Statement II - The Remix

[deewan]

Some of the pictures no longer display because Photobucket discontinued their free picture hosting service. SORRY!

Hey guys. It's been a while since I've been an active poster to the boards because I haven't been building many speakers in the past few years. That drought has come to an end. The past three builds I have done for myself have all be Jed’s Clearwave Dynamic 4T and 4CC, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. They have been PERFECT for my movie and music taste. However, since I am starting to listen to more music than watch movies, I thought I would try moving back to the Statement family and the version 2 that are geared more towards music. So while I wanted to build the Statement II’s, I knew I couldn't build them to spec as my wife HATED the size of the original Statements I built, which was the main factor in switching to the Dynamics. I've traded several emails with Curt and Jim over the past 16 months or so. During that time Jim informed me the non-shielded Dayton woofers require 30% less cabinet volume to perform at the same level as the discontinued shielded version. That’s when my mind started to work….

I began designing a few cabinets, trying to shave off height from the cabinets. Knowing I needed to keep the midrange tunnels the same length and the tweeter at or near ear level (roughly 38-40 inches), the WMTMW driver layout wasn't allowing me to shave more than 4-5 inches off the overall height. A 54-56 inch tall cabinet would not be allowed back in the house while my wife still lived there. I traded a few more emails with Curt and Jim and we decided a MTMWW driver layout likely would not be a design buster. With the new driver layout and spacing complete, I began on a new set of cabinet designs. Overall cabinet height came in around 49-50 inches (depending on stand and speaker spikes) which is exactly the same as my current Dynamics. I was able to decrease the baffle width by an inch (per Curt’s approval). I preserved the overall cabinet depth and midrange tunnels length. Suddenly the cabinet design started to fall into place.

Of course regular rectangular cabinets just would not do for this build. I always enjoy a speaker cabinet that looks as good as the speaker sounds. I began drawing a slight curve to the side panels, a flat rear panel, and a sloping top plate to help the visual height of the speaker. Nothing major with the curves, but something enough to be noticed and help the cabinet appear less massive. To help save some height with the base and port I moved the port to the backside of the cabinet. I made sure to keep the port below the lowest woofer. The final touch to a subtle cabinet curve... a detachable, curvy base with outrigger type feet. I've got some special plans for the binding posts as well. I haven’t had time to become a pro at Google Sketch-Up or any other CAD software, so you will all have to endure my lousy handmade drawings if you want a preview of the cabinets.


Once the build is complete I will post my BOM for this build in case anyone wants to copy or draw inspiration. As luck would have it, I live 2 hours away from Jim and with his invitation I planning on taking my version of the Statements to his home to compare to the stock Statement II’s to my Statement II remix. It will be fun to see and hear any differences between the two builds.

[deewan]

*I'd like to apologize in advance. I didn't take many pictures while I was creating the bracing, doing the rough cuts, or the fine trimming.

Day 1 - Rough Cuts
After finalizing the cabinet drawings, I began making saw dust. For the tower cabinets I determined I was able to get all the bracing and plates from one 4x8 sheet of 3/4” MDF, one 2x4 sheet of 3/4” plywood, one 2x4 sheet of 1/2” MDF, and a 4x4 sheet of ½” plywood.

• 4x8 sheet of ¾” MDF - used for all the internal braces.
• 2x4 sheet of ¾” plywood - used for templates for creating the internal braces.
• 4x4 sheet of ½” plywood – used for bases.
• 1/2” MDF was needed for the front baffle.

I created a layout for the tower braces and cut it out of the ¾” plywood. I then traced that shape onto 16 precut MDF boards. Used a jig saw to rough cut the pieces and then the table router and my plywood template to make sure they are exactly the same. I bought the router table for this project and it has already aid for itself. The router table was a huge time saver compared to my past method of using the plunge router.

I also cutout and created the base plates for the ½” plywood.

Next I took 8 of the braces and trimmed them into tunnel braces and dado cut side tunnel joints. That was enough work in the cold for day 1.


