Trompie`s Statement build including Centre and Mini`s

[Trompie]

Hi There.

Thought I would start my Statement build tread as I have ordered my ribbon tweeters yesterday from Madisound and will soon order my xover parts and other drivers from P.E.

I just want to share my excitement with you guys as I'm part of the family now.

Best of luck to everyone.

Trompie.

"As I thought shipment to me is a Killer .... BUT I expect the Statements to be at least the same. "

[AdelaaR]

Why do you have to order from the USA and spend that much on shipment?
Don't you have a local shop selling these things?

[Silver1omo]

Why do you have to order from the USA and spend that much on shipment?
Don't you have a local shop selling these things?

I guess no, I'm in the same situation. Whenever I start ordering, shipping will be high...

[Trompie]

The drivers is not available in South Africa, though there is companies that are wiling to import them for you but at that stage its better to import them yourself unless of course you are willing to pay more for there services.

As for the crossover parts I have decided to import them as well since I believe they would be worth the investment.

Trompie

[BeerParty]

Welcome to the club, and good luck with your build.

[Trompie]

Update on progress

Here is an update on my speaker building project.

About 12 years back a bought some Blue Gum tree planks that was cut from huge old trees (older then a 100 years according to town folks that know some of their history). The piece of land was bought for the development of an church so some of them were cut down and processed into planks.

At that time I didn't had any plans for them so now 12 years later I decided it was time to use some of them in my speaker project.

Fortunately for me my wife had no objection to the size of the Statement speakers. I however had to modify my home to accommodate the speakers so a few walls had to go (they were kind of a nuisance anyway) coupled with some other alterations.

This was my first speaker project.The build took me about 2 months to complete for the set of five. I worked 95% of the time alone with some occasional help from my wife/twin brother and friends.I spend quite some time in designing and building jigs so that I was able to do most of the work alone. Should I decide to build a second pair it would be much quicker next time.

The Statements way in at 80 kg each (176 pounds) and the Minis are 41 kg (90 pounds) each.

Most of the pic`s were taken wit my cell phones camera so I do apologize for the poor quality in advance.
I also would like to mention that I`m not fluent in English and that some of the words might not have the meaning that I intended.


I`m very proud to show you my Statement family.


Statements and center.



MiniStatments used as surrounds.



Without drivers

[Trompie]

Some Tools

Below is some of the tools that I used. Some of theme are my own and some was lend to my by family members.

My brothers Radial arm saw.



My home made router table that I made for this project.



My old wood planer and in the background some of the planks that were going to be used.

[impala454]

Wow very nice!

[Trompie]

some jigs

Here are some of the jigs that I made and used.This is what I came up all on my own so I hope to inspire some of you to consider a curved speaker build.

The jigs helped me to achieve the "curved" shape that I had in mind.







Thanks to my uncle for his orbital sander that did a excellent job.



This jig help with the cutting inside the speaker panel/side for the bracings and tops to fit nicely.

[Trompie]

Doing the tops

Thanks impala I do enjoy them SOOOO much.
This is how I made my tops and the jig that I used.

I used a jig saw to get close to the shape that I wanted and then I used my routher and jig to do it more precise.









MiniStatement top in progress.

[Trompie]

Some pics of the baffels

Some pics of the speakers front baffles in progress.





Statement back side



Statements Fronts

[Trompie]

Some more pics

Some more pics in progress.









Good picture to get an idea of the design of my Statements.The look that I was after.Curved on the sides and top

[Hank]

Nice work! :T

[Trompie]

More pics

A view trough the Statements lower woofer.



A view of the (not finished) crossovers. I decided since some of the parts got a little worm in the initial testing phase I`ll add some old cpu coolers to the mix.



I need to go now so a put up some more pics later.

[Wheels]

Wow. Amazing build. I love the jigs you built for the curved cabinets. Very nice looking.

[Silver1omo]

Great work!

[impala454]

Oh wow those jigs are awesome. Very inventive.

