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I have been researching and trying to choose a set of speakers to build for some time. I finally decided to go with the Tritrix. I made this decision for several reasons. First, the price was right for me to buy six of them (because what's the point if you can't get as many as you really want), and be able to get it through the ever elusive WAF. Second, TL theory and practice is interesting to me, so right off the bat the project had my interest. And third, I saw ways to easily modify the design of these speakers to better suit my needs.
After much debate on what style I should build I decided to go with 4 standard Tritrix TL's and two 19 L ported Tritrix MTM's. I had the room to put a TL as back surround speakers and the price difference for the MDF was negligible, so why not?!? At first I was going to not do the ported designs because they are a little more complicated and take up a lot more room, but as I started laying things out I discovered that for what I wanted to do the ported were going to work better.
One of the basic considerations that I designed around was that the speakers had to be covered. This was for two reasons. The first of those reasons is actually three (3) reasons and they are ages 5, 3, and 3 months. They are lovely beautiful kids that love that I am doing a speaker project and can't wait till it's done, but those soft dome tweeters are almost too much for them to resist. The second reason is the WAF. So, with that in mind I found some nice magnetic grills from PE that were 21. in long and 8 in. wide, so my TL's ended up being 8 inches wide and my MTM's were 21 inches wide and 8 inches tall. Because the MTM's had to be this big if I did a sealed design they would only be able 3.5 inches deep. That wouldn't really work...so ported it is!
Thanks to PE and their incredible Tritrix crossover guide building the crossovers was a snap. I built and tested all 6 of them in a couple of hours.
Then the chips started flying! Here is the cut pile of lumber after an exciting Thursday morning that I took off work. For this project I did not buy a circle cutter for my router, but I built one. It basically amounted to a piece of 5/8th's ply wood that was fitted to my router as it's base, then I put holes in the appropriate spots to make the correct circle size, slipped a nail through the hole and through a corresponding hole on the speaker, and cut chips. Not perfect, but it did the job adequately.
For the TL's, not only did I need them just a little wider, but I also wanted them taller to get the tweeter up around ear level. With this desire came the opportunity to place the crossover in a more manageable spot. From these pictures you can see the false bottom that I put in the design and where the crossover will be going.
I decided to make these speakers last through Armageddon so I screwed and glued them. All the screws are counter sunk. This increased the build time a bit, but really increased the hole filling time. However...I highly doubt they will ever ever ever get loose or rattle...ever.
Because of the increased width of the MTM's I decided to space out the speakers a little more than recommended. I think they look good, and I hope they will perform well. In this picture you can see the increased spacing and the installed crossover as well as the screw and glue method I used to build.
And here they are all built and ready to be filled! After much debate I decided to put a strip of decorative trim around the bottom. This was to increase the WAF and to also act as an outrigger of sorts so I could install speaker spikes further from the center of gravity. With the young kids I talked about earlier I wanted to make them a bit less likely to tip over than they were. I know the speaker spikes aren't necessary to audio reasons, but I like them for the safety reasons, and I think they will look good.
To fill the MANY holes and joints I decided to try Bondo. I have never used Bondo, but had heard that it was great for applications like this. After using it I have decided that I am a complete novice at using Bondo, but over the course of all of this I got considerably better. If you've never used bondo, this is what I learned:
1) Right from the start plan on at least 2 coats everywhere. You may think that putting it on a little thicker will allow you to just do one application and hence save time...this will only be the case if you are an exceptional bondo applicator.
2) For each application put on as thin a layer and you think you can get by with. This will prevent air pockets and LOTS of extra sanding.
3) Try to find a day where it is less than 85 Deg F to work. Bondo sets up fast enough as it is (5 min, if you're lucky) but when it's hot you only get 2 min to work.
4) If you've ever used any bondo product you already know this, but...once it starts to set, even a little bit, stop working! You're done with that batch, just throw the left overs away. YES, even if you only have 1 measly little tiny hole left. Just remember, if you apply that already setting bondo you're going to have to do it again anyhow.
5) Clean your tools frequently during use and when finished. This will prevent bad artifacts in your bondo and will save your tools.
6) If you drip any on the floor clean it up as soon as you're done applying the current batch. If you let it set up it will pull up the floor with it (even concrete) or it will be there forever.
Now, having said that, here are my speakers all bondo'd up.
After bondoing, your best friends become a dust mask a set of ear plugs and a random orbit sander. I used a 100 grit to take off the big chunks (because it took 6 speakers to lean the 6 things I previously stated) and I used 220 grit to feather and finish.
Here they are ready to prime and paint.
This picture was taken yesterday. I'm hoping to get the first coat of paint on Saturday. I am going to paint them with a gravity feed sprayer and with a good black satin oil based paint that I have used before on a project similar to this, although not speakers. If you look close you can see the spots on the speaker face where I inserted neodymium magnets into the corners to hold on the speaker grills. After they are painted you shouldn't even be able to tell they are there, but they should hold on the grills very well. I was originally going to just use the magnets in the grills to hold on to screw heads, but they didn't stick like I wanted them to. With these magnets installed they are solid.
