Well, after lurking for many weeks I am now on a building tear and thought I would share some of my grand plans for this speaker. I started the boxes last week and hope to finish soon but here is the story so far.
I started this journey looking for a way to DIY clone a set of Totem Forrests. That led me to you guys. ;x( Found out pretty quickly that I needed to build something to really know what I want. So, that led me to the Nat-P as a cost effective experiment. I plan to finish this set with Natalie-P crossovers first and to possibly swap in the Modula MTM crossover so I can hear the difference. After all that, I expect I will have a pretty good feel for my next, more ambitious speakers. So, here goes nuthin' -
It all starts with Mahagomy veneer ply.
Image not available
I used one 2' by 8' section of it to get my baffles, tops, bottoms, and backs.
Images not available
The sides, I cut from MDF 1 inch thick glue ups. Cut an angle on the front edge for effect (I kind of stole this design idea from Lee Taylor at http://www.taylorspeakers.com/. He makes great cabinets and I hope I can come close. These sides will add some good damping and heft to her.
Images not available
The baffles begin to come together. Used my trusty Jasper circle jig to route the holes and laminated 3/4" MDF on the back of the baffle. A router is your friend but a router table with a precision fence is what you take home to meet your parents. :T I chamfered the back edges. Roundover looked cooler but I wanted to be sure I got enough air-flow for those gorgeous Dayton Drivers.
Images not available
Next, I started planning the glue up. I used miter cuts at the corners so I would not have to edge-band anything. Miter cuts are a pain in the rear but it beats designing molecular sized bus-bar architectures and multi-core processors. Besides, biscuit joining is made for this sort of thing.
Images not available
OK, now her form begins to take shape. She's not an overly tall tower at 39 inches but with the sides she will round out at 11 inches wide by 11 and 3/4 inches deep.
Images not available
Well, that's where I am so far. I have the drivers, and the crossover parts should arrive today. She will stand on totem Claws which raise her about 1 and a quarter inch from the floor but she will sit on carpet so I am not sure how that will affect things. I may have to raise her up a bit with spikes on the bottom of the claws (they are designed for that). Her interior dimensions net her out at about 53 liters but that will go down because of the 3" port and the braces. I will cut an access panel into the back so I can swap the crossovers at will.
Three questions more:
1 - I planned on using regular 14ga. braided speaker wire for the crossover to driver to binding post connections. does that make sense?
2 - I plan on lining the back, the sides, and the top/bottom with 2 inch egg crate mattress stuffing. Sound ok? No fill until I can tune to my ear.
3 - What should the port length be for a downfiring 3" port in a cabinet this size? I am Unibox challenged at the moment.
Comments?
I started this journey looking for a way to DIY clone a set of Totem Forrests. That led me to you guys. ;x( Found out pretty quickly that I needed to build something to really know what I want. So, that led me to the Nat-P as a cost effective experiment. I plan to finish this set with Natalie-P crossovers first and to possibly swap in the Modula MTM crossover so I can hear the difference. After all that, I expect I will have a pretty good feel for my next, more ambitious speakers. So, here goes nuthin' -
It all starts with Mahagomy veneer ply.
Image not available
I used one 2' by 8' section of it to get my baffles, tops, bottoms, and backs.
Images not available
The sides, I cut from MDF 1 inch thick glue ups. Cut an angle on the front edge for effect (I kind of stole this design idea from Lee Taylor at http://www.taylorspeakers.com/. He makes great cabinets and I hope I can come close. These sides will add some good damping and heft to her.
Images not available
The baffles begin to come together. Used my trusty Jasper circle jig to route the holes and laminated 3/4" MDF on the back of the baffle. A router is your friend but a router table with a precision fence is what you take home to meet your parents. :T I chamfered the back edges. Roundover looked cooler but I wanted to be sure I got enough air-flow for those gorgeous Dayton Drivers.
Images not available
Next, I started planning the glue up. I used miter cuts at the corners so I would not have to edge-band anything. Miter cuts are a pain in the rear but it beats designing molecular sized bus-bar architectures and multi-core processors. Besides, biscuit joining is made for this sort of thing.
Images not available
OK, now her form begins to take shape. She's not an overly tall tower at 39 inches but with the sides she will round out at 11 inches wide by 11 and 3/4 inches deep.
Images not available
Well, that's where I am so far. I have the drivers, and the crossover parts should arrive today. She will stand on totem Claws which raise her about 1 and a quarter inch from the floor but she will sit on carpet so I am not sure how that will affect things. I may have to raise her up a bit with spikes on the bottom of the claws (they are designed for that). Her interior dimensions net her out at about 53 liters but that will go down because of the 3" port and the braces. I will cut an access panel into the back so I can swap the crossovers at will.
Three questions more:
1 - I planned on using regular 14ga. braided speaker wire for the crossover to driver to binding post connections. does that make sense?
2 - I plan on lining the back, the sides, and the top/bottom with 2 inch egg crate mattress stuffing. Sound ok? No fill until I can tune to my ear.
3 - What should the port length be for a downfiring 3" port in a cabinet this size? I am Unibox challenged at the moment.
Comments?
Comment