A new front in the war on free time

been experimenting on the back side of the speaker

it seems that wet sanding danish oil into this material doesn't do anything useful, just ends up rather scratched (even using 1200 grit wet/dry paper). 1200 grit discs on the orbital sander followed by a few coats of oil seems more promising though. TBD how this works on the 1st coats though. I've also caned so much oil in the process :|
 
FWIW Matt, when I've used Danish oil on my Oak floor/doors I just lightly de-nibbed between coats with fine sandpaper (oil was applied with a cloth). Then after the last coat I used a green 'scotchbrite' pad which took the shine off. I then applied a small amount of clear wax using another scotchbrite pad, which left a soft sheen and gives some protection. However I don't know if wax will be suitable for your finish as I'm unsure which bit you're doing (the black bit or the purple bit?).

I think I used 1.5 tins of oil to do both sides of 8 doors, so you don't need to ladle the stuff on.
 
I approached it like that in the first place. I sanded through 80-120-240 (and possibly 320, I forget) then wiped on with a lint free cloth + wiped off excess then dry and rub down with 0000 steel wool. This gave quite uneven results.

I then tried the wet sanding approach (sand then layer of oil + wipe off excess + dry + some oil + wet sand + wipe off + dry + repeat) though this approach comes from woodwork (to work the oil into the pores of the wood and hence you build up the finish using the wood itself). This doesn't seem to work with valchromat though, you just get a duller, slightly scratched but still flat, surface. I suppose this makes sense given that valchromat is essentially MDF (possibly verging on HDF, not 100% sure) so doesn't have a grain or pores to open.

I then tried just sanding down fine and this seems to work better, it's nice and smooth and quite dull though I'm not sure if it's too smooth and hence shiny. This is TBD.

The reason I've used loads of oil is partly because I've gone through loads of coats trying out different approaches but also because it really drinks it up on the first few coats.
 
How you getting on with these speakers, are they up and running yet?
 
How you getting on with these speakers, are they up and running yet?
they're not installed yet, I need to get the crossovers soldered up but been too busy finishing boxes for the other speakers. tbh I'll probably wait to install these til all the speakers are ready so I can do one setup session.
 
I'll be honest, you have piqued my interest in building some surrounds and ceiling speakers using these drivers, I'm interested in what you think of them when all is said and done
 
I'll be honest, you have piqued my interest in building some surrounds and ceiling speakers using these drivers, I'm interested in what you think of them when all is said and done
I've listened to them enough, in stereo, to know they are v nice speakers. They need a sub for sure and you can't cross them too low but they do do a nice job.
 
Much fail today as I have realised the coils I bought for the woofer section are really much too big to fit in the cabinet easily. My stock of spare crossover parts grows ever larger :facepalm:
 
1st finished speaker (at last!)

attachment.php
 
That looks good Matt, I bet you're pleased with the out come.
 
That looks good Matt, I bet you're pleased with the out come.
definitely.

The final impedance trace is correct (i.e. matches the sim) so I'm pretty confident it's all wired up correctly, still need to measure to be certain and then obviously I actually need to listen to them. I'm waiting til I get all the fronts wired up so I can do just one main setup day.

Sept is annoyingly busy though so I have no idea when I'll get to the actual install and setup, quite probably not til Oct :boring:
 
thought to myself "gotta get the other one knocked out" as I was so confident I'd wired it correctly so I soldered it up and then measured & sealed up the box.... I think you can imagine what comes next :blush::facepalm:

fortunately just a minor brainwave on my part with respect to wiring up an inverted tweeter vs the colour of live, probably a good job I'm not an electrician :beer:

as an aside, xsim (Index of /Xsim) played the always invaluable role of the rubber duck and hence quickly restored sanity in the Khan household (he says before he has measured it to be 100% certain). It lets you draw arbitrary circuit diagrams freehand, i.e. you can draw exactly what you've soldered together and hence can work out exactly where your brain fail was.
 
These days we are spoilt with sims that are accurate and not too difficult for the amateur to use (I'm thinking more of the REW sim, but yours is another good example). I remember spending ages trying to work out capacitor values for small circuits I built for my guitar pedals and other accessories, but these days it would be much quicker.

Are you in grave danger of having a fully working system of DIY speakers yet? I've noticed the nights drawing in a lot now, so it's moving towards the winter viewing season...not that I'm anything like ready myself. :blush:
 
surrounds hooked up

LDL9jbE5y-ZINIbICESRp7edS6A936E2WgHKmb59x90APMRpKBZzpArV-9Smn6RkcaHnYdphiw=w2175-h1283-no


attachment.php


dunno what happened to the dust cap on that one (probably something the shape of my youngest daughter...), has ended up inverted (no measurable difference so not bothered really)

that pic also shows the ding I put in the wall when I clonked the speaker into it while wrestling with the cables :censored:

I gave them the same treatment as the front speakers, just a linear phase high pass so I can keep the existing sub filter in place. This means the crossover won't be perfect but should be perfectly serviceable.

A quick listen suggests they blend in really well while providing a bit more detail than the tripoles.
 
So the million dollar question. How easy would it be to copy these. Undecided on my surrounds in particular ported volt 6 vs a sealed 8" coax like yours. Unfortunately they don't do a sealed volt 8. Seems the driver was modified so I can't model it accurately thus looking at your design.
 
I can post the crossover if you like, it is a pretty easy one. Drivers are available from a place in France - Radian 5208C (8+8Ω)

Thanks, should have read your thread more thoroughly. I wouldn't be able to afford 4 of these. They do look rather nice though and no doubt a step up in quality over the eminence drivers. I might copy the shape of the box though, yours look more interesting than a plain square box.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom