SMJ Audio Wavecor Ardent

[technodanvan]

Following a series of attempts by myself and simply not finding the time to dedicate to an Ardent build, I have decided to call upon one Steve Manning to help me out. He had initially constructed the baffles for me quite some time ago (in a failed attempt to boost my motivation) and I ended up shipping them back across the country a couple weeks ago. It turns out this was a fortuitous decision as my own feeble attempts at progress were ruined last week due to catastrophic water heater failure. I can only smile and shrug at this point, it's just one more step in the journey to getting these done. I'm just glad the baffles were already gone as they had been sitting in the very same spot near the water heater.

In any case, the parts were purchased from another member several years ago and will feature the -01 Wavecor drivers. Steve has a few tricks up his sleeve to make these a bit unique, in addition to my own requested changes, so I figured I'd better put up a place he can post his ideas and progress. I'm looking forward to this one Steve!

[Browncoat]

Looking forward to this!

opcorn:

[JonMarsh]

It's going to be fun... Steve's going to increase the depth of the cabinet slightly, so that the crossover will be simpler to layout and construct.


Something to keep in mind for those following this, though the C79 midrange is not in production anymore, there is a very nice version of this design that was customized for Renron using a Scanspeak midrange- turned out very nice. And those are still in production...

[theSven]

Looking forward to seeing this build too. I had considered this build at first, but then after visiting Steve’s and hearing the Calliope I decided to go with something smaller to make sure I could even get it completed. I didn’t want another project where I took on more than I could handle it it would be months to years before I get it completed. SMJ has been a huge help to me too in getting a speaker build complete and usable.

[Steve Manning]

Just a little update of where the project will be going. After pretty much losing the month of January due to my wife and I having Covid, I don't recommend it, I've been able to get some time on drawings for Danny's approval.

Cabinet will be deeper to accommodate the crossovers being in the back of the cabinet in their own space.







Some materials are on hand though more needs ordering and now I need to get some CAM files generated.

[JonMarsh]

I like where things are going with this, and what Steve has done.

I'm in the midst of multiple trips to and from CA to Idaho and back and forth. Progress being made, but only rare opportunities to check in on what's going on here.

[technodanvan]

Really looking forward to seeing some sawdust Steve!

[theSven]

Is the purple line in the wood an added layer for some style? Looking forward to seeing these built and how they turn out.

[technodanvan]

Yes, it'll be a bit of purpleheart for some fun little highlights. The crossovers will be built on the same.

[theSven]

Yes, it'll be a bit of purpleheart for some fun little highlights. The crossovers will be built on the same.

That is awesome! Now I wish I would have thought of something like that.

[Steve Manning]

That is awesome! Now I wish I would have thought of something like that.

Yeah, that was my fault ..... with the natural bamboo and Danny wanting to go with white on the rest of the cabinet, I thought it might look good to have a visual break between the two.

[theSven]

Yeah, that was my fault ..... with the natural bamboo and Danny wanting to go with white on the rest of the cabinet, I thought it might look good to have a visual break between the two.

Something to think about for my next SMJ project

[technodanvan]

That is awesome! Now I wish I would have thought of something like that.

I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing as soon as Steve starts whatever project he's got lined up next!

[Steve Manning]

Well your wish for sawdust has been granted ..... just a little anyway.

I got lucking at the lumber yard ... they had the 4 sheets of Baltic Birch I needed .... now they have zero. Apparently his supplier has been waiting over a month for a delivery from Europe.



Cut the sheets down to part size blocks for the CNC.



The 1/2" thick acrylic for the crossover covers.



Now if UPS can get through the snow and ice with the purple heart, I'll be good to go.

[technodanvan]

Good news Steve, I'm glad they had the materials. Very glad you went with a thick plexi too, that'll look great.

[JonMarsh]

Supply chain issues are very common these days, I'm glad Steve had some good luck with this!

[Steve Manning]

Turning sheets into parts. I've been taking advantage of the decent weather we've been having and open up the shop doors and have a good chunk of the Baltic Birch parts cut.

[theSven]

The weather was great today in NOVA. Nice progress on the panels too. Is the purple pieces up next for getting cut?

[Steve Manning]

The weather was great today in NOVA. Nice progress on the panels too. Is the purple pieces up next for getting cut?

Still have more birch parts to cut and then on to mdf for the inner layer of the cabinet. The purple heart that I ordered appears to be lost in a snow drift somewhere. It was due for delivery on the 12th and UPS can't seem to find it. Rockler is going to send out a new shipment ...... hopefully the snow storms will hold off until it gets here.

[technodanvan]

Did you adjust the braces to go all the way to the bottom of the cabinets? They look a bit longer than the ones I made.

[Steve Manning]

Did you adjust the braces to go all the way to the bottom of the cabinets? They look a bit longer than the ones I made.

Yep .... they go all the way down.

There are a number of changes over the original that had to be made. As a matter of fact, I had to do a complete set of drawings so this could be done mostly on the CNC. The biggest pain was having to think of dimensions in terms of equations to accommodate varying wood thicknesses. It's amazing how much that stuff changes ..... 0.020" to 0.030 in some cases. That may not seem like much, but when you trying to get nice fitting joints, it's a pain.

