My Statements build thread

[FroDaddy]

Awesome build Fro, make sure you get us some final shots of them in place with your center and everything.

Sure will, I'm gearing up to put the laminate finish on the center channel this weekend. Hopefully things will go as planned with that

Very nicey done!

I hope you find they sound as good as they look...

C

Last night I was watching a blu-ray and I started hearing what sounded like a tweeter or mid faintly fuzzing from the towers. I prepared for the worst, and upon inspection it was coming from the soundtrack! It was a DTS-MA track, too!

Wow... very nicely done. Great looking speakers.

Enjoy.

Al,

Al I followed your build thread and I am still envious of your piano black finish!

that is a very nice clean job. the base really makes the whole design come together.

are you going to make a grill for them?

oh... thanks for the tip on the formica.

No problem, I replied to your PM a few minutes ago as well I don't plan on a grill right now, but if the need arises I won't hesitate. Thanks for the kind words

FroDaddy,
These are beautiful
My base is a little wider in the back (surely contributes to the stability). Right now I have then standing on a carpet with thick padding and they are very stable.
A thought - I have them on spikes, but the room is temporary and I need to move them close and away from the wall (otherwise the kids will bump into them). So I bought something similar to these (only shallower) from HomeDepot, put the discs that came with the spikes inside the sliders and for my surprise it works really well, you can slide the speakers with relative ease and the spikes don't come out of the discs. I find them to be very stable this way on the carpet, plus I like the spike look. I'll try to take some pics of the bases with the sliders tonight.
Asi.

I rocked the towers last night (by hand, not with music... okay maybe with music too :lol: ), and I'm content with the front/back stability but it's the side-to-side stability that needs improvement. I went smaller than Jim's original base design, but hopefully I can move the feet out to the corners to get the stability acceptable.

I have some of those felt sliders on my kitchen chairs and they work pretty good. I'll definitely look for the plastic sliders for the towers on my next supply run! If you get a chance I'd like to see pictures

F-in beautiful......absolutely gorgeous.....

Thanks so much ops:

FroDaddy .......very nice speakers , congratulation !!!!!

I wanted to give you advice, but maybe I am the least indicated, because I do not know a lot of audio.

But one of the secret in the formula for the speakers RCA 50 years ago is .........,to put acoustic foam in three sides only ,this gives more clean and deep at low frequencies.That means that three sides are without any acoustic.

I have done and really works . I´m sorry for my english

No apologies needed, thanks for the kind words! It was only in the bottom area underneath the full brace where I put foam on all 4 sides. Everywhere else the back of the baffle doesn't have foam; on 3 sides. So far so good!

I just love the creativity that this forum has! You're speakers are fantastic. I absolutely love my mini's and think you'll find they were probably the best investment both money and time you'll ever make.

Thanks cobblepots! Where I used to live I had a Dolby Pro Logic setup that I was happy with for about 10 years. Once I moved into my new house, I've been on a quest to have that same level of contentment. I have raised my expectations considerably since then but with these I know I can keep them for a long time!

[ripcard]

Excellent work! Although it may seem like a long adventure I'm sure you are happy with the results. You obviously pay attention to the details and this shows in the finished product. They are beautifull.

I agree with others that your base design is less "chunky" than some other versions. I beleive it helps disguise the speakers size a little rather than make it seem even larger. A plus for WAF.

Surrounds next?

[ahaik]

You can see how close they are to the wall, when I want to do some better quality listening I may pull them as much as 3' towards the room without too much effort.
I tried to rock them a little yesterday and they are very stable.

[FroDaddy]

Excellent work! Although it may seem like a long adventure I'm sure you are happy with the results. You obviously pay attention to the details and this shows in the finished product. They are beautifull.

I agree with others that your base design is less "chunky" than some other versions. I beleive it helps disguise the speakers size a little rather than make it seem even larger. A plus for WAF.

Surrounds next?

Thanks ripcard! The 3d base design, base dimensions, the vertical line contrast between the black / stain, the 45deg chamfer, and reducing the cabinet size by 4" from the top were all in an effort to lean them out both physically and by tricking the eye (the vertical line). Still these are big speakers; 4ft 7in tall!

I'll start on the surrounds next week, but the build will be at a slow and steady pace. (Though I have a jump-start on them since the wood is already cut and all of the parts are at home ) I'll start a build thread for those when assembly begins

[FroDaddy]

You can see how close they are to the wall, when I want to do some better quality listening I may pull them as much as 3' towards the room without too much effort.
I tried to rock them a little yesterday and they are very stable.

