John's Statement build

[john trials]

Today my plan was to cover the front and sides of one of my Statements with a monstrous 4' x 5' sheet of veneer. I really should have tried my first veneer job on some book shelf speakers! I was quite nervous.

There were a few blemishes on the veneer. I wanted to do a dry fit to align most of the bad spots either off the speaker, or in one of the driver cutouts. When I dry fit the veneer, I could hear some splitting as it curved loosely over the 3/4" radius of the baffle. I thought I was going to have a mess on my hands. I did some web-research on softening the veneer, but decided against it. It's paper-backed, so it shouldn't need it.

I coated the speaker cabinet and veneer with glue (a pretty thick coating, so my edges wouldn't come loose this time). I figured I might as well go through with it, and hope any splitting would be minimal. The glue on the veneer took 4 hours to fully dry (it was accelerated in the last hour by a halogen lamp warming it). I may have use a little too much glue!

I ironed the veneer onto the cabinet. No splitting. I waited 2 hours for the glue to cure, then I checked for loose edges. One TINY area. I was within the reactivation time of the glue, so I just gave it a little ironing.

I felt pretty intimidated by the huge sheet of veneer, and the possibility of splitting, but the process went really smoothly. I think the heat from the iron helped bend the veneer around the roundover without splitting. I'll try the other cabinet tomorrow...hopefully I'll have the same success.

[David_D]

Congrats John!
That is a monster chunk of veneer. I'm glad you feel it went well.
I also found that the heat of the iron & the moisture of the glue helped the laminate bend around the radii.
Cheers,
David

[john trials]

Here is a picture from last night. Yeah, I forgot to mention that the moisture from the glue did seem to soften the veneer a bit, as well as the heat from the iron. I glued up Forum this morning...hopefully it goes as well as yesterday!



This thing is very awkward to move now that most of the good holes have been covered.

[john trials]

I just saw this over on the PE forum. It made me laugh. Jim H. said the following about making Statements:

"They usually kill the desire to build anything else."

I totally agree. After listening to them, I cannot imagine building a speaker that would work so well, so why bother building any more speakers. In a way, though, he may also mean that the building process will kill your desire!

[sawdust]

Here is a picture from last night. Yeah, I forgot to mention that the moisture from the glue did seem to soften the veneer a bit, as well as the heat from the iron. I glued up Forum this morning...hopefully it goes as well as yesterday!



This thing is very awkward to move now that most of the good holes have been covered.

John, I'm at the exact same point you are. I finished the side front side of one speaker with the big sheet of veneer last night and will do the other today. You are right about them being awkward. I ended up doing it on the floor of the garage with foam underneath to prevent scratching. I'm amazed at how easy it is to veneer. I had the idea that I would go through all the work of creating the enclosures and then screw up the final step in the veneering process.
What are you using to finish the veneer? I'm thinking about amber shellac on my walnut. I tried a sample and it looks really nice.

[john trials]

I positioned my Statements on some large, 3" thick catalogs (Newark and Digikey!), to allow the veneer to clear the edges. Kind of sketchy!

I'm going to iron my second speaker after lunch today, in about an hour.

I am using cherry veneer. I've decided to use pure tung oil to finish mine. I've done some samples, and it's really easy to apply, and leaves a nice, waterproof finish. It does take a long time to dry (it actually oxidizes, I guess), but it's pretty much fool-proof, which is perfect for me.

[Jim Holtz]

I just saw this over on the PE forum. It made me laugh. Jim H. said the following about making Statements:

"They usually kill the desire to build anything else."

I totally agree. After listening to them, I cannot imagine building a speaker that would work so well, so why bother building any more speakers. In a way, though, he may also mean that the building process will kill your desire!

:rofl: I was talking about sound quality but the cabinets are a bit more difficult to build than a 2-way monitor. I think that puts people off. If I'd been thinking ahead, I would have based the Monitors on a PE cabinet. That probably would have been easier for a lot of folks.

BTW, the cabinets are looking good!

