Neils Mini Satement build progress

[neilmaui]

thought I would share my progress so far...not been without its trials but hey thats part of the fun of building your own speakers right??? at least thats what I tell myself when I mess up...again!

so here are the latest pix, just lined the cabs with foam. I got the 'mini statements' kit from Meniscus and it came with 2 1/2" wedge foam rather than 2" dont think this will make much difference? Held back 2 1/2 from the back of baffle.



one issue I have is that it also came with 2" foam for the mids, will this close in the sound too much? here is the back view



so then onto mounting my crossovers with velcro into the lower cabinet space, just had to make sure there was enough room for my ports which are rear wall mounted.







then onto wiring them up



hope its all good so far!!

[BeerParty]

Nice work so far. Those are some of the cleanest crossovers I have seen that are going into the box.

[neilmaui]

thanks BeerParty although I did get the crossovers and other components from Meniscus. Do you think the mid tunnel foam will be OK? I thought it looked a little dense with the thicker wedge foam?

[neilmaui]

also Chris thanks for posting your Monitor thread, its been an invaluable guide!

[Jim Holtz]

I'd recommend that you use 1" flat foam for the mid tunnel. It's available at most hobby stores in the upholstery department or online. It's not hard to find.

JIm

[neilmaui]

I'd recommend that you use 1" flat foam for the mid tunnel. It's available at most hobby stores in the upholstery department or online. It's not hard to find.

JIm

Thanks Jim, Ooops this was the foam that came with the 'kit' from Meniscus and I've already glued it in! Maybe I'll have to take a knife and cut it back or just pull out the wedge foam and start again...if the flat makes that much difference maybe I should start over?

[neilmaui]

Just measured a left over piece of the mid tunnel foam and its 1 1/2 inches should I just chop off the peaks : )

Image not available

[neilmaui]

Measuring the foam

[Jim Holtz]

Fire up an electric knife and slice away. It actually should be OK as is. Are your mid tunnels round?

Jim

[neilmaui]

Thanks Jim, tunnels are square as per the design and rear opening is round, think this is as per design too? Just out of interest what would be the result of leaving more foam in the mid tunnels ? A not so open mid?

[Jim Holtz]

I've built Statements with both the round opening and square. The square opens it up a bit. The foam can be varied for tuning. Give it a try and see how you like it. It will vary depending on how lively your room is.

Jim

[BeerParty]

thanks BeerParty although I did get the crossovers and other components from Meniscus. Do you think the mid tunnel foam will be OK? I thought it looked a little dense with the thicker wedge foam?

You are welcome, glad it was of use.

[BeerParty]

Do you think the mid tunnel foam will be OK? I thought it looked a little dense with the thicker wedge foam?

I'd say listen to Jim on this one, he has a lot more experience testing different foam/tunnel configurations. I opened the rear of my tunnels (square), used 1" foam, and was happy with the results; so I didn't try any alternatives.

[neilmaui]

getting ready to seat the drivers, does anyone know if I need to put a foam gasket behind the tweeters? the bass units have their own gasket although not particulary thick does anyone put additional foam on these? thanks for any help!

[Jim Holtz]

getting ready to seat the drivers, does anyone know if I need to put a foam gasket behind the tweeters? the bass units have their own gasket although not particulary thick does anyone put additional foam on these? thanks for any help!

I buy 1/4" window weather striping at the local home store. It works great and it's cheap.

Jim

[neilmaui]

I buy 1/4" window weather striping at the local home store. It works great and it's cheap.

Jim

Thanks Jim, drive units in and heading to the lounge to hook up for the first impressions, I note that I have to 'burn in' the drivers for something like 8-15 hrs is this just to 'loosen up the drivers? And I take it its not 8 hours continual noise?

[Jim Holtz]

Thanks Jim, drive units in and heading to the lounge to hook up for the first impressions, I note that I have to 'burn in' the drivers for something like 8-15 hrs is this just to 'loosen up the drivers? And I take it its not 8 hours continual noise?