Great idea and thanks for the pictures! I'll buy some of these soon. Since I'm using rubber feet I'm now wondering if they are partially to blame for the instability I'm having? (Along with not having them at the corners)

[john trials]

FroDaddy, I'm obviousy thinking WAY ahead on my Statement project (I've got all the drivers, all of the crossover stuff is due at my house today, but I don't have MDF yet)...

Can you post a rear photo of your Statements?

I'm planning on a rear port like yours. I'm mainly wondering how much of the binding posts, wiring and crossovers need to be installed prior to finally attaching the baffle. The final finishing of the cabinets will be easier with no binding posts in the way.

Can you reach through the lower woofer hole, through the lower shelf brace and past the rear port and foam to install the binding posts and connect wire to them? How close to the bottom did you drill for the binding posts, and do you think it made it easier because your cabinets are shorter?

[deewan]

Can you reach through the lower woofer hole, through the lower shelf brace and past the rear port and foam to install the binding posts and connect wire to them? How close to the bottom did you drill for the binding posts, and do you think it made it easier because your cabinets are shorter?

Frodaddy is better suited to answer this question (or anyone else who has completed the build), but I think unless you are rubber man that would be a tough reach.

[Jim Holtz]

I put my arm through the port hole on the bottom and it was very easy to attach the binding posts etc.

HTH

Jim

[deewan]

I put my arm through the port hole on the bottom and it was very easy to attach the binding posts etc.

HTH

Jim

...and that's why I still don't know what I am talking about yet.

[FroDaddy]

FroDaddy, I'm obviousy thinking WAY ahead on my Statement project (I've got all the drivers, all of the crossover stuff is due at my house today, but I don't have MDF yet)...

Can you post a rear photo of your Statements?

I'm planning on a rear port like yours. I'm mainly wondering how much of the binding posts, wiring and crossovers need to be installed prior to finally attaching the baffle. The final finishing of the cabinets will be easier with no binding posts in the way.

Can you reach through the lower woofer hole, through the lower shelf brace and past the rear port and foam to install the binding posts and connect wire to them? How close to the bottom did you drill for the binding posts, and do you think it made it easier because your cabinets are shorter?

Mine are ported out the bottom; you can see the inside flare in the foam pictures. I had the cabinetry finished and was able to install binding posts, foam, and do wiring / mount crossovers; in that order. Although my cabinets are shorter, the driver array is to spec. In other words, 4" was taken off the top but it did not effect the height of the driver array.

The binding posts were 1.5in from the bottom of the cabinet and then spaced 1.5in apart vertically; horizontally they are 1.25in apart. You won't be able to see the binding posts while installing the nuts on them, you'll have to do it by feel. If you can do that, you're set! Here is a picture:

...and that's why I still don't know what I am talking about yet.

Haha no sweat! I didn't know for sure until I actually tried it during assembly. As Jim said you can put your arm through the port hole cutout (I'm sure he meant before he port is installed), and I was even able to put mine through the bottom woofer cutout and reach the bottom.

[john trials]

I put my arm through the port hole on the bottom and it was very easy to attach the binding posts etc.

HTH

Jim

I just went through all the packages of PE parts I received yesterday. I didn't realize the port hole would be so large (those flared ends are big). Great idea!

[jagman]

Fro... please post a pick of your three mains now that your CC is finished. Thanks! BTW... love the glossy black laminate. Looks great and easy to do. Perfect for us regular DIY guys .

[jyqureshi]

Hey FroDaddy,

In post 76, where did you get those white In-Out connectors?

Thanks

Edit: Found them on Radioshack, European Style Ternminals, ops:

[deewan]

Hey FroDaddy,

In post 76, where did you get those white In-Out connectors?

Thanks

They can be bought at Radio Shack.

[ThomasW]

Hwhere did you get those white In-Out connectors?

http://www.apexjr.com/new.htm

[FroDaddy]

Fro... please post a pick of your three mains now that your CC is finished. Thanks! BTW... love the glossy black laminate. Looks great and easy to do. Perfect for us regular DIY guys .

I'm going to borrow a better digicam than the one I've been using to get some better pictures soon

Hey FroDaddy,

In post 76, where did you get those white In-Out connectors?

Thanks

Edit: Found them on Radioshack, European Style Ternminals

Sorry for the late response, I've been enjoying the speakers and haven't been at my computer much! :T deewan and ThomasW beat me to it

[FroDaddy]

Time for some listening impressions!