Right now I almost can't stand the wait to paint them <cough> <cough> I feel a cold coming on...maybe I should stay home from work...
After much debate on what style I should build I decided to go with 4 standard Tritrix TL's and two 19 L ported Tritrix MTM's. I had the room to put a TL as back surround speakers and the price difference for the MDF was negligible, so why not?!? At first I was going to not do the ported designs because they are a little more complicated and take up a lot more room, but as I started laying things out I discovered that for what I wanted to do the ported were going to work better.
One of the basic considerations that I designed around was that the speakers had to be covered. This was for two reasons. The first of those reasons is actually three (3) reasons and they are ages 5, 3, and 3 months. They are lovely beautiful kids that love that I am doing a speaker project and can't wait till it's done, but those soft dome tweeters are almost too much for them to resist. The second reason is the WAF. So, with that in mind I found some nice magnetic grills from PE that were 21. in long and 8 in. wide, so my TL's ended up being 8 inches wide and my MTM's were 21 inches wide and 8 inches tall. Because the MTM's had to be this big if I did a sealed design they would only be able 3.5 inches deep. That wouldn't really work...so ported it is!
Thanks to PE and their incredible Tritrix crossover guide building the crossovers was a snap. I built and tested all 6 of them in a couple of hours.
Then the chips started flying! Here is the cut pile of lumber after an exciting Thursday morning that I took off work. For this project I did not buy a circle cutter for my router, but I built one. It basically amounted to a piece of 5/8th's ply wood that was fitted to my router as it's base, then I put holes in the appropriate spots to make the correct circle size, slipped a nail through the hole and through a corresponding hole on the speaker, and cut chips. Not perfect, but it did the job adequately.
For the TL's, not only did I need them just a little wider, but I also wanted them taller to get the tweeter up around ear level. With this desire came the opportunity to place the crossover in a more manageable spot. From these pictures you can see the false bottom that I put in the design and where the crossover will be going.
I decided to make these speakers last through Armageddon so I screwed and glued them. All the screws are counter sunk. This increased the build time a bit, but really increased the hole filling time. However...I highly doubt they will ever ever ever get loose or rattle...ever.
Because of the increased width of the MTM's I decided to space out the speakers a little more than recommended. I think they look good, and I hope they will perform well. In this picture you can see the increased spacing and the installed crossover as well as the screw and glue method I used to build.
And here they are all built and ready to be filled! After much debate I decided to put a strip of decorative trim around the bottom. This was to increase the WAF and to also act as an outrigger of sorts so I could install speaker spikes further from the center of gravity. With the young kids I talked about earlier I wanted to make them a bit less likely to tip over than they were. I know the speaker spikes aren't necessary to audio reasons, but I like them for the safety reasons, and I think they will look good.
To fill the MANY holes and joints I decided to try Bondo. I have never used Bondo, but had heard that it was great for applications like this. After using it I have decided that I am a complete novice at using Bondo, but over the course of all of this I got considerably better. If you've never used bondo, this is what I learned:
1) Right from the start plan on at least 2 coats everywhere. You may think that putting it on a little thicker will allow you to just do one application and hence save time...this will only be the case if you are an exceptional bondo applicator.
2) For each application put on as thin a layer and you think you can get by with. This will prevent air pockets and LOTS of extra sanding.
3) Try to find a day where it is less than 85 Deg F to work. Bondo sets up fast enough as it is (5 min, if you're lucky) but when it's hot you only get 2 min to work.
4) If you've ever used any bondo product you already know this, but...once it starts to set, even a little bit, stop working! You're done with that batch, just throw the left overs away. YES, even if you only have 1 measly little tiny hole left. Just remember, if you apply that already setting bondo you're going to have to do it again anyhow.
5) Clean your tools frequently during use and when finished. This will prevent bad artifacts in your bondo and will save your tools.
6) If you drip any on the floor clean it up as soon as you're done applying the current batch. If you let it set up it will pull up the floor with it (even concrete) or it will be there forever.
Now, having said that, here are my speakers all bondo'd up.
After bondoing, your best friends become a dust mask a set of ear plugs and a random orbit sander. I used a 100 grit to take off the big chunks (because it took 6 speakers to lean the 6 things I previously stated) and I used 220 grit to feather and finish.
Here they are ready to prime and paint.
This picture was taken yesterday. I'm hoping to get the first coat of paint on Saturday. I am going to paint them with a gravity feed sprayer and with a good black satin oil based paint that I have used before on a project similar to this, although not speakers. If you look close you can see the spots on the speaker face where I inserted neodymium magnets into the corners to hold on the speaker grills. After they are painted you shouldn't even be able to tell they are there, but they should hold on the grills very well. I was originally going to just use the magnets in the grills to hold on to screw heads, but they didn't stick like I wanted them to. With these magnets installed they are solid.
Right now I almost can't stand the wait to paint them <cough> <cough> I feel a cold coming on...maybe I should stay home from work...
ops: Honestly, I couldn't be happier with them!
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