Jim

[soundemon]

hmm - they made me want to build something more complex! Altho it's going to be tough to match the sound!

[Jim Holtz]

hmm - they made me want to build something more complex! Altho it's going to be tough to match the sound!

Think Accuton for the mids! :T

Jim

[john trials]

I'm not a 'finish' type of guy. I care mostly about function. I'm having a hard time going slowly and carefully in order to complete these so they look really nice. I just want to use them!

I built Tritrix TLs as my introduction to speaker building...to see if I had enough tools to do it, basically. I made my Tritrixes a little more complicated than the original design, and just painted them with a roller and some house paint...nothing complicated...a true budget build.

Building these Statements (in comparison), is much more demanding. Statements are HEAVY!!!! for starters (and I though my Tritrixes were heavy with 15 pounds of sand in each of them). I'm getting really tired of moving these all over the place (garage, basement, outdoors, on this and that workbench, into that position, etc.) They're a little bit more complex in the MDF stage (but that's the part of the build I enjoy the most). I want to make these as nice as I can, so the veneer stage is WAY more complicated/time consuming compared my Tritrix finish.

I guess one has to suffer for superior quality! I almost wish I didn't listen to these for a month prior to taking them apart for veneer. I really miss listening to them.

[john trials]

Think Accuton for the mids! :T

Jim

Is there an upgrade that I'm not aware of?

[Jim Holtz]

Is there an upgrade that I'm not aware of?

No upgrade to the Statements. Subjectively, Accuton drivers have a transparent sound quality in the mid range that I find I like slightly better than the W4-1337's we used in the Statements. They're about 5-6 times more expensive, however.

That is my opinion only. YMMV...

Since I've been on a speaker building hiatus, I've been playing with my electronics and found the Statements weren't the bottle neck in my system. The combination of a Squeezebox Duet, Pacific Valves DAC-62, Yaqin Tube Buffer, passive Channel Islands PLC-1 passive pre and Emotiva amp yield the best sound I've ever had in any system I've owned.


Jim

[feetball]

Looking good John!!! I can't wait to finish these mini-statements for my brother and start on MY set of statements!

[john trials]

use tung oil?...have major patience!

My advice- stay away from tung oil. Not a fan. Takes forever and a day to cure/ dry. How do you plan to apply the topcoat? If you have an HVLP unit, Pre-cat lacquer is reccomended. However, if you don't, you can get some Arm-R-Seal (might be off on the spelling), from Rockler and thin it down about 50:50 with mineral spirits. Then, you can use that as a wipe on poly. That'll give you a nice, durable finish that you can add until it builds to the level you want. Maybe some zinser seal coat first to give it some color, but the General Finishes poly will deepen the color by itself.

I should have listened, but instead I fell into a trap by a certain tung oil company (realmilkpaint.com). They state that tung oil takes 24-48 hours to dry. Not bad. But now that I've purchased the tung oil, it doesn't dry that fast. I contacted the seller, and he said it takes 7-10 days to dry, which is exactly what I'm experiencing...I guess if the truth was stated on his website, no one would buy the tung oil...I know I wouldn't have.

I wanted a tung oil finish, because I have 2 guitars with tung oil necks and I love the smooth, real wood feel. I'm not a fan of polyurethane.

My Statements should be done by Christmas!!!!!

[Nat Ward]

Maybe we'll need another DIY NE, and you can bring those up to MA John 8O . If you ever think there'd be an opportunity for a beer and listen, I'd sure like to hear the full-size Statements to compare to the Monitors we heard the other weekend. Keep up the good work!

-Nat

[Steidl Guitars]

I wanted a tung oil finish, because I have 2 guitars with tung oil necks and I love the smooth, real wood feel.

I mentioned this on another thread, and don't want to sound like a broken record (um, scratched CD?), but you want Tung Oil that has been polymerized, which includes driers that makes it dry in a few hours.

I use the stuff sold by Lee Valley, but there are others I like as well; a lovely finish, and it dries quickly. Just be sure you get Polymerized Tung oil not Pure Tung Oil!

