Yet another Statements build thread!

[mattsk8]

New to this site. I've only built one set of home audio speakers and that was the Tritrix MTM. Just wanted the practice so I started w/ cheap and easy. Those sounded pretty good but I wanted better. Next set will be the statements. I'm also going to build a pair of the MTM Towers designed by Dennis Murphy and Paul Kittinger (uses ER18 woofers). I'll build the statements first. I do already have all the components, speakers and xovers, for both pair of speakers. I've started a build thread on Audioholics and figured I'd post here as well. Not sure if I can post a link cuz this is my first post here, but I'll try... http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...nts-build.html

[Jim Holtz]

Excellent! Welcome to HT Guide. I look forward to following your build progress and we love to see pictures of your work.

Jim

[mattsk8]

Excellent! Welcome to HT Guide. I look forward to following your build progress and we love to see pictures of your work.

Jim

Sorry for the late reply but thanks :T ! I'll keep ya posted for sure. I hate coming home to boxes of speakers, crossover components and MDF just lying there waiting to be attacked! I need more time, been super busy lately!! Wife permitting, I hope to start making the cuts tomorrow.

I'm still in awe of how good the Tritrix sound for the money, can't wait to here these babys!!

One other thing, a super HUGE thanks to you Jim Holtz, and to Curt Campbell for taking the time to share your knowledge w/ us underprivledged souls!! I soooo love audio and you guys make it possible for me to afford to take it to the next level!! Thanks again guys!!!

[mattsk8]

Finally got to cut some wood yesterday. I got all the pieces for the main cabinets cut; waiting to cut the mid cabs till I have the mains test fit so I can figure if I want to dado them or just how I'm going to do it. Pretty excited!!

Basically what I'm doing is dadoing the back cabinet board, then I glued the 3/4" piece to the 1/2" piece for the front and I'll dado that as well. Also dadoing cabinets for the braces.

As far as the boards for the bases of the cabinets, I'm gluing 3 pieces together so the bases will be 2 1/4" thick when finished. I'm porting through the back as opposed to the bottom but I still wanted a thick base so I had sturdy options for feet or for any type of base I want. I still have to finish gluing the last piece on (have two glued together now, need 3) then I'll dado these. Hard to explain but I'll post more pics when I get em done so it makes more sense :T .

Just out of curiosity, I haven't assembled the crossovers for these yet and was planning on placing them in the base of the cabinet. I realize that by putting them here if something were to ever go wrong w/ them I would be SOL! Is there a way around this? I thought about building a base w/ the crossover in it but this would then raise the height of the speakers to over the 60" mark; right now my finished cabinet height will be 56 1/2", which will allow 3 1/2" for some feet or some sort of base (wasn't a fan of the original base, no offense to anyone please). Would adding a couple inches to the height have a negetive affect on the dynamics of the statements (I'm guessing a base to hold the crossover would be about 6 1/4" thick, making my finished height about 62 3/4")? A couple other options would be to put the crossovers on the back, or cut an opening in the bottom of the back of the cabinets that would screw on so I could access the crossovers. What way would you guys do it if you wanted access to the crossovers? BTW, The internal dimensions of the cabinets didn't change at all, just have to trust me on that one!!

Thanks in advance for any input here!!

[yzracer14]

If you're porting through the rear, but still end up using a thick base like the original design, you could use the empty space under the cab to house the crossover. Similar to this. But if you dont want a base like that and in-cab is needed, I would definitely go with an access hatch.

The height of the statements assumes a standard ear-height at listening position for the tweeter of 38". If height is added, then you should shift the drivers to maintain the 38" tweeter height.

You might also want to take a look at THIS.

[mattsk8]

If you're porting through the rear, but still end up using a thick base like the original design, you could use the empty space under the cab to house the crossover.
But if you dont want a base like that and in-cab is needed, I would definitely go with an access hatch.

