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I'm new to the PE mailings and got the latest catalog with the Stentorians on the cover and immediately fell in absolute love. I've never seen speakers so awesome before (not an audiophile by any stretch). My current front home theater speakers are some cheezy outdoor Yamaha speakers leftover from my last move surrounded by really cheezy 3" bargain speakers which came with an all-in-one box set at Wally World. So, we're not talking a guy who knows his music, here.
My receiver is what I believe is a mid-low range model, a Yamaha HTR-5630, which I'm hoping will power these new towers reasonably well. Though if I'm wrong, please let me know!
I saved my pennies and ordered up the required product (and 2 extra speakers for spares) and ran off to Lowes for the MDF. I noticed a few of the panels in the design drawing looked thinner, so I bought 3/4" MDF and 5/8" particle board. Note, I had no idea what I was doing and hadn't found this forum yet, so everything you'll see is out of sheer ignorance, so please don't yell at me. Constructive criticism is entirely encouraged, though!
On to the build:
Here is the design I used. It is the same one featured in the fall 2011 catalog. Link is here
Used 5/8" particle board and 3/4" MDF cut using a clamped level and my skill saw using a plywood blade.
I tried to do as many cuts at once as I could to simplify the build, that way I could build them in tandem instead of one-off. This rarely works out well for me, but I was feeling lucky.
Cutting perfect in-line circles turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. The eye can easily pick up even a 1/8" misalignment, so perfection was key.
I couldn't figure out a decent method to cut out the perfect circles, so I ended up free-handing the first one with a sabre saw, then fine tuning it with my spindle sander, then using that one as a template for the rest by using my router and a bearing. It worked out very well, though keeping the router level with the board was difficult.
First look at the tweeters once the package arrived.
Can't say I've ever bought an entire row of speakers before! 16 of them! (2 spares)
The crossover components and the backs (for connecting the wires to the amplifier)
My magical router bit set. I love this kit. If anyone is interested in it, it was pretty cheap, only $80 or something from amazon and it is fabulous! Even has 1/2" shanks.
Recessed the speakers using the router.
Biscuits at a 90 degree angle.. friggin impossible. The seams never lined up perfectly, so I ended up widening the slots enough to render them pointless, but stuck them in there anyway, just on principle. I ended up using glue and stainless screws I had from a different project.
1st view of how tall they will be. I'm still amazed at how much overkill this appears to me. Seven speakers in each tower.. it's awesome!
One down, one to go. It is recommended to get a friend to help you hold this while you glue and screw, seeing as it constantly wanted to flop over and I ended up holding it at a tiny angle, making the box not completely square, which really made screwing the top on with just two hands difficult, as I had to manhandle it square while screwing it down.
Recess for the crossovers. I ended up changing the design a little cosmetically i order to use the wire clips I bought. The clip is mounted in a raised portion which will partially hide the crossover board. This makes it easier to alter the design later on if need be without dismantling any parts of the speaker box itself. In theory anyway..
Both assembled, rounded over, sanded and ready for paint. I sealed each enclosure using silicone caulking, but left the holes I drilled between each enclosure (for wire runs) unsealed, as the designer noted it isn't needed. I haven't drilled any port holes yet (the 3/8" hole called for by the directions), as that is a one way trip and I'm afraid of shooting myself in the foot after all this effort.
Painted with oil based enamel in semi-gloss black. Sprayed w/HVLP from over a foot away in order to add that well-known rough speaker stipple. I didn't use any crack filler, so they didn't turn out great looking (the seams are obvious). Being my first build, I'm happy enough.
One down. Notice the wood plugs are now installed. I got them from some dowel maker online a while back for another project. They add a nice contrast to the black. I wasn't sure if they looked good or not, but they grew on me, so I left them unpainted (they are oak plugs).
All speakers are mounted and speaker holes stuffed using roughly 2 lbs of fiberglass batting per pair of speakers. Turns out fiberglass batting is pretty lightweight and ended up filling the entire void of each box. They may need even more, but I was conservative to start, as I didn't want to risk the batting brushing against the backs of the speakers and making vibrating noises.
I also didn't seal the speakers when I mounted them, though I may need to. We'll see once I get them tested. Still waiting on the inductors, so testing has to wait.
