Zaphaudio & DIY community - Thank you

[Rmaz]

I recently finished a new set of loudspeakers – Zaphaudio BAMTM’s. These speakers replace my 30 year old Cerwin Vega’s. All I can say is the sound quality of these new speakers is exceptional and exceeds my expectation. As an added bonus, the construction part was very enjoyable.

For music, I can now hear things that were not audible with the CV’s. For HT, I run these 4.1 and dialog is great.

Many thanks to Zaphaudio for sharing this excellent design on his website.

Also, thanks to many DIY’ers who posted construction tips on this site.

I’ll now attempt to post a photo – hope this works….

[ThomasW]

Congratulations on attaching the picture, and oh yea congats on your nice looking build... :T :B

[stangbat]

That's a nice looking build. Thanks for sharing.

[Ray Collins]

Congratulations!!!!!

Ray

[---k---]

Looks good. :T

So what is your next speaker project? :B

[tylerdurden]

Very nice~!! Excellent job. Did you build the stands as well. If so, show us a PIC of them as well if you can. I bet they sound awesome. Congrats!! :T

[jkrutke]

Great job on the build, I'm glad you enjoy the project.

[Nichol1997]

They look fantastic! Is that a veneer on the sides? Did you apply it after painting the baffles?

[Rmaz]

Guys,
Thanks for the nice compliments.

Did you build the stands as well. :T

I made the speaker stands from leftover MDF and veneer. Rustoleum satin black finish matches nicely with the wood. 4" x 22.5" post brings the height to 24". Used a 3/8” threaded rod through the center for rigidity. Very stable.

They look fantastic! Is that a veneer on the sides? Did you apply it after painting the baffles?

The baffles are removable. The veneer is a paper backed mahogany from veneersupplies.com. I liked the fine grain of the mahogany. I used contact cement to apply. Turned out pretty nice. I was surprised how easy (and time consuming) it was to apply the veneer.

Looks good. :T
So what is your next speaker project? :B

LOL. Yeah, I'm hooked.

[tylerdurden]

I made the speaker stands from leftover MDF and veneer. Rustoleum satin black finish matches nicely with the wood.

It certainly does!! I want to do a piano black high gloss finish on the cabs with a solid peice of walnut for the baffle and walnut for the base on my ZDT3.5's. I beleive the dark finish realy makes the wood stand out.
Great design of the stands. Once again very nice work!

[Rmaz]

It certainly does!! I want to do a piano black high gloss finish on the cabs with a solid peice of walnut for the baffle and walnut for the base on my ZDT3.5's. I beleive the dark finish realy makes the wood stand out.
Great design of the stands. Once again very nice work!

I thought about doing a piano black finish but I worry about the paint cracking along the joints over time. Is this a legitimate concern?

[tylerdurden]

I thought about doing a piano black finish but I worry about the paint cracking along the joints over time. Is this a legitimate concern?

It certainly can be if your joints are not strong. You should use some type of joining like rabitting, dovetail or sometimes i have used a Locking Mitre router bit. Infinity tools makes a good one. They are fast and easy to use if you have a half shank router. Just cutting at a 45 degree angle or flat joining, often isnt enough. Some sort of locking joint should be used.
And if they will be used in alot of different environments with extreme changes in temps, but this is very unlikely for an indoor speaker, obviously.

[stangbat]

The baffles are removable. The veneer is a paper backed mahogany from veneersupplies.com. I liked the fine grain of the mahogany. I used contact cement to apply. Turned out pretty nice. I was surprised how easy (and time consuming) it was to apply the veneer.

Wow! The only reason I didn't comment on the enclosures earlier was because I figured you used the pre-made PE enclosures. So I'll give you props now. You did an awesome job on them. Good enough that I thought you bought them.

[Rmaz]

It certainly can be if your joints are not strong. You should use some type of joining like rabitting, dovetail or sometimes i have used a Locking Mitre router bit. Infinity tools makes a good one. They are fast and easy to use if you have a half shank router. Just cutting at a 45 degree angle or flat joining, often isnt enough.

tylerdurden, thanks for the reply. I have never attempted that type of joining before. Maybe I'll try rabbeting on some scrap MDF just to learn the technique before starting a project.

Oh, pardon my ignorance but what is a half shank router?

-Rich

[tylerdurden]

tylerdurden, thanks for the reply. I have never attempted that type of joining before. Maybe I'll try rabbeting on some scrap MDF just to learn the technique before starting a project.

Oh, pardon my ignorance but what is a half shank router?

-Rich

I kind of said it wrong. But it is symply a router that has a 1/2" colet and thus will take 1/2" shank bits. The shank is the part that slides into the colet. It is the larger/stronger size. If you have a 1/2" capable router it would be no problem to run the type of joining bit I was refering to. But if you want to do some rabiting or dove tail, a 1/4 inch router would be fine in most softer woods. but not in THICK MDF or most thick hardwoods. The larger shank and more powerfull motor is always best. Specialy when working with MDF or HDF.
Amazon has a Hitachi combo Plunge/fixed router right now reasonably priced. I have been shoping for a new one my self as my old Porter Cable is getting tired.
Yes practice on some scrap. Some might say that using a rabit type joint is over kill, but I beleive its the only way to go. And the joints will not show up on a piano black finish because you are using MDF, thus no grain that you want to show. So you will be using a Bondo type filler to cover all minor voids and dicrepancy's, nail holes, etc.
PM me if you would like to talk more!

[Cataclysm]

Awesome build; those speakers are very professional looking.

I thought about doing a piano black finish but I worry about the paint cracking along the joints over time. Is this a legitimate concern?

So long as you used a quality wood glue and sound joinery (i.e the cabinet isn't so weak that it's what is going to separate), you aren't going to have an issue with automotive grade paints. Using spray bombs? You might run into issues.

Ever see a car come out of a rough hailstorm with all the dents in the roof and horizontal sheet metal? The paint doesn't crack, it simply "bends" with the deformed steel because of the excellent adhesion and flexibility of the paint products.

[tylerdurden]

So long as you used a quality wood glue and sound joinery (i.e the cabinet isn't so weak that it's what is going to separate), you aren't going to have an issue with automotive grade paints. Using with spray bombs? You might run into issues.

Ever see a car come out of a rough hailstorm with all the dents in the roof and horizontal sheet metal? The paint doesn't crack, it simply "bends" with the deformed steel because of the excellent adhesion and flexibility of the paint products.

Good point! Quality paint is a must. But some of us dont have PRO type spray equipment. So for me the joint is a good alternative. I have never had a problem using "spray bombs" on a good joint.
We used to call them POOF cans. :B

[Cataclysm]

Not to hijack, but I chirped in on the paint topic because I just finished putting the base coat on my SR-71's today (still needs clear):





There are a lot of guides floating around on how to perform such finishes on wooden substrates, and there really aren't too many fundamental differences between doing it with rattle cans, or with HVLP spray guns like I use. So long as you're willing to dedicate the time and work through the process step-by-step, the end result will be astonishing.

As well, I find alcohol goes a long way to extend my patience when sanding endlessly. :E

[tylerdurden]

Very VERY nice dude. I have been wanting to invest in a HVLP gun for some time. I keep seeing results like this and it only motivates me. Your right about the time in sanding. You have to do it, ALOT of it to acheive these kinds of beauty's.
Great job!! ;x(