[john trials]

Maybe we'll need another DIY NE, and you can bring those up to MA John 8O . If you ever think there'd be an opportunity for a beer and listen, I'd sure like to hear the full-size Statements to compare to the Monitors we heard the other weekend. Keep up the good work!

-Nat

The full-sized Statements will not fit in my car. No way! My 4' tall Tritrix TLs barely fit. I'm also sick of lugging these beasts all over my shop, garage, listening room. You are welcome to come hear the Statements at my house, where they will be permanently located, sometime after Thanksgiving.

Beerparty's Statement Monitors were amazing sounding at the DIY NE gathering. I really didn't think they would sound as nice as they did. I almost wish I built Monitors (I know my wife would have preferred them ). It would be nice to hear the Monitors versus the full-sized Statements in the same room (with the proper positioning of the speakers...the Monitors were built for 12" from the wall, and we heard them about 4' out from the wall).

[john trials]

I mentioned this on another thread, and don't want to sound like a broken record (um, scratched CD?), but you want Tung Oil that has been polymerized, which includes driers that makes it dry in a few hours.

I use the stuff sold by Lee Valley, but there are others I like as well; a lovely finish, and it dries quickly. Just be sure you get Polymerized Tung oil not Pure Tung Oil!

Yeah, I saw your recommendation. Unfortunately, I'm already at coat #3 of pure tung oil...coat #4 goes on tomorrow (actually, the first 2 coats were 1:1 tung oil:mineral spirits for better absorption). I have a gallon of the stuff (way too much for a pair of Statements, but I didn't want to run out of the stuff and have to order more).

I've just decided to be really patient, learn from my mistake, not sink any more $ into this project, and just put on 1 coat per week.

On the positive side: The tung oil finish is looking really nice, and it's so simple to apply, even I can do it!!!!

[Steidl Guitars]

I've just decided to be really patient

Perfect!

I'm sure they'll turn out great.

[john trials]

3rd coat of tung oil...still wet in this photo. The outriggers are completed, but I'll keep ya'll waitin' until these Statements are totally finished.


Image not available

[sawdust]

John, looking great! How many more coats?

[BeerParty]

It would be nice to hear the Monitors versus the full-sized Statements in the same room (with the proper positioning of the speakers...the Monitors were built for 12" from the wall, and we heard them about 4' out from the wall).

I might be able to arrange that...

Let me know when yours are done and broken in, and we can set up a get together.

[john trials]

John, looking great! How many more coats?

So far I've done two coats of 1:1 tung oil:mineral spirits, followed by three coats of pure (undiluted) tung oil.

I'm going to do two more coats of tung oil, and that should be it. The speakers look better and better with each coat, but I would think seven coats total should be more than enough.

It's now 24 hours from when I coated them last...I'm sitting at work, and I can still smell tung oil. To me it smells similar to peanut butter. It must soak into my system when I'm applying it! I'm not sure if that's the reason I have a headache right now.

I plan on having these assembled by Thanksgiving so I can show them off when everyone arrives for the feast.

[john trials]

I might be able to arrange that...

Let me know when yours are done and broken in, and we can set up a get together.

I've been thinking about this for a while, wondering if my room could fit such a test. It's really pretty small (maybe half the size of the DIY NE room). It'd be cozy!

[john trials]

Update:

This weekend I applied the last coat of tung oil to the cabinets (it's either coat Special or 7...I lost count). It should be dry by Thanksgiving, so my plan is to finally install the drivers next week some time. I'm really getting addicted to the smell of tung oil. I may have to leave a small jar of it open in my basement!

It's been raining/cold each weekend for about 7 weeks here in CT. This weekend was no different, except yesterday afternoon, the sun came out and it got to be about 65F. I finally got to use my paint booth. It's made from solid maple, and has a really nice ventilation system.



