Wavecor Ardent Journal - the first Builds

[JonMarsh]

I'm really on pins and needles about how your cabinets are going to turn out this week!

I'm trying not to think a bought it, Ben's guy now says Thursday they should be ready. I hope that's because he is taking extract special care and allowing dry time between coats?

We will wait and see what your up to with the grill mounting. Also curious to see how your going to trim the felt. 8)

Details, shetails, as long as they make music, right? :rofl:

I haven't forgotten about this, but in my mind I have several tasks I plan to interleave in on Easter weekend when I'm waiting for stuff to dry after spraying- after the sanding sealer, and after the main spray work. (it's been some years since I've done a large scale lacquer project, so here's crossing the fingers...


For the grille felt, my plan is to come up with a diamond pattern cutout like those Wilson speakers for the existing felt, and create a tall vertical diamond slit piece of felt like I was using on the original Ardent's on the 6640.




And in other news, there's a meeting over here this afternoon, with some of our management informing the customer that we're bringing in a shiny new guy with a PhD and 7 years experience, and phasing me out after a few weeks, because I'm taking on a new role at my employer. It's a bit touchy, but I've got my fingers crossed that this will go OK.

[Steve Manning]

Doing the facet veneer, before trim with knife:




And afterward, before sanding:

Very nice trick with the ruler Jon. I assume you cut from the front side of the veneer with the blade resting on the ruler? I imagine that doesn't leave too much to have to sand after trimming either. As an fyi ... have you ever used a chisel plane. With a nice sharp edge they are great from trimming things flush. Though your sanding technique seems to be doing an excellent job, these are looking really nice.



Steve

[dar47]

Great news, it may leave more time to prepare for the NorCal meeting, and hopefully give yon some more time to savor the little details.

[dar47]

Steve, nice little plane. I used my little block plane it was nice seeing those fine strips coming off.

[JonMarsh]

See, you guys, with your planes and all, are real woodworkers! :T

I'm just making up stuff as I go along... The steel rule thing has worked very well for me, doesn't require a ton of skill, and leaves just a tiny bit to sand flush! You've got the exact idea of how I do it, Steve.

[JonMarsh]

So far, what I'm hearing is encouraging about my role post April.

one thing I like about working on speaker crossovers, is that I don't need this:



working on itty bitty SMD components on small tightly packed PCB's is not my idea of a good time. Unfortunately, I also found out yesterday that a replacement technician on the East coast (for the guy who resigned for another job last August) to support me and a few of the other guys has has not been replaced, the job position hasn't been approved yet. So I'll probably be using my AM-Scope at home a lot more, I guess... but that beats driving to Cupertino! :B

[JonMarsh]

Very nice trick with the ruler Jon. I assume you cut from the front side of the veneer with the blade resting on the ruler? I imagine that doesn't leave too much to have to sand after trimming either. As an fyi ... have you ever used a chisel plane. With a nice sharp edge they are great from trimming things flush. Though your sanding technique seems to be doing an excellent job, these are looking really nice.

Steve

well, now that I'm half way through this, I clipped the link you provided for the chisel plane at Woodcraft. Might just pick one up- I have another plane that I bought at Rockler or woodcraft, but it's a bit different design- this looks interesting, and should be added to my arsenal of tools I don't know how to use buy like looking at them sitting on the shelf! :W I might stay with my steel rule technique, at least for the initial trim... if it isn't broke, don't fix it, ya know?

[JonMarsh]

Great news, it may leave more time to prepare for the NorCal meeting, and hopefully give yon some more time to savor the little details.

Yeah, actually this morning while I was over in our own office, one director encouraged me to take the week off after Easter, and I'm looking into that possibility now, to be sure I've got as much prep for the Northern CA meet as possible.

[Steve Manning]

Steve, nice little plane. I used my little block plane it was nice seeing those fine strips coming off.

The thing I like about these planes vs. a standard block plane for this type of work, is they will only cut flush to the surface it sits on (as long as it's set up correctly and you don't push down on the front end). With a block plane you have to either have more skill or be braver, or both. I don't have this actual plane, a guy I worked with made me a one of a kind custom piece for me, it's solid brass so it has some weight, the thing works like a dream. Here's a few pics .....