I don't think I'll have room in the base to house the xover w/out making the speakers taller (I think the finished base would end up at around 6ish inches w/ room to put the crossover inside). So, I think my best bet is the access hatch. My question here is, to do the access hatch and still maintain a sturdy back panel, I would probably have to add some 1 1/2" wide pieces of MDF all the way around the hatch opening to the inside of the cabinet. That would give me a 3/4" lip to screw the hatch to on the back of the cabinets and still have the flush back (does that make sense to anyone but me ?). Would those pieces adversely affect the internal airspace of the cabinets? The other option would be to screw the 3/4" thick access panel to the outside of the cabinet and dress up all the edges w/ a roundover so it didn't look quit so goofy. Guess I've got some thinking to do...

Thanks for the links BTW :T ! I was going to go all out and add additional bracing and what not, but at this point (this is only my second speaker build) I'm afraid to make any changes at all to Jim's original design internally cuz I don't want to mess anything up!! I'll start to get creative on my next builds after I have a bit more practice!!

[Jim Holtz]

The simple solution for crossover access is to make the board you're mounting the crossover on narrow enough to slide through the woofer cutout and the bracing. You can always split the crossover onto two smaller boards.

Jim

[mattsk8]

The simple solution for crossover access is to make the board you're mounting the crossover on narrow enough to slide through the woofer cutout and the bracing. You can always split the crossover onto two smaller boards.

Jim

So I would mount the 2 xover 1/2s on each side of the inside of the cabinets right above the lower brace and below the woofer brace?

I think I'll just finish w/ the dados, cut the speaker holes in the front baffle, and mock the cabinets and the crossovers together. then I can step back and look at it. Probably over thinking it at this point...

[Jim Holtz]

So I would mount the 2 xover 1/2s on each side of the inside of the cabinets right above the lower brace and below the woofer brace?

That would work perfect and is what I did except mine are below the bottom brace.

Jim

[mattsk8]

Thanks for the replies! I have another question, if you look at the actual picture of the naked cabinet w/ the back off that's on Curt's site, it shows a total of 4 braces; 2 behind the woofers and 2 toward the base of the cabinet. On the cabinet drawings it only shows the 2 braces behind the woofers and 1 at the bottom of the cabinet. I went w/ the drawing pic, so just the one brace toward the bottom of the cabinet. Was there something I missed?

Also, I see the guys that build these cut the woofer braces around the woofers as opposed to just making them 5" deep x 10" wide. Is there a performance gain by doing this? I realize it's more bracing but just wondered if it's necessary or overkill? I just made mine the 5"x10" but cutting 4 new ones wouldn't be too big a deal. Guess I'm just being lazy but will having them go around the woofers make a difference or not?

[yzracer14]

The simple solution for crossover access is to make the board you're mounting the crossover on narrow enough to slide through the woofer cutout and the bracing. You can always split the crossover onto two smaller boards.

Jim

Very simple indeed. I had assumed the OP had already eliminated that option for some reason.

[Jim Holtz]

Also, I see the guys that build these cut the woofer braces around the woofers as opposed to just making them 5" deep x 10" wide. Is there a performance gain by doing this? I realize it's more bracing but just wondered if it's necessary or overkill? I just made mine the 5"x10" but cutting 4 new ones wouldn't be too big a deal. Guess I'm just being lazy but will having them go around the woofers make a difference or not?

Everyone has their own "secret" formula for cabinet building. I'm not a good enough cabinet builder to have a "secret" formula so I just do what makes sense at the time. I try to have a brace of some sort every 8"- 10" on flat panels. I'm happy with that. Others aren't so they do what they think is right. It's the "Y" in DIY.

Jim

[mattsk8]

Got to work on these babys some more yesterday. Got all my dados done plus I got the mid tunnels put together. I also got to mock the cabinets together just to make sure everything fit after altering the dimensions of the wood for the dados.

Today I'm going to cut in the speaker holes and do all the roundovers and cut holes in the bracing.