I haven't played with the foam lining in the mid tunnels as I haven't found it necessary, but I did play around with the placement. I'm using a custom Statement center channel with these towers, and I found that with movie soundtracks the channel separation wasn't defined enough having the towers where my old LR speakers were. What I'm talking about is across the LCR sound engineers will create stereo sounds between the LC and CR constantly, and the towers emit such a big "sound bubble" around themselves that the front LCR sounded like one big speaker. This is great because in every other LCR setup I've had, my room swallows the sound so I'd have to move the LR speakers closer together. So I took this opportunity to move them further apart from each other, and play with the toe-in and spacing to the rear wall. I ended up with them within Jim's spec right at 24" from the rear wall with a very slight toe-in. Here is a picture of the LCR; for scope the AV credenza is about 7ft wide, the TV is a 61", and the speakers are about 8' 8" apart measuring between the inside edges of the cabinets:

Image not available

Now that I'm settled in with the new placement I've come to the conclusion that my room's size isn't a limitation anymore; that the Statements actually take advantage of the room size to create a big soundstage. The sound bubble effect surrounding each tower sounds more like a movie theater experience rather than hearing the speakers themselves. The term "disappear" has been used to describe the Statements before, and that's what is coming to mind for me as well.

For two channel audio, one of my test tracks for imaging is the Madonna Immaculate Collection "Express Yourself" song. At the beginning what I thought was a panning effect is actually a 360! I played it several times and even closed my eyes to find out what my ears were really hearing; after all this time I thought it was a LR pan.

The midrange is great, too. I play piano, and one of my test tracks is Keiko Matsui "Bronze Casting". It's a real treat to hear this track as it sounds like there is a piano playing right in front of me. I wanted these speakers because of all the positive midrange reviews, and consider this another one!

I had a big question mark in regards to bass output, and was unsure about how the bottom port would perform in my room. My room is the big "suck out" with bass, but the bass absolutely surprised me! Don't get me wrong the tower bass won't crack your drywall, but the output was much more than I expected and it floods the room with tight, accurate, and musical bass. Porting the towers at the bottom and using 1" feet forces the bass to flood the floor with deep bass and it just fills up the room with it.

Bottom line is these are the best speakers I've owned. My room is not good acoustically, but the Statements don't care about that and just shine. The imaging reminds me of having a set of headphones on, and the soundstage and depth are fantastic. I never understood what the fuss was with a 2ch rig, but now I get it. I'm going to buy several drivers / ribbons for spares because I plan on keeping these speakers for 5-10 years or more. The goal was to own a speaker so that I could be "done" with that part of my HT; and the Statements have done just that! Thanks goes out to the designers!

Here's the best picture I could take:

Image not available

[flamethrower1]

Hey Frodaddy, great build, I have built the minis, monitors, and, the center.
However I want to build the statements.
I really liked the way yours turned out and was wondering if you had anything on paper as far as the demension changes?

[john trials]

Your home theater set up is really nice looking!!!!!!! I can hardly wait to start my Statements (and get to listen to them!!!!). It's been great following along with your build.

[jagman]

Great setup! I'm jealous ;x( . Glad you like them so much :T.

[Jim Holtz]

Excellent! :T

Jim

[DeathMonk]

Fantastic

Makes me wish I could start on mine sooner.. I have so many other things going on around the house and a 5.1 Bose Buster project for a friend to do first

[BeerParty]

Fantastic looking speakers - so good in fact that I am now reconsidering my design. Well done! ;x(

[FroDaddy]

Thanks for the kind words guys! ops:

Here is what I changed with my cabinets:

• Subtracted 4" off from the cabinet height; the cabinets are 51" tall.
• From the Statement cut sheet PDF the measurement from the tweeter center to the top of the cabinet is 22". I changed this to 18" so that the driver array height is unchanged from spec. After doing this, the distance from the top woofer recess to the top of the cabinet becomes 7/8" instead of 4 7/8". I PM'd Curt and he said it wouldn't affect anything.
• The volume changes from 100L to 90L by doing this, so your port length will change. The 100L cabinet spec is a 3" diameter port that is 4" long; WinISD shows a box tuning frequency of 27.62Hz. The 90L cabinet is a 3" diameter port that is 7.75" long; WinISD shows a box tuning frequency of 27.97Hz.
• I used Precision Ports for my cabinets and I cut the port center tube to 2 7/8". On paper it should have been cut to 2 3/4", but there is a bit of a fudge factor when assembling the collars and ends together. (It wouldn't be an audible difference either way, but since I measured it out of curiosity I just used the slightly larger length anyway.)
• I wanted to cut some of the finishing time down, so I used cabinet grade birch laminated plywood from Lowes for the sides. I used a big 45deg chamfer trim bit on the edges of the cabinet instead of the spec'd roundover. (Jim stated there wouldn't be an audible difference and I believe he referenced a test that Zaph did on the subject.) Then I used plywood edge banding from Woodcraft on the 45deg edge.
• The bases are 18.5" x 13.5" x 2", and the collars are 13.5" x 9.5" x 1.5". I used a table saw on the bases to cut a 1.25" 45deg angled edge. I bought the cheaper 1" rubber feet from PE, and this brings the height of my bases to 4.5" tall instead of the original 5" spec.
• So overall the listening height of my tweeter is 37.5", the original spec is 38".