Day 2 – Create cabinet skeleton
I finished creating the internal braces by cutting holes in the braces for free air movement. Normally I take great pride and make the braces look as close as possible to a CNC’ed part. But in the 6 years of doing this I have never once seen or thought about the internal bracing once the drivers are mounted. So this time, I spent very little time making sure everything ‘looked’ perfect. I constructed the midrange tunnel/braces and made sure to remove material for the tweeter knockout between the two tunnels. With the midrange tunnels complete, I cut supports using 1x2 poplar boards. These supports will help construct a skeleton of the cabinet using the braces. The skeleton will then be wrapped with side panels and completely enclosed with a front baffle.

[Jim Holtz]

looks great Darren! :T

Jim

[deewan]

Thanks Jim. I'm actually a little further along that these posts and pictures show, but I am too busy building instead of posting.

[Jim Holtz]

Thanks Jim. I'm actually a little further along that these posts and pictures show, but I am too busy building instead of posting.

The weather is amazing. I have a project in the basement but I'm outside getting things done that I didn't plan on doing until the end of April. The weather is outstanding for March. I know it won't last but I'm enjoying it while its here.

Jim

[tktran]

Looking forward to following this post. I built the Statement II as per original plan. I haven't taken any measurements yet but it'd be interesting to see what the non-shielded woofers do to the low end response.

They are very handsome IMHO, but my wife also thinks they are very big. Luckily we have 12' ceilings so they don't look THAT big, but still. If you can shave off 25% of cabinet volume for little to no impact, or 1" off the width, it's probably a good move.

These days they call speakers with 5.25" drivers "subwoofers" :roll:

Did you have to modify the crossover to deal with the difference in response for the WWMTM (eg. floorbounce)

[deewan]

No changes are being made to the crossovers. I am sure there will be some measurable differences with the smaller cabinet and different driver lineup, but I am not sure how audible it will be to my ears. I like to think I have fairly good hearing, but I've seen differences measured with a mic that my ears can't pick up. So if measurable differences are the only impact, I don't mind if I can have more manageable cabinet sizes.

[deewan]

Made some more progress last night but forgot to snap some photos. I have the bases rough cut and trimmed to exact size. I also began building the skeleton of the cabinet after rounding over all the internal bracing. I was only able to build about half of each skeleton because of the number of clamps I own. It’s funny, I always think I own too many clamps, until I start building speakers. Then I think I need to double my quantity.

I also began wiring the crossovers last night. It never fails, I always think wiring a crossover is no big deal and I choose not to pay for assembled crossovers. Then I begin trying to figure out layout and start messing around with the soldering iron and make a mistake. Then $90 for assembled crossovers seems like a bargain. But, mistakes were corrected and the woofer and tweeter circuits are complete. Tonight I should be able to complete the two midrange circuits. Each crossover is mounted on it’s own plywood board. The components are attached to the plywood using hot glue and/or zip ties for the heavier pieces.

I will try to snap some photos of my progress after I complete work tonight.

[soundemon]

Cant wait to see more progress and hear your impressions! I've got a set of statement IIs on my horizons, and love to know all my options! (and see good inspirational work I can shamelessly copy ops

[deewan]

soundemon - Shamelessly copy anything you like. That's the whole purpose of this thread and site.

A quick photo update. I didn't have much time to work on the speakers yesterday so not much was completed. I continued to build the cabinet skeleton and drilled the pilot holes which will house the t-nuts allowing for the base to attached/detach to the bottom framework of the cabinet. Here is the sole picture that was taken at the beginning of yesterdays work shop. You can see the midrange tunnel braces as well as the supports for the curved top plate.

[Hdale85]

Those look interesting, be great to see the finished result!

[WLDock]

Once the build is complete I will post my BOM for this build in case anyone wants to copy or draw inspiration. As luck would have it, I live 2 hours away from Jim and with his invitation I planning on taking my version of the Statements to his home to compare to the stock Statement II’s to my Statement II remix. It will be fun to see and hear any differences between the two builds.

Darren, it looks like you're well under way. I wish I could be building with you but as we talked about your plans seems to be all that I could hope for in a shorter curved cabinet design. The Statements are too tall and boxy for me as well.