[technodanvan]

Right on! I was wondering if you might do that since there's nothing else down there now.

[Alaric]

0.020" to 0.030 in some cases. That may not seem like much,

Those little tolerances add up. Ask everyone who has tried to land on the moon. Except the first guys, they nailed it. (Thank you, Margaret Hamilton).

[JonMarsh]

Still have more birch parts to cut and then on to mdf for the inner layer of the cabinet. The purple heart that I ordered appears to be lost in a snow drift somewhere. It was due for delivery on the 12th and UPS can't seem to find it. Rockler is going to send out a new shipment ...... hopefully the snow storms will hold off until it gets here.

You may laugh at this, but Liubov's younger daughter sent her a special desert via UPS, and it appears to be lost in the snow drifts, too... a lot of that going around.

[JonMarsh]

Turning sheets into parts. I've been taking advantage of the decent weather we've been having and open up the shop doors and have a good chunk of the Baltic Birch parts cut.

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Now this is some manly work... I just stocked up on some 60x60 BB ply sheets from my local Woodcraft (probably the biggest retail Woodcraft store in the world... it's the size of small supermarket) to build pedestal bases for the new Bosch washer and dryer set that is supposed to arrive on Thursday (unless THEY got LOST in the snow drifts!), because Bosch doesn't have any in stock anywhere in the USA...

Supply chain issues...

[Steve Manning]

The pile is getting bigger ..... added in the mdf inner layer.

[JonMarsh]

Are you planning on shipping that air parcel post?

:lol:

[technodanvan]

Are you planning on shipping that air parcel post?

:lol:

Since I'm a special kind of crazy I believe I'll be taking a road trip out to VA. It's only about 6,000 miles round trip.

[Steve Manning]

Since my CNC is only 3 axis and not 5, I've been getting some of the boards trimmed to length with their 10 degree beveled ends.

Fitting pieces together as I go for the first cabinet.






Here is the extra cabinet depth for the crossovers.



To save some time in not having to perform two sided machining on the CNC, dowels are being used in a few spots rather than dados.

[JonMarsh]

Since I'm a special kind of crazy I believe I'll be taking a road trip out to VA. It's only about 6,000 miles round trip.

Well, 8 years ago I flew out and picked up a new motorcycle and rode it back home just before Christmas about 2,000 miles, but I’m not sure that quite matches you, though a bike trip in late December should have a higher Olympic degree of difficulty…
But yeah, if you want something done right, do it yourself, and driving 6k miles to pick everything up certainly qualifies for doing it yourself!

[Browncoat]

Now this is some manly work... I just stocked up on some 60x60 BB ply sheets from my local Woodcraft

Intermountain Wood Products and High Desert Hardwood (my favorite since it’s about a mile away) also have BB. The former also has 4x8 sheets of multi-ply that’s comparable to BB. The latter is worth a visit just to check out all their stacks of cool hardwoods.

[Steve Manning]

Made a little discovery yesterday .... even a 3" thick slab of bamboo is not perfectly stable. During a dry fit up of the first cabinet I discovered the baffle I picked was bowed, ~1/8". Apparently sitting on Danny's garage floor for ~3 years made it un-happy :cry:

So I had to pretend at being a woodworker and pulled out a hand plane and was able to bring things back in. I have not checked the second one yet, keeping fingers crossed.

Real wood shavings and everything.



Here's the woofer bracing assembly ..... need to round over the hole edges before that gets glued up.

[technodanvan]

Yeah, I checked that myself and should have warned you. I have bad news on the second one...

Are you going to be able to wrap these up while the humidity there isn't too crazy? I'd hate for something to crack once it's been relocated.

[Steve Manning]

Yeah, I checked that myself and should have warned you. I have bad news on the second one...

Are you going to be able to wrap these up while the humidity there isn't too crazy? I'd hate for something to crack once it's been relocated.

What I'll do once I dry fit both baffles and "tweak" them, is to clamp them together back to back. That ought to help until they are glued in place.

[JonMarsh]

Intermountain Wood Products and High Desert Hardwood (my favorite since it’s about a mile away) also have BB. The former also has 4x8 sheets of multi-ply that’s comparable to BB. The latter is worth a visit just to check out all their stacks of cool hardwoods.

That is very helpful information to have, and they likely have better prices than Woodcraft!

Intermountain Wood Products is closest to me, but it sounds like High Desrt Hardwood has some interesting stuff, too!

Thanks!

[technodanvan]

Well, the other half of my new stereo arrived yesterday and was promptly put on a 50 cent shelf. Just need the Ardents themselves and some cables (on order) and I should be set - other than a cost-appropriate shelf, of course! Probably a series of rugs as well since the floor is just concrete.



I need to figure out a better place for the network rack as well.

[Steve Manning]

Nice Danny ..... though we need to work on that stereo equipment rack

[technodanvan]

Yeah yeah. I was looking at making something out of T-Slot aluminum extrusions, then found a company that makes racks out of it already with composite shelves (including granite).

http://www.adonacorporation.com/zerogx4.html

Prices are higher than I'd like, but I'm sure it'd approach four digits to order all the extrusions and parts I'd need to make my own - plus the time to make simple wood shelves. I'm not set on it yet but have yet to see a DIY design that I like. Maybe for Christmas.

