Another Statements build

[JimAckley]

Well after reading jinjuku's Statements build thread, I decided take a shot at my first speaker build. Here's the site that contanions the various builds, including the one I'm about to take on: http://speakerdesignworks.com/.

So far I've ordered the woofers and mids, but not the tweeters. I'll probably get those tomorrow. I'm dismantling my Polk 7.1 LSi system, as well as selling off various other spare speakers and receivers around the house in effort to fund this. I still have my LSi25s and PSW1000 left to sell, but that's about it. Once I sell either one of those, that should take care of the rest of the $ needed for this project!

To address some minor differences in my build from Jin's:

• Some of the crossover components, in the mid and tweeter circuits are going to be upgraded from the Daytons to some premium parts. Not that I feel there's anything wrong with the Daytons, I just want to go the extra mile to ensure that these are going to sound their absolute best. While it is arguable if the premium components will have any major benefit, I'd rather remove all doubt and shoot for the moon. I'm not going to change the woofer circuit at all.
• I'm also planning on using the silver-faced NeoCd3.0 tweeter instead of the black-faced, in effort to have it better match the mids. This is a purely cosmetic deviation.
• My Statements will be eventually matched with my epic LFE build, which will consist of an LMS Ultra 5400 + (2) VMP 18s, and the amp is still up in the air (probably a Crown I-tech, but who knows). I'm aware that it's not really necessary to use a sub with these speakers, but I'm a little on the crazy side and love loud, earth-shaking LFE content when I'm watching movies
• Since the shielded woofers were discontinued, my build will have the new replacement for them, which is relatively the same, but there are some slight changes like a lower Sd and lower sensitivity. For this reason, I took the liberty of eamiling the designers to double-check the changes that need to be made in the enclosure to account for the differences in the driver parameters. Also, I haven't ordered any crossover parts until I hear back from them, just in case they decide to revise them due to the driver change.

So, now I'm just waiting for people to come buy my remaining gear so I can get this completed!

 

[jinjuku]

Jim Holtz hangs out at HTguide.com BTW. He's active over there so if you need to pick his brain he should respond. I've enjoyed my exchanges with him.

Good luck and I can't wait to see the build process start. I'll live vicariously through you. It's kind of a let down now not to have a big project going

I almost like building a speaker as much as I like listening to them

Is this going to be a 2.1 / 3.1 / 5.1 build for HT?

 

[JimAckley]

Jim Holtz hangs out at HTguide.com BTW. He's active over there so if you need to pick his brain he should respond. I've enjoyed my exchanges with him.

Good luck and I can't wait to see the build process start. I'll live vicariously through you. It's kind of a let down now not to have a big project going

I almost like building a speaker as much as I like listening to them

Is this going to be a 2.1 / 3.1 / 5.1 build for HT?

I've been a member there since mid-march, but haven't done any posting... mainly for some minor research for a project I ended up nixing. I'm already reading through BigJim's build (you know, there seems to be a lot of Jims and Statements coming together). I was starting to mock up my build in SketchUp the other day and it made me happy to see his ideas and mine were somewhat along the same lines, exception being that his build was sealed and I'm gonna go with ported on mine.

I feel you on the building thing. I love working with my hands, and getting to use that noodle upstairs for some ingenuity and craftsmanship. The only way it gets better is by listening to awesome speakers while you build more awesome speakers.

I'm going to start off 2.0, then build my LFE system for 2.1, then add the center for 3.1, and finally some surrounds for 5.1. The 3.1 and 5.1 additions are likely a long ways off, as I'll hardly have the room for the Statements and LFE in my current venue (a mid-large sized bedroom).

 

[GranteedEV]

My Statements will be eventually matched with my epic LFE build, which will consist of an LMS Ultra 5400 + (2) VMP 18s, and the amp is still up in the air (probably a Crown I-tech, but who knows). I'm aware that it's not really necessary to use a sub with these speakers, but I'm a little on the crazy side and love loud, earth-shaking LFE content when I'm watching movies

Rather than a single LMS 5400 and those pricey VMP passives, you might want three lesser subs, for example

3x JBL W15GTI +3x or 6x Acoustic Elegance 18" Passives (which IIRC tend to model better than the VMPs)

The low end output will be comparable, and the bass quality and frequency response of three spaced sources will far exceed that of a single source.

And if you plan to use subs, you might want to consider the sealed statements, which will be easier to build and generally blend very well to the subs. The sound quality of five sources may be better than that of a single source.

 

[jinjuku]

Any updates on your build? I saw at PF where you sold your LSi's.

Your's and another member will make three builds now...

 

[JimAckley]

Yesterday I finally had 2 seconds to sit down and order my tweeters and the crossovers. At some point I'll swing by Lowes and get the MDF sheets.

 

[Swerd]

Yesterday I finally had 2 seconds to sit down and order my tweeters and the crossovers. At some point I'll swing by Lowes and get the MDF sheets.

Jim

I recently bought a sheet of MDF this summer and I found that my local Lowes sells 18 mm thick MDF and Home Depot sells 19 mm thick MDF. Both were the same price. 19 mm thickness is essentially ¾", and 18 mm is a little more than 5% thinner. For the same price I went with 19 mm. Whether it makes an audible difference in the speakers is another question . In fact with the big Statements, maybe the lighter weight might be better for your back.

 

[JimAckley]

Thanks for the 411. I'll go to Home Depot then. I don't mind the extra weight. I'm 24 and still lift weights, so an extra mm of MDF won't strain me. I'd rather have the extra thickness anyway.

