Overnight Sensations build

[j_garcia]

Friend of mine had built these some time back and I was pretty impressed with them.

 

[slipperybidness]

Alright. They're pretty much done with the exception of deciding on a finish.

So I went ahead and glued up the sides, top and bottom. A bit tricky, but I got it done with my helpers. The kids got a kick out of this project.

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Once that was done, I got the baffles on.

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These are pretty small speakers so I was able to build both at once.

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That was the easy part, now for the crossover. I found out I still suck at soldering and that I'm not a fan of building crossovers with my current tools. If I do this again, I'm going to have to do something better. My 1/8" ply worked well though. Scrap wood always comes in handy.

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Fit well and screwed down. I did have to adjust a bit since the port came into contact with the crossover.

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Glad I had some crimp on connectors. Didn't think of that. Glad I had a lot of things on hand. That speaker wire did well, but it is stiff stuff. Next time I'll use more flexible wire.

Back is done.

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Getting ready to put the drivers in. The tweeter was a PITA in one of them, but I got it in. Not looking forward to removing it when I stain them.

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The labels were helpful. Drivers are in.

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Tested and ready for final assembly.

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Old setup. Doing this gave me an excuse to finally get my work laptop off my desk. I don't open it so there's no point to it sitting there.

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Dang, that's one ugly XO

Haha, good thing nobody ever sees it anyway. Looking good!

 

[slipperybidness]

New setup. Much better. Room lighting did some funky stuff with my phone's camera, but they look pretty good.

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I like the raw look, but I'm going to do a Minwax Gel Stain. Red Elm is what wifey picked.

https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains/minwax-gel-stain#colors

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These little speakers really have no business sounding as good as they do. I had the sub crossover set at 80hz and that seemed a bit too low. They put out decent bass on their own though. ~95hz seems to be better in my room.

I went through a lot of music yesterday and the main thing I keep hearing is how well they are able to put up a phantom center image. Better than anything else I have at the moment. I either placed these perfectly on the first try, or they're just that good. Tweeter is a bit laid back, but not in a bad way. It actually sounds excellent for how little it costs.

That's really the theme for this whole kit. Shockingly good for how cheap it is. For around $160 I have a speaker that sounds better than others costing MUCH more.

Thanks to everyone for pointing me down this path. I now hate you all since I'll be needing to build quite a few more speakers since results are this good with a cheap starter kit.

Like I mentioned, I ended up getting these for ~$108 a while back, much too good a price to pass up! I certainly had a PE coupon, and they were on sale at the time too. I have had my eye on them for a long time, and that was the cheapest I ever recall seeing them.

Yeah, those tweeters were a tight fit! I tend to run my tweets on the outside, you seem to have chosen inside......I never know which way it is "supposed to be".

I'm just running mine full range.

I am much more skilled on the electronics and have much more patience for the electronics work than on the woodworking and cabinet finishing side.

 

[panteragstk]

Like I mentioned, I ended up getting these for ~$108 a while back, much too good a price to pass up! I certainly had a PE coupon, and they were on sale at the time too. I have had my eye on them for a long time, and that was the cheapest I ever recall seeing them.

Yeah, those tweeters were a tight fit! I tend to run my tweets on the outside, you seem to have chosen inside......I never know which way it is "supposed to be".

I'm just running mine full range.

I am much more skilled on the electronics and have much more patience for the electronics work than on the woodworking and cabinet finishing side.

I did it how the picture they included in the write up did it so the placement seems right? It sounds good though so I may not change it till they get stained.

I can build the crossovers and stuff, but I didn't have what I needed so it was more frustrating than it should have been. Now I know for next time.

I was going to get out my nicer saw and make the crossover board pretty, but it's going inside and will never be seen. For this build, that won't drive me crazy, but if I ever do anything like the BMR or something else higher end, I'll probably go with something better. Or let Meniscus build it for me. BMR kit with a few upgrades and having them assemble the crossover comes to around $1K.

I like building the cabinets, but I need to do more before I'd consider myself to be decent at it. I cheated on this one with the flat pack and I like the quality of the box, but I want to do something higher end in the future. I've got some walnut veneer given to me by a friend many years ago that needs to be used for something.

 

[slipperybidness]

I did it how the picture they included in the write up did it so the placement seems right? It sounds good though so I may not change it till they get stained.

I can build the crossovers and stuff, but I didn't have what I needed so it was more frustrating than it should have been. Now I know for next time.

I was going to get out my nicer saw and make the crossover board pretty, but it's going inside and will never be seen. For this build, that won't drive me crazy, but if I ever do anything like the BMR or something else higher end, I'll probably go with something better. Or let Meniscus build it for me. BMR kit with a few upgrades and having them assemble the crossover comes to around $1K.

