It's time for a Statement announcing my latest project..

[tpremo55]

Coconutout,
I used these (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...TOKEN=26178714) but typically solder direct. If these prove later to contribute to degredation of the signal, then I will solder direct again. I just thought I'd try them on this build.

Todd

[Coconutout]

i am continously amazed by what these speakers are capable in terms of detail reproduction and also what my ears are able to distinguish. guilty as charged but i am an mp3 listener. just couple days ago i ordered a new dac because i know that the difference will be extremely distinguished with these speakers. but just now i changed out the mp3 decoder and output format to kernel stream and WOW, i can honest say that right now the sound feels like its been gone thru a major component upgrade. the details and resolution went up a step and the bass about 5 steps. i cant even begine to get excited about how much better the sound will get with real component upgrades. the details on the statments are unreal... once again, i really really love these speakers. thank you and me for making it happen

[Dr Trina]

Sealed vs Not

Jim,

It looks like I have the original baffles in full size still at 55" tall by 11 1/2" wide. Instead of cutting them off shorter, I could just keep them full size and replicate the full size speakers.

If I were to seal them but keep them full size, would the F3 lower?

Also, If I ported them out the back what would the F3 be?

Lastly, what is the F3 of the statements in their original design?

Thanks,
Dr Trina

[Jim Holtz]

Jim,

It looks like I have the original baffles in full size still at 55" tall by 11 1/2" wide. Instead of cutting them off shorter, I could just keep them full size and replicate the full size speakers.

If I were to seal them but keep them full size, would the F3 lower?

Also, If I ported them out the back what would the F3 be?

Lastly, what is the F3 of the statements in their original design?

Thanks,
Dr Trina

Hi Doc,

The F3 won't go any lower whether the cabinet is 40" or 55" tall. The box Q will go down which slows the roll off of the bass somewhat in the larger cabinet. The F3 will still be about 50 Hz. sealed but it will sound a bit leaner in the full sized cabinet.

If you port them out the back, everything stays the same as the ones you have already built. The rear firing port doesn't affect anything. F3 is 33 Hz.

The only thing you need to be concerned with is keeping the ribbon near seated ear height for best sound quality.

HTH

Jim

[Dr Trina]

Thanks Jim, as always,

A couple more questions:

1) If I build the rear firing port, is the port tube length and size still the same?

2) My new theater in the new house will be ~18 X 25 with a 9' ceiling. The corners will be at a 45 degree angle instead of a 90 because I will be installing bass traps in all 4 corners. I plan on having a love seat as the front row and a full couch on a 1 foot high platform as the back row of seating. As for placement of this second pair of surround statements, would it be better to place them 1.5 feet in front of the bass trap at a 45 degree angle into the sitting area or 1.5 feet away from the back wall pointing straight towards the front wall and thus perpendicular to the sitting area?

3) Does question # 2 even make sense?



Thanks,
Dr Trina

[Jim Holtz]

Thanks Jim, as always,

A couple more questions:

1) If I build the rear firing port, is the port tube length and size still the same?

2) My new theater in the new house will be ~18 X 25 with a 9' ceiling. The corners will be at a 45 degree angle instead of a 90 because I will be installing bass traps in all 4 corners. I plan on having a love seat as the front row and a full couch on a 1 foot high platform as the back row of seating. As for placement of this second pair of surround statements, would it be better to place them 1.5 feet in front of the bass trap at a 45 degree angle into the sitting area or 1.5 feet away from the back wall pointing straight towards the front wall and thus perpendicular to the sitting area?

3) Does question # 2 even make sense?



Thanks,
Dr Trina

Hi Doc,

You seem to be lucky and catch me on the PC. Good timing!

To answer your questions, the port will be exactly the same whether its rear, front or down firing. The only requirement would be to keep it away from the back of the lower RS225 so the back waves from the driver don't go directly out the port. I hope that makes sense. Put it in the lower part of the cabinet.

I would face them straight ahead about 1 1/2' from the back walls with the angled bass traps near but not directly behind the Statements. Curt designed the crossover for optimum off axis response because I don't like to toe in my speakers.

It sounds like a killer home theater. Please post pictures of the room and all of the speakers when you get them done. BTW, we'd also like to hear a bit of a review on the center in the center thread when you get it done. You and Wade are the 1st two to build it. Based on what I heard at Curt's house, I think you'll like it a lot. :T

Jim

[coctostan]

Thanks Jim, as always,

A couple more questions:

1) If I build the rear firing port, is the port tube length and size still the same?

