Since I got so much information from this site before choosing which speaker project to build, I thought I'd post pictures of the process for anyone else who might be looking to do the same.
After months and months of research without making a decision, I decided to go with the Zaph ZA5.2 kit(s) from Madisound. I really wanted to build something using a HiVi driver, but I got kinda burned out on looking for completed projects, and couldn't make a decision. So for the sake of ease, time, and guaranteed success, I went with the Zaph kit. Besides, I'm from Madison so I'd be supporting a local business, and so on. The cabinets are all custom made from 3/4" MDF, with a Walnut Veneer. All cutting was done with a circular saw and a sliding compound miter saw, and all holes were cut with a cheap Craftsman router and some really cheap (now broken) router bits. And a big thanks to Adam at Madisound for letting me borrow his Jasper circle guide! He was a big help, and spent plenty of time answering all my questions. Really good guy; knowledgeable and friendly.
By the way, the fit and finish of the kit was very good. The crossovers are very nice; very well made, and the kit came with plenty of everything. These kits are a very good value, and I highly recommend them. The only thing I'd recommend doing that I didn't do was to print out a cut-sheet for the drivers. I made some mis-measurements or something, and ended up with holes that are about 1/16th too big on 2 of the speakers, and that annoyed me for a while because its somewhat noticeable with the dark veneer. But not a huge deal. Anyway, here are the pictures!
I need to buy some more drills... (FYI, an impact driver is a must have tool)
Poor man's table saw.... Requires two clamps, a 4' drywall T-square, and a circular saw. You have to flip the T-square half-way through the cut, so I'd recommend buying one of those flat clamp on-guides instead of using the T-square. **also a note; Harbor Freight clamps are NOT sufficient for clamping speaker boxes; they exert less pressure than my thumb and forefinger**
This actually worked great, provided you have a square piece of wood. FYI, Home Depot sells nice 2' x 4' MDF panels that are perfectly square, as opposed to Menards' cut down 2' x 4' panels that are not square and will result in poorly cut, non-square panels that will require a lot of sanding.
Here is the wood for the front 2 bookshelf speakers. Note; the wood isn't stacked straight; there was virtually no variation in the panel sizes, which means my circular saw guide idea worked!
Routed the front panel for the drivers
Test fitting drivers... So far so good
Gluing and screwing cabinet Home
Mounting the drivers and crossovers in cabinet Home
Its time for a new router... Old and busted
New hotness. Not a bad deal; $119 for a variable speed router with plunge base AND fixed bases, soft start, etc. Really a great router for the money
A much easier routed center channel front baffle
Gluing...
Veneering the center channel in a beautiful walnut veneer from Woodcraft. I used a contact cement that was applied to both sides, then rolled flat. I find this method to be much easier than any other methods.
Layer 1 of varnish/poly/whatever it is. Starting to look a little better
Viola!
God I love walnut
Removable back panel for easy access to the crossovers, should a wire ever come loose
And now, time to make the stands. A few pieces of MDF + this:
And you get these:
Which you can glue together with some dowels like this
and glue on some other panels like this:
And end up with speaker stands that cost almost nothing!
I know its hard to believe, but this actually isn't real stone.
All together now, in the room. (Yes, the subwoofers are OBVIOUSLY out of place, I know, just be patient)
Last, but DEFINITELY not least, the subwoofer cabinets are complete! (somehow I managed to not take any photos of the subwoofer cabinets being built)
And there's little Bailey saying hello
Overall, I'm VERY happy with the result. It took about 5x longer than I expected, but it really made me appreciate the speakers. Knowing that the drivers/crossovers alone cost the same as the set of Klipsch speakers I was ready to buy kind of bumps the perceived value through the roof, now that I see how much work is actually involved in putting them together.
These speakers sound better than any speakers I've ever heard in my life. Granted, I haven't heard all that many different speakers, but they still sound awesome. The subs are still my old car audio subs, which ends up sounding better than most off the shelf HT subwoofers, but not quite up to snuff with some of the long throw home audio subwoofers from Peerless, SEAS, TC, etc. But that's why I have two of them. There is a 240 watt Dayton amplifier mounted in a "backpack" on the right hand subwoofer enclosure, so it doesn't shrink the cabinet space, and the two woofers are both DVC, running a series/parallel configuration for a 4 ohm load. And those things rumble! The last thing I need in that room is more bass; its already just ridiculous. And again, cost me very little.
Hell of a project; I'm glad its done. Sometime in the near future, I'm going to be doing some rear speakers... I'm strongly considering Paul's Overnight Sensation in a small sealed enclosure for the rears, because I think it will be cheap and easy, but I'm still kinda hung up on a bipole/dipole rear speaker configuration. Or maybe I'll just do another ZA5.2. I dunno. For now, my old Pioneer satellite speakers will have to do, because I need some rest
Speaking of which, if anybody knows of any cool rear speakers to make, please speak up. Like I said, I've always been interested in bipole/dipole, even though the experts like Zaph don't like them. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!