I like building the cabinets, but I need to do more before I'd consider myself to be decent at it. I cheated on this one with the flat pack and I like the quality of the box, but I want to do something higher end in the future. I've got some walnut veneer given to me by a friend many years ago that needs to be used for something.

Yup, "now I know for next time" is the entire point of DIY! You will almost certainly make little mistakes and/or find the flaws that nobody else will ever notice. I leave such flaws as a "reminder for next time".

I don't really have the tools for the fancy woodworking either, so I'm pretty much looking at flat packs only.

 

[panteragstk]

Yup, "now I know for next time" is the entire point of DIY! You will almost certainly make little mistakes and/or find the flaws that nobody else will ever notice. I leave such flaws as a "reminder for next time".

I don't really have the tools for the fancy woodworking either, so I'm pretty much looking at flat packs only.

Funny thing is I have the tools (most of them) for woodworking, but not the crossover. My soldering iron is over 25 years old and is a cheap 30w rad shack model. That alone made it frustrating as the tip of that soldering iron is shot big time.

I need to get a routing table set up for doing some of the edges on cabinets and such. I'm going to build a table top for a free vanity we got from a neighbor. They wanted a project and didn't do anything with it so yay me.

 

[ryanosaur]

FWIW, this is the unit I bought. Pretty happy with it, though I wouldn't know any better if it were utter cr@p.

https://www.amazon.com/X-Tronic-3020-XTS-Digital-Display-Soldering/dp/B079VVHPPS?th=1

When I bought mine, they didn't have the cool helping hands or wrench for tightening the tip. But other than that, it seems to be responsive to temperature changes, and though I haven't used it hard, it seems pretty solid thus far.

 

[afterlife2]

Nice build I think a Blue color would be a better choice because of your lights. Tell ur wife I said so.

 

[ryanosaur]

Ooh, I haven't even used my router and table yet! I'm going to be learning how to cut circles out of MDF panels for a lighting project we are doing... (adding some recessed LEDs to some cabinets in the kitchen that currently house some ~25 yr old T-12 fixtures )
That'll pop my router cherry!
And I've almost got the tools I need to start the cabinet builds I want to do, speakers, AV rack, bookshelf designed to straddle a subwoofer. I probably need some more bar/pipe clamps, and I need to figure out the table saw situation.
I have to learn how to check the alignment and fix it if necessary. Landlord's old Saw from at least late 70's/early 80's judging by everything I can see. But get it aligned, make a new throat plate, build a cross cut sled, and confirm the fence is square to the blade, too.

 

[Pogre]

Sigh...

This just makes me want to build a set of speakers. This was a fun to follow project, and with a flat pack I think within my wheelhouse. My soldering skills will need some brushing up tho, or just straight up more practice.

 

[ryanosaur]

I just started looking at these for rounding out my atmos/auro slots:

Zaph|Audio ZA5.2 TM 2-Way, Pair

ZA5.2 TM 2-Way from the Zaph|Audio ZA5 FamilyPrice shown is for a PAIR This is the 2-Way offering from the ZA5 family of kits. You can build this kit in either a ported or sealed box design. This design also has a crossover variation for In-Wall use which you can select from the drop down menu...

www.madisoundspeakerstore.com

Zaph|Audio - ZA5 Speaker Designs with ZA14W08 woofer and Vifa DQ25SC16-04 tweeter

I already have 4 Zaph 5" Mids... I'm going to ask If I can just buy the tweeters and the schematics/plans.
Either that, Or I will reach out to Dennis about seeing if he'll share the old Mini-Phil plans with me for a small fee or donation and sell me some Raal 64-10s. They use the Zaph mids, also.

 

[panteragstk]

Sigh...

This just makes me want to build a set of speakers. This was a fun to follow project, and with a flat pack I think within my wheelhouse. My soldering skills will need some brushing up tho, or just straight up more practice.

Trust me. You're fine. All you need are clamps and a soldering iron....and spare wire, crimp on connectors, solder, screws, screwdriver, drill, etc.

Honestly though, it was SUPER easy and very much worth the investment.

 

[Pogre]

Part of my hesitance is I need a few more tools so that adds to the cost, at least for my first build. To build my own boxes and not use a flat pack I'll need even more tools, and some practice. I've done some woodworking and being a butcher has made me very competent with a bandsaw, which I feel translates well to other powered woodworking tools like routers, circular saws, jigsaws, etc. I've used all of them for various projects when I worked with my dad.