2) My new theater in the new house will be ~18 X 25 with a 9' ceiling. The corners will be at a 45 degree angle instead of a 90 because I will be installing bass traps in all 4 corners. I plan on having a love seat as the front row and a full couch on a 1 foot high platform as the back row of seating. As for placement of this second pair of surround statements, would it be better to place them 1.5 feet in front of the bass trap at a 45 degree angle into the sitting area or 1.5 feet away from the back wall pointing straight towards the front wall and thus perpendicular to the sitting area?

3) Does question # 2 even make sense?



Thanks,
Dr Trina

I happen to be building a 16' x 24' x 8.5' theater with similar seating. I am only planning to use Statements across the front with inwall Modula MTs for the other 4 speakers. I will also have similar bass trapping.

I will probably build the speakers once drywall is done so I can take some measurements for speaker placement and wall treatments. I'm going for a 50/50 music and movies treatment scheme.

I'm very excited to build my statements.

[Dr Trina]

Sounds Good

Jim,

THanks for the input. It souns like I am going to go with the original full size ported statements.


Coctostan,

Sounds like you and I will have to swap pictures as we work on our projects!

Thanks everyone,

Dr Trina

[thatdave]

Update time, been a good weekend.
Broke then down Saturday morning. Noticed how flat the old speakers sounded after these. Like jumping from an HD channel to the SD version. Only one happy to see them down was one of the kittens.
Glued up the top,sides and back. Cut and ran all the needed trim 1x2s through the plainer, mostly ready for trim cutting/routing.

Was not happy with the grain pattern the wife picked out, so the front baffle will hopefully start tomorrow (weather permitting). Trying for a a good sheet that I can get near mirror image grain on the fronts.

Dave

[Sefferdog]

thatdave - looking very, very nice. :T I am very anxious to see the finished product. I was tempted by walnut but ended up going with the red oak. I don't know about you but it was very difficult for me to tear mine down to finish them. In fact, I waited until I had gotten the Mini's completed before I did. That way I could substitute the Mini's for the Statements as the mains, and they were excellent in that capacity as well!

Anyway, fantastic looking job, please post many, many pics!

[thatdave]

Finally have the cabs all covered. Time to start the trim to cover the ugliness.. We found a sheet with a good grain for the baffle, comes out as close to matched as natural wood can, but not mass produced identical.
The rough cab went so fast...it's the finishing that takes forever.

[tpremo55]

Dave,
Those cabinets (specifically the wood application) looks AWESOME! I'd love to hear more about the process you use for prepping the wood for the application. I have a good idea what I *think* you are doing, but I cannot imagine getting the results apparent in the pics. I've recently picked up a band saw and jointer, but don't have a thickness planer, which may slow me some. Can you share some of this process detail with us? If this is not the appropriate place, I would think this may warrant it's own thread.

Thanks!
Todd

[thatdave]

Todd,
We used a 5.2mm sheet. Basically the veneer laminated to a sheet of MDF. It then cuts and works like a normal plywood. The sheet was normal 4X8 $100. (about $3.12/sqft) As normal plywood, the grain pattern repeats with small variations as the log it is being peeled from gets narrower and narrower. We centered the baffle on the natural joint in the veneer, made it much easier to center. Then we repeated at the next repeat of the pattern large enough for the baffle. This does result in a larger than normal amount of waste, but we will put it to use. Still several other DIY things to do in the walnut. After applying, we are covering the exposed edges with solid trim, like when using 3/4 plywood.

David

[tpremo55]

David,
See you threw me with the picture of solid stock on the table. I see what you do. Looks great!

Todd

[Jed]

Finally have the cabs all covered. Time to start the trim to cover the uglyness.. We found a sheet with a good grain for the baffle, comes out as close to matched as natural wood can, but not mass produced identical.
The rough cab went so fast...it's the finishing that takes forever.

Awesome work on the cabinets! You should have listening impressions by ... this weekend?

[thatdave]

We installed the drivers after the MDF cabs were done. They sound great.
I broke down and reinstalled them for this weekend. Had family over for transformers screening (HD-DVD). It is very nice to go back to them, the HTIB that they are replacing sound flat and lifeless...Funny how you never know what you are missing until you hear better. If only my player played SACD/DVDA. Wife and brother-in-law want me to get the center started...before the 2 Statements are even finished..

