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Ok, I've been a long time browser of htguide, just never registered. You guys are an absolute treasure trove of knowledge! I've recently taken the plunge into diy and to start out, as a first ever project, built Jim's TriTrix speakers with the parts express kit. Kit being CNC'd, all the cuts were pretty much perfect so construction was a snap. Being new to wood working (new as in the only thing I've built out of wood from scratch was a simple table made up of 2x4's and a particle board top)... I can't get my cuts perfect... There's about 16th to 32nd of an inch off at one or two corners on some of the boards... by some miracle, some are square. This is done with a circular saw and a self made rip, no table saw. Is this going to be a huge problem come time for assembly? I try to get one board as close to square as I possibly can with my limited tools then rough cut the other pieces of similar dimensions and flush route them to at least get them to be the same dimensions. Here's a photo of what I have cut up so far, all that's left are the tunnels and braces. I know they may look decent in the photo but close inspections with a ruler will say otherwise. I'm not sure how accurate cuts needs to be for speaker cabinets but hopefully with my poor cuts but I hope it'll at least look like a box when I'm done. If there's any words of encouragement and or advice, I would appreciate them. I will continue to update as I progress if anyone's interested. After seeing all the absolutely awesome talent that had already built these speakers on here, I feel very unnecessary to show off my less than poor woodworking skills. Thanks in advance!
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Hi
First of all, thanks for sharing and to contributing to the forum - thats great and useful information and interesting reading usually is the result. At the same time I'm quite sure you will be able to get help resolving issues and problems that may occure when traveling down the often not so straight DIY path :-)
About your question, how square do your cuts habe to be...
That might depend, but a little bit off can usually be handlet quite well.
I would say that 1/8 of an inch is borderline, maybe a bit mutch. 1/32 of an inch is normally no problem.
What you will experience is that you get issues when you try to assemble the box as it does not nessesarly fit that well.
The more experienced here normally adds a bit of overhang to some edges (like 1/16) and uses a router to shave that off after the box has been glued together. When using that method you can have quite large deviations without getting any problem. When you have to sheets you want to be exactly equal you may use clamps and put them together and then use a router to remove any excess wood.
I also often apply several sheets together and by doing that in effect cuts out several speaker sides at once.
A good stearingquide for your saw is a importand investment.
Also, as you see, a router is a invaliable tool when doing this kind of work.
Oh, I forgot that -'if stiff goes wrong, you always have boundo (for outside) and scilicon (for inside)-TEK
Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working...
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I agree with TEK.
My cuts are never dead on. If you look at some of my speakers closely, you'll see some bow or wow in the sides. Usually, clamping down tight can fix things. It will really depend on where you're over and under.
I normally use regular tightbond glue, but if you have some bigger gaps, you can use use a thick glue, like PL Premium Urethane http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/pl_...n-Adhesive.htm it will fill and bridge small gaps. I've also used Bondo on a speaker or two to fix mistakes.
I always oversize my baffle, which is the last piece I glue down and then use a flush trim router bit to trim it up perfectly. Actually, I usually end up flush trimming all sides. My bigger problem usually is clamping square.
You'll figure it out. And the next speaker construction will be better than this one. and so on and so on.Comment
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Thanks guys, I'll update as I go... hopefully there will be something useful for someone a long the way.Comment
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Make sure you follow first-time Statements builder tradition - put together the mid tunnels and glue them in and THEN REMEMBER you need to cut the recess for the tweeters. :WComment
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If you have a router and a straight bit with a bearing, clamp the bad pieces onto the square ones and route off the excess.Comment
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Welcome to the Statements family! I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do mine. It looks like everyone has given you great advice regarding building your cabinets. That's not my greatest strength so I'm glad others jumped in with answers.
I do need to clarify that in spite of you and others giving me all the credit for the Statements/Finalists/Anthology's, they have all been a collaboration between the real brains, Curt Campbell and myself with our good friend Wayne Wendall jumping in to help with voicing. They get all the credit for how these speakers sound. If it weren't for Curt, I'd just own empty cabinets with drivers piled around them. ;x(
We're looking forward to following your build!
JimComment
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Hey!! Don't jinx me! lol. Anyway, Yes, I have a router and a proper bit... the hard part is getting a square piece to begin with.
I've started assembling, things seems to be going ok. Here are the photos so far. With 3 kids, wife, and work scratching at my heels for time, I can only put so many hours a day into this. Plus I'm over my budget and need more clamps so it's going to be slow going. I've decided on going with a PCB setup for the crossover. Will post photos of that process also, just going ghetto with a laser printer and home etching. First time working with etching PCB as well so if that fails miserably, I'll just go with wood and hot glue like everyone else.
Images not availableComment
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I have a question, I've searched but couldn't find a definitive answer. I'll be using Corning's 703 fiberglass board to line the cabinet walls. I've read that it may blow out the port and have fiberglass fibers fly all over my room. Some say it'll be fine. Should I cover it with speaker grill cloth or just spray that sucker and stick it on?Comment
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That isn't a question I can answer. Anyone?
JimComment
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703 is a semi rigid fiberglass. I've used it for years and never had an issue. If you're worried, give it a top coat of some spray adhesive. That will bind any loose material that may be there.Comment
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I've used OC703 in speakers. There is no way 703 is going to blow out. It is rigid and glued together pretty well. Only possible scenario is if you have a cut edge with a flappy piece barely hanging on.
I've used regular R13 in speakers. I have it in my sub. Even that doesn't blow out the port. If people are getting insulation blowing out of their port, they must be putting some small loose pieces directly in front of the port. Keep the insulation held back from the port so as to not obstruct it.
