My AviaTrix Build

[DIYNut42]

These have actually been done for about 8 months now. I'm just lazy about posting build threads I guess.

I decided to go with the MLTL towers for my L/R mains, and it was a choice that I have been enjoying for a while now. At the time, the kit was on back order for some time, so I ended up piecing my own kit together since I planned on using some different XO components any way.

The cabinets were built to spec according to Curt's design. The only difference is the width is close to a half inch wider than spec. I asked Curt before building, and he said the extra 1/2" shouldn't affect the sound.

I had a sheet of 1/4 laminate board that had a nice grain to it that I wanted to use for the sides and top. So along with the 3/4" MDF used, that makes the sides and top close to 1" thick. So the cabinet has extra rigidity, and I cut costs from not buying veneer. I used gorilla glue to sandwich the 1/4" stock to the MDF after applying a mist coat of water to each surface. Then I used a red-neck engineering method to clamp everything together using cinder blocks. It may have looked crude, but it ensured every square inch of surface was glued evenly. After it all dried, I flush trimmed the 1/4" stock, and it's not coming off any time soon.

The sides and top were sanded smooth, and primed and painted using higher quality rattle can paint. Then I used a light coat of high gloss poly to make the grain pop. The back is just flat black applied to the MDF which I prepped using 50/50 glue-water mix.

I used my router to make a 1/8" deep, 2 x 3 inch indention on the back for the satin nickle terminals.

This is back when I was using an inferior cell phone, so please forgive the crappy pics.

[DIYNut42]

I decided I wanted to do something a little different with the front baffle, and ended up with a two piece baffle. The lower part is made of 3/4" MDF sandwiched with 1/4" hard board. It was prepped, and painted using the same paint process as the sides and top.

The precision port is flush mounted, and I used spackle sanded smooth to fill the gap between the baffle piece, and the cabinet.

They got a 1/2" round over to match the upper baffle.

[DIYNut42]

The upper part of the baffle is 3/4" BB with a 1/2" round over.

I stained it with red mahogany Minwax stain, and gave it a coat of high gloss poly.

The mids and tweeter were flush mounted with the baffle due to my choice to make a face plate to cover the pin cushion frame on the mids.

[DIYNut42]

The face plate for the baffles are made of basic 1/8" black ABS plastic. The same you can find online for use in custom car audio applications. It's easy to work with, and has a nice look IMO.

The holes for the mids were sized to cover the frames, but just big enough to clear the surround with no interference.

For the tweeter hole, I decided to try a side by side comparison of two iterations. One side was just a hole big enough for the tweet, and the other had a 45 degree chamfer inside. In a way it looks like a very thin waveguide. To my eye, the side with the chamfer looked better, and it seemed like the side without the chamfer sounded a bit more subdued in the high end. Could have just been psycho acoustics coming into play, but either way both sides got the chamfer.

The face plates have through holes lined up with the frame mount holes, and the mount holes in the baffle. So the frame actually holds the mids into the baffle. I lined the mids with some PE woofer seal gasket to raise the mids up a little. This made sure there was a nice tight fit between everything, and a good seal.

[DIYNut42]

After playing around with the stuffing, and cabinet lining options, I decided that the specified amount of stuffing sounded best. I also ended up using some 1/2" carpet padding on the sides, top, and back of the cabinet.

It extends down half way the side and back walls. I stuffed it light at the top, and went denser as I went down. The lower area where the port is housed is completely open and free of stuffing.

The carpet padding was cut to make clearance of the mids, and of course the stuffing was pushed back around the back of them for clearance as well.

[DIYNut42]

The crossover is pretty basic aside from the use of a Jantzen Z-Standard cap in series with the tweeter, and DMPC caps on the woofer net. Don't ask why there is a piece of aluminum sandwiched between the resistors. I guess back then I thought it would dissipate heat by acting as a heat sink...

I also wanted to try my hand at making some nice speaker cables, so I made a set of braided, shielded cables using all PE components. They turned out nicer than I had expected.

[DIYNut42]

Here is one of them all buttoned up, and finished. Don't mind the monkey slippers.