I made these grills from 1/2" thick MDF. The fronts are going to be held to the cabinets with magnets (get the polarity right before bonding them in place!). The rear tunnel grills will be retained with ball and socket connectors. Two coats of glue/water, then a quick sanding and some BBQ black spray paint.

[DeathMonk]

Did I see a zelda tri-force in the background of one of those pics? What is it?

[Curt C]

Looking good John! :T

I'm not a avid woodworker, but it sure looks like all your hard work is justified.

Not too many good days left this fall. -The snow is about 15 miles away as I write this. Grab your opportunities while you can...

C

[john trials]

Did I see a zelda tri-force in the background of one of those pics? What is it?

I had no idea what you meant, so I did a web search. It's not a Zelda Triforce. That's my Delta bandsaw.

[savage25xtreme]

BTW excellent job on the new website Curt :T

[john trials]

Looking good John! :T

I'm not a avid woodworker, but it sure looks like all your hard work is justified.

Not too many good days left this fall. -The snow is about 15 miles away as I write this. Grab your opportunities while you can...

C

Thanks, Curt...for the compliment, and making the whole design of the Statements available. These things sound SO NICE!!!!

I am not a woodworker, either, and I used your Tritrix design as a test to see if I could make a nice speaker set. My Tritrixes were a success, so I decided I would try making some Statements. I'm glad I did. These things are looking gorgeous.

I hope there are some dry days ahead, because these Statements won't go up my basement stairs easily. I have to use a hand-truck to bring them out my walk-out basement, then around the house to the front door. The grass has to be dry for that move.

[DeathMonk]

I had no idea what you meant, so I did a web search. It's not a Zelda Triforce. That's my Delta bandsaw.

Wow.. I never noticed that they were exactly the same.

No worries, I'm just a big dork.

[BeerParty]

Beerparty's Statement Monitors were amazing sounding at the DIY NE gathering. I really didn't think they would sound as nice as they did. I almost wish I built Monitors (I know my wife would have preferred them ). It would be nice to hear the Monitors versus the full-sized Statements in the same room (with the proper positioning of the speakers...the Monitors were built for 12" from the wall, and we heard them about 4' out from the wall).

I might be able to arrange that...
Let me know when yours are done and broken in, and we can set up a get together.

I've been thinking about this for a while, wondering if my room could fit such a test. It's really pretty small (maybe half the size of the DIY NE room). It'd be cozy!

I know I'm a big guy, but still! :E :W

[john trials]

I know I'm a big guy, but still! :E :W

I didn't mean it that way!

I think Dan and Nat wanted to hear such a comparison, too. Four of us on a couch would be cozy, no? The room is really small...possibly too small for Statements, but I wanted to build them anyway...I think recently at the PE forum (or was it here at HTG?) there was some discussion of speaker size versus room size...I'm doing some real world testing!

I'm already dreaming of my next house where I would have a large room for music/movies. That's not going to happen for a LONG time, though (maybe never!).

[Curt C]

I hope there are some dry days ahead, because these Statements won't go up my basement stairs easily. I have to use a hand-truck to bring them out my walk-out basement, then around the house to the front door. The grass has to be dry for that move.

I keep threatening to build my larger speakers with this handy feature: :B

C

[BeerParty]

I think Dan and Nat wanted to hear such a comparison, too. Four of us on a couch would be cozy, no? The room is really small...possibly too small for Statements, but I wanted to build them anyway...I think recently at the PE forum (or was it here at HTG?) there was some discussion of speaker size versus room size...I'm doing some real world testing!

Once you are finished, we'll come up with something...

[jyqureshi]

Update:



I made these grills from 1/2" thick MDF. The fronts are going to be held to the cabinets with magnets (get the polarity right before bonding them in place!). The rear tunnel grills will be retained with ball and socket connectors. Two coats of glue/water, then a quick sanding and some BBQ black spray paint.

