Absolute Noob at wood working and am building Jim's Statement IIs

[silvia0073]

Are you also planning on doing the center channel silvia?? The build is pretty straight forward. I am aiming to be testing mine by tonight/tomorrow.

This is mainly for music on my pc using lossless 24bit audio so as of right now no, but that may change down the road.

[jwanck11]

Are you also planning on doing the center channel silvia?? The build is pretty straight forward. I am aiming to be testing mine by tonight/tomorrow.

[silvia0073]

Jim,

I did a 45 degree cut and it would clear if the terminal block is located in the area that is cut. For whatever reason, perhaps a recent design change, it's located right where the screw mount hole. If you put a screw through that hole, it will hit the block... it's crazy... whoever made that change obviously haven't done much thinking.

[Jim Holtz]

Interesting. I use a 3/4" roundover bit to smooth the transition to the mid tunnels and to eliminate "tunneling" and I've not ran into that issue. The round over opens the back of the baffle up enough for it to fit without any real issue.

Jim

[jwanck11]

Hey Jim, yup! There is no way to get the driver into the baffle without notching... Sadly, I cut off too much on the center channel and will not be able to use that screw hole on one of the midrange drivers. ugh. I will use another piece of stripping and hope the air leak is minimal.

[Jim Holtz]

Hmmm.... Guys, I've never had to do that. Did you either round over the inner baffle on the mid or cut it to 45 degrees to eliminate the tunneling effect? That should allow enough room for the connector block without additional cutting.

Jim

[silvia0073]

Congrats!!! They look fantastic! I am very, very jealous.

One question for you - how did you get the midrange drivers in the baffle without notching a hole for the connector block??

If you notice on one of my midrange baffle holes have a notch, I cut it so much that if I cut anymore, I wouldn't be able to utilize the screw mount that in on the side of the connector. I decided to cut the connector block instead. I shaved it down with a dremel. I removed the allen screws and shaved it down almost all the way to the +- terminals. Horrible design if you ask me.

[jwanck11]

Congrats!!! They look fantastic! I am very, very jealous.

One question for you - how did you get the midrange drivers in the baffle without notching a hole for the connector block??

[TEK]

Great work, good to hear that you are happy with them!

BTW: Is there anyone that have heard both the Statements and the Ardents?
To very different constructions, both when it comes to design, crossover and price-point - but it would be interesting to have heard the impression between the two different designs.
Anyone?

[silvia0073]

Sorry for the images being sideways...

[silvia0073]

Done!!! Now for the burn in, already it sounds fantastic. When hooked up to my Yammy RX-V2095... ehhh, sounds ok. Played for about an hour and it's now in my PC room and hooked up, kinda messy so I'll take photos later but here's one of them hooked up to the yamaha. They sound pretty darn awesome on my pc with flac files. Can't wait for them to be properly broken in... all I have to say is wow, the vocals are simply amazing!!! This build has been no where near perfect but as I listen to them, all the imperfections melt away and I love them more and more with each minute. Thanks again for an awesome design Curt, Jim, and Wayne!

[Jim Holtz]

Looks great! :T

Jim

[silvia0073]

You guys are right, the experience/skills are invaluable. I've learned so much through the process it's crazy. Anyway, here's another update. Almost done!!! Painted the front baffle only as I won't be able to finish the cabinet till spring. Hopefully it'll be rock'n Saturday or Sunday.

[bostonmurf]

same here TEK. although i can see the massive benefit of getting everything cut i really enjoyed the whole process - even when the router slipped and i had to redo a front panel! i guess at the end I'm glad i built/cut them and now i have a bigger garage theres not a lot i won't take on with the skills i learned. MDF dust sucks though...

[TEK]

Half the fun of a new project is justifying new tools. :W

+1 on that :-)

[Srixon]

Well Hot Damn... if I had to do it all over again, I'd go that route, maybe, just buy and assemble myself... All the tools I used on my Statements, I purchased new just for the project. Router, drills, drivers, clamps... etc all came out well beyond $500, but I must say, the experience was priceless... Those guys are just a few hours from my place and being CNC cut... can you say perfection? LoL, I'm tempted just because it's CNC'd. If any of my friends want statements, I'll go that route.