You have the skills my man...I sure wish you could build mine....but that's the whole point of DIY I guess. I'm even thinking about a two-piece design like my Polk RT3000P's....we will see. I'll have to wait and see how it all turns out.

Anyway, I think you are off to a great start and on to something special with this design. Keep posting! And you guys are 4 hrs away....would be cool to be a part of the comparisons session.

Walt

[deewan]

Thanks Walt. I love building cabinets.

Some updates from today. I was able to install the brad nuts, or t-nuts, or whatever you want to call them. They allow the tower of the cabinet to be detached or secured to base.


I also finished building the cabinets. It's funny, after I had everything put together I thought, "Oh no... I forgot something. These aren't tall enough to be Statements." But after measuring them, they are a perfect 50 inches tall. Just as I had hoped. Here is a pic of the last of the braces and clamps coming off.


And just before my wife told me I needed to take her out to dinner, I was able to kerf cut the top plate and make sure I can get the curved top.


Tonight I hope to finish wiring up the crossovers. Tomorrow I hope to get the work more on the bases. I have some routing and internal wiring to do after I get the binding posts installed.

[deewan]

I made a lot of progress this weekend, although it is not easily seen in the pictures. One of the things I was dreading the took up a good amount of time, but it's complete; cutting the side curves on the top plate as it bends from front to back. With a fair amount of time, measuring, drawing it out, measuring again, creating test cuts, measuring again, and then crossing my fingers and making the final cut, everything lines up nearly perfect.


The front baffles were also routed this weekend. As I stated above, the midrange and tweeter spacing was kept exactly the same as the original Statements. I didn't snap of photo of the backside but the woofer and midrange holes do have a beveled ring to prevent tunneling of waves from the cones. Here's a picture of the front baffles leaning up against the cabinet skeletons.


I am hoping over the next week or so I can begin installing the 4-5 layers of 5mm plywood. The unusually warm temps for March here in Iowa are predicted to end after today (although it's supposed to be 80 today!!). While it's not freezing outside, I don't like to glue if the temperature isn't above 50 degrees. The forecast is projecting temps in the mid to upper 50's so I should be ok, but if the temps drop any more I will have to suspend construction until the temperatures get warmer.

[rvsixer]

Wow these look great, great job.

My wife said no way to the original height Statements as well, but these are a definite possiblility. I assume the Statement II center should match up with these as well (since the drivers/crossover are the same)? Maybe when you and Jim have your comparo you can find that out too.

[deewan]

Some more progress tonight. I attached the front baffles, routed the port in the rear, installed sound absorption on the back side of the cabinet and attached one half of a curved side panel (no pic of this). It's supposed to cool down for the next couple days so I may take a little break form this build. Although I still need to mount the built crossovers to some boards, maybe I'll do that during the remainder of the week.

[5th element]

Looking good

[deewan]

More progress tonight. Installed the first 4 layers of one side of one cabinet.... Granted it's only one side, but so far I'm very impressed with the knuckle test, the cabinet seems VERY solid.


I also created a prototype of the base and installed the port to see how much room I have and how I wanted to mount the crossovers. And that's where the progress ended tonight. Based on the forecast I should be able to install one side each evening for the next few days (with built in days off for other work around the house). So with any luck I will have all the side panels installed in the next 4-5 days.

[deewan]

Nothing major to report today. I've finally ordered all the drivers and parts required to complete the build, before I just had one of each for measuring purposes. I continued to install some side panels and interior sound absorption tonight. No pics since it's nothing fun. I have to travel for work for the rest of the week so progress may be slow. But hopefully some more progress this weekend.

[WLDock]

Those multi ply layers are looking good. Keep it coming man!

[deewan]

Thanks Walt. I should have all the ply layers installed by the end of the weekend or Monday. Then I have some work to do on the bases while I wait for the temps to get warmer so I can use bondo on the cabinets, give them a solid and smooth appearance. Although the weather may not get warm enough until after my Pinehurst and Masters golf trip.