HTH

[Curt C]

I'm glad you are enjoying them. Certainly they look gorgeous aesthetically!

C

[jyqureshi]

I'm jealous of your center speaker, to me it appears that it has more physical presence than the two towers :T. May be I'm just too biased and extremely jealous :B.

[savage25xtreme]

Is that an Emotiva UPA-7 amp? What receiver?

great build :T

[ahaik]

What a great setup you have !!!

I just finished building a pair of Statement monitors a few days ago and wanted share an experience I had and would appreciate some feedback too.
All the drivers are brand new and where broken in for about 15 hours on a music CD. Then I listened to them, they sounded good, but I felt something was terribly off. I hooked up the Statements and I was amazed at the difference, they sound completly different. Much softer sound more detailed, to my ears a night and day difference, like they where a completely different design using different drivers. I then pushed on the W4's cones very gently and the new one where so much stiffer, to the point that it was very easly detected.
Then I changed the W4 in the monitors to the ones in the Statements and the 'MAGIC' happened and they sound great. I changed the ribbons after that which did not make a big difference if any. I always knew that speakers need to be broken in, but I did not think the difference it makes was so big (Just wait and see FroDaddy )
My question is (for Curt, I guess), when designing a crossover how do you take into account those changes? and how do you break in the drivers?

Thanks,
Asi.

[AJINFLA]

Looks very nice. What is that left of the left speaker?

[ThomasW]

Looks very nice. What is that left of the left speaker?

An IB subwoofer

Image not available

[FroDaddy]

What a great setup you have !!!

I just finished building a pair of Statement monitors a few days ago and wanted share an experience I had and would appreciate some feedback too.
All the drivers are brand new and where broken in for about 15 hours on a music CD. Then I listened to them, they sounded good, but I felt something was terribly off. I hooked up the Statements and I was amazed at the difference, they sound completly different. Much softer sound more detailed, to my ears a night and day difference, like they where a completely different design using different drivers. I then pushed on the W4's cones very gently and the new one where so much stiffer, to the point that it was very easly detected.
Then I changed the W4 in the monitors to the ones in the Statements and the 'MAGIC' happened and they sound great. I changed the ribbons after that which did not make a big difference if any. I always knew that speakers need to be broken in, but I did not think the difference it makes was so big (Just wait and see FroDaddy )
My question is (for Curt, I guess), when designing a crossover how do you take into account those changes? and how do you break in the drivers?

Thanks,
Asi.

Thanks Asi! I bought those sliders you mentioned, but I haven't put them on just yet. These things are heavy and I've been a bit lazy since I got them finished.

I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but when I received the modified Statement center from Jed, both of the W4's suspension was noticeably looser than new ones. I didn't do any testing as you did, however. That will be great if they keep sounding better and better!

Looks very nice. What is that left of the left speaker?

Thomas beat me to it On the very right of the AV credenza is the Behringer Feedback Destroyer I used to EQ it. Those are 8 Dayon IB 15" drivers attached to the manifold

[mikela]

Impressive! :T

[FroDaddy]

Is that an Emotiva UPA-7 amp? What receiver?

great build :T

Sorry savage I missed your post. The receiver is a Denon AVR-4806CI used as a preamp, and I'm bi-amping using two Emotiva LPA-1s.

Impressive! :T

Thanks! 8)

[savage25xtreme]

thanks for the reply, very very nice setup

[BeerParty]

Yo - FroDaddy!

Just a quick note to "forward" a compliment your way. At the New England get together several people commented that they liked the design of my Statement Monitors. Since that is actually your design (which I stole), I thought I'd pass in on... :T

[john trials]

I still have the picture of the full set from post #107 as my desktop for inspiration to finish my Statements...even though mine are cherry with tung oil...I love the look of FroDaddy's

[chirpie]

I'll just pile on another compliment because darn it, you earned it. Great build. :-)

[DeathMonk]

I hope you don't mind that I am copying your build, Frodaddy

[FroDaddy]

BeerParty thanks for posting that up! I'm happy to hear the design is getting good reviews!!

And thanks for all of the compliments guys! john trials and DeathMonk good luck with your builds. Anyone can use whatever they see from my build, and change whatever they don't like; no issues at all. As long as you're happy with the end result I'm honored if someone has incorporated something from my build!

Thanks again guys :T