After months and months of research without making a decision, I decided to go with the Zaph ZA5.2 kit(s) from Madisound. I really wanted to build something using a HiVi driver, but I got kinda burned out on looking for completed projects, and couldn't make a decision. So for the sake of ease, time, and guaranteed success, I went with the Zaph kit. Besides, I'm from Madison so I'd be supporting a local business, and so on. The cabinets are all custom made from 3/4" MDF, with a Walnut Veneer. All cutting was done with a circular saw and a sliding compound miter saw, and all holes were cut with a cheap Craftsman router and some really cheap (now broken) router bits. And a big thanks to Adam at Madisound for letting me borrow his Jasper circle guide! He was a big help, and spent plenty of time answering all my questions. Really good guy; knowledgeable and friendly.
By the way, the fit and finish of the kit was very good. The crossovers are very nice; very well made, and the kit came with plenty of everything. These kits are a very good value, and I highly recommend them. The only thing I'd recommend doing that I didn't do was to print out a cut-sheet for the drivers. I made some mis-measurements or something, and ended up with holes that are about 1/16th too big on 2 of the speakers, and that annoyed me for a while because its somewhat noticeable with the dark veneer. But not a huge deal. Anyway, here are the pictures!
I need to buy some more drills... (FYI, an impact driver is a must have tool)
Poor man's table saw.... Requires two clamps, a 4' drywall T-square, and a circular saw. You have to flip the T-square half-way through the cut, so I'd recommend buying one of those flat clamp on-guides instead of using the T-square. **also a note; Harbor Freight clamps are NOT sufficient for clamping speaker boxes; they exert less pressure than my thumb and forefinger**
This actually worked great, provided you have a square piece of wood. FYI, Home Depot sells nice 2' x 4' MDF panels that are perfectly square, as opposed to Menards' cut down 2' x 4' panels that are not square and will result in poorly cut, non-square panels that will require a lot of sanding.
Here is the wood for the front 2 bookshelf speakers. Note; the wood isn't stacked straight; there was virtually no variation in the panel sizes, which means my circular saw guide idea worked!
Routed the front panel for the drivers
Test fitting drivers... So far so good
Gluing and screwing cabinet Home
Mounting the drivers and crossovers in cabinet Home
Its time for a new router... Old and busted
New hotness. Not a bad deal; $119 for a variable speed router with plunge base AND fixed bases, soft start, etc. Really a great router for the money
A much easier routed center channel front baffle
Gluing...
Veneering the center channel in a beautiful walnut veneer from Woodcraft. I used a contact cement that was applied to both sides, then rolled flat. I find this method to be much easier than any other methods.
Layer 1 of varnish/poly/whatever it is. Starting to look a little better
Viola!
God I love walnut
Removable back panel for easy access to the crossovers, should a wire ever come loose
And now, time to make the stands. A few pieces of MDF + this:
And you get these:
Which you can glue together with some dowels like this
and glue on some other panels like this:
And end up with speaker stands that cost almost nothing!
I know its hard to believe, but this actually isn't real stone.
All together now, in the room. (Yes, the subwoofers are OBVIOUSLY out of place, I know, just be patient)
Last, but DEFINITELY not least, the subwoofer cabinets are complete! (somehow I managed to not take any photos of the subwoofer cabinets being built)
And there's little Bailey saying hello
Overall, I'm VERY happy with the result. It took about 5x longer than I expected, but it really made me appreciate the speakers. Knowing that the drivers/crossovers alone cost the same as the set of Klipsch speakers I was ready to buy kind of bumps the perceived value through the roof, now that I see how much work is actually involved in putting them together.
These speakers sound better than any speakers I've ever heard in my life. Granted, I haven't heard all that many different speakers, but they still sound awesome. The subs are still my old car audio subs, which ends up sounding better than most off the shelf HT subwoofers, but not quite up to snuff with some of the long throw home audio subwoofers from Peerless, SEAS, TC, etc. But that's why I have two of them. There is a 240 watt Dayton amplifier mounted in a "backpack" on the right hand subwoofer enclosure, so it doesn't shrink the cabinet space, and the two woofers are both DVC, running a series/parallel configuration for a 4 ohm load. And those things rumble! The last thing I need in that room is more bass; its already just ridiculous. And again, cost me very little.
Hell of a project; I'm glad its done. Sometime in the near future, I'm going to be doing some rear speakers... I'm strongly considering Paul's Overnight Sensation in a small sealed enclosure for the rears, because I think it will be cheap and easy, but I'm still kinda hung up on a bipole/dipole rear speaker configuration. Or maybe I'll just do another ZA5.2. I dunno. For now, my old Pioneer satellite speakers will have to do, because I need some rest
Speaking of which, if anybody knows of any cool rear speakers to make, please speak up. Like I said, I've always been interested in bipole/dipole, even though the experts like Zaph don't like them. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!
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