Overnight Sensation 'Matchstick' build thread

[RookieBuilder]

I haven't seen anything put together like this, so despite the simplicity a short build thread.

Preamble: Had some large B&W towers and needed something smaller. I ended up with a Pioneer soundbar that was rated really highly for its musicality, IMO it didn't come close to cutting it. I swapped in some smaller towers and they fixed the music problem but still ate up floor space. I looked for a retail solution for a smaller speaker to flank the TV with and couldn't find anything that was going to work. So onto an economic small speaker, as mentioned in a thread I started a few weeks back. I landed on the Overnight Sensations MTM mainly for cost and size. I have a pair of Statement II's in a different area and was easily convinced by my wife not to go overboard here.

Onto the build:


Clamps!


Taking shape, tall, shallow, and skinny...


Some router work


Crossover mounted


Almost ready to glue the baffle

[RookieBuilder]

Glued and ready for veneer


Walnut veneer, cutting holes with a utility knife. I understand why people veneer first and cut holes second


Wall bracket


Letting the oil cure


Finished! There are some flaws but I'll never tell

[Bill Schneider]

Those look nice. Good craftsmanship!

[Carl V]

yes, nice job.
Have you considered
Black Mounting screws
or painting the screws?

[RookieBuilder]

Those look nice. Good craftsmanship!

yes, nice job.
Have you considered
Black Mounting screws
or painting the screws?

Thank you.
Yes i actually have black hardware on order, I was unable to find any locally. The silver screws do take away from the overall look for sure.

[TEK]

Really nice build. You make it look shameless easy.
Like "ready for veneering" and then suddenly beautifully veneer is applied. No bitching around about the hard corners, trouble getting the seems nice, the effort to locate and order the veneer or the considerations about what finish to apply

I built a set with similar complexity and for the same usage. Took me a 4-paged thread to describe that build ops:

https://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php?42662-Building-In-Khan-Neatos-for-the-living-room&highlight=Livingroom

[5th element]

Oh, nice job, they fit in perfectly for your application!

[RookieBuilder]

Really nice build. You make it look shameless easy.
Like "ready for veneering" and then suddenly beautifully veneer is applied. No bitching around about the hard corners, trouble getting the seems nice, the effort to locate and order the veneer or the considerations about what finish to apply

I built a set with similar complexity and for the same usage. Took me a 4-paged thread to describe that build ops:
https://www.htguide.com/forum/showth...ght=Livingroom

Yours look excellent, well done!

These ones came easy to me, I had the finished product in mind before I started. The Walnut veneer seemed like the right choice with the orange drivers. I think this being a relatively low effort, low cost project I wasn't to concerned with messing anything up because it wasn't going to be that bad to fix or redo. Also posting the finished project from the get go cuts out all of the fun decision making!

In contrast my Statement II project was a headache and about 9 months later is still not veneered... I wanted everything perfect on those. I even have some veneer that I am not 100% happy with so I haven't applied it. I keep shopping for something different, I have my eye on some nice but expensive veneer and then flip flop because of costs and the likely hood of another project taking their place in a year or two. In the mean time I get to look at unfinished plywood boxes everyday...

[TEK]

Yeah! That's more like it - oh the horrow of DIY :demon::sh::beer:

[doubleTrouble]

RookieBuilder, good job, they look awesome.
I'm thinking to build those for the dining area, in some distant future. Could you please share your opinion how do they sound?

[RookieBuilder]

RookieBuilder, good job, they look awesome.
I'm thinking to build those for the dining area, in some distant future. Could you please share your opinion how do they sound?

I am happy to say the project turned out as hoped, they give me a significant improvement in sound quality and volume over the sound bar and have a sleek mounting option that the towers didn't have.

A bit about my setup before I give my 'review'. I built the box at a slightly smaller volume than spec, I think about half a liter less. The boxes are about half the depth as specified and I wall mounted them, I believe the design has full baffle step compensation. The ports fire up and I have stuffed them with open cell foam to try and combat bloat in the lower end due to my mounting situation. I have a sealed 12" sub crossed at 80hz. I have them powered by an AV receiver and in this case use the room correction.

Perhaps less of a review and more my rambling thoughts; From a sonics standpoint they have a relaxed mid range by design, I EQ'd this out with the AV receiver. They are excellent when paired with a sub for my uses, background music, TV, and some moderate volume use (usually combined with 2-3 zones for this). They are a relatively easy project, very small, and cost effective speakers and as such they are fantastic. While not as good as either pair of towers they replaced they are no slouch. Compared to the towers they give up imaging/soundstage, sound 'boxier', and loose some presence in the room. Having said that remember the compromises cost, size and mounting location. By comparison the towers were substantially bigger and cost 3 and 5 times the total price. Over the soundbar they gained imaging/soundstage, sound much less boxy, and gain presence in the room, while costing 1/3 less and looking considerably better. The Overnight Sensations are something I actually want to listen to whereas the soundbar was utilitarian and never got turned on for music.

For me the intent was never critical listening, if it was I would look much closer at Bagby's Sopranos or a larger design. There is no escaping physics and despite being high value low cost parts, they are still low cost parts. They are an easy to listen to speaker that are a very good performer for the cost.