[Steve Manning]

well, now that I'm half way through this, I clipped the link you provided for the chisel plane at Woodcraft. Might just pick one up- I have another plane that I bought at Rockler or woodcraft, but it's a bit different design- this looks interesting, and should be added to my arsenal of tools I don't know how to use buy like looking at them sitting on the shelf! :W I might stay with my steel rule technique, at least for the initial trim... if it isn't broke, don't fix it, ya know?

I would certainly stay with the steel rule technique as well and just use the plane for final trim. Woodcraft actually has 2 sizes of this plane, the one I linked to is the smaller version. Woodcraft seems to be putting a real effort into the build quality of their Wood River planes and for a reasonable price. I have one of their #6 Bench Planes and it works very well.

[JonMarsh]

Rumor has it the Canadian contingent was going to get some cabinets back on Thursday... And? (cross fingers for good news...)

[benthe8track]

The fifth coat was going on yesterday morning, he said he may spray one more today depending how it turns out. I don't think well have time to grab them until tomorrow, unfortunately. The lady I spoke to yesterday seemed very excited about them so I'm feeling pretty impatient haha.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[JonMarsh]

I bet they're going to be great, Ben! If that's remotely possible, I think I'm just as excited and impatient to see them as you are!

But then I feel that way about getting mine setup and sprayed, too... I have a good feeling about this, hope I'm not being unduly optimistic. But I think I'll be able to take off the whole week after Easter, and if so, you know what I'll be working on!

Tomorrow, it's back to the base design and crossover layout and construction.

[dar47]

Varnish is very nice.

Picked up the cabs this morning. Love the conversion varnish. My cabs look pretty nice. They have 1 run in the finish that I'm going to have to fix. I think if I was finishing them my self I would go for another sand and 1 maybe 2 more coats. So I'm going to have to resist perfection. I'll let Ben speak of his.

Some quick pics, I do love my choice of rustic plank cherry with just a touch of natural stain (just linseed oil and solvent). These have 4 coats of gloss and it looks like 1 satin. The look through the finish is perfect and the varnish is already hard, (maybe 2 days of drying). Lacquer is harder but this looks to have some properties of a poly and maybe more scratch resistant and looks rich.

Lighting was tough and Photo not my forte.



The painter was right, it would hardly be worth rubbing the finish out.



The side have the contrast I wanted, glad I sent the first veneer back for a new batch,


Image not available


Okay Ben and I couldn't resist dropping in some drivers to see. It's going to be hard not to rip the grills off when anyone comes over just to show off and for me to shut up as my wife already says okay Dear they are beautiful. :lol:

[JonMarsh]

Looks great! Two thumbs up! :B

Some quick pics, I do love my choice of rustic plank cherry with just a touch of natural stain (just linseed oil and solvent). These have 4 coats of gloss and it looks like 1 satin. The look through the finish is perfect and the varnish is already hard, (maybe 2 days of drying). Lacquer is harder but this looks to have some properties of a poly and maybe more scratch resistant and looks rich.

Expect them to harden further after sitting up a week- I'd give them that long before doing much handling. Even a catalyzing finish takes a bit of time to reach it's final hardness- this type is supposed to be very durable, with good UV protection, from what I read.

Now, my question at this point, is where are the midranges? :W

I made some progress today on the layout and gluing up parts, but I still have to go back to the hardware store tomorrow and get some different screws (flush mount Philips head stainless) to mount those. I should be starting wiring quite soon tomorrow... I think I have a layout that will get every thing in, and I have the two bases cut, and will be using the mounting screw layout and gaskets you guys prepared. Pictures tomorrow, if I make good progress!

[dar47]

Thanks Jon, I will let them rest to harden further. The mids will come when we have a complete Madisound order, trying to do only 3 bulk orders to include xvover parts for both Ben and I. Got the solen still need the Madi. and Parts. Unfortunately we get dinged with higher shipping in Can. and the dreaded PST, GST which makes it worth while to only ship once if possible. Although Ben just got some grill cloth and a assortment driver screws in a second Solen order.

I do have some time now to do some 2d cab drawing to maybe help others. I'm going to try and add notes to the drawing for those that have to make without sheet processed CNC. and give some tolerance options. I think we can make a star pattern temple to further trim the grill felt and get those finished, we will post for approval.