[Coconutout]

the cabinets look great, dave. good job. i don't think i've done nearly as good a job building my pair tho... cuz there is an audible hiss coming from my tweeters. i know its from the amp but i have no other way to test if its the amp or speakers themselves. the hiss is very feint and only noticeble with my ears up against the tweeters. the volume does not change when fiddled with the preamp. my amp is nad 2200... what could be causing this?

n/m, its definitly the amp. no noise at all when connected directly to a home theater receiver. i think its time i say good bye to Nad. lets say i wanna spend up to $400 on a new amp, what kind do you guys recommand with the statements?

[Sefferdog]

lets say i wanna spend up to $400 on a new amp, what kind do you guys recommand with the statements?

http://www.emotiva.com/

Check out the LPA-1. It is a shade over $400.00 but well worth it. I have one pushing my Statements with an LMC-1 pre/pro and I couldn't be happier, at least until the MMC-2 comes out! Even then I will still be using the LPA-1 for my amplification. :T

[Jim Holtz]

I'd second that recommendation! :T

Jim

[Coconutout]

ive heard nothing but good things about emotiva. however, isnt LPA-1 a seven channel amp? i only need a two channel and not planning on making any more Statements any time soon... sadly. rpa-1 looks promising but do i really need all that power with the statements? i think i read earlier on the thread about some tube amp recommandations. i just got this tube preamp http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=004
and couldnt be happier. i was a tube lover- just didnt know it yet.

[Frank Carpenter]

Ditto on the LPA, @ $449.00 it's one fantastic amp.

fcc

[Dennis H]

Before you replace your NAD, it might be worth trying some different cables between the receiver and the amp. Most likely that's not the problem but a bad connection can sometimes lead to hiss. Old NAD stuff has a pretty good reputation so I'd make sure that's the problem before you ditch it.

[Jim Holtz]

Ditto on the LPA, @ $449.00 it's one fantastic amp.

fcc

Hi Frank,

It's good to hear from you again. Have you had a chance to start on the Statements yet?

Jim

[Coconutout]

Before you replace your NAD, it might be worth trying some different cables between the receiver and the amp. Most likely that's not the problem but a bad connection can sometimes lead to hiss. Old NAD stuff has a pretty good reputation so I'd make sure that's the problem before you ditch it.

i bought the nad on ebay and the auction said the unit was reworked. i think thats where the problem comes from. all my interconnects are blue jean cable- a company with a reputation unlike NAD if i may say so... i'd really like an amp with more musicality than NAD. NAD to me has always been on kind of a cold side.

[Frank Carpenter]

Hi Frank,

It's good to hear from you again. Have you had a chance to start on the Statements yet?

Jim

No Jim. I'm ashamed to say I haven't :cry:

But my 16 hour days are over and it's time to get them made. I'm literally starting to have dreams about hearing them.
My son will build a pair of the Mini's at the same time, so I'll get to preview those for free. Just handed him the parts list the other day, bought him an Oppo player for his birthday... The kid is hooked


Frank

[Jim Holtz]

No Jim. I'm ashamed to say I haven't :cry:

But my 16 hour days are over and it's time to get them made. I'm literally starting to have dreams about hearing them.
My son will build a pair of the Mini's at the same time, so I'll get to preview those for free. Just handed him the parts list the other day, bought him an Oppo player for his birthday... The kid is hooked


Frank

Hi Frank,

It's darned hard to squeeze in speaker building with 16 hour work days. I stopped by a friends house this evening to hear his pair of Statements. He has a very unique cabinet design with curved sides and a Vanderstein look to them. They sounded great. He's taking them to the Iowa DIY Event this Saturday.

I'm taking the Mini's so hopefully there'll be some feedback to share with everyone after the event.

Please keep us updated as your construction progresses. I'm really looking forward to seeing your cabinet work. BTW, don't hesitate to ask if you have questions. We'll be happy to help.

Best regards,

Jim

[impala454]

Hello all, I came across this awesome design on that same geocities page where I'd gotten another design (the "TriTrix"). I am thinking about building my own pair of Statements and had a couple of questions (forgive me if they've been answered):

1. To those that used MDF, has anyone weighed them?
2. I've seen a few people do a thin bondo layer in order to get an ultra smooth painted finish, would that affect the sound adversly?
3. If these will sit in a room with fairly plush carpet, should I do something different with the feet to allow plenty of room underneath for the port?