[deewan]

I always seem to under-estimate the amount of time and glue required to install layer after layer of a curved side. Things are still moving along and I hope to have all the sides installed by tonight or tomorrow evening.

[deewan]

While I wait for the glue to cure I thought I would start on the Statement Remix center channel, which of course will have it's own slight modifications.

I added a little depth to the cabinet but kept the width and height the same. The driver spacing will remain the same as Jim's Statement II design and the midrange volume will remain the same. Basically, with the little added depth, I'm adding a little internal volume to the woofers. It will more closely match my old 2RCC center channel in woofer volume. As with the towers, the center will have a slight bend to the cabinet. I have all the pieces cut except for the curved plywood. Here are some photos of the progress so far.


Here you can see the slight bend to the top and bottom panels.

[BBLV]

Subscribed. Looking good!

[deewan]

Only had one day of progress this weekend due to a Home Theater Crawl I attended in Des Moines, IA. A HT Crawl is like a bar crawl but instead of visiting bar after bar, we visit home theaters... we still consume almost as much beer. So no progress yesterday, but I was able to work on the speakers for about 4 hours today. I cut and routed the rear openings for the midrange ports. I also began trimming and sanding the extra material on the side panels.



I also routed all the driver holes for the center channel and began gluing on the top and bottom panels for that cabinet. However, no pictures. I have 3 days until I leave for my golf trip to Pinehurst (to play) and Augusta National (to watch) and the Masters. Not sure how much work I will get done on the cabinets between now and when I leave, so it might be a while before the next update.

[deewan]

I had a spare 30 minutes last night so I continued work on the center channel and snapped two quick and dirty pictures.

[cochinada]

Nice build. I particularly liked the curved sides technique you use. It's a very interesting alternative to translam and most probably doesn't have the same potential problems and above all is cheaper.

[deewan]

Thank you and I agree with you. My method is cheaper than translam and doesn't have the problems. But it also has limitations to the severity of the curve or bend. However, four or five layers of 5mm plywood with a fair amount of wood glue holding them together makes one very rigid panel.

[deewan]

No picture update, but I thought I would post that I have all the extra material trimmed off the two towers and the center channel speaker. They are really starting to look like cabinets now. Unfortunately I won't be working on the cabinets for at least a week due to a work trip and then a golf trip. When I return I hope to start the sanding and bondo process to make everything flawlessly smooth. I also need to work on the bases. I've mostly neglected building those to this point.

[kevinm]

Nice work!

[Philzeemon]

Your original statement build from 09 was probably the first that I followed as it unfolded. In that era I did a fullsize drawing of the statement front view and tacked it up on the wall...too big for me, I then drew up the minis...they went on my short list, but never did I build them. Right now I'm working on a pair of monitors. I am impressed you're back at the Statements, after multiple Dynamic builds.

I do like the idea of the curved top matching the curved sides of the cabinet...(makes them less likely to be used as a drink stand). I am curious of your technique in trimming the curved top to match the geometry of the curved braces for the sides.. I was also wondering about why you went with kerf cuts on the topside versus the multi-layer panels for the sides? Seems to me the multi-layer panels would be much stronger and require less work than having to fill all those kerf-cuts.

Deewan, thank you so much for sharing your projects and techniques with us. You have been an inspiration to me and (I'm sure) many others on these forums. I already made fullsize drawings of the "Compressed Statements" and like what I'm seeing on the wall. I see these speakers in my future...

[deewan]

Thanks Philzeemon. The top plate will be re-enforced with one of two layers of 5mm plywood. I choose to kerf the first layer and install it so the side panels had a 'brace' to attached and form too. And with a table saw, kerning the two pieces only took about 6-7 minutes. Not much time involved.

I'm back from my golf trip. So work on the cabinets can continue.

[deewan]

My weekend plan of playing golf, watching golf, and working on speakers didn't go quite as planned. I got a call at 9:30 Saturday morning that my brother was about to have their second child. So instead of my golf and speakers I ended up babysitting my niece while my brother and sister inlaw rushed to the hospital. I did finish wiring the center channel crossover and I began the bondo and sanding process on the main cabinets.