OC703 will give react differently than the foam Jim used in his. You may have to experiment a little to get it to sound perfect. Especially with the mid tunnels. In fact, I would duplicate Jim's mid tunnels as much as possible, including how far he holds the foam back and the angle it is cut at. Use the 703 for the woofers.Comment
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If the Jim you're referring to is me, I don't have a website. Curt does. :W
To clarify, I have used OC703 on a friends Statements in the woofer compartment only. I've never used it in a ported design. Definitely don't use it in the mid tunnels.
Just an FYI, if you buy the kit from Meniscus, it comes with everything you need to build them except for the cabinet.
Jim
JimComment
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You're right, Curts website, my bad. I kinda sourced the parts my self on Meniscus and parts express so that I get the components I want. I do plan on OC703 only in the woofer compartment. Like you said Jim, probably not the best idea to have it in the tunnels so they will not be going in there.Comment
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Hi silvia0073! your going to LOVE your statements! i just paired mine up with an emotiva amp. this giants were made to be played loud! amazingly good. Post more pics please, we all love pics. And don't wait a year to do the finish/paint. I'm just about to get mine painted next month, about 2 years after the build. looking forward to seeing them progressComment
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I also will pair it up with a emotiva amp. It's actually going to be with my PC speakers lol... I have a modified Xonar Essence STX as the source to the emotiva amp. I currently have unfinished tritrix's and want to upgrade. Here's are photos of my modded sound card should anyone be interested. There's also a photo of my PC, you'll see the tritrix on the right. I'm going to have to pull everything away from the wall with the statements.
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A little update, working on the tunnels. Made a little fence that worked perfect with my router for the tweeter heatsink cutouts.
Dont' know why one of the photos is upside down...
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Question, when wiring the drivers in the cabinet, do you guys use the same length of wire for the drivers or because it's so short, it doesn't matter?Comment
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Updates,
Towers are almost done, working on crossovers. Got one finished. Need to do the other one.
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Was going to do a printed PCB but it didn't turn out too well...Comment
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Looking good!
Are you planning on finishing them before you start listening?Comment
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They look great! I am finishing up my center today and have barely started on the mains... just have the tunnels built.
Question for you on the order of assembly - what was your order of assembly?? :-)Comment
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It was all gut feeling actually lol. I started with the back, didn't cut the square holes (drilled a hole to fit my trim bit and routed them once the tunnels are glued in), I glued on the top cover, bottom cover, braces, and then one of the sides. Built the tunnels then lined them up on the half constructed cabinet. Once that's nice and dry, I put on the other side panel. Sand everything smooth. I'm probably going to install the crossovers then insulation. Run wiring then cut the front baffle for the drivers. Install the front baffle and lastly, drivers. Hope to be done by this weekend. If I do complete construction, it took me 2 weeks to build... not including finishing. Not bad, but I stayed up late, almost to 3 am every day just taking my time and working it. Too excited to sleep anyway
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What are the notches in the back of the tunnels for?Comment
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What he said.Made a little fence that worked perfect with my router for the tweeter heatsink cutouts.
Lee
Marantz PM7200-RIP
Marantz PM-KI Pearl
Schiit Modi 3
Marantz CD5005
Paradigm Studio 60 v.3Comment
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Crazy how much time these thing's took to put together... pretty close to mirror finish. This is actually the 3rd attempt. 1st was printed PCB which did not go too well. 2nd attempt, the holes I drilled didn't match up nicely, and this time, I'm finally satisfied.
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wow! really nice professional looking work! especially the crossovers.Comment
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Thanks bostonmurf. Crazy how much work went into those.Comment
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That's a good question. Since building cabinets myself isn't a possibility , I was looking here https://melbyaudio.com/products/stat...lat-pack-kit-1 and I don't know if they do it either.Lee
Marantz PM7200-RIP
Marantz PM-KI Pearl
Schiit Modi 3
Marantz CD5005
Paradigm Studio 60 v.3Comment
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Well Hot Damn... if I had to do it all over again, I'd go that route, maybe, just buy and assemble myself... All the tools I used on my Statements, I purchased new just for the project. Router, drills, drivers, clamps... etc all came out well beyond $500, but I must say, the experience was priceless... Those guys are just a few hours from my place and being CNC cut... can you say perfection? LoL, I'm tempted just because it's CNC'd. If any of my friends want statements, I'll go that route.Comment
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same here TEK. although i can see the massive benefit of getting everything cut i really enjoyed the whole process - even when the router slipped and i had to redo a front panel! i guess at the end I'm glad i built/cut them and now i have a bigger garage theres not a lot i won't take on with the skills i learned. MDF dust sucks though...Comment
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You guys are right, the experience/skills are invaluable. I've learned so much through the process it's crazy. Anyway, here's another update. Almost done!!! Painted the front baffle only as I won't be able to finish the cabinet till spring. Hopefully it'll be rock'n Saturday or Sunday.
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Looks great! :T
JimComment
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Done!!! Now for the burn in, already it sounds fantastic. When hooked up to my Yammy RX-V2095... ehhh, sounds ok. Played for about an hour and it's now in my PC room and hooked up, kinda messy so I'll take photos later but here's one of them hooked up to the yamaha. They sound pretty darn awesome on my pc with flac files. Can't wait for them to be properly broken in... all I have to say is wow, the vocals are simply amazing!!! This build has been no where near perfect but as I listen to them, all the imperfections melt away and I love them more and more with each minute. Thanks again for an awesome design Curt, Jim, and Wayne!
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