Half the fun of a new project is justifying new tools. :W

[Steve Manning]

Well Hot Damn... if I had to do it all over again, I'd go that route, maybe, just buy and assemble myself... All the tools I used on my Statements, I purchased new just for the project. Router, drills, drivers, clamps... etc all came out well beyond $500, but I must say, the experience was priceless... Those guys are just a few hours from my place and being CNC cut... can you say perfection? LoL, I'm tempted just because it's CNC'd. If any of my friends want statements, I'll go that route.

Ah, but now you have tools for the next project ...... and I've found, as others have, cnc is not always perfect! It can save a bunch of time though if all goes well.

[silvia0073]

That's a good question. Since building cabinets myself isn't a possibility , I was looking here https://melbyaudio.com/products/stat...lat-pack-kit-1 and I don't know if they do it either.

Well Hot Damn... if I had to do it all over again, I'd go that route, maybe, just buy and assemble myself... All the tools I used on my Statements, I purchased new just for the project. Router, drills, drivers, clamps... etc all came out well beyond $500, but I must say, the experience was priceless... Those guys are just a few hours from my place and being CNC cut... can you say perfection? LoL, I'm tempted just because it's CNC'd. If any of my friends want statements, I'll go that route.

[Alaric]

If I buy a kit, is this the sort of detail that I can expect in the plans?

That's a good question. Since building cabinets myself isn't a possibility , I was looking here https://melbyaudio.com/products/stat...lat-pack-kit-1 and I don't know if they do it either.

[silvia0073]

Thanks bostonmurf. Crazy how much work went into those.

[bostonmurf]

wow! really nice professional looking work! especially the crossovers.

[silvia0073]

Crazy how much time these thing's took to put together... pretty close to mirror finish. This is actually the 3rd attempt. 1st was printed PCB which did not go too well. 2nd attempt, the holes I drilled didn't match up nicely, and this time, I'm finally satisfied.

[silvia0073]

If I buy a kit, is this the sort of detail that I can expect in the plans?

Curts website details the construction pretty precisely.

[Srixon]

What he said.

If I buy a kit, is this the sort of detail that I can expect in the plans?

[Alaric]

Made a little fence that worked perfect with my router for the tweeter heatsink cutouts.

What he said.

[Srixon]

What are the notches in the back of the tunnels for?

[silvia0073]

They look great! I am finishing up my center today and have barely started on the mains... just have the tunnels built.

Question for you on the order of assembly - what was your order of assembly?? :-)

It was all gut feeling actually lol. I started with the back, didn't cut the square holes (drilled a hole to fit my trim bit and routed them once the tunnels are glued in), I glued on the top cover, bottom cover, braces, and then one of the sides. Built the tunnels then lined them up on the half constructed cabinet. Once that's nice and dry, I put on the other side panel. Sand everything smooth. I'm probably going to install the crossovers then insulation. Run wiring then cut the front baffle for the drivers. Install the front baffle and lastly, drivers. Hope to be done by this weekend. If I do complete construction, it took me 2 weeks to build... not including finishing. Not bad, but I stayed up late, almost to 3 am every day just taking my time and working it. Too excited to sleep anyway .

[jwanck11]

They look great! I am finishing up my center today and have barely started on the mains... just have the tunnels built.

Question for you on the order of assembly - what was your order of assembly?? :-)

[silvia0073]

Looking good!

Are you planning on finishing them before you start listening?

Yes actually, probably won't finish till April or May, still deciding on what kind of finish I want. Besides, if I spend any more money on this project right now, my wife will probably kill me. lol.

[kevinm]

Looking good!

Are you planning on finishing them before you start listening?

[silvia0073]

Was going to do a printed PCB but it didn't turn out too well...

[silvia0073]

Updates,

Towers are almost done, working on crossovers. Got one finished. Need to do the other one.

[Jim Holtz]

Question, when wiring the drivers in the cabinet, do you guys use the same length of wire for the drivers or because it's so short, it doesn't matter?

It doesn't make any difference, IMHO and I've never concerned myself about length inside the cabinet. I do match speaker cable lengths from amp to speakers.

HTH

Jim

[silvia0073]

Question, when wiring the drivers in the cabinet, do you guys use the same length of wire for the drivers or because it's so short, it doesn't matter?

[silvia0073]

A little update, working on the tunnels. Made a little fence that worked perfect with my router for the tweeter heatsink cutouts.

Dont' know why one of the photos is upside down...