I'll definitely need some practice before tackling anything really nice like a pair of BMRs so I'd start with something inexpensive like this.

You know, this would have been a great project to work on with my grandfather, who passed away a few years ago. He worked at a furniture factory. He and my uncles used to make beautiful grandfather clocks and grandpa had a shed all set up like a woodshop... grandpa was also very good with electronics. He used to work as a tv repairman also, so he'd have been all over building the crossovers too. That makes me a little sad. I miss grandpa.

Anyhoo, yeah. That's part of why I'm dragging my feet. Currently I have almost no woodworking tools whatsoever. I do have a decent soldering iron and garage space tho.

 

[Pogre]

Trust me. You're fine. All you need are clamps and a soldering iron....and spare wire, crimp on connectors, solder, screws, screwdriver, drill, etc.

Honestly though, it was SUPER easy and very much worth the investment.

Well when you put it THAT way...

I will need some clamps.

 

[NINaudio]

Ugh, now you got me wanting to build new pc speakers even more! I've already got tons of wood clamps from building the sub...

 

[ryanosaur]

Part of my hesitance is I need a few more tools so that adds to the cost, at least for my first build. To build my own boxes and not use a flat pack I'll need even more tools, and some practice. I've done some woodworking and being a butcher has made me very competent with a bandsaw, which I feel translates well to other powered woodworking tools like routers, circular saws, jigsaws, etc. I've used all of them for various projects when I worked with my dad.

I'll definitely need some practice before tackling anything really nice like a pair of BMRs so I'd start with something inexpensive like this.

You know, this would have been a great project to work on with my grandfather, who passed away a few years ago. He worked at a furniture factory. He and my uncles used to make beautiful grandfather clocks and grandpa had a shed all set up like a woodshop... grandpa was also very good with electronics. He used to work as a tv repairman also, so he'd have been all over building the crossovers too. That makes me a little sad. I miss grandpa.

Anyhoo, yeah. That's part of why I'm dragging my feet. Currently I have almost no woodworking tools whatsoever. I do have a decent soldering iron and garage space tho.

Just make a point to buy a few things here and there... start with bar or pipe clamps, for example. Buy 4 3', then 4 2', then 4 pipe clamp sets... I've been doing this for the last year or so. I've got all those I mentioned, plus 4 1' bars. Picked up a speed square one time, then a set of calipers another. Had a good month, bought a brad nailer. The Router and the Table was actual saving and planning, and by saving, I paid for the router using reward points from Amazon. We subscribe to 6 flats of catfood every month, plus other purchases... so that added up in about 6-8 mos, I think. The table from rockler was my only major investment.
But it gets real easy to build up the basic tools if you spread it out. Next thing you know, your building your first set of speakers in 6 mos and deciding you need a table saw!

 

[panteragstk]

Nice build I think a Blue color would be a better choice because of your lights. Tell ur wife I said so.

I have a navy stain, but that would look...funky in that room. I'm not sure why the lighting made my phone go weird, but it isn't as yellow in that room as it appears.

 

[panteragstk]

Ugh, now you got me wanting to build new pc speakers even more! I've already got tons of wood clamps from building the sub...

One of us...

 

[panteragstk]

Just make a point to buy a few things here and there... start with bar or pipe clamps, for example. Buy 4 3', then 4 2', then 4 pipe clamp sets... I've been doing this for the last year or so. I've got all those I mentioned, plus 4 1' bars. Picked up a speed square one time, then a set of calipers another. Had a good month, bought a brad nailer. The Router and the Table was actual saving and planning, and by saving, I paid for the router using reward points from Amazon. We subscribe to 6 flats of catfood every month, plus other purchases... so that added up in about 6-8 mos, I think. The table from rockler was my only major investment.
But it gets real easy to build up the basic tools if you spread it out. Next thing you know, your building your first set of speakers in 6 mos and deciding you need a table saw!

Yep. Tools have a way of multiplying. I have a biscuit joiner now. Why? Because my wife decided I needed one.

I need a router table, but I'll need a router too. I'm not going to permanently mount my nice bosch plunge/fixed router to one. I'll get a cheaper one. Especially if I can find one that is battery powered.

 

[panteragstk]

Well when you put it THAT way...

I will need some clamps.

You can NEVER have too many clamps.

I killed 4 Harbor Freight pistol grip clamps by wanting them to grip more than they were capable of. The pistol handle disintegrated in my hand when trying to squeeze harder. Cheap plastic doesn't work.

My pipe clamps are MUCH better and can be any length I want them too. Just need a longer pipe.

Speaking of which, I need more clamps.