I and many other Statements series builders have noticed differences in sound quality after several hours of use. I normally suggest turning on music at a low volume and just walk away. Let them play overnight and then sit down for serious listening the following day. I don't know why but the sound seems to smooth a bit and everything comes together. YMMV...

Jim

[neilmaui]

Well they are nearly finished! Eternal thanks to the designers and people on this forum that make this hobby what it is!!!

Maple veneer and a newly finished titanium grey grill with spiked feet ( and everything else) from the great guys at Meniscus. Now maybe Ill get 5 minutes to sit in front of them and enjoy them rather than slave over them!!!

[neilmaui]

From the other side

[Jim Holtz]

They look great!

Jim

[BeerParty]

Maple veneer and a newly finished titanium grey grill with spiked feet

They look very nice. How did you end up doing the corners with the veneer?

[neilmaui]

They look great!

Jim

Thanks Jim, and thanks for all the help!

[neilmaui]

Thanks Chris, Still learning veneering so not the best job in the World but passable! I routed a 45 degree edge on the fronts and top sides, veneered the main cabinet sides first, then the small angled strip then the front baffle ending up with the top.

[TEK]

Looking vert nice!
What wood did you use for the grilles?

[neilmaui]

Looking vert nice!
What wood did you use for the grilles?

1/2 inch ply, routed at 45 on the side edges square at the top to match the cabs.

[neilmaui]

I and many other Statements series builders have noticed differences in sound quality after several hours of use. I normally suggest turning on music at a low volume and just walk away. Let them play overnight and then sit down for serious listening the following day. I don't know why but the sound seems to smooth a bit and everything comes together. YMMV...

Jim

Been playing these for a few weeks now and one thing I have noticed, at higher volume levels, not super loud but reasonable, the mid/ high end seems a little harsh. Kind of when vocals get loud, or slightly louder passages I need to back down the volume as it gets a little 'harsh'. My amp is a Denon AvR 2805 and CD player is the 2910 or streaming through MOG. My room is not overly bright although the speakers do sit in front of an 'alcove' see pics...even when I pull them out into the room a couple of feet it doesn't seem to improve greatly. Any ideas? Would the 'excess foam' in the mid tunnels do anything?

[Jim Holtz]

The Statements are very revealing and quickly expose flaws in recordings and electronics. Try some audiophile recordings and see if you still hear the harshness you've described. If you do, try some different electronics.

Jim

[neilmaui]

The Statements are very revealing and quickly expose flaws in recordings and electronics. Try some audiophile recordings and see if you still hear the harshness you've described. If you do, try some different electronics.

Jim

Thanks Jim, been thinking its time to update the front end Denon 2910....this could be a good excuse!

[neilmaui]

thanks for the input guys, so here is my new thinking ...ditch my old Denon AVR and get a new Emotiva XPA-2 and XDA 2 fed with a mac mini? any thoughts on the Emotiva product?

[sawdust]

I've owned the XPA-2 and now have the XPA-1 mono blocks. Both have worked flawlessly for me and really make the Statements sing. I did own the XDA-1 for a while but now have the John Kenny Ciunas DAC hooked up to a Mac mini using Audirvana software and must say it's the best sound I've heard from my computer set up. How will you be getting the data out of the mini? Optical or USB?

[neilmaui]

I've owned the XPA-2 and now have the XPA-1 mono blocks. Both have worked flawlessly for me and really make the Statements sing. I did own the XDA-1 for a while but now have the John Kenny Ciunas DAC hooked up to a Mac mini using Audirvana software and must say it's the best sound I've heard from my computer set up. How will you be getting the data out of the mini? Optical or USB?

thanks for the input Sawdust! Im still new to computer audio...so still trying to figure it all out so any help would be awesome. Not sure of which will be the best way good quality USB or Optical. I will be using Audirvana too. any suggestions?