[silvia0073]

Hi silvia0073! your going to LOVE your statements! i just paired mine up with an emotiva amp. this giants were made to be played loud! amazingly good. Post more pics please, we all love pics. And don't wait a year to do the finish/paint. I'm just about to get mine painted next month, about 2 years after the build. looking forward to seeing them progress

I also will pair it up with a emotiva amp. It's actually going to be with my PC speakers lol... I have a modified Xonar Essence STX as the source to the emotiva amp. I currently have unfinished tritrix's and want to upgrade. Here's are photos of my modded sound card should anyone be interested. There's also a photo of my PC, you'll see the tritrix on the right. I'm going to have to pull everything away from the wall with the statements.

[bostonmurf]

Hi silvia0073! your going to LOVE your statements! i just paired mine up with an emotiva amp. this giants were made to be played loud! amazingly good. Post more pics please, we all love pics. And don't wait a year to do the finish/paint. I'm just about to get mine painted next month, about 2 years after the build. looking forward to seeing them progress

[silvia0073]

If the Jim you're referring to is me, I don't have a website. Curt does. :W

To clarify, I have used OC703 on a friends Statements in the woofer compartment only. I've never used it in a ported design. Definitely don't use it in the mid tunnels.

Just an FYI, if you buy the kit from Meniscus, it comes with everything you need to build them except for the cabinet.

Jim

Jim

You're right, Curts website, my bad. I kinda sourced the parts my self on Meniscus and parts express so that I get the components I want. I do plan on OC703 only in the woofer compartment. Like you said Jim, probably not the best idea to have it in the tunnels so they will not be going in there.

[Jim Holtz]

On Jim's site, he recommend OC703 for the woofers but yes, for the mid tunnels, I'm going with what he recommended. Thanks for reassuring me about the 703 blow out issue.

If the Jim you're referring to is me, I don't have a website. Curt does. :W

To clarify, I have used OC703 on a friends Statements in the woofer compartment only. I've never used it in a ported design. Definitely don't use it in the mid tunnels.

Just an FYI, if you buy the kit from Meniscus, it comes with everything you need to build them except for the cabinet.

Jim

Jim

[silvia0073]

I've used OC703 in speakers. There is no way 703 is going to blow out. It is rigid and glued together pretty well. Only possible scenario is if you have a cut edge with a flappy piece barely hanging on.

I've used regular R13 in speakers. I have it in my sub. Even that doesn't blow out the port. If people are getting insulation blowing out of their port, they must be putting some small loose pieces directly in front of the port. Keep the insulation held back from the port so as to not obstruct it.

OC703 will give react differently than the foam Jim used in his. You may have to experiment a little to get it to sound perfect. Especially with the mid tunnels. In fact, I would duplicate Jim's mid tunnels as much as possible, including how far he holds the foam back and the angle it is cut at. Use the 703 for the woofers.

On Jim's site, he recommend OC703 for the woofers but yes, for the mid tunnels, I'm going with what he recommended. Thanks for reassuring me about the 703 blow out issue.

[---k---]

I've used OC703 in speakers. There is no way 703 is going to blow out. It is rigid and glued together pretty well. Only possible scenario is if you have a cut edge with a flappy piece barely hanging on.

I've used regular R13 in speakers. I have it in my sub. Even that doesn't blow out the port. If people are getting insulation blowing out of their port, they must be putting some small loose pieces directly in front of the port. Keep the insulation held back from the port so as to not obstruct it.

OC703 will give react differently than the foam Jim used in his. You may have to experiment a little to get it to sound perfect. Especially with the mid tunnels. In fact, I would duplicate Jim's mid tunnels as much as possible, including how far he holds the foam back and the angle it is cut at. Use the 703 for the woofers.

[silvia0073]

703 is a semi rigid fiberglass. I've used it for years and never had an issue. If you're worried, give it a top coat of some spray adhesive. That will bind any loose material that may be there.

Thanks PMazz, I'll not worry about it.

[PMazz]

703 is a semi rigid fiberglass. I've used it for years and never had an issue. If you're worried, give it a top coat of some spray adhesive. That will bind any loose material that may be there.

[Jim Holtz]

That isn't a question I can answer. Anyone?

Jim

[silvia0073]

I have a question, I've searched but couldn't find a definitive answer. I'll be using Corning's 703 fiberglass board to line the cabinet walls. I've read that it may blow out the port and have fiberglass fibers fly all over my room. Some say it'll be fine. Should I cover it with speaker grill cloth or just spray that sucker and stick it on?