As far as crossover mounting I've decided to put them in the base of the cabs (Jim said it was a good spot :T ). The question I have here is, I purchased the wedge foam to line the inner cabinet walls w/. Should I just use hollow fill (white cabinet stuffing) in the base (under the lower brace) instead of the wedge foam? I won't be able to put the wedge foam on the walls where the crossovers are mounted. Also, what do you put around the mid tunnels? More hollow fill? Then I guess I'd just line the woofer cabinet walls w/ the wedge foam, correct?

[mattsk8]

Didn't get to work on these yesterday, waaaay too busy lately. Guess that's not all bad but I really want to get these together so I can hear how they sound!...

[mattsk8]

Here's progress so far. Still have to bevel the woofer mounting hole on the back side of the baffles. Already did the mids. I also have mounted the mid tunnel braces on the side panels since the pic was taken. This was a test fit to make sure everything was fitting. Fits like a snug glove!! Tomorrow I plan on mounting the threaded inserts for the tweets and woofers. I used T-nuts for the mids. Getting super excited to hear these babys roar!!

[mattsk8]

Update on what I've gotten done. Just have to bevel the woofer cutouts on the inside of the baffles and cabinets are ready for assembly :T .

I did write up a bit on what I think between hurricane nuts, T-nuts, threaded inserts, and just using wood screws to hold drivers in on this site if anyones interested; click the link then go down to post #36: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...s-build-4.html

Next is the crossovers. If I lay these out the way I think they're supposed to go, can someone let me know if Im doing it wrong? My crossover knowledge is almost non existant!

[john trials]

I recommend cutting out more behind the midrange driver to let it 'breath' better. You've still got quite a narrow tunnel behind your mid.

[mattsk8]

I recommend cutting out more behind the midrange driver to let it 'breath' better. You've still got quite a narrow tunnel behind your mid.

I was actually considering taking a straight 1/2" router bit and taking the midrange portion of the baffle down to 5/8" everywhere except where the hurricane nuts are mounted all the way up to where the mid tunnels mount to the baffle. This a bad idea? Or should I just use the bevel bit and go a bit deeper?

[john trials]

It sounds like your plan is almost the same as what I did.

Behind the each mid, I cut the 1/2" part of the baffle so it had a 5" square in it to match the tunnel. In that photo above, that is just the 3/4" part of the baffle with a chamfer that extends almost out to the 5" square on the rear. It may have been overkill, but it certainly can't hurt.

[mattsk8]

It sounds like your plan is almost the same as what I did.

Behind the each mid, I cut the 1/2" part of the baffle so it had a 5" square in it to match the tunnel. In that photo above, that is just the 3/4" part of the baffle with a chamfer that extends almost out to the 5" square on the rear. It may have been overkill, but it certainly can't hurt.

Thanks for the input :T . I see what you mean. I put my 1/2" ply on the front of my baffle but I get the idea. I'll get to routing tonight. Hopefully I'm carefull enough to not anihilate my router bit on those hurricane nuts :E !

[mattsk8]

Got the mids routed out and didn't even ruin my router bit !

[mattsk8]

This is where I'll definitely need some guidance! I know the pics aren't very good and you can't really read the numbers on any of it, but as far as the order of the parts, do these look right? When I go to really do it I'll consolidate the pieces better but just wanted to put it together to see if I had them in the right order for starters. Thanks in advance for any help :T !

[mattsk8]

Thinking about porting these through the back instead of the bottom just because it'll be less work. Does this change the length of the port, or make it all the same length, just put it in the back instead of the bottom? Also, I was planning on putting the port just above the bottom brace in the cabinet. Is this a good location for the port? And, does this change the 18" from the wall recommended location?

Also, I got the xovers figured out (at least I'm pretty sure ) and hope to have these speakers glued up and playing inside of 2 weeks!!!

[Jim Holtz]

Thinking about porting these through the back instead of the bottom just because it'll be less work. Does this change the length of the port, or make it all the same length, just put it in the back instead of the bottom? Also, I was planning on putting the port just above the bottom brace in the cabinet. Is this a good location for the port? And, does this change the 18" from the wall recommended location?