[Jim Holtz]

Trompie,

Beautiful craftsmanship! :T

I hope you think they sound as good as they look... :B

Jim

[Trompie]

More pics

Thanks Hank,Wheels,Silver1omo,impala and Jim for the positive comments but truth be told, I also need to thank you guys for the inspiration and development on this forum.

To me they sound even better then they look. The sound they make (given a good recording off course)are Really ADDICTIVE and I struggle to get my daily dose :B

....... and some more pics of the center speaker.

View from top without the front baffle.



crossovers ready for placement.



view through back port



Almost finished as I still need to add the feet's that lay on top of the speaker. ops:

[Trompie]

More pics









Back view of one of the Statements

[Trompie]

pics of the MiniStatements

Since they way in at 41 kg (90 pounds) each, they are much easier to handle then the full size Statements at 80 kg (176 pounds) each.







Pic of the feet that a friend made for me that can adjust individually if needed for level placement.

[Trompie]

Magnets

Magnet placement for holding the covers (that I still need to design and make).

I have taken the idea a little further then only on the front of the baffles and added some magnets to the side of each speaker as well to hold the covers in place when I remove them.
The center speakers magnets are on top as I still need to make a dedicated/matching stand/cabinet for the TV and other equipment so the TV on top of the center is only temporarily.

It`s kind of difficult to see the front magnets on this pics.

[Steidl Guitars]

Fantastic!

[BigJim_inFLA]

Outstanding work! Great idea on those jigs to make the curved sides.

[Trompie]

Thank you for the nice feedback Steidl and BigJim.

I hope that someone may be able to pick up a tip or two and possibly learn something from my experienced/build as I did from yours.

You guys always answered my questions even if they were stupid ones ... Ugh .. Curt ... :W and always willing to point me in the right direction, so you guys were my inspiration and motivation without actually knowing it.

Thanks for that.
Trompie

[BeerParty]

I however had to modify my home to accommodate the speakers so a few walls had to go (they were kind of a nuisance anyway) coupled with some other alterations.

You modified your house to accommodate the full sized Statements?
:jawdrop:

I am kidding of course (well, a little anyway), but I still have to bow down to that kind of commitment... ;x(

Fantastic work on the full set, they are definitely a cut above par. If I had that kind of skill I might consider modifying my house to fit a pair as well. Thanks for sharing the pictures and details of the build.

[Trompie]

Here is an update on how they sound.

This is a difficult one for me to answer/explain so lets try ... and this of course is according to me and my ears and goes for the whole set "family"...

They sound :

"true" I`m referring to the quality of the recording you use. Great recording = Excellent sound and listening experience.

"open" and "Wide" with "depth". I can rely hear that mids come to live, it must be the fact that they play through the speaker boxes. They have the ability to let me place the singer/s and instrument/s more precise. I can literally hear the one singer standing next to the other one and sing. That was rely weird in the beginning. Choirs sound unusually good when they fill the whole room behind and sometimes even in front of the singer/s. The sound not only have a left and right positioning but now they have an near,far and almost hight dimension as well. I was definitely not used to that. I sometimes do my listening in a dark room and I know its physically imposable for that sound/person to play/sing from where it currently is coming from. They have an extra ordinary capability of literally breaking through my rooms dimensions.The vocals/instruments its just there it doesn't sound like they are being generated by my speakers.

"Detailed" as I`f heard sounds in songs that I know I new very well and didn't picked that up before. That goes from bass level up to the high notes. I kind of expected this to happen as I have read some of your guys reviews

The bass is (though some people could never get enough :twisted: ) .... Amazing. I relay did not see that coming, that being said nor did any of my friends or family. It sounds very "controlled" from low levels up to high levels of volume. It was and still is weird as in the beginning I played some songs that I knew, and thought to myself "Now why would I like some more bass" and then I plaid some other songs and go "Were does that bass came from and then it hit me I`m comparing them to my previous speakers and the songs I have last listen on the old ones that now sounds sooooo "boxy" and unrealistic. The Statement only produce the correct/required bass when needed. In that department they are absolutely brilliant. They rely perform flawless. It`s just there ALL around you in the room.

