A little veneer work

[MrBoat]

These are coming out nicely. I will let them age a bit and do some toner work to blend everything better. It's not bad now, but they could be improved further on down the road. Only the first coat of gel poly, over 2 coats of thinned shellac as a sanding sealer. There is some minor flaws but I mind them less now that the top coats are going on. It's 90 here today, but only 40% humidity so I went for it. I had to stain the edges of the wood backed veneer with a q-tip, where the backing (white, in contrast) was showing strong in the round-overs. Otherwise, the rest of it is finished natural.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Looking good!

 

[MrBoat]

Finished. Some minor touchups after the poly cures for a week or so. Need a little thicker weather strip for the woofers. The 1/16" I had did actually compress but I could use 3/16" for a better fit.


Most noticeable difference being is these cabinets don't vibrate at all. Most noticeable at higher volumes. I had one of each the old and new in play and made that comparison. Stock cabinet vibrates significantly more than the thicker, braced remodels. Audible difference? It would have to be something measurable, but likely not audible. Mostly because the stock ones sound fine too.

These things are CHUNKY. They have added heft, which I would expect from a 175W, full range, 8" 3-way that thumps like these do. It was that chest-punchy mid bass that compelled me to beef and brace these up. They don't feel like budget speakers and they gained 4# in the process. The design is dated, and the cabinets are just imperfect enough to look the part. In other words, it doesn't look 'too' good to be in with all my other humble surroundings and possessions. Plus my subs are wrapped in the same cherry veneer so now I can mix and match all my speakers and subs.

 

[Bobby Bass]

They look beautiful congratulations! Let us know how they sound.

 

[MrBoat]

They look beautiful congratulations! Let us know how they sound.

Love the sound/feel of these. Perfect for someone who listens point blank near field as I do. They sound great in room too but not all speakers do both so it is more of a challenge to find really good studio monitors that aren't too analytical/sterile. These things image for days and even point blank like this does not dissolve the phantom center.

Add to that the placebo effect of the DIY bias and it makes me forget about upgrading, most likely until they die. These cover that middle to high power realm for me and now they look kinda cool and we all know how that adds to the sound quality.

 

[Eppie]

Quite the change from the original photo on page 3. Beautiful work as usual. Hope they give you years of enjoyment.

 

[MrBoat]

Quite the change from the original photo on page 3. Beautiful work as usual. Hope they give you years of enjoyment.

Thank you. They feel like new speakers. It also feels the same as completing a pair of kit speakers, with the advantage of knowing how they were going to sound before building them. Then knowing that these may be the nicest s38s in existence. I had William's in play the entire time I was building these.

I listened to them last night for about 6 hrs non-stop. Can't wait to do it again tonight. Talk about getting one's money's worth!

 

[MrBoat]

As long as the veneer is not too fancy for my ghetto setup. I actually thought of this when choosing the veneer. Flatsawn cherry to my eye, reminds me of country cabinets and other more basic utility furniture, instead of something more exotic or figured, but without looking cheap. AVR (still the Denon 3805), sub amp and equipment rack is between desk and wall and puts my seat back around 5 ft from front wall. There are two subs under my other main speakers behind these monitors. Stands are homemade and need to be painted.

LOL. . . WAF this!



I have another addition room that is 12' x 22' that I will end up moving this to in more of a man cave type situation.

 

[Mark E. Long]

As long as the veneer is not too fancy for my ghetto setup. I actually thought of this when choosing the veneer. Flatsawn cherry to my eye, reminds me of country cabinets and other more basic utility furniture, instead of something more exotic or figured, but without looking cheap. AVR (still the Denon 3805), sub amp and equipment rack is between desk and wall and puts my seat back around 5 ft from front wall. There are two subs under my other main speakers behind these monitors. Stands are homemade and need to be painted.

LOL. . . WAF this!



I have another addition room that is 12' x 22' that I will end up moving this to in more of a man cave type situation.

They look fantastic does the extra bracing improve the low end response S-38’s are some of my most favorite speakers .