Also, I got the xovers figured out (at least I'm pretty sure ) and hope to have these speakers glued up and playing inside of 2 weeks!!!

Back, front or bottom are all the same and do not change anything. However, the port does need to be below the driver so it's not a straight shot from the back of the driver out the port.

Jim

[mattsk8]

Back, front or bottom are all the same and do not change anything. However, the port does need to be below the driver so it's not a straight shot from the back of the driver out the port.

Jim

Wish there was a thank you button :T

Front port? The main reason I'm not going thru the bottom is cuz I still haven't figured out what I want to do for a base on these and this will leave more options open. Based on that, would you front or rear port these and what would be the pros/cons of doing either?

[Jim Holtz]

Wish there was a thank you button :T

Front port? The main reason I'm not going thru the bottom is cuz I still haven't figured out what I want to do for a base on these and this will leave more options open. Based on that, would you front or rear port these and what would be the pros/cons of doing either?

I prefer rear port rather than front. It is possible to hear port chuffing on any speaker with a front port that is pushed to the extremes. Also, the 18" rule still applies to all port positions.

Jim

[mattsk8]

Thanks again! I'll cut the ports out tomorrow. Should be the last cut in the cabinets, Lord willing! Today I had to route a small channel in the mid tunnels to allow for the aluminum tweeter fins. Seems like every time I mock the cabinets together I find some other reason I need to fire up the router table.

Tomorrow I have to order one more sheet of the 1" sticky backed foam for the mid tunnels. The 2 I ordered from PE are 2- 5"x15" pieces short of doing the mid tunnels. Also have to order a pair of terminals for the backs of the speakers and hopefully I'm ready to rock. Then it's make the xovers, and glue up the cabinets! Getting pretty excited to hear these!!!

[mattsk8]

Rough cabinets are done!!! Ended up putting the midrange crossover on top of the upper mid tunnel and the woofer/tweeter crossover is mounted right on the base of the cabinet. Put the port just above the lower brace. Holy smokes do these ever sound absolutely amazing!! When I first played them in my garage I used my garage receiver, a circa 89 Kenwood receiver that's 85 watts/channel and sounded amazing. I brought them over to my dads house (I built these for him) and hooked them up to his Pioneer SX-1250 and good Lord do they ever sound fantastic!!!! Trans Siberian Orchestra's Carmina Burana, or Nutrocker will almost make you cry when heard through these musical canons. Billy Joel and Neil Diamond is treat as well. I'll post better listening impressions when I have more time. Well done Jim Holtz, Curt Campbell and whover else colaborated on this design!!!! I can't finish the exterior of these until my dad gets the room they're going in done, which won't be for a couple months. He doesn't know yet how he wants them to look except he wants them to match a pool table he hasn't purchased yet.

Next build will be those ER18s by Dennis Murphy and Paul Kittinger. These will be for me and I'm a little nervous now; it's going to be a tall order to be able to stand up to these statements! Unfortunately I can't start this build for at least a month just so the wife doesn't hate my new hobby (even more!) :T !

[Sylvan]

Nice build, man. You work fast!

[Jim Holtz]

I'm glad you and your Dad are enjoying the Statements! :T

Jim

[mattsk8]

So I'm so impressed w/ the statements that I'd like to build something similar for myself. Unfortunately my living room is horrible acoustically. I have a built in entertainment/fireplace/bookcase that I have to set the speakers in.

While I'm pretty sure the statements moniters would be ideal placed (I'm guessing) at least a foot from the wall behind them, would I still achieve decent sound if they were setting on a shelf in my bookcase?

If these moniters would work, what then would I build for rear channel speakers? I have to mount whatever I build on the wall behind my sofa so they can't be overly heavy.

[Coconutout]

just build the statement monitors first then change the room. prioritize ;P

[BeerParty]

So I'm so impressed w/ the statements that I'd like to build something similar for myself. Unfortunately my living room is horrible acoustically. I have a built in entertainment/fireplace/bookcase that I have to set the speakers in.