Excited for your base and board progress.:T Look forward to seeing some pics of this xover coming together. :W

[JonMarsh]

That sounds great- especially making the 2D files for others- i've got the baseline 3D files from Ben, but as you can imagine, spare time to work on them just hasn't existed. Furthermore, the task transfer project at work seems to have hit a glitch, exactly as I predicted to the team- we'll have to see if that can be resolved, or if I'm going to be in this mode through October.

I have agreement from my boss to get some time off in the week following Easter weekend, where i already have a long weekend scheduled. This will give me more time on the lacquer spraying and follow up, and hopefully also time for finishing setting up the Rubidium oscillator and Brainstorm DCD8 in the playback chain. Plus, I need to experiment with setting up the M50 as a hot spot (independent of local network) to use at the DIY meet, with the iPad connecting direct to it as a remote, not through my local WiFi network as is my normal situation. Additionally, it can be configured as a CD disk player instead of a ripper, and it rips the material to a RAM buffer and plays from that, which should be fine for playing disks that anyone brings.
etwe
We're not scheduled to have any "Tech talks", but I'm putting a presentation together about the Wavecor Ardents and may do something about the digital playback system, too.

I have some simple ideas for the star cutout, but haven't worked on that aspect yet- basically, I'll work out some options on the treble balance- between grilles and no grilles, theres about a 2 dB difference in the top end, so it comes down to whether you want a flat balance with grilles and bright without, or a flat balance without grilles and a slight tip down with- the choice might depend on your associated gear, program preferences, etc. The more classical and acoustic jazz you listen to, the more I'd suggest going for flat; the more popular or rock, I'd possibly recommend the slightly softer top end, also depending on your source program unit. You'll likely want to experiment for yourself before making a final decision.

[benthe8track]

Long story short the surface wasn't what I asked for so I'm wet sanding them and hes going to apply a few more coats. He sanded the tops between coats and it turned out well but the other surfaces are unacceptable. I really like the product and the color at least. It'll be ok but I'm pretty annoyed at the prospect of more sanding.

Only have a quick cell phone pic but I think you can see the orange peel and grain peaking through the finish.

[JonMarsh]

I can see what you're talking about Ben. The color looks great, but I can see why you'd want to address the surface finish. It should be possible to get that "right" with just a bit of work buffing it out now, and another coat and some finish work on that.

Your's are really going to be super with that Walnut burl figuring and color after you get the finish sorted out!

Here's what I'm doing, and am loaded for bear (all materials and tools on hand, including a new 8A variable speed control for my Jenny exhaust fan):

1. Spray 2 coats of Deft lacquer sanding sealer, thinned about 15%.
2. Sand flat with 220 grit Mirka Abranet- the purpose is to flatten any grain standing upright after exposure to the finish. I use my random orbinal sander with the DeWalt dust collector vacuum attached for this.
3. Spray 6-8 more coats of Deft lacquer, thinned 10-15%. Subsequent coats will dissolve into the previous coats, so there isn't really any need to sand between the coasts. Lacquer typically dries in 30 minutes, so this operation can be performed in a half day, no problem. Each cabinet will be on a "turntable dolly", which is one of my two 225 lb test dollies on top of a flat furniture dolly, for ease of movement and setup during the spraying.
4. Allow the lacquer to dry completely- I don't have an "official" or scientific method for determining that, other than when the lacquer stops smelling bad, then it is completely dry. May take a couple of days or more. When truly dry, it won't clog the abrasive disks.
5. Wet sand with the Mirka Abranet with 320 then 400 grit. The purpose is to flatten the organge peel and dry spray. This should be done slowly and cautiously- spray and sand a little bit, then inspect with off angle light.
6. If the finish base looks to be in good shape after this, then proceed, otherwise merge in a couple more lacquer coats on top. Let dry completely again.
7. Then wet sand with 1000 grit Abralon, followed by 2000 grit Abralon. Again, I like to spray and sand a little, then inspect, wiping dry and checking frequenctly.
8. Last step is rub out with 3M Automotive rubbing compound; I use Porter Cable 5" hook and loop lambs wool polishing pads, which are designed to work with my Porter Cable random orbital sander.
9. If I do everything right, the result should be a deep clear mirror-like finish.

This is the approach I'm planning with lacquer, not all that different from what I'd do for an automotive/motorcycle project. As you can imagine, it IS time and labor intensive, and why I'm trying to setup some more days off to give me enough time to finish.