Once I get the crossover parts and build the crossover, I'll post pics of the completed project. For now, please let me know what you think and what I could have done better (or easier) for next time.
Cheers!
My receiver is what I believe is a mid-low range model, a Yamaha HTR-5630, which I'm hoping will power these new towers reasonably well. Though if I'm wrong, please let me know!
I saved my pennies and ordered up the required product (and 2 extra speakers for spares) and ran off to Lowes for the MDF. I noticed a few of the panels in the design drawing looked thinner, so I bought 3/4" MDF and 5/8" particle board. Note, I had no idea what I was doing and hadn't found this forum yet, so everything you'll see is out of sheer ignorance, so please don't yell at me. Constructive criticism is entirely encouraged, though!
On to the build:
Here is the design I used. It is the same one featured in the fall 2011 catalog. Link is here
Used 5/8" particle board and 3/4" MDF cut using a clamped level and my skill saw using a plywood blade.
I tried to do as many cuts at once as I could to simplify the build, that way I could build them in tandem instead of one-off. This rarely works out well for me, but I was feeling lucky.
Cutting perfect in-line circles turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. The eye can easily pick up even a 1/8" misalignment, so perfection was key.
I couldn't figure out a decent method to cut out the perfect circles, so I ended up free-handing the first one with a sabre saw, then fine tuning it with my spindle sander, then using that one as a template for the rest by using my router and a bearing. It worked out very well, though keeping the router level with the board was difficult.
First look at the tweeters once the package arrived.
Can't say I've ever bought an entire row of speakers before! 16 of them! (2 spares)
The crossover components and the backs (for connecting the wires to the amplifier)
My magical router bit set. I love this kit. If anyone is interested in it, it was pretty cheap, only $80 or something from amazon and it is fabulous! Even has 1/2" shanks.
Recessed the speakers using the router.
Biscuits at a 90 degree angle.. friggin impossible. The seams never lined up perfectly, so I ended up widening the slots enough to render them pointless, but stuck them in there anyway, just on principle. I ended up using glue and stainless screws I had from a different project.
1st view of how tall they will be. I'm still amazed at how much overkill this appears to me. Seven speakers in each tower.. it's awesome!
One down, one to go. It is recommended to get a friend to help you hold this while you glue and screw, seeing as it constantly wanted to flop over and I ended up holding it at a tiny angle, making the box not completely square, which really made screwing the top on with just two hands difficult, as I had to manhandle it square while screwing it down.
Recess for the crossovers. I ended up changing the design a little cosmetically i order to use the wire clips I bought. The clip is mounted in a raised portion which will partially hide the crossover board. This makes it easier to alter the design later on if need be without dismantling any parts of the speaker box itself. In theory anyway..
Both assembled, rounded over, sanded and ready for paint. I sealed each enclosure using silicone caulking, but left the holes I drilled between each enclosure (for wire runs) unsealed, as the designer noted it isn't needed. I haven't drilled any port holes yet (the 3/8" hole called for by the directions), as that is a one way trip and I'm afraid of shooting myself in the foot after all this effort.
Painted with oil based enamel in semi-gloss black. Sprayed w/HVLP from over a foot away in order to add that well-known rough speaker stipple. I didn't use any crack filler, so they didn't turn out great looking (the seams are obvious). Being my first build, I'm happy enough.
One down. Notice the wood plugs are now installed. I got them from some dowel maker online a while back for another project. They add a nice contrast to the black. I wasn't sure if they looked good or not, but they grew on me, so I left them unpainted (they are oak plugs).
All speakers are mounted and speaker holes stuffed using roughly 2 lbs of fiberglass batting per pair of speakers. Turns out fiberglass batting is pretty lightweight and ended up filling the entire void of each box. They may need even more, but I was conservative to start, as I didn't want to risk the batting brushing against the backs of the speakers and making vibrating noises.
I also didn't seal the speakers when I mounted them, though I may need to. We'll see once I get them tested. Still waiting on the inductors, so testing has to wait.
Once I get the crossover parts and build the crossover, I'll post pics of the completed project. For now, please let me know what you think and what I could have done better (or easier) for next time.
Cheers!
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