When my friends asked me how they're sounding now that I`m supposed to be use to them, they say" don't even bother to answer because that smile says it all".

To me they sound mesmerizing, kind of TOO Good and when I listen to them they simply Demand Respect.
I will admit that I`m now addicted to their sound. :B

I would like to give credit to Jim and Curt and everyone els that may have been involved in the development of the design. ;x(

Thanks.
Trompie

[Jim Holtz]

Trompie,

Thank you for the excellent review and very kind words! Curt, Wayne and I appreciate it. We're glad that you like the Statements series as much as we do. :B

Jim

[Coconutout]

id applaud if you could hear me. incredible job!!

[GMorris]

Beautiful job Trompie! What is the material you used to cover the mdf baffles?

[alteredbeast77]

absolutely outstanding ;x(

[Trompie]

Thanks guys for your great compliments. I do appreciate it very much.

The reason I started this tread is not to show of my work but I truly wanted to try and inspire/motivate someone to consider/making their own curved speaker builds.
So this is why I tried to show people what I did and how it was achieved and to also share my construction technique/jigs in the hope that someone would be able to pick up a tip or two
Please feel free to ask me any questions related to my build/project/jigs if you think I might be able to help in your build..

@GMorris "What is the material you used to cover the mdf baffles?"

In the beginning I wanted to use real leather but unfortunately the leather that I liked was unable to cover the Statements front baffles completely (unless they stitch it together in which case I was not sure how that would have looked).

It is a leather looking material with a thin foam backing. I piked it up at a fabric shops furniture upholstery devision (apparently it`s used on Lounge Suites). I kind of hoped that the colors would go well together when they are finished. I am very pleased with the results.

I will soon post more details/picks of the jigs and how it works with different arches and how I used it.

Trompie

[Bear]

Beautiful work. Well done.

[JimAckley]

I love the curved cabinets! You did a phenomenal job!

[Trompie]

Arches for the sides of the Speakers

Thanks for the nice compliments guys. It`s much appreciated.

Here are some more picks about the arches that I made for the sides/tops of my Statements. Pleas note that two of each were made. All the sides and tops on all the speakers have the same curves.

This picks is not of the actual build itself but rather a few that I put together to give a better idea of the thoughts that I had on how to achieve my goal.

The first pick is about the" curve shape" that I wanted. I kept in mind the thickness of the final planks/product and worked around that as a guideline. No special formulas were used, I used the shape that kind of looked good to me at that time.



This is the "Gluing" arch made according to the curve shape that I wanted. None of the edges on these were routed for the rollers as the router would not be used on them.



a pick to show how it followed the planed curve shape.



.... and some picks to show how it was used.
The planks that I used were first put through my old wood planer to get the correct thickness and the correct angle on the sides for easy gluing. Keep in mind that the planks in this picks is only for demonstration purpose and are not correctly prepared. The g-clamps is also a quick fix as the arches were actually bolted to the steel frame.



and when the glue dried the sides was close the curved shape that I wanted.

[Trompie]

Roller arches

The arches that would be used with the router were routed so that the wheels would follow the "rails" more easily. I applied some wood glue on the "rails" to try and keep them from degrading to fast by the wheels of the router jig.



Pick of the "outside" arch.





"outside" arch on top of the curved shape board.





The RED lines indicate where the router bit would cut and were the router jig wheels will be running on the rails of the arch. The lines runs parallel to each other. The red line on the board (which is the outside of our speaker panel) WILL determine the shape of the arch. Keep in mind the length of the router bit and length it is sticking out of the router as it will have an influence on the arch as well.

[Trompie]

"inside" arch

Pick of the "outside and inside" arch on the board.




The green line on the board ( in the middle of the two arches) determine how the arch curve would finally look and also where the router wheels would need to run in order for the router to achieve the shape required. Again note that the lines runs parallel to each other and keep in mind the length of the router bit and length it is sticking out of the router as it will also have an influence on the arch. If not done correctly then the thickness of the speaker panel would be incorrect/uneven.

[Trompie]

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