[benthe8track]

I can see what you're talking about Ben. The color looks great, but I can see why you'd want to address the surface finish. It should be possible to get that "right" with just a bit of work buffing it out now, and another coat and some finish work on that.

Your's are really going to be super with that Walnut burl figuring and color after you get the finish sorted out!

Here's what I'm doing, and am loaded for bear (all materials and tools on hand, including a new 8A variable speed control for my Jenny exhaust fan):

1. Spray 2 coats of Deft lacquer sanding sealer, thinned about 15%.
2. Sand flat with 220 grit Mirka Abranet- the purpose is to flatten any grain standing upright after exposure to the finish. I use my random orbinal sander with the DeWalt dust collector vacuum attached for this.
3. Spray 6-8 more coats of Deft lacquer, thinned 10-15%. Subsequent coats will dissolve into the previous coats, so there isn't really any need to sand between the coasts. Lacquer typically dries in 30 minutes, so this operation can be performed in a half day, no problem. Each cabinet will be on a "turntable dolly", which is one of my two 225 lb test dollies on top of a flat furniture dolly, for ease of movement and setup during the spraying.
4. Allow the lacquer to dry completely- I don't have an "official" or scientific method for determining that, other than when the lacquer stops smelling bad, then it is completely dry. May take a couple of days or more. When truly dry, it won't clog the abrasive disks.
5. Wet sand with the Mirka Abranet with 320 then 400 grit. The purpose is to flatten the organge peel and dry spray. This should be done slowly and cautiously- spray and sand a little bit, then inspect with off angle light.
6. If the finish base looks to be in good shape after this, then proceed, otherwise merge in a couple more lacquer coats on top. Let dry completely again.
7. Then wet sand with 1000 grit Abralon, followed by 2000 grit Abralon. Again, I like to spray and sand a little, then inspect, wiping dry and checking frequenctly.
8. Last step is rub out with 3M Automotive rubbing compound; I use Porter Cable 5" hook and loop lambs wool polishing pads, which are designed to work with my Porter Cable random orbital sander.
9. If I do everything right, the result should be a deep clear mirror-like finish.

This is the approach I'm planning with lacquer, not all that different from what I'd do for an automotive/motorcycle project. As you can imagine, it IS time and labor intensive, and why I'm trying to setup some more days off to give me enough time to finish.

Sounds like a great finishing schedule to me. Labor intensive yes, but you'll have wonderful control of your finished product. I'm picturing a guitar-like finish when you're all said and done.
Is there an upper build limit with lacquer? I know CV can start crazing above 5 or 6 mills.

[JonMarsh]

Conversion varnish is tough and hard, but as you mention, there's an upper build limit of about 5 mils; some people won't do over 3 mils. It will craze or crack if you take it too far- it's just too hard, and with expansion and contraction of the underlying wood, somethings got to give.

Lacquer is softer, not as hard or durable for a high wear surface, but you can build it up very deep if you want to take the time. Some folks just do 3-4 layers, some do 8-10 layers- depends on how much you may want to post sand and rub out, and how much time and patience you have! And you've got it right, I'm aiming for a guitar like finish on these, or as close as my meager skills will get me...

I'm using old fashion Deft lacquer, thinned slightly- technically, it's sold only for brushing in CA, but with just a little thinning it's find for spraying, as is their sanding sealer. It's the VOC limitations and laws, you know... since I'm not a production shop, I figure doing this once or twice every few years isn't going to ruin the environment compared to all the old guys in CA driving around 50 and 60's era muscle cars with no emission controls... :W

[JonMarsh]

Making progress, far from finished...

Well, just had too many chores and errands to do this weekend- definitely slows me down when the only free time is on Saturday and Sunday. Not finished, but made some real progress, shows the general concept which looks like it's going to work, but doesn't give me the room I would like for using feed through connectors and what not- going to just have to drill holes in the base for feeding through the Cardas SE-11 and sealing with hot glue.





My gravestone epitaph will likely say something like "he lived and died by hot glue... a true believer!".

The tweeter crossover is in the lower left corner, the woofer crossover is in the upper left corner, and everything else is midrange! :B

Main input and ground buss wires are just AWG 12 tinned solid copper.

[dar47]

Okay now that would probably take me a week to try and follow this.;x( waiting to see how your terminating all of that.:E

I do think from your photo of the spacing a mid and tweet would go little more comfortable on the base. One daughter board for the base section on a side wall would work nice, may leave room for termination strips. At least I think I can do that without screwing it up. Really nice seeing all those parts though.

