PE enclosure question - search no luck

[Finleyville]

Anyway...

I will be building a TW pair using the RS28's and the RS225's with this PE enclosure.. Has anyone tried to use their own front baffle? I was intrested in a glossy mahogany front. Would this even work with dissimilar materials? I was hoping to find a 3/4" baffle and rabbit the sides similar to the stock front baffle. Since I have never built home speakers before I was looking for a little guidance.

Oh, btw, the reason I was using the PE part in the first place is I do not thnk I could do a better job with a piano black finish than those. Thanks again.

[ThomasW]

Wouldn't it be easier to strip the finish of the stock baffle and apply some mahagony veneer?

[jkrutke]

Anyway...

I will be building a TW pair using the RS28's and the RS225's with this PE enclosure.. Has anyone tried to use their own front baffle? I was intrested in a glossy mahogany front. Would this even work with dissimilar materials? I was hoping to find a 3/4" baffle and rabbit the sides similar to the stock front baffle. Since I have never built home speakers before I was looking for a little guidance.

Oh, btw, the reason I was using the PE part in the first place is I do not thnk I could do a better job with a piano black finish than those. Thanks again.

Hello,

I put my own baffles on PE boxes all the time. The baffles on both this and this project are non-PE. I use up the original baffle and then want to try something else, but honestly I think the price of their blank baffles is too high for what amounts to a simple painted piece of MDF.

The baffles are normal 3/4" mdf, but I use 3/8" strips of hardwood to make a frame insert that will be glued on to the baffle for good fit-up and sealing. I also buy longer screws so I don't need to countersink the holes. M4 socket head cap screws with washers, typically.

Here's where I make it interesting - when I glue the frame insert to the baffle, I add 1/8" pre-stressed inwards deflection. Then when I tighten the corner fasteners, I get good tightening/sealing pressure in the middle. This is an area where the stock PE baffles fall short - even with the corners tight, the middles often rattle unless you glue them. Glueing them is a good idea, but I'm re-using and/or getting inside all the time, so I don't glue them.

Anyway, you could do the same thing and just use a solid piece of hardwood.

[Finleyville]

The baffles are normal 3/4" mdf, but I use 3/8" strips of hardwood to make a frame insert that will be glued on to the baffle for good fit-up and sealing. I also buy longer screws so I don't need to countersink the holes. M4 socket head cap screws with washers, typically.

O.K. Since I am much better at circuits than woodworking (read: cannot hammer a nail straight ops: ) I will try to decypher your instructions.

I think you mean that you use 4 strips of wood fixed to the back side of the baffle that snug up against the insides of the enclosure and "center" the baffle to the box. This provides a superior seal and fit.

Here's where I make it interesting - when I glue the frame insert to the baffle, I add 1/8" pre-stressed inwards deflection. Then when I tighten the corner fasteners, I get good tightening/sealing pressure in the middle. This is an area where the stock PE baffles fall short - even with the corners tight, the middles often rattle unless you glue them. Glueing them is a good idea, but I'm re-using and/or getting inside all the time, so I don't glue them.

Alright, everything bolded went right over my head. I will look into totally sealing the whole baffle to the enclosure so the edges between the screw points do not rattle.

Wouldn't it be easier to strip the finish of the stock baffle and apply some mahagony veneer?

I did think about that first. However, I have never seen the PE baffles let alone try to veneer anything before. I didn't know how difficult it would be around the rounded edges and corners. That is why I thought of a solid piece of wood.


Ideally, I would LOVE to have a piano gloss rosewood front baffle like this example. Is rosewood naturally that red or was it stained that color then clearcoated?

[technimac]

The piano-gloss rosewood is beautiful, but the corners of the baffle and sides are not rounded. Look carefully and see that the top and bottom extend beyond the baffle - their corners are rounded.
Cheers, Bruce

[Finleyville]

The piano-gloss rosewood is beautiful, but the corners of the baffle and sides are not rounded. Look carefully and see that the top and bottom extend beyond the baffle - their corners are rounded.
Cheers, Bruce

Bruce,

Are you describing the PE baffle or the linked baffle? I brought up the rosewood only to illustrate the type of finish I wanted. I was questioning the shape of the standard PE baffles to see if I could veneer it myself.

[dynamowhum]

I believe he is saying the baffle panel itself is flat. The panel insets into the box. It is the box that has the rounded edges. Cheers