LCR Statement Monitor Build

[lundowner]

Am almost done with the cabinets. I have sealed and sanded with a few coats of sealer and have 2 coats of primer on. I plan on putting the finishing coats on today. With any luck, I'll be listening this evening or tomorrow. Depends on how long the paint takes to dry.

I have another question about crossover mounting. The only logical place to mount these in the monitors is in the woofer portion. This will take up a good deal of room. I notice on others that where the crossover is, there is no foam or damping material. Does that effect the sound? To line the cabinets then take 1/2 of it out for the crossover doesn't make sense to me. If the sound bounces off the sides, won't it bounce off the crossover too? I plan to use 2" fiberglass batting. Would it be better to mount the crossovers and put the fiberglass on top of it? I would prefer just to mount them and line around them. On past projects I have used foam and just sort of wedged the crossovers in between as it was a real tight fit. Harder to do with the fiberglass.

JS

[Curt C]

You can either mount the crossover over or under the stuffing. I’d probably be tempted to mount the crossover on a small piece of foam directly to the enclosure, and lay the fiberglass over it. Likely it will make little audible difference whichever way you choose to mount it.

C

[lundowner]

I finished the cabinets yesterday and they came out all right. Still not perfect or the way I would like them. My wife commented she liked the "antique" look. LOL It's funny, bare mdf looked great, after 3 coats of sealer, looks good, 2 coats of primer still looks pretty good, put on the black paint and every little defect shows. Thank goodness they are in a position where even if you walk right up to them, due to lighting and orientation, the defects are harder to see. Still, the best finish on a speaker I ever did was a few years ago on my first project. Not sure what I'm doing different. I might try plywood next time or a veneer.

I finished wiring the crossovers. I made a seperate one for each network. Layed them all in the bottom of the cabinets and plugged in the drivers to make sure they were all ok. Everything tested fine. So fine that I actually thought they sounded better than the speakers I had been using, so I let them play while watching TV last night. Keep in mind, the port isn't installed yet, no foam in the mid tunnel, no cabinet lining what so ever. The drivers aren't even screwed in and they sound great. I should get all the rest done this afternoon. I'll try and post some pictures this weekend.

JS

[lundowner]

Well I pretty much have these done now. Been listening all weekend and am very pleased. I am posting a picture of my crossovers I took before assembly. Like I said earlier, I find building a seperate board for each network is easiest for me. I also didn't follow the BOM exactly either here. I chose to use some old leftover caps and bundle them to save a few bucks to make up the 50uF and 70uF circuits for the mid and the woofer.

I'll post pictures of the speakers when I get the grills done. Those are mandatory here unfortunately. Anyway, for my grills I use window screen frames sized to the cabinet. I was wondering tho, how to minimize any bad effects from the grill. The window screen frames are very thin, and I have in the past attached them with velcro. They look nice but I'm wondering if there is anyway of mounting them to diminish any unwanted effects.

[lundowner]

Sorry, I've have so enjoyed listening to these, I forgot to post the final picture. One shows the grill attached. Yes, the finish could be better, but where they are sitting, it is hard to see my lack of cabinet making skills.

Thanks for everyone's help on these. I haven't decided if I am actually going to build new surrounds. I have Polk RCI's (in wall) now and would need to find an actual in-wall layout for something. Problem is, these walls are only 4 inches thick and I do not have an on-wall option. The rci's work well so I'll take my time and see if I can come up with something.

JS