[Hank]

"he lived and died by hot glue... a true believer!"
Nope, it's: "He maximized his crossover component count."
:rofl:

[5th element]

This is a rather lower component count xover for Jon

I can see that someone's going to be playing music through his Ardents soon enough.

[JonMarsh]

This is a rather lower component count xover for Jon

I can see that someone's going to be playing music through his Ardents soon enough.

The first statement is VERY true- this is one of the smallest 3 way crossovers I've ever done- the only one competing with it would be the Modula NeoD CC!


Alas, I'm not as sure about the 2nd statement, but the plan is to have the test cabinet (Test Article One) connected and running next weekend, and test checks and tweaks accomplished.

Also have to do my taxes, but that is actually fairly simple, especially with today's software. But it still takes time away...

My plan of record is is to have them completely built and wired and playing music by the 26th or 27th- I already have support from my department director to take the whole week after Easter off...

Is that soon enough? For making the May 3rd DIY meet, it should be.



"Whatever it takes..."

That's another possible epitaph...

[JonMarsh]

"he lived and died by hot glue... a true believer!"
Nope, it's: "He maximized his crossover component count."
:rofl:

This is a low count, small component three way crossover, Hank. Certainly for me- you should see how much bigger the Isiris crossover is, which nevertheless uses many of the same concepts described below!

I'll have to collect the boards together from the MkI Ardent and photograph them for you to show the contrast... it's amazing, truly.

A lot of the difference is due to a number of specific design decisions-

• Sealed enclosure with larger, higher Qts drivers instead of smaller drivers in a ported enclosure- this eliminates the need for compensation of the vertical column resonance of a lined enclosure to eliminate interaction in the LF crossover- that scratches off a large LCR network; it has numerous other advantages, including a more amplifier friendly impedance curve (more oriented towards voltage drive instead of current drive), and much nicer step response and LF definition.
• Ultra linear woofers with distortion monotonically dropping to 1 kHz allows a higher crossover point and smaller midrange networks without (I hope!) fidelity issues - all of this has been balanced against floor bounce issues and the needed height of mid bass to low midrange radiating source
• Switched from a Duelund network concept to Evil Twin's NatalieP concept with a quasi LR3 transfer function, all drivers wired in phase- Duelund places big demands on midrange bandwidth and linearity above nominal crossover frequency, requiring LCR equalizers for the midrange.
• NatalieP type crossover function supports steeper attenuation of drivers, and requires time alignment with mid behind tweeter, woofer behind mid- again, simplifies network issues- the Duelund network, like all other classical types, assumes location of acoustic sources in the same plane, and special efforts to compensate for that
• NatalieP transfer function works well further from driver Fs resonances, eliminates Fs impedance interaction, and allows eliminating Fs LCR zobel networks on drivers - big component count reduction

My intent here was to employ a level of "production product engineering" on a par with what the Winnipeg team has delivered in this collaboration, so I've spent quite a bit of thought about how to get high performance at minimal cost. Just like a commercial product designer would have to do, but maybe not with as many compromises.

Yes, this has more parts than a "Finalist" crossover, for example, but the Finalist places great demands on the drivers, with high overlaps and what is effectively a 1st order design, using an LR1 alignment. This will have consequences in measured and perceived distortion at higher playback levels...

[JonMarsh]

d

Okay now that would probably take me a week to try and follow this.;x( waiting to see how your terminating all of that.:E

I do think from your photo of the spacing a mid and tweet would go little more comfortable on the base. One daughter board for the base section on a side wall would work nice, may leave room for termination strips. At least I think I can do that without screwing it up. Really nice seeing all those parts though.

I'll try to make this a little easier for you guys when this is finalized, by preparing a merged picture schematic rendition somewhat like this one for the NatalieP.



I'll draw out a schematic using the same component layout as the board, and also do an overlay on the picture of the board when it's finished. Hopefully, as my Deutches colleagues would say, that will make it "Alles klar".

In other news, the wheels appear to have gone completely off my management's plan for the AE changeover at the customer, in exactly the fashion I described likely to the local team back around Christmas time. I hate it when my decades of curmudgeonly experience and cynicism prove so blindingly accurate in predicting the future... :roll: : :x

a future that has become my present! Also, with other issues ongoing, even my basic Easter days off may be in jeopardy, as acknowledged by the director I report to yesterday...