[sawdust]

If you have an iPhone or iPad you can remotely select music to listen to and pause and play music with the Apple Remote software app. You have to be in iTunes integrated mode in Audirvana for this to work, but it is pretty slick. As far as the best option for getting data out of the mini, that depends on the implementation of the usb vs Toslink of the DAC. I'm using USB because that is the Ciunas's only input, but it also is one of the best USB implementations and was the reason I chose that DAC. It would be relatively cheap to try both and for you to decide. If you have 192K hires files, they may not play via optical. You will need something like this or this to use the optical:

http://www.amazon.com/Recoton-Fiber-Optic-Toslink-Adapter/dp/B0002MQGRM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371758038&sr=8-1&keywords=mac+mini+optical+out



and a fiber optic cable

http://www.amazon.com/6ft-Toslink-Mini-Cable/dp/B000FMXKC8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1371758218&sr=8-4&keywords=mac+mini+optical+out

[Jim Holtz]

thanks for the input guys, so here is my new thinking ...ditch my old Denon AVR and get a new Emotiva XPA-2 and XDA 2 fed with a mac mini? any thoughts on the Emotiva product?

I'm a big fan of Emotiva. High build quality and sound quality at a reasonable price. I'd suggest 100 watts minimum. More is better. I drive my Statements with a LPA-1 and have never come close to running out of power at any sane volume. Good stuff! :T

[neilmaui]

I'm a big fan of Emotiva. High build quality and sound quality at a reasonable price. I'd suggest 100 watts minimum. More is better. I drive my Statements with a LPA-1 and have never come close to running out of power at any sane volume. Good stuff! :T

thanks Jim, Im looking at the XPA-2 rated at 300W per channel, just like the look of the big power amp and you can never have enough power right? Or is this too much power? Will feed it with the XDA-2 USB DAC from my Mac mini

[Jim Holtz]

thanks Jim, Im looking at the XPA-2 rated at 300W per channel, just like the look of the big power amp and you can never have enough power right? Or is this too much power? Will feed it with the XDA-2 USB DAC from my Mac mini

Hi Niel,

You're good. Too much power is much better than not enough.

Jim

[neilmaui]

Hi Niel,

You're good. Too much power is much better than not enough.

Jim

Thanks Jim, the credit card is ready to take another hit!

[fschris]

Neilmaui, I am going to build a pair of these as well later this year. I love your grill work. Can you explain how you do this? How do you build the frame to attach the grill cloth? do you tack or glue the cloth?

do you magnets to secure or do you use the ball joints? thanks for the tip of buying the kits from Meniscus. I am going to purchase a kit for the center channel as well.

[neilmaui]

Neilmaui, I am going to build a pair of these as well later this year. I love your grill work. Can you explain how you do this? How do you build the frame to attach the grill cloth? do you tack or glue the cloth?

do you magnets to secure or do you use the ball joints? thanks for the tip of buying the kits from Meniscus. I am going to purchase a kit for the center channel as well.

Pretty simple, just cut and routed a frame from ply, routed my outside edge at 45 deg to match my cabs, then stretched the grill cloth over and stapled around the edges . I used ply because I knew if I was pulling them on and off I needed a little bit of flexibility also I could staple into ply easily. I then used simple ball joint grill fasteners from Meniscus. Gives them a nicer finished look, and stops stray fingers poking stuff they shouldn't!!!

[fschris]

any chance you can take a picture of the back of the grill? Did you get the XPA2 ?

Chris

[DeathMonk]

I have an XPA-3 running my full size statements and statements center. It never breaks a sweat at any listening level and sounds great.

Good job on the build!

[Mark_1042]

A great looking build there Niel, a very original and elegant cabinet design, and a great color combination.

[fschris]

Pretty simple, just cut and routed a frame from ply, routed my outside edge at 45 deg to match my cabs, then stretched the grill cloth over and stapled around the edges . I used ply because I knew if I was pulling them on and off I needed a little bit of flexibility also I could staple into ply easily. I then used simple ball joint grill fasteners from Meniscus. Gives them a nicer finished look, and stops stray fingers poking stuff they shouldn't!!!

Thanks for the information.... I will have to do that on my next build