 

[jinjuku]

Thanks for the 411. I'll go to Home Depot then. I don't mind the extra weight. I'm 24 and still lift weights, so an extra mm of MDF won't strain me. I'd rather have the extra thickness anyway.

If you plan on Dado'ing make sure what ever you purchase will fit the dado.

 

[JimAckley]

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

All of my drivers are in!

All of the crossover's shunt parts have arrived, as well as the two smaller inductors. I'm waiting on all of the in-line components to arrive, along with the woofer inductor. Then I'll snag some wood from 84 Lumber and make this deal happen.

Should I be worried if my resistors' values aren't absolutely identical? E.g. my 4 ohm resistors are 4.2 and 4.0 ohms. My 1 ohm resitors are 1.1 and 1.0, etc. Is that an acceptable difference?

 

[Swerd]

Should I be worried if my resistors' values aren't absolutely identical? E.g. my 4 ohm resistors are 4.2 and 4.0 ohms. My 1 ohm resitors are 1.1 and 1.0, etc. Is that an acceptable difference?

Generally, the rule of thumb for crossover parts is ±10% of the stated value will be OK. 4 ohms ±10% is 3.6 to 4.4 ohms.

Just the same, did you order the exact parts on the posted bill of materials? It shows a 4 ohm resistor available from Part Express part #004-4.
http://www.speakerdesignworks.com/StatementsBOMs2011/Statements2011PE_MadBOM.pdf

 

[JimAckley]

Generally, the rule of thumb for crossover parts is ±10% of the stated value will be OK. 4 ohms ±10% is 3.6 to 4.4 ohms.

Just the same, did you order the exact parts on the posted bill of materials? It shows a 4 ohm resistor available from Part Express part #004-4.
http://www.speakerdesignworks.com/StatementsBOMs2011/Statements2011PE_MadBOM.pdf

Good to know. I'll keep that in mind.

The parts I measured were the exact parts from the BOM for all shunt positions. However, the in-line components are all ClarityCap ESA 250v caps and Duelund standard resistors. My woofer inductor, 7.00mH SL, was a replacement recommended by Curt Campbell since the 7mH from PE is out of stock. I haven't measured that stuff yet since I haven't received it. I'll let you know what I come up with though.

 

[jinjuku]

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

All of my drivers are in!

You have to have a buwhahaha moment when you get those puppies in and line them up. You know something special is coming.

Still on the fence about whether I should have done the silver faced ribbon tweets or not...

 

[Swerd]

My woofer inductor, 7.00mH SL, was a replacement recommended by Curt Campbell since the 7mH from PE is out of stock.

If Curt Campbell OK'd it, then no worries.

That is one enormous inductor. Probably heavy too. When you attach it to your crossover board, avoid using steel screws. They will affect the magnetic properties of the inductor core. In fact, make certain that nothing on the crossover board close to any inductor is magnetic.

I use nylon cable ties run through the holes on the ends of the core and holes in the board. ¼" pegboard works well. Plastic, aluminum, brass, or non-magnetic stainless screws are OK too.

 

[JimAckley]

You have to have a buwhahaha moment when you get those puppies in and line them up. You know something special is coming.

Still on the fence about whether I should have done the silver faced ribbon tweets or not...

Oh you know I had one, haha. I was a little on the fence once I pulled them out of the packaging. They don't exactly match the mid drivers. They're a little brighter or lighter or whatever you wanna call it, but it's growing on me fast. I bet you could order a new front plate to put on and see what you think.

If Curt Campbell OK'd it, then no worries.

That is one enormous inductor. Probably heavy too. When you attach it to your crossover board, avoid using steel screws. They will affect the magnetic properties of the inductor core. In fact, make certain that nothing on the crossover board close to any inductor is magnetic.

I use nylon cable ties run through the holes on the ends of the core and holes in the board. ¼" pegboard works well. Plastic, aluminum, brass, or non-magnetic stainless screws are OK too.

He mentioned the alternate inductor on HTGuide.com in BigJim_in_FLA's build, so that's why I got them. I'll probably glue and/or ziptie everything on my board. I'm not big on metal near any crossover components. I was thinking pegboard too, or a breadboard from RS. We'll see.

 

[jinjuku]

He mentioned the alternate inductor on HTGuide.com in BigJim_in_FLA's build, so that's why I got them. I'll probably glue and/or ziptie everything on my board. I'm not big on metal near any crossover components. I was thinking pegboard too, or a breadboard from RS. We'll see.

Pegboard is easier to manage in my opinion. Just use hot melt glue and zip ties. Just use 14AWG to wire the x-overs and point to point solder (resistors and inductors are easiest) were you can.

 

[JimAckley]

It's gonna be an exciting couple of days...

Not to mention I have a new laptop coming soon too

 

[JimAckley]

The mail came

And yeah, they're really bigger than a Coke can

 

[dkane360]

And yeah, they're really bigger than a Coke can

WOW those are big


Maybe I missed it, but what finish are you doing?

 

[JimAckley]

WOW those are big


Maybe I missed it, but what finish are you doing?

It's crazy to believe, but there's still the ESA 600v and MR lines that top this one. They're even bigger. Not by much, but still.

You didn't miss it. I've actually been thinking pretty deep about that lately. I haven't decided yet. This is my first home speaker build. I've done countless enclosures for vehicles, which has always been finished with carpet. I'm probably gonna throw some concepts together in SketchUp tomorrow and narrow it downj, but I wouldn't mind a little advice and guidance at this point. I haven't even gotten the wood yet, so we've got time to figure stuff out. I'll probably spend this week looking through other build threads and figure out what I like, and try to knock out most if not all of the construction over the few weekends.