:x

Oh well, this, too, shall pass in time. Meanwhile, we've got speakers to build... some how!

[dar47]

Ah, I remember seeing that a pic it's worth 2 thousand words in this case. :T

I think it's not that we don't want to believe in management, we are just older and wiser and see it coming. I know you are far to motivated as I but some times I think (just think) maybe I should pull a stress leave. :B Who am I kidding I'm older now and they will just think I'm starting early on retirement. :W

I still hope you get at least the 1 week off so you can complete before Nor Cal. Ben was over tonight working up a sweat on his cabs. They are looking a lot flatter and the next round of spray on the cabs will make them far more worthy of his effort to this point.

[JonMarsh]

Interesting comments- I almost pulled a "stress leave" as you called it when this project started up, considering the conditions and the initial prognosis. The ironic thing is that the difficulties have been much greater than originally anticipated- we're not out of the woods yet, and we're 6-8 weeks behind the original schedule.

If I didn't literally have some golden handcuffs beyond just the normal salary to consider, I might have done that- but I have some goals for the next 2-3 years and long term (yeah, funny a guy my age thinking "long term" when I have so many friends and acquaintances who have passed already, at younger ages- guess I'm just a blazing optimist! But the, I know some things, too, about how to manage for that, which if true give me an edge over those who don't know or follow those things health wise).

But as I jokingly/seriously told my boss, it's a good thing for him I want a Model S Tesla as a retirement present to myself, and that staying working is necessary to meet that goal- for at least another year. (that's 'cause I want a loaded one, not just a plain jane one... otherwise I could pull the rip cord now). My GF is pretty understanding, but get's a little crabby about my vacation issues this year (as in, not taking any for the foreseeable future), so she's planning trips with her girlfriends. Completely understandable, she's been retired a few years... and we are signed up and committed to the Antarctica trip next March that she's had her heart set on for a while. We're even sending off her fairly new Nikon D600 today to get the shutter replaced under warranty, and planning some other tune-ups for her gear.

My boss says hold out at least for the Friday and Monday making Easter a long weekend- that's been scheduled for months. I'm hoping that works. More immediate problem is this Saturday, was planning to do taxes, but hearing they probably want us to work.

Also, they're going to try to bring in the engineer today to start working on site who will be my replacement, but so far they don't have upper level approval from the customer, so that may be a problem to push that prematurely. On the other hand, if it works out, all the better for me!

Was Ben doing some flattening sanding last night? I'm glad to hear they're looking better- really hope the next round of spraying proves satisfactory! Don't forget if they don't quite look perfect some 600, 1000, and 2000 grit could take them the rest of the way there. I really, REALLY like the Mirka stuff, including the Abranet pads and Abralon. I can't say enough nice things about how well those products work! :T When will Ben's cabinets be sprayed again?

[benthe8track]

Interesting comments- I almost pulled a "stress leave" as you called it when this project started up, considering the conditions and the initial prognosis. The ironic thing is that the difficulties have been much greater than originally anticipated- we're not out of the woods yet, and we're 6-8 weeks behind the original schedule.

If I didn't literally have some golden handcuffs beyond just the normal salary to consider, I might have done that- but I have some goals for the next 2-3 years and long term (yeah, funny a guy my age thinking "long term" when I have so many friends and acquaintances who have passed already, at younger ages- guess I'm just a blazing optimist! But the, I know some things, too, about how to manage for that, which if true give me an edge over those who don't know or follow those things health wise).

But as I jokingly/seriously told my boss, it's a good thing for him I want a Model S Tesla as a retirement present to myself, and that staying working is necessary to meet that goal- for at least another year. (that's 'cause I want a loaded one, not just a plain jane one... otherwise I could pull the rip cord now). My GF is pretty understanding, but get's a little crabby about my vacation issues this year (as in, not taking any for the foreseeable future), so she's planning trips with her girlfriends. Completely understandable, she's been retired a few years... and we are signed up and committed to the Antarctica trip next March that she's had her heart set on for a while. We're even sending off her fairly new Nikon D600 today to get the shutter replaced under warranty, and planning some other tune-ups for her gear.

