Adire DIY Kits

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  • David R.
    Member
    • Apr 2003
    • 90

    Adire DIY Kits

    Eduardo asked me to post some pictures of the Adire DIY kits that I built and also my opinion of them.

    We will start with Construction.. The basic construction of them is very easy.. As always the finish you use can make the project more difficult. If you want to see a how-to of how there constructed, There are many many good construction websites in adires gallery. The xovers are easy to construction if you’re familiar with soldering and such.

    I had some problems with the hardware, and one problem with an AV8..
    1st is the T nuts in a couple of locations. Because the AV8’s fill most of the front the T’s nuts are partially covered by the side panels. Installing the T nuts before hand and counter sinking them (in a couple spots) into the front is required. I’m glad that I caught this before hand.
    2nd the size of the t-nuts. In the manual it says that large T’nuts are used for the 8”s and smaller ones for the tweet/port. I received small ones for everything except 4 which I think are for the 5” in the center. The head on the small ones are barely big enough to not fall through the holes in the 8”s.. Because I like to do things right I purchased replacement T’nuts from one of my works hardware suppliers (needed about 60) . I also needed to purchase longer ones sense I increased the front baffle to 1-1/4” instead of ¾”. Adire should be shipping longer ones.
    3rd the crimp connectors for the mid’s.. Wrong size.. There cheap so I bought new ones.
    4th no construction manuals provided.. I had to print ones off from there website. They should of come with.
    5th after installing my LCC center in its location I discovered some magnetic interference with my TV. After spending some time lifting the tv to see how far away it needed to be I realized that the problem was only happening on one corner which made me think it was a poorly shielded 8". While replacing the 8” with one of the ones from the side surround (81’s) speaker I noted that the magnet was a lot stronger on it.. Once replaced the magnetic interference was gone. I guess one was not shielded very well?.

    I consider these problems to be minor though.

    How do the 281’s sound.. Well I have never really been a big believer in a break in period but with these it sure makes a difference. Right away I noticed the low end. Words like muddy, loose, boomy come to mind. The high end was also lacking, and imaging and staging was blurred and lacked focus. I let it play for a little while and noticed the low end was improving greatly, same with the high end. Today after having about 8 hours of play on it there sounding even better.. The low end & midbass is much tighter and more balanced with the high end, and the imaging is becoming very accurate. So don’t form your impression of these around the first hour of listening . I wonder how much more they will improve with more play time.

    Maybe Andrew will have a opinion once he has listened to them .

    I still need to listen to them more but so far im very happy with how they sound. I believe there far better then anything you can buy in its price range and also can be compared to speakers at least double there price. I feel that most people buying these will be using them for home theater.. It’s my opinion that you don’t need a super expensive speaker for this.. So the Adires fit the bill perfectly. If your looking at the adire centers to go with it, I highly recommend the LCC over the 281 center because of the additional midrange.

    Now for some pictures. The Kit281’s and 81’s are finished in Red Oak Veneer with a Red oak stain and polyurethane. The LCC center was built into an existing TV stand and the Oak veneer was dyed black to match it. Some of the pictures didn’t turn out the greatest (Poor lighting) and the stain is more even then some of the pictures show.

    Picture of the Kit281:


    Picture of the Kit281 with a partially finished grill:


    Picture of the Kit81:


    Picture of the KitLCC:
  • Eduardo
    Moderator emeritus
    • Jun 2002
    • 1258

    #2
    Thank you for taking the time to post your experience. I have built and Shiva SonoSub and I'm very interested in building the Kit281s.
    Because I like to do things right
    I can tell, the speakers look great.

    Questions:
    How did you recess the LCC midrange?
    What kind of veneer and stain did you use?
    How long did it take you to build the speakers?
    How will the grills be attached?

    P.S. I added links to your pictures for convenience.









    http://home.nc.rr.com/ejimenez

    Comment

    • David R.
      Member
      • Apr 2003
      • 90

      #3
      Originally posted by Eduardo
      Thank you for taking the time to post your experience. I have built and Shiva SonoSub and I'm very interested in building the Kit281s.
      Because I like to do things right
      I can tell, the speakers look great.
      Thanks!

      Questions:
      How did you recess the LCC midrange?

      I started with a 3/16" (Might of been 1/4") rabbiting bit, then used a chisel to do the 4 corners.

      What kind of veneer and stain did you use?

      I used the 10mil paper back red oak veneer. Stained with Minwax Red Oak stain.

      How long did it take you to build the speakers?

      I started january 1st. I bought them as kind of a Xmas gift to myself . I can't remember the exact amount of time i spent.. but probably took about 100 hours to build all 5 speakers. Lots of waiting time with the veneer glue and stain/polyurathane.

      How will the grills be attached?

      The 2: 281's use grill magnets (similar to andrews). The 81's and LCC will use the typical grill pins/sockets.

      Having lots of fun playing with my new speakers .

      Comment

      • Gordon Moore
        Moderator Emeritus
        • Feb 2002
        • 3188

        #4
        Hey David,

        Niiiiiice :T great work on those speakers. You must be proud. Love the finish on the veneer.

        Do you think the x-over might be attributing to some of the muddiness? Or you feel that break-in is to blame?
        Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.

        Comment

        • Andrew Pratt
          Moderator Emeritus
          • Aug 2000
          • 16507

          #5
          David its great to see another local building speakers...I've felt awful lonely out here I'm very much looking forward to hearing those 281's and from the looks of it you've done a great job with them. Where did you get your veneer from?

          Maybe in a couple of weeks when we get more used to having Lauren around I'll be able to drive up and given those a listen.

          Putting on my moderating hat for a moment in future to make a URL "clickable" simply highlight the URL then click the URL button above the multicoloured bar above your post. Clicking the IMG button instead would make the image appear instead of a link...play with those in the testing area if you want




          Comment

          • David R.
            Member
            • Apr 2003
            • 90

            #6
            Thanks for the comments guys.

            Gordon, I feel the poor low end response has gone away with time.. Letting them play for 4-8 hours helped.

            Andrew, My cousin actually got me the veneer (He has his own millwork company). But you can get the same veneer from woodlands supply.

            Im still playing around with them to get things how i want. Having a few problems due to the room i think. It's not the ideal setup but the area is off to one side of the room, so there are only 3 walls.. When sitting there is a back wall, left side wall, but no right side wall (L-shaped couch to). When listening to music the imaging is pulled slightly to the left. Probably due to there being a reflective wall surface to the left. Im going to play with speaker locations some more.. Maybe pull them out and make sure im hearing what i think i am .

            Comment

            • David R.
              Member
              • Apr 2003
              • 90

              #7
              Just to update you guys on the left bias problem.. After spending a couple nights playing with it i fixed the problem.. Something was wrong with the inputs to the reciever..

              These things image fantastic. holy cow.. Im extremely impressed now with how there sounding..

              Comment

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