[Sefferdog]

Hello all, I came across this awesome design on that same geocities page where I'd gotten another design (the "TriTrix"). I am thinking about building my own pair of Statements and had a couple of questions (forgive me if they've been answered):

1. To those that used MDF, has anyone weighed them?
2. I've seen a few people do a thin bondo layer in order to get an ultra smooth painted finish, would that affect the sound adversly?
3. If these will sit in a room with fairly plush carpet, should I do something different with the feet to allow plenty of room underneath for the port?

1. - I just weighed one of mine on the bathroom scales, so I am not sure of the accuracy, but it weighed 115 lbs. This was without the base, which weighs an additional 5 lbs or thereabouts.! 8O
2. - A thin layer of Bondo would have no adverse effect on the sound.
3. - Mine are in a room with thick carpet, cut the back of the base out as per the Mini Statements on the same site where you found the statements. This, in conjunction with the spikes, leaves ample breathing room for the port. You can port it out the back as well, it will not alter the sound.

HTH

[impala454]

Awesome thanks for weighing yours for me!

[Sefferdog]

Awesome thanks for weighing yours for me!

The only difference in mine and Jim's design is the front baffle. Mine are 1.5" and I believe Jim's are 1.25".

[impala454]

Which glue did you use to put the two sheets together?

[Jim Holtz]

Which glue did you use to put the two sheets together?

I like Titebond III the best. It has a little longer open time than Titebond I or II and I much prefer Titebond to any of the epoxy glues like Gorilla Glue for example.

There was a post a while back about a glue test by one of the on line woodworking sites that found Titebond III to be the best.

HTH

Jim

[Hdale85]

I used titebond 2 and I agree I wish it dried a little slower

[impala454]

Awesome thank you Jim.

[FredT]

Finally Completed

Mine are finally veneered and painted. :T

http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/132721#217832102

[Jim Holtz]

Mine are finally veneered and painted. :T
http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/132721#217832102

They look great Fred! Very nice job! :T

Jim

[Sefferdog]

Mine are finally veneered and painted. :T
http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/132721#217832102

Awesome job, very nice.

[Coconutout]

i am still concerned about owen corning fiberglass thats in the speakers. i mean don't you think with all that air travelling thru the ports, there's gotta be a ton of fiberglass dust that gets generated? i took out one of the rs driver the other day and noticed dust settling on the magnet. there's still a lot of dust getting raised in the speakers and they come out thru the port... am i correct in assuming so?

[BobEllis]

... am i correct in assuming so?

Nope, unless you place a wad of glass in the port. Remember that to blow dust around the air has to be moving pretty well. Near the boundaries it is generally slow.

[ahaik]

Finished at last !!!

I must be the slowest finisher around :duh: .
Some pics:

[Jim Holtz]

I must be the slowest finisher around :duh: .
Some pics:

Hi Asi,

Nope, you aren't the slowest, I am. I wondered what you've been up to and now I know. The Statements are beautiful. Very, very nice job! :T

What veneer, stain and finish did you use? It's really pretty.

It's good to hear from you!

Jim

[Sefferdog]

I must be the slowest finisher around :duh: .
Some pics:

Speed doesn't matter. The end results do, and yours look fantastic! I am with Jim, what veneer/stain/top coat? :T :T

[ahaik]

Hi Asi,

Nope, you aren't the slowest, I am. I wondered what you've been up to and now I know. The Statements are beautiful. Very, very nice job! :T

What veneer, stain and finish did you use? It's really pretty.

It's good to hear from you!

Jim

Hi Jim,
Thank you, ;x(
It's that time of year here ><)))):> ,Blackfish (Tautog) season is in full swing, been playing hookey :B .
About the finish, its simply red oak veneer from http://www.tapeease.com/ finished with Black Cherry stain from http://www.olddads.com/ top coated with Old Dad's semi gloss poly (thank you Brian).
I put two coats of stain, then two coats of poly and then I decided its not as dark as I wanted it to be, ouch :banghead: .
I called Old Dads and to my relief the stain and poly have the same base, so I put two more heavier coats of stain over the poly, then 3 more coats of poly.
It's so good to have them back online, they sound amazing :T .

Asi.

[ahaik]

Speed doesn't matter. The end results do, and yours look fantastic! I am with Jim, what veneer/stain/top coat? :T :T

Thank you Wade, yours look great too, great job :T .

[jpmst3]

I must be the slowest finisher around :duh: .
Some pics:

Simply beautiful! Really nice work there. :T