Natalie P build

[bbcmp1979]

Ok, I don't think I'll be sanding the finish tower just yet as they look good at the moment. I'll be working on priming the second tower today and tomorrow

[ch83575]

Great paint job and cool build.

If you do decide that they are too shiny I have had really good luck with two or three thin coats of krylon spray on satin finish clear coat over just about anything. It is way more matte than you might think from the 'satin' in the name. It can even make some small imperfections just magically disappear. They look great the way they are, but if you want them less shiny it might be worth a try.

-Chad

[bbcmp1979]

It does have a few imperfections but I'm not gonna sweat over it. I'm happy it how it came out. We were watching Transformer2 last night and there weren't any reflection that bother me neither.

Second tower with 3 coats of primer and no sanding.

[numberoneoppa]

Wow, I just realized that that speaker would look wickedly nice in white. :P

Looking great in black, though!

[bbcmp1979]

They would definitely blend right in with the wall....hahahsah. Only if I can lay down the the black paint as good....

[bbcmp1979]

After 4 coats of semi gloss black. Like I said, if only I can lay down the black paint as well as primering.















I can't really explain how it came out w/o any dust spot on the paint considering how much dust I have in the garage.

When I painted my sub back in november, there were no dust on the floor but after painting, i can see the dust/particle on the paint.

[bbcmp1979]

As they sit in the living room today.







Next step, center channel, upgrade receiver, and build another entertainment center.

Anyone knows where i can get a plan to build an entertainment center, or a bigger stand to accommodate what I have now?

Thanks

[JonMarsh]

Nice work on the paint job, that's always a bit tricky way to go- but then so is veneering and conventional finishing!

[bbcmp1979]

Thanks John,

Any recommendation for a center channel to match?

[numberoneoppa]

Anyone knows where i can get a plan to build an entertainment center, or a bigger stand to accomodate what I have now?

It's your room, you know it better than anybody else, as well as your needs and wants. Why not design it yourself?

You're speakers look very nice, by the way. Considered building some stands out of MDF to get those old speakers out of the room? :P

[bbcmp1979]

I've removed the plastic speakers and the Nats are sitting on the floor right now. I just picked up some shelving material from Home Depot for the stands. I won't be working on them just yet. At ear level, they should be about a feet up from the floor.

[evilskillit]

Out of curiosity if they needed to be taller why not just build them taller and section off the extra space inside rather than having to have really really short speaker stands for othwerise already tall speakers?

[bbcmp1979]

Evilskillit,

This is my first set of home speakers that I built. It is mainly to experiment with enclosure and to decide whether or not I'm hooked to DIY. I built it shorter with the intention of rebuilding the towers to a bigger size to extend to a lower frequenccy and upgrade the crossover to the Modula MTM xover.

I just spent the last 3 hours listening to music in 2 channel mode with the sub off.

What I can say is, WWWOOOWWW!!! Even w/o the Modula MTM xover the Natalies were great. I was in blissed for the whole 3 hours. The frequency response is extremely flat, the transition from midrange to midbass to the lower bass frequency is extremely smooth. The high frequency was very detail yet neutral at the same time. Speeches and vocals were very refined. They are very forward and put the singers to my living room, but they are not so forward like In your Face forward.

I can hear the waterfall, the gentle wind breezes by, that I don't remember hearing for the last few years with crappy/plastic speakers.

With only a few hours of play time, I'm sure the Nats are not broken in yet. However, I could only expect much improvement once they are.

I like to thanks Evil Twin, and John for a great design.

DIY4life !!!!

I now wonder what the Natalie would compare to for commercial offerings?

[gregnash]

bbcmp do you really see that much of a response difference with and w/o the stands under the current height? Didn't you make them approximately 42" tall? Reason I am asking is the "mini tower" set that I am specing out in Sketch-Up are 42" with stands so wondering if I should make them a little tall or not.

[bbcmp1979]

Gregnash,

The tower were 40" tall. When I had them on the plastic speakers as stand (9" tall), they were a little bit brighter and imaging were much better, but the low end frequency was a tad thinner. If you are only building them once and don't plan to rebuild the enclosure down the road, you can try to build them 50" tall and place the port about 3" off the ground. My port is about 7" - 8" off the ground so when I had them on the stand the low end were thin.

I hope this help.

In a month or two, I'll be making another set of towers that'll be 48" high with a down firing port. As you can see, i'm in the experimental stage.

[numberoneoppa]

Hehe, it's fun, isn't it? And now you're hooked in the same way that I am. You've already got the best speakers of your life (by far), but you're still planning on building more!

Oh, it's such a happy cycle.

[bbcmp1979]

Hahaha, yeah i'm all for a happy cycle as oppose to down downward cycle.

I do plan on maximizing the nat's performance first before upgrading to another set though.

[fbov]

...
What I can say is, WWWOOOWWW!!! Even w/o the Modula MTM xover the Natalies were great. I was in blissed for the whole 3 hours. The frequency response is extremely flat, the transition from midrange to midbass to the lower bass frequency is extremely smooth. The high frequency was very detail yet neutral at the same time. Speeches and vocals were very refined. They are very forward and put the singers to my living room, but they are not so forward like In your Face forward.

I can hear the waterfall, the gentle wind breezes by, that I don't remember hearing for the last few years with crappy/plastic speakers.
....

+1 Enjoy!

[opt-e]

Congratulations on completion of some sharp looking speakers!! :T

I'm sure you're in bliss as I was when I completed my pair.

[mgrabow]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet :T :T :T :T :T

[mgrabow]

Dumb question... What is a "Natalie P"? is that a kit or a design ?

[BOBinGA]

A design. See the sticky thread on finished designs.

-Bob

[bbcmp1979]

What Bobinga said!!

Design by Jon here on the forum after Natalie Portman? I still haven't figure out why Natalie Portman though... :-)

[fbov]

If you were to notice that NatPs were designed by his alter ego, Evil Twin, a lesser known Sith Lord, perhaps the connection would seem obvious, when it's actually her role in The Professional that provided inspiration, if I read him right. Acting over special effects.

Frank

[bbcmp1979]

Yes, Evil Twin/John, my apologies.