They're done!

[Hi Ho]

Thanks to all who helped in my quest to complete my senior project, and most of all, build a superb set of speakers! These speakers have gone above and beyond all of my expectations. They are amazingly clear with detail in bass, mids, and highs that I was simply missing with my old Advents (though the Advents aren't condemned). They blend surprisingly well with the Advents. For that reason, I have one of the Advents as a center channel and my system has never sounded better. I have been sitting here with my jaw on the floor for hours!

What they really put to shame was my (former) center channel, a Polk CS1. Compared to the new speakers, the Polk was terrible! It's very muddy with no detail, harsh silibant highs, and very little bass response.

Now I already knew how the subwoofer sounded as I built it a year ago this month (flat response to 16hz... need I say more?). It looks much nicer with cherry veneer though.

Speaker Gallery

Subwoofer Gallery

Components

Speakers:
Dayton Reference Series RS150S-8 6" woofer
Dayton DC28FS-8 Tweeter
2" port cut to 5" for a tuning of 48hz
Crossover point: 2500hz

Subwoofer:
Ascendant Audio Atlas 12" driver
P arts E xpress 250w Plate Amp
4" flare port cut to 18" for a tuning of 18hz

All cabinets made with 3/4" MDF, biscuit jointed, no screws
Cherry veneer (48"x10") from RocklerPro - 9 pieces

 

[Sheep]

Nice Job! Holy crap your subwoofer is huge!

Have some gum.

SheepStar

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Very nice work. Love the driver in the subwoofer.

Does a 250w PE plate amp do the Atlas 12" justice? I would think based on the awesome build quality of your box, you could get a 500w Bash or the PE 1000w amp pushing that driver to full Xmax (not that you'd want to ).

 

[Swerd]

Really nice job Hi Ho! It's good to know the RS180s and Dayton silkie tweeter worked out well. Now that you know how good about $150 or less in drivers and parts can sound, you'll never buy another commercially made speaker again. Welcome to the world of DIY speaker building.

I like the cherry veneer. It looks great in the photos. I've never bought veneer mail order before. Now I'm tempted. The stuff from Rockler looks great. You did a real good job on that. How did you attach the veneer? Contact cement? What did you use to finish them? There are probably a lot of little flaws, but no one other than yourself will ever notice them.

 

[Hi Ho]

Nice Job! Holy crap your subwoofer is huge!

It is very large (22x22x22 inches). It didn't seem so large on paper.

Does a 250w PE plate amp do the Atlas 12" justice? I would think based on the awesome build quality of your box, you could get a 500w Bash or the PE 1000w amp pushing that driver to full Xmax

The 250w amp drives it very well and definetely pushes it to full Xmax. The Atlas drivers aren't power hungry. There is not audible distortion even during the depth charge scene in U-571 at very high levels. The excursion goes to scary levels but that's what this thing is made for. It has a bottomless design so there is never any slap.

I like the cherry veneer. It looks great in the photos. I've never bought veneer mail order before. Now I'm tempted. The stuff from Rockler looks great. You did a real good job on that. How did you attach the veneer? Contact cement? What did you use to finish them? There are probably a lot of little flaws, but no one other than yourself will ever notice them.

The veneer is very nice. I attatched it with contact cement (spray) and finished with gloss Wipe On Poly.

This was my first ever veneer job and I have learned a few things. Next time I think I will use backed veneer. It's more expensive but I think it would have made it easier to trim without splitting off the corners.

I have doubts about how well the contact cement will hold. I have had a few bubbles already, especially at the seams.

There are a few small flaws that you don't see unless you look close. Mishaps with the router while trimming account for most of them. The corners were especially difficult to trim without ripping a chunk out.

 

[knobturner75]

Hey congrats on what looks to be a job well done. I have been pondering building my own sub myself. I'm relatively new to this site and was wondering if all of that internal bracing is a definite necessity or is it just a little overkill? It really doesn't matter, because I don't think there is any way that I could build something that is near the same quality of construction of yours. I'm not inept with tools, but those look amazing in your photos. Again congrats to you.

 

[Swerd]

...was wondering if all of that internal bracing is a definite necessity or is it just a little overkill?

In smaller bookshelf size cabinets, internal bracing is not a necessity, but in larger cabinets with their accompanying lower bass response, internal bracing has a real function. Cheaper commercial speakers often lack internal bracing, and it apparently does make an audible difference.

All materials, including MDF, have inherent resonances that can be excited if the vibrating air from a speaker has enough energy at the right frequency. Some DIY builders have measured the movement of the walls of an unbraced cabinet with an accelerometer. Apparently, this can actually contribute unwanted coloration to the overall sound of a speaker. Avoid this with internal bracing that stiffens the cabinet walls. It breaks up large unbraced areas of a cabinet wall into smaller areas making them less able to vibrate. Some people use thicker walls, but in addition to making a cabinet heavier, I am told that this only raises a cabinet's resonance exicitation point to a higher frequency and does not reduce the level of resonance.