Have you looked at Curt's other designs? If you are location restricted, better to find a speaker that fits than to try and fit a Statement Monitor into a less than ideal location.

Or, you could go with Coconutout's suggestion and change the room. :P

[Jim Holtz]

So I'm so impressed w/ the statements that I'd like to build something similar for myself. Unfortunately my living room is horrible acoustically. I have a built in entertainment/fireplace/bookcase that I have to set the speakers in.

While I'm pretty sure the statements moniters would be ideal placed (I'm guessing) at least a foot from the wall behind them, would I still achieve decent sound if they were setting on a shelf in my bookcase?

If these monitors would work, what then would I build for rear channel speakers? I have to mount whatever I build on the wall behind my sofa so they can't be overly heavy.

You can get away with 12" back clearance with the near wall crossover version, but they still need breathing room around the sides so the back wave can be reflected forward and blend with the front wave. If your room can accommodate the positioning you need, I'd suggest you consider a different design that is less sensitive to placement.

Jim

[mattsk8]

At this point I think either the sealed Aviatrix MTM for front and center channels, and MT for rears.

Or, sealed Tritrix MTM for front and center and MT for rears.

Which of the two choices would be best for a bookcase application? This will be mainly movies, w/ occasional music during get togethers and what not. At this point I'm very happy w/ the sound the Tritrix MTM TL's bring me. What could I expect different from the Aviatrix? I would just build the Tritrix because I know I enjoy their sound but I'd rather do something a little different, know what I mean?

Here's a pic of what I'm up against for speaker placement...

[john trials]

To me, that looks like a bad room for speakers. A partial wall to the left, a hallway to the right, and way too many reflective surfaces. I may be too picky, but it's going to be hard to get really nice sound in that room no matter what speakers you choose.

[mattsk8]

To me, that looks like a bad room for speakers. A partial wall to the left, a hallway to the right, and way too many reflective surfaces. I may be too picky, but it's going to be hard to get really nice sound in that room no matter what speakers you choose.

Agreed. But I'm still going to build something for that area :T . I know I'm going to have to settle no matter what I do, but I still want a theater system in there. So even though nothing is close to ideal in that area, what would work best in that less than ideal situation? I'm guessing either the Aviatrix MTM or Tritrix MTM mainly because they're sealed and can go close to the wall.

Can someone explain the basic difference in sound between the Aviatrix and the Tritrix MTMs?

Thanks to everyone for all the help so far too BTW :B !

[john trials]

I was hoping you didn't get discouraged from my post. I usually don't like to make negative comments like that. The rooms in my house are less than perfect, too (mainly to small...but at least my wife let me totally take over an entire room).

I have not heard the Aviatrix, but I have some Tritrix TL speakers. The Tritrix are nice, but I liked them a lot better once I added a subwoofer. I have built Statements (which don't need a sub for music), so now my Tritrix mainly collect dust.

Search around on the Parts Express forum...I bet there are some comparisons of the Tritrix an Aviatrix. They are both very popular builds over there.

[mattsk8]

I was hoping you didn't get discouraged from my post. I usually don't like to make negative comments like that. The rooms in my house are less than perfect, too (mainly to small...but at least my wife let me totally take over an entire room).

I have not heard the Aviatrix, but I have some Tritrix TL speakers. The Tritrix are nice, but I liked them a lot better once I added a subwoofer. I have built Statements (which don't need a sub for music), so now my Tritrix mainly collect dust.

Search around on the Parts Express forum...I bet there are some comparisons of the Tritrix an Aviatrix. They are both very popular builds over there.

I'll check out the PE forum for sure. Thanks!
Not discouraged at all, appreciate the honesty :T ! I had a good recommendation on another forum to run Zaph 5.3c for the fronts. They're intended for a center speaker but he says they'll work well in this situation; as a pair for fronts.

Soooooo many options, now to make a decision....