, awesome song and it sounds amazing really loud!!!). Obviously Dire Straits as well. I need some more symphonic music in my collection, maybe even some jazz and more blues. Now that I can truly enjoy it for what it is, I see my taste changing a bit

 

[Alex2507]

So, at this point you guys are probably getting pretty sick of me posting pics of these ...

It's like you don't know us at all.

Pic's are always welcome. I like contrast for some reason so to me the backs of those catch my attention.

I think you'd be a great candidate to get a center channel hammered out for some DM crossover love.