Alternatively, since this is a Class D amplifier I was considering a 'classic' audio rack with glass door. Sort of like the below, but using bamboo throughout to match the Ardents. Maybe a sliding shelf for a turntable too.



Of course, none of that addresses the boxes of CDs I have - four of which are seen in the aforementioned stereo rack and another three are sitting behind me...

[Steve Manning]

Yeah yeah. I was looking at making something out of T-Slot aluminum extrusions, then found a company that makes racks out of it already with composite shelves (including granite).

http://www.adonacorporation.com/zerogx4.html

Prices are higher than I'd like, but I'm sure it'd approach four digits to order all the extrusions and parts I'd need to make my own - plus the time to make simple wood shelves. I'm not set on it yet but have yet to see a DIY design that I like. Maybe for Christmas.

Alternatively, since this is a Class D amplifier I was considering a 'classic' audio rack with glass door. Sort of like the below, but using bamboo throughout to match the Ardents. Maybe a sliding shelf for a turntable too.

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Of course, none of that addresses the boxes of CDs I have - four of which are seen in the aforementioned stereo rack and another three are sitting behind me...

Interesting ...... I had not seen that brand before. They can get expensive that's for sure. The one I wanted was ~$10K ..... that's why I made my own.

[theSven]

Yeah yeah. I was looking at making something out of T-Slot aluminum extrusions, then found a company that makes racks out of it already with composite shelves (including granite).

http://www.adonacorporation.com/zerogx4.html

Prices are higher than I'd like, but I'm sure it'd approach four digits to order all the extrusions and parts I'd need to make my own - plus the time to make simple wood shelves. I'm not set on it yet but have yet to see a DIY design that I like. Maybe for Christmas.

Alternatively, since this is a Class D amplifier I was considering a 'classic' audio rack with glass door. Sort of like the below, but using bamboo throughout to match the Ardents. Maybe a sliding shelf for a turntable too.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]31046[/ATTACH]

Of course, none of that addresses the boxes of CDs I have - four of which are seen in the aforementioned stereo rack and another three are sitting behind me...

Interesting option. Thanks for sharing that link

[JonMarsh]

Well, the other half of my new stereo arrived yesterday and was promptly put on a 50 cent shelf. Just need the Ardents themselves and some cables (on order) and I should be set - other than a cost-appropriate shelf, of course! Probably a series of rugs as well since the floor is just concrete.

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I need to figure out a better place for the network rack as well.

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Hot damn! New gear is always cause for celebration, and it looks like you've made some nice choices! :T

[JonMarsh]

Nice Danny ..... though we need to work on that stereo equipment rack

Yeah, it's just like one of the racks in my workroom for storing parts for work in progress!

[technodanvan]

Hot damn! New gear is always cause for celebration, and it looks like you've made some nice choices! :T

Yeah, the M12 is total overkill for me, I think. I'm just using the network jack for now (Roon), but will probably get a CD transport and turntable at some point. I'm sure vinyl purists will have something to say about that since the phono input converts everything to digital before going analog again, but whatever. The M22 v2 is, I think, probably perfect for the Ardents. If one were to go crazy I suppose I could get another and bridge them for something like 900 watts apiece.

But only if one were to go crazy, of course.

Yeah, it's just like one of the racks in my workroom for storing parts for work in progress!

Versatile things, aren't they? Once I started accumulating boxes of stuff I needed something I could set them on and move around easily.

[Steve Manning]

Yeah, the M12 is total overkill for me, I think. I'm just using the network jack for now (Roon), but will probably get a CD transport and turntable at some point. I'm sure vinyl purists will have something to say about that since the phono input converts everything to digital before going analog again, but whatever. The M22 v2 is, I think, probably perfect for the Ardents. If one were to go crazy I suppose I could get another and bridge them for something like 900 watts apiece.

But only if one were to go crazy, of course.



Versatile things, aren't they? Once I started accumulating boxes of stuff I needed something I could set them on and move around easily.

Remember who your talking to Danny ...... Mr. “If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right!”

[JonMarsh]

Remember who your talking to Danny ...... Mr. “If a little is great, and a lot is better, then way too much is just about right!”

ops:


Must be a reason my ears are burning...

But to set the record straight, the original version of that saying is:

"If some's good, more's better, and too much is just enough!".

But Steve's paraphrase is pretty good... don't worry about over doing it. You're going to have Wavecor Ardent when you're finished, and everyone I know that has built these has remarked, sometimes with great rue, that "the more money they put into the rest of the system, the better the Ardent's sound."

:T


When you hit the point of something equivalent to a TotalDAC D2, with Brainstorm re-clocker's running off external rubidium atomic clocks, and a preamp as clean as a Halcro DM10 or Benchmark HPA4, and say, some Halcro DM68's mono blocks to drive the speakers, then don't worry about upgrading further. This I can say with confidence...