Pair of speakers

[mtmpenn]

I'm a total amatuer and constantly impressed by the amazing work on the FOG.  I couldn't do the vast majority of the things that I see here, but
I recently purchased some festools (OF1400, mft/3, ts55, domino) and wanted to share my first project. 

They were fun to make and they sound great.  I learned a lot while building them and I loved using my festools to create them. 

 

[Vindingo]

Those look slick!  The finish looks like it came out very nicely.  

What kind of veneer is that? What are you using to power them?  

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Very nice!  Will you be putting a grille on the front?

 

[mtmpenn]

Thanks guys.  They are a flat cut walnut veneer with water-based pore filler, blo, garnet shellac, and wax as the finish.  The color in my cell phone pics isn't perfect, but it was a relatively light walnut to start.  The finish isn't perfect in person but it is my best effort to date and I am pleased.  It took me a long time to get it where I wanted it though.  Next time I'll skip the pore filler and experiment with pumice/french polish instead.   

Nothing fancy to power them.  I've got a HK stereo receiver and a HLLY t-amp that both work fine.  I intend to give the speakers to either a friend or my inlaws as a present.  If I give them away I can justify making more later. 

There are magnets embedded under the veneer.  I plan to make some grills from screen door hardware (with magnets epoxied on the corners)... we'll see if it works.

Mike

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Embedded magnets sounds really cool.  Hopefully it doesn't mess with the speakers.

 

[hrrb]

Oh no no no...please don't put on a grille  [crying]

It would be a shame to put on something that hides the beauty in your work!

Just my 50 cents.

Kind regards
Henrik

 

[JLB builders LLC]

Oh no no no...please don't put on a grille  [crying]

It would be a shame to put on something that hides the beauty in your work!

Just my 50 cents.

Kind regards
Henrik

+1

 

[mlfaber]

Those look great!  I have built a few pair of speakers in the past and have thought about doing some custom boxes.  How did you come up with the size and volume of the box, as well as the cross over design?  Did you use software?

Marc

 

[mtmpenn]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Woodpulp:  I did not design them.  I am more interested in building than designing.  They are a kit, available here:
http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/zaph%7Caudio-za5.2-tm-2-way-pair/here.

If you want to build a proven design or get some help designing your own (seems like there are some nice free software tools available), take a look at the following resources:

www.madisound.com
www.parts-express.com (great forum with lots of helpful people and some very nice designs techtalk.parts-express.com)
www.zaphaudio.com
sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy
www.htguide.com (find the mission possible DIY forum)

 

[Tom R]

Nice work - Are you happy with the sound ? Home Theater or 2 channel?
I am a amateur speaker builder / hobbyist and use Festools in my work, TS55, OF 1010, MFT.
Love the TS 55, but the MFT turned out to be my most use tool, started out slowly purchasing
accessories for the MFT, sure helps the amateur turn out better quality products.

Pictured is a unfinished set of speakers, two way ported design, 8" woofer with a 1" tweeter.
Still need sanding etc, wanted to here how they sounded more than I wanted them finished.

Tom R

 

[mtmpenn]

Nice looking build.  I've been very curious about an 8" two-way.  How do you like them?

I find speaker building oddly addicting.  I have a small house.  I have no need for more speakers... but it is just so cool to make something that plays music!

I'm using them for 2 channel and am happy with the sound.  I've got some other diy speakers in my theater (madisound "recession buster" kit... the also sound pretty good and are more than adequate for my small theater). 

 

[coffeebean]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Woodpulp:  I did not design them.  I am more interested in building than designing.  They are a kit, available here:
http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/zaph%7Caudio-za5.2-tm-2-way-pair/here.

If you want to build a proven design or get some help designing your own (seems like there are some nice free software tools available), take a look at the following resources:

www.madisound.com
www.parts-express.com (great forum with lots of helpful people and some very nice designs techtalk.parts-express.com)
www.zaphaudio.com
sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy
www.htguide.com (find the mission possible DIY forum)

Just a big +1 on your list of resources... If more people followed zaph the world would sound a whole lot better !

 

[mlfaber]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Woodpulp:  I did not design them.  I am more interested in building than designing.  They are a kit, available here:
http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/zaph%7Caudio-za5.2-tm-2-way-pair/here.

If you want to build a proven design or get some help designing your own (seems like there are some nice free software tools available), take a look at the following resources:

www.madisound.com
www.parts-express.com (great forum with lots of helpful people and some very nice designs techtalk.parts-express.com)
www.zaphaudio.com
sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy
www.htguide.com (find the mission possible DIY forum)

Thanks for the info.  I have ordered from Parts Express before, did not know about Madisound.  Your link to the kit you did does not seem to work for me.  Is this the same thing http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/zaph%7Caudio-za5.2-tm-2-way-pair-with-cabinets/ 

Also, did you order with the cabinets and just veneer them or build your own?  Great job!

 

[mtmpenn]

I built the cabinets myself. The kit without cabinets costs $200 (used to be $182 but the price went up since I purchased).

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/zaph|audio-za5.2-tm-2-way-pair/

 

[tms0425]

Those speakers look really great!

Here is another great source for turn key kits from one of the best designers in the business, Danny Ritchie GR Research

He also has some fairly high end stuff if you're so inclined to go all out. I've built several of them with my Festools, including 3 subwoofer systems and a surround sound setup. The sound quality of these is hard to beat at any price.

Tom

 

[greenMonster]

sounds like a fun hobby to pick up, got any other good sites to start reading?

reminds me of my diy hd projector

 

[Tom R]

The simple 2 - way design with the 8" woofer and 1" tweeter is a bit of a throw - back system. It is a simple box design with a balanced sound. This basic concept has been in production for 25 + years by Snell and Audio Note UK. The 8" driver bridges the gap with excellent bass response, and small enough to cover the midrange frequencies well, for integration with the tweeter. The speakers placed close to a wall or in room corners can go as low as 40 Hz. - very good for a 8" book shelf system. The cabinets are 3/4" Baltic Birch, with mitered front and back baffles

Speaker building is a bit addicting, I have been hooked for quite a while. If interested, a good place to start is at

http://www.diyaudio.com/ 
From the home page scroll down, on the left side of the page is a list of sub categories - One listed as "Loud Speakers", take a look at the "Full Range Forum" lots of information / discussions

http://www.planet10-hifi.com/ 
Lots of parts and plans for single driver "full rage" speakers

Full Range speakers are a good place to start, No crossovers, reasonable priced drive units. plenty of published plans
Interesting designs are the FHM3, Pencil designs and Fonken designs.

http://www.wodendesign.com/index.html

Tom R

 

[greenMonster]

Thought I'd mention that I have the Tritrix from Parts Express on order....I got the kit, I know I know how embarrassing  [embarassed].
I wanted to jump feet first and get to know the process better before I spent a ton of time building the cabinet and having them come out sounding like crap.

sounds like a fun hobby to pick up, got any other good sites to start reading?

reminds me of my diy hd projector

 

[Kev]

This is a dangerous thread for me ... I think I need to have it blocked  [eek]

Great work on those enclosures - that look quite professional!