 

[Bobby Bass]

As long as the veneer is not too fancy for my ghetto setup. I actually thought of this when choosing the veneer. Flatsawn cherry to my eye, reminds me of country cabinets and other more basic utility furniture, instead of something more exotic or figured, but without looking cheap. AVR (still the Denon 3805), sub amp and equipment rack is between desk and wall and puts my seat back around 5 ft from front wall. There are two subs under my other main speakers behind these monitors. Stands are homemade and need to be painted.

LOL. . . WAF this!



I have another addition room that is 12' x 22' that I will end up moving this to in more of a man cave type situation.

They look great! Pride of DIY.

 

[MrBoat]

They look fantastic does the extra bracing improve the low end response S-38’s are some of my most favorite speakers .

Since I have both a stock pair and these, there are some differences I can actually feel. The stock cabinets vibrate noticeably more. The new ones are nearly dead still, comparatively. They gained 4#. The problem is, they're just a blast to listen to and I forget to notice if I hear anything. Even if I measured the differences, it tends to represent things I can't hear anyway.

These are definitely favorites. They fit what makes music most fun without worrying about how good they measure, or not.

I'm thinking of redoing the one's I got from William in Honduras mahogany after gawking at these. I already have a piece of the solid timber leftover from my boat to edge the baffles with.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Since I have both a stock pair and these, there are some differences I can actually feel. The stock cabinets vibrate noticeably more. The new ones are nearly dead still, comparatively. They gained 4#. The problem is, they're just a blast to listen to and I forget to notice if I hear anything. Even if I measured the differences, it tends to represent things I can't hear anyway.

These are definitely favorites. They fit what makes music most fun without worrying about how good they measure, or not.

I'm thinking of redoing the one's I got from William in Honduras mahogany after gawking at these. I already have a piece of the solid timber leftover from my boat to edge the baffles with.

At one time I had a 6.1 setup in our house setup with these lol it was great with decent subs or by them selves. That system migrated to our Garage system it still sounds great used mainly for all channel stereo I still find them more than worthy .

 

[MrBoat]

These JBL's handled Gene's Demo list. I was surprised they handled Beyonce's country album at loud levels. The Dayton RSS315 subs are a great compliment to these speakers. Great album with some tight, well recorded bass. I was kind of surprised they handled the vocals that would surely find faults if they were there, otherwise. They didn't glare on songs like the one with Dolly Parton.

 

[Mark E. Long]

These JBL's handled Gene's Demo list. I was surprised they handled Beyonce's country album at loud levels. The Dayton RSS315 subs are a great compliment to these speakers. Great album with some tight, well recorded bass. I was kind of surprised they handled the vocals that would surely find faults if they were there, otherwise. They didn't glare on songs like the one with Dolly Parton.

I’ve always thought that this whole line was of very good quality and value these are still a killer value. What you’ve done with these is very well done . At one time way back I had a 6.1 setup with just these S-38’s with decent amps was really good sound . Enjoy Sir .

 

[MrBoat]

I’ve always thought that this whole line was of very good quality and value these are still a killer value. What you’ve done with these is very well done . At one time way back I had a 6.1 setup with just these S-38’s with decent amps was really good sound . Enjoy Sir .

This is about what audio should cost for this level of fun and I am thankful it's possible if one doesn't care about keeping up with all the fashion of this hobby. These sound good enough where I could see myself or just about anyone else stopping right here sound quality wise, if all they actually care about is listening to music. Even me knowing of, or owning higher performing speakers, still doesn't stop me from breaking these out frequently and using them as mains every day.

It's not until I plug the Tempests back in that I know just how good those obviously are and I'm on those again for months again. Still, this point blank near field setup really pleases me and this experience is hard to find out in the wild too many places, these days. Not for just 2-channel listening. Just about everything I come across in this type tends to employ smaller speakers/subs. But this layout is so pleasantly punchy and powerful. Bass is really well controlled, tight even, as well you probably know.

A buddy of mine sat down at this the other day and he starts to push it and after a couple songs he stops and says: "It sounds best right about the level where the subs start breezing your pant legs. . ." lol