I got the first layer of bondo laid down and was able to sand each tower cabinet once. 2-3 more layers of bondo and more sanding and hopefully the cabinets will be ready for primer.

[WLDock]

Coming right along! What are your plans for finishes?

[deewan]

Walt, I plan on painting these cabinets. That is why I am spending so much time perfecting the smooth cabinet. Paint doesn't hide small mistakes like veneer does. I haven't picked out the exact paint yet, but it will be a black paint with a satin or matte finish. I hate a glossy finish in a theater. With a glossy finish the cabinets turn into a mirror reflecting screen light back to the viewer and cause distractions. The cabinets will be painted black to help them visually disappear when the lights go out. I will add a few racing stripes towards the upper 1/3 of the cabinet. But even the stripes will be black, just a flat black instead of a trip-color black like the rest of the cabinet. One possible paint color will be Cadillacs Black Diamond, but with a satin or matte clear coat.


Got a bit more work done tonight. Center channel speaker is fully enclosed now and the front and rear rounders have been routed. The roundover on the front is 1/4 inch and the rear is a 2-inch roundover.

[WLDock]

Myself, I've been digging the Sonus Faber Graphite color/design:

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?p=2428721

http://images.audioasylum.com/usr/y2013/11/98381/DSCF0001.JPG

http://kahlaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/DSC07328-1024x980.jpg

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649063194-sonus_faber_guarneri_memento_speakers_graphite_excellent_condition/images/583847/#/details/649063194-sonus_faber_guarneri_memento_speakers_graphite_excellent_condition/images/583846/?&_suid=142900805017207521190349585917

[deewan]

That graphite colored/stained veneer is sweet. The problem I normally run into is sourcing sheets of veneer big enough to wrap my cabinets and then how do I hide the seam(s). Sonus does a great job with the horizontal lines allowing us to us smaller sheets of veneer and breaking up the cabinet to add some visual appeal. But I prefer the 'one big solid piece' of cabinet look, as if it were crafted out of one big chunk. That is why I choose to paint again after using veneer on my first several speakers.

[kevinm]

Satin would look with that paint. Too bad glossy is such a pain in a dark theater. A high gloss black diamond would be beautiful!

[deewan]

That is what I was thinking too. Satin over the black diamond would be REALLY sharp looking. Especially if I go with a pure black and glossy base to help with some contrast. But first I need to get the bondo and sanding done and then I'll start shopping for paints.

[WLDock]

I want a high gloss veneered set of speakers really bad. However, I don't think two systems will happen. I'm looking at houses and found one with a 15'x40' family room area that we really like. The Mrs already said no to the idea of a 2 ch system upstairs so..... I might be doing a satin dark brown/espresso type finish myself for the HT/2CH all in one system. I just don't know at this point. Still, your build has me ready to move on from the Polks and get my build going. So, I'm waiting patently for your plans.

[Philzeemon]

Nice lookin' garage floor under that Cadillac...

[deewan]

Walt, Ford has a really cool paint that could be your style. It's called Kodiak Brown Metallic. It appears black until the sun light hits it at the perfect angle and then it's a beautiful deep brown color. It was another color I considered. The cabinets would appear completely black until the 3-inch can lights in the front of the room shine down directly on the cabinets.


Also considered the Subaru black, which has flakes of green and blue. I thought the green and blue flakes could look really good in my room with the grayish blue walls. But ultimately, I LOVE that black diamond color and I'm leaning that way with a satin clear coat.

[WLDock]

That color is very nice.

[bostonmurf]

Awesome deewan!! thats a hell of a lot of work you've put into them, there going to be incredible!

[deewan]

I need to sand a few sides and then apply bondo to the flip side on three cabinets. Then final sanding with 220 grit and these puppies should be ready for primer and paint... once I finalize the colors and decide if I will paint them again or if I would try to talk to one of my buddies who work at a autoshop to paint them for me. I also need to start working on the base for each tower and the stand for the center channel speaker. With summer approaching, not sure how many more free days I have to work on speakers instead of spend on the golf course.