These really blew away my initial expectations. The sound stage is much bigger than expected. When listening to music, there is absolutely no need for a center channel.

I like to trick people by having them guess how many speakers are playing while listening. They always guess that its the MLTL's, the center which sits above my TV, and the small speakers I use for my front height speakers which are playing. They are surprised when I show them that it's only the two towers.

They will also play low with lots of nice tight bass. I've crossed them as low as 40hz and noticed hardly any fatigue at high volume. I now have them crossed at 50hz with my RSS390 sub. They keep up enough to make a nice smooth transition.

I'd like to thank Curt for sharing such a nice design for us to enjoy!

[Soundslike]

Nice build DIY. I can see you put a lot of your own ideas in this project -- I particularly like the treatment of the ports. I've had the components for an Aviatrix build for some time now. Your build is motivating me to get started on them.

[DIYNut42]

Thanks for the compliments, and glad they inspired you to get started. I think once you listen to them you will wonder why you never got started earlier. Truely and awesome design.

[Wolf]

Jantzen Superior cap in series with the tweeter,

The Blues are 'Standard Z-Caps', not 'Superiors' (originally black, now red).

Later,
Wolf

[DIYNut42]

Wolf,

Thanks for catching that. I caught it once I had it all written up, but something came up and I forgot to edit it.

[fallbrookchris]

I am impressed with your project and its given me knew ideas that I will use in my current and future projects

how did you finish the sides? what kind of wood? what kind of stain/treatment/etc. did you use? are they black like they appear in the pictures? I ask because I want my current project to have the same finish

[DIYNut42]

I am impressed with your project and its given me knew ideas that I will use in my current and future projects

how did you finish the sides? what kind of wood? what kind of stain/treatment/etc. did you use? are they black like they appear in the pictures? I ask because I want my current project to have the same finish

Hey man. I appreciate the compliments. I try to think outside the box a little and put my own spin on things without straying from the original spec's too much.

The sides and top are MDF covered in some 1/4" flexible board we had sitting around. It's like plywood, and has an actual grain to it. You can get whole 4 x 8 sheets of it at a lumber store, but it does splinter really easy. It made those walls 1" thick, and it was cheaper than veneer.

I primed those surfaces after a little light sanding, then hit them with some rattle can Krylon Fusion gloss black. After that dried I sprayed them with some rattle can clear coat to make the grain "pop" when light hits it. So yes, all the sides and top are black, but you can see the grain, and it has a cool effect in the light. I've been told by people that they thought that could only be done by stains or dye.

The baffle is made of 3/4" Birch, and I just sanded and stained it with some Minwax Red Mahogany stain. I wasn't impressed with the results in some areas, and later was told that birch will blotch when stained. I was able to live with the results though. After staining them, I also shot them with some gloss clear coat.

If you're going to make a plastic face plate for any speaker, I highly recomend making a wood template first, and make it at the same time you cut out the driver holes in your baffle. It's important to transfer the same measurements from your baffle to your face plate. If you make the face plates seperate from the baffles, even a discrepency of 1/16" - 1/8" can make things not line up. The wood template is also a guide for cutting the face plate. The only way to make a nice clean cut with that ABS plastic is with a nice sharp router bit. I pre-drilled the mounting holes into my face plate, and used those holes to mount it to the wood template. Then all I had to do was cut out the driver holes in the plastic with a jig saw, and clean up the holes with a flush trim bit. I did the same thing with the outer edges of the faceplate as well.

When I made the template for these, I clamped the wood dead center under the baffle when I drilled my 1/8" holes for my circle jig dowel to set in, and drilled straight through both of them. Then labled which side was front and back. This made everything line up since the hole spacing and orientation was all the same.

Hope this helps.


Ryan

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

nicely done ryan. what did you do for feet?

[DIYNut42]

nicely done ryan. what did you do for feet?

Thanks!

At the time I built these I didn't have anythinh special to use for feet, so I used some self adhesive rubber feet that you might use for a PC case. Kind of like these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00032...dir_mdp_mobile