My boss says hold out at least for the Friday and Monday making Easter a long weekend- that's been scheduled for months. I'm hoping that works. More immediate problem is this Saturday, was planning to do taxes, but hearing they probably want us to work.

Also, they're going to try to bring in the engineer today to start working on site who will be my replacement, but so far they don't have upper level approval from the customer, so that may be a problem to push that prematurely. On the other hand, if it works out, all the better for me!

Was Ben doing some flattening sanding last night? I'm glad to hear they're looking better- really hope the next round of spraying proves satisfactory! Don't forget if they don't quite look perfect some 600, 1000, and 2000 grit could take them the rest of the way there. I really, REALLY like the Mirka stuff, including the Abranet pads and Abralon. I can't say enough nice things about how well those products work! :T When will Ben's cabinets be sprayed again?

Fingers crossed you get Easter off.
I got them 90% flat today, I think a perfect piano finish will require another few coats and another round of sanding. The burl is very porous, in hindsight I could have used a compatible sanding sealer. I'm going to drop them off again towards the end of the week, so depending on the time I may be able to flatten one more time before the final top coat. It's going to be tight though with the wedding on the 3rd and moving on the 10th of May.



I snapped this after sanding and cleaning with mineral spirits. I kind of like the satin look and now I'm waffling between full or semi gloss and satin.

[JonMarsh]

Yeah, this doesn't look bad at all- it reminds me of the image of an Avalon Time you posted back in the 10th page of this thread. Isn't hindsight always 20-20, though? :W




I think the only person with a more challenging schedule than mine, Ben, is YOU!!

As to the choice, you can always shoot for full gloss and knock it down to satin without much effort... these might look best in semi-gloss or satin, though. Either way they're going to be very striking. I think my maple may be better in full gloss; or at least, I should try that first.

[benthe8track]

Yeah, this doesn't look bad at all- it reminds me of the image of an Avalon Time you posted back in the 10th page of this thread. Isn't hindsight always 20-20, though? :W




I think the only person with a more challenging schedule than mine, Ben, is YOU!!

As to the choice, you can always shoot for full gloss and knock it down to satin without much effort... these might look best in semi-gloss or satin, though. Either way they're going to be very striking. I think my maple may be better in full gloss; or at least, I should try that first.

Yeah exactly, that's nice about gloss you can knock it down.
Since we've been tying to keep production considerations for these guys I think a good option would to paint them. It would cut out several processes and we are almost there since we sealed with epoxy anyways. I've always been enamored with the finish on the Sony SS-AR1:

[JonMarsh]

There are a lot of manufacturers that go that way with their high end cabinets- I think Wilson Audio was one of the first using automotive style finishes. They can definitely look sharp, and simplify some of the issues in manufacturing/construction. Look how MEB's Isis like speakers turned out in white.

OTOH, I suppose I'm a bit old school, and still a sucker for wood. I'm pretty happy with the bamboo Isiris, and I'm REALLY excited about how these might turn out, if things go according to plan... and I think yours will be similarly exciting when finished! (pun intended...)

[Warrant]

Are these boxes available for viewing prior to being sent to warmer lands?

[JonMarsh]

DAR47's and Ben's cabinets are current in Winnipeg or there about, as far as I know- I believe Ben's are going to Calgary some time soon. Mine (the birdseye maple) are in Northern CA, Danville, to be exact. There will be more pictures posted, I'm sure- as we get them finished and completely assembled.

[Warrant]

DAR47's and Ben's cabinets are current in Winnipeg or there about, as far as I know- I believe Ben's are going to Calgary some time soon. Mine (the birdseye maple) are in Northern CA, Danville, to be exact. There will be more pictures posted, I'm sure- as we get them finished and completely assembled.

I see... you have yours already. As a denizen of the Peg and having rough cut my Garnacha's I was hoping to have a peek at a more challenging project.

[dar47]

Warrant, I was thinking of planning a little get together with locals when all is complete. I'll make a post when I'm close and get a head count to see who is interested.

[Warrant]

Fantastic.