What are the dimensions of these grills?
I want to copy them with your permission

[john trials]

Grill dimensions (all were made from a 1/2" thick sheet of MDF...left over from the baffle):

Rear: 9" x 19". I made the 2 cutouts so all the remaining MDF was 1" wide. I made the mounting holes 1/2" in from the edges, near the corners. I used the Parts Express ball and socket mounts, since looks aren't as important as the front. With these in place on the Statements, there is plenty of clearance around the mid tunnels, so there shouldn't be any acoustic interference from the grill.

Front: 10" x 37". I made 9" diameter holes for the woofers, and the hole for the mids/tweeter is 8" x 15.5". The mounting holes are 1" in from the edges, near the corners.

I used 4 of the Parts Express grill magnets for each front grill. I HIGHLY recommend using more than that. If I could do it again, I'd put two or four more magnets on each grill, aligned on either side of the tweeter (don't make the mid/tweeter cutout as wide as I did, so there is room for the magnets). These grills stay on the cabinet, but it doesn't take much strength to take them off. Once the grill cloth is applied, they will hang on with even less strength.

[john trials]

DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finished my Statements yesterday. The tung oil was still a little slippery, but it should dry sometime! I had to wash my hands frequently, or I'd risk dropping a driver or something. I managed to complete it without any mishaps...I'm very relieved. I'm a bit sad to be finished, as now I have to find a new project to keep me out of trouble. BUT, I am glad to have them finished, because my JBL MTs were having a hard time trying to reproduce music while my Statements were being completed. I just have to say it one more time: THESE STATEMENTS SOUND SO NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I press fit the ports together. They didn't seem to need adhesive. I captured some grill cloth, to keep out the spiders (Oh no! What's going to happen to the low frequencies now :lol: ). Sealed the ports and drivers with weatherstripping, and screwed it all together.



I don't know why, but I still haven't cut the foam. It's probably one of the easiest parts of the project. I'll do it some rainy day when I'm bored.



Outriggers!





Don't you just love my TV...how 70's. Vintage tubes, man! Actually, I don't even have the TV hooked up to the sound system, so the Statements are just for music.

[jyqureshi]

Looking great!

Just wait till you put the foam in the mid tunnels

[Jim Holtz]

Beautiful job! :T

I agree that the foam makes a huge difference to the midrange.

Jim

[john trials]

Installing the foam will be an interesting before/after test. I think vocals sound amazing with these Statements. If adding foam improves the midrange, then I'm in for a treat!

[sawdust]

John they look great! A long wait, but worth it! Are the outriggers made of wood and painted? How soon will the grills be done and on?

[john trials]

John they look great! A long wait, but worth it! Are the outriggers made of wood and painted? How soon will the grills be done and on?

The outriggers are machined from aluminum. They probably add about 15 pounds to each speaker. They are solid hexagonal bars, with cuts at each end for mounting the pointed feet (which I bought from Parts Express). I am very fortunate to have a milling machine where I work, so I could make these outriggers for very little cost. They probably would look better if the aluminum was anodized to match the feet, but then the surface finish would have to match, too, and that would be expensive, so I left them bare aluminum.

The grills may take a while, as I'm not in a rush to get them on (and I can be quite lazy)! Maybe I'll have some time over the Thanksgiving holiday to work on them. Lining the tunnels with foam comes first.

[dsrviola]

If I understand correctly, you've now made the bass loading aperiodic with those cloth inserts. Granted, with drivers that large and cloth that thin it's not like using a variovent, but it will change the sound of the bass. I've used this technique for tuning bass in vented cabinets. You could probably use an actual wire mesh glued into the ports to keep spiders out that would be less restrictive than the cloth if you decide you don't like the sound of the cloth covered ports. Just a thought.

[john trials]

I messed up when I bought the foam (6 months ago). I only bought enough for two tunnels...duh!!!! So I cut the foam and lined one tunnel on each speaker.

The local fabric store has the 1" foam in 15" x 17" pieces, which is a perfect size. One sheet per tunnel, with almost no waste material (yeah, I'm one of those eco-friendly guys). The only down-side is having to walk into a fabric store again...I truly feel out of place there!