 

[j_garcia]

Very nice man. Good work! Few subs surprise me anymore...mine is a 48" tall cylinder (click on Tempest in sig)

 

[Hi Ho]

I have been pondering building my own sub myself. I'm relatively new to this site and was wondering if all of that internal bracing is a definite necessity or is it just a little overkill?

I have been told that my bracing might be a little overkill, though I followed proven plans (seen HERE). I built the 142L version but changed it to front firing instead of down. Now that I look at the plans and have remeasured the sub, it is 22.5" square, not 22" as I have been saying all this time.

I used just one brace in the speakers. In a box that small, I'm not even sure if it was needed but it couldn't hurt.

There is a definet advantage to adequate bracing. I have seen unbraced subwoofers and speakers and they have a boomy sound to them. A good test of a speaker cabinet is to knock it with your knuckles. If it resonates or has a hollow sound, then it's probably not braced adequately. If it sounds "dead", that's a good thing.

Very nice man. Good work! Few subs surprise me anymore...mine is a 48" tall cylinder (click on Tempest in sig)

I have seen your sub and it is very impressive. That thing must reall pound! My next sub will be a Sonosub. I have a few large (3ft diameter) tubes that were actually rolls for cable line (a friend owns the local cable company).

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Very nice!

Great work,

When I was your age I was spending all my money and all my time on cars...when I think of the speakers I could of have bought/built with that money ...I don't even own any of the cars anymore ... oh well It was alot of fun!

Hope you enjoy your new toys as much as I enjoyed my cars,
SBF1

 

[Hi Ho]

Haha, well I like cars but I HATE working on them. I have a car that needs virtually no work. I like it.

 

[edwelly]

Nice job. I bet they sound good. I am needing to do some speaker for my basement/office and the Parts Express models looks just right. Thanks!

 

[Hi Ho]

I am thinking about maybe padding the tweeter a little. I have been enjoying them a lot but they may be just a tad bright. I have actually conducted a blind test with the help of my dad and I chose the ones I built over all the others. They are extremely detailed and smooth but I think the tweeter plays a little louder than the woofer with the same amount of power.

 

[mtrycrafts]

It is very large (22x22x22 inches). It didn't seem so large on paper.


The 250w amp drives it very well and definetely pushes it to full Xmax. The Atlas drivers aren't power hungry. There is not audible distortion even during the depth charge scene in U-571 at very high levels. The excursion goes to scary levels but that's what this thing is made for. It has a bottomless design so there is never any slap.


The veneer is very nice. I attatched it with contact cement (spray) and finished with gloss Wipe On Poly.

This was my first ever veneer job and I have learned a few things. Next time I think I will use backed veneer. It's more expensive but I think it would have made it easier to trim without splitting off the corners.

I have doubts about how well the contact cement will hold. I have had a few bubbles already, especially at the seams.

There are a few small flaws that you don't see unless you look close. Mishaps with the router while trimming account for most of them. The corners were especially difficult to trim without ripping a chunk out.

Yes, great job, indeed.
We all have firsts. Did you use a roller on the veneer? Have you tried a pin to let the air out and perhaps clamping with left over MDF, nice flat surface? Or, even injecting a bit of glue with hypodermic?

I see you were not cheap on the sub to do the back, but that small one lost out?

 

[seattle_ice]

Changing to sub to Front Firing

Did you simply rotate the sub box to make it front firing? Is there anything else you would do differently if you were to make that subwoofer enclosure again?

 

[Hi Ho]

Yes, I basically rotated it to make it front firing. I didn't change much. I can't think of anything I would have done differently. It went smoothly.

 

[Tomorrow]

I'd like to order my set of HiHo's now, please. In oak.

LOL, very nice job!!!

 

[seattle_ice]

After looking at your pics again, it does look like you rotated the braces 90 degrees.

I spent the last two days building that sub from the plans, using an Assassin 12" driver and the remote controlled 250w amp from Parts Express. It shakes the entire room during the pod races. I feel like the wind is blowing through my hair!

It definitely is bigger in the room than it looks on paper.

I haven't veneered it yet, but will in the near future. I will not use the unbacked veneer, but take a slightly different approach. I have been in the construction/furniture business since I was a little kid, and I have some of my favorite methods.

I will cut a 1/4" rabbet on all the corners, and install solid 3/8" square pieces, mitered at the corners. Then use 'Door Skins' to fill in all the sides. These come in a 2.7mm thickness. Lastly, I will then use a small rounding bit in my router to round off the solid corner pieces, and the whole thing will get stained black.

Thanks for the pics and info, really helped me out on my first foray into the speaker building world.

 

[Hi Ho]

Glad I could help.

Just an update, I'm still loving the speakers but the veneer job is crap. There's no hiding that fact. It looks nice in the pictures and from a distance but it is completely delaminating in places. There are ripples, bubbles, peeling edges, and one piece of veneer is barely attatched. Every day I have to go by and press it down so it doesn't completely fall off. Is there any hope for this veneer job? I don't want to take everything apart again.

I have definetely learned from my first attempt at veneer. Hopefully my next will be much better.

 

[seattle_ice]

What kind of cement did you use for the veneer? And di you roll it with a roller?