[JonMarsh]

Well, between work, taxes, and necessary mundane chores, there was very little left over for DIY this last weekend! However, I did finish getting the crossover wired up and some test pig tail leads ready. So, first thing this coming Friday morning I should be doing some testing and tweaking (if needed!). I have a feeling this one may be like the NatlieP- solid measurements, several generations of simulation and thought, and the first build was spot on. (Hah! Famous last words... you can throw those in my face if this doesn't work out! :W )

[JonMarsh]

Yeah exactly, that's nice about gloss you can knock it down.
Since we've been tying to keep production considerations for these guys I think a good option would to paint them. It would cut out several processes and we are almost there since we sealed with epoxy anyways. I've always been enamored with the finish on the Sony SS-AR1:

These Sony's are pretty nice speakers, but then, considering the drivers, they should be! Think of how unusual that is for a Japanese firm to outsource the drivers to the Europeans...

[JonMarsh]

BTW, this picture was done by masking the speaker out and applying a uniform gaussian blur everywhere else... it wasn't a natural shot with a shallow depth of field lens with a humongous aperture... still, the effect works. Will have to remember this...

[benthe8track]

BTW, this picture was done by masking the speaker out and applying a uniform gaussian blur everywhere else... it wasn't a natural shot with a shallow depth of field lens with a humongous aperture... still, the effect works. Will have to remember this...

I wonder if he played with the color as well. I don't know how you would get that light brown unless you bleached it then stained it.
More importantly, how did you make out this weekend? I wanna know how they sound!

[JonMarsh]

As I reported above, no sound yet.

Well, between work, taxes, and necessary mundane chores, there was very little left over for DIY this last weekend! However, I did finish getting the crossover wired up and some test pig tail leads ready. So, first thing this coming Friday morning I should be doing some testing and tweaking (if needed!). I have a feeling this one may be like the NatlieP- solid measurements, several generations of simulation and thought, and the first build was spot on. (Hah! Famous last words... you can throw those in my face if this doesn't work out! )

But I'll be ready to make sound first thing Friday morning- at first that will be just sine chirps from Fuzzmeasure, but I'm sure if things look promising, I won't be able to resist running some program material through the one cabinet for at least a few minutes. But once that is done, the race will be on to unload the drivers from that cabinet, do all the primary prep sanding, and get them epoxy coated. once I have epoxy setting up, I'll get to assembling the temporary spray booth and gear. I've also got to finish the design and cut pieces for the bases, and get those glued up in parallel. Realistically, I expect to be veneering the cabinet 1 used for acoustic tests by Sunday, and who knows, MIGHT be ready to spray by Monday, though I think tuesday is more likely.

BTW, I've seen pictures of Avalon Time that are that light; I understand that unlike cherry, Walnut lighten's up with age, and might do that with a lacquer finish, which doesn't have much UV blocking. Then, there's the whole matter of photography and tonal mapping; take a good RAW shot of yours with ETTR exposure (Expose To The Right- keep the exposure so that the peak light levels are close to clipping, but not quite, in the color channels), and you might be surprised how one can make them look...

Another from the same guy, I think...



I believe the woofer is a custom version of the Eton 11/580, likely with underhung voice coils as for the Isis.

[benthe8track]

But I'll be ready to make sound first thing Friday morning- at first that will be just sine chirps from Fuzzmeasure, but I'm sure if things look promising, I won't be able to resist running some program material through the one cabinet for at least a few minutes. But once that is done, the race will be on to unload the drivers from that cabinet, do all the primary prep sanding, and get them epoxy coated. once I have epoxy setting up, I'll get to assembling the temporary spray booth and gear. I've also got to finish the design and cut pieces for the bases, and get those glued up in parallel. Realistically, I expect to be veneering the cabinet 1 used for acoustic tests by Sunday, and who knows, MIGHT be ready to spray by Monday, though I think tuesday is more likely.

BTW, I've seen pictures of Avalon Time that are that light; I understand that unlike cherry, Walnut lighten's up with age, and might do that with a lacquer finish, which doesn't have much UV blocking. Then, there's the whole matter of photography and tonal mapping; take a good RAW shot of yours with ETTR exposure (Expose To The Right- keep the exposure so that the peak light levels are close to clipping, but not quite, in the color channels), and you might be surprised how one can make them look...

Another from the same guy, I think...



I believe the woofer is a custom version of the Eton 11/580, likely with underhung voice coils as for the Isis.

Opps that's what I get for skimming on my phone, I totally missed that. I'm trying to live vicariously as mine are in finishing limbo and by the time I get them back I'll have to crate them up for shipping.

Yeah they seem to use Eton drivers for most of their woofers. I don't know much about them, the don't seem to be very popular with the DIY crowd.