Sprite in Solid Cherry

[Cajun Jeff]

Great looking work. The box joints really add to the aesthetics. I would add to any others that are considering box joints for a build.... The incra jig is the way to go, but additionally you will need a box joint blade for the tablesaw. I tried with my dado set but could not prevent tearout.

[Carbon13]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

I'm pretty sure that's what was happening. I used the slide-on quick connectors but ran out of the correct size, so I used a slightly bigger on 2 of the terminals and they were jiggling around a bit. I just took them off, tightened them with a pair of needle-nose pliers and voila! Big-time difference! Ah well, chalk it up to a DIY lesson learned.

Now my problem is that they sound so good I don't want my wife to take the to the office...gonna have to build another pair for the shop.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Ha. So you mean the sound was rattling the connection loose each time you raised the volume knob?
I'm very glad you figured that out. Enjoy them for many years.

[Carbon13]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

UPDATE!!

Ok, so I took the sprite apart to fix a few spots on the front where I sanded through the finish...couldn't stand it...

Anyhoo, as I was reassembling the sprite I notice that one of the leads to the speaker terminal was a bit loose. I tightened it up and WOW!

Before, whenever I pushed the volume on the sprite I would start to get a lot of distortion creeping in; I thought this was related to the amp but now I think it was the connections.

So I owe Paul C. a big apology as his design, as usual, has blown away my expectations (provided you build it right ;). It's playing loud and clean!

[Carbon13]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Thanks for the kind words!

I've been really enjoying this little build in our kitchen...still hasn't made it to my wife's office...;)

[randyohoh]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

WOW!!!! Wonderful, Outstanding, Wish I had those skills.

[fwiler]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Just wanted to chime in and say great job.
Cherry is my favorite wood to work with and I always enjoy the color change over time.
I'll have to try shellac some time.

[Carbon13]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Thanks patrickm. I did think about that approach but decided against it for some reason (which I can't recall right now). Probably would have made it much easier though. Do you have a link to those screw-on power terminals?

[Carbon13]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Thanks Gordy! I'm a big fan of your builds so I'd love to see that build with the incra jig (probably work a lot better than my slapped together sketchy homemade jig...learned my lesson for next time...;)

[patrickm]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

The DTA-2 is great but it's a lot more work than I initially thought. Lots of finicky soldering and then you have to make leads for the power and stereo jacks; it pushed the limits of my electronics skills (which are next to zero). And of course I had a bad solder that I had to then track down during testing...good times.

one trick is to get a short shielded 1/8" stereo extension cord, plug the male end into the DTA-2 and just use an adhesive to sink the female end into the back of the speaker as an external jack. (shielded=mandatory). you can do the same for power, and they sell screw-on male and female terminals, so you can adjust the length of the extension. i did that for a build last year and it saved me a boatload of time when troubleshooting.

[Gordy]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

This is just a great build. Great job! I have not yet ventured into box joints but have the Incra jig on my short list.

[donradick]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Thanks Carbon13 -

Ditto the shellac - I've settled into using several coats of thinned shellac, sometimes covered with Minwax wipe-on poly.
My problem has always been that after 5-6 coats or so, I get impatient and finish it up one way or another.

[Carbon13]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

donradick,

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I'm big into the solid wood too. First because I love the look and second because it's so much nicer to work with than MDF...I hate that stuff.

Yes, internal amp. It's the Dayton DTA-2, same as what Paul had on his website. To be honest, if it was my speaker I would have just used a separate Lepai amp. The DTA-2 is great but it's a lot more work than I initially thought. Lots of finicky soldering and then you have to make leads for the power and stereo jacks; it pushed the limits of my electronics skills (which are next to zero). And of course I had a bad solder that I had to then track down during testing...good times. But since it's for the wife's office, I figured I better make it simple and user friendly, which the DTA-2 definitely does - just plug in power, connect phone/computer/mp3 player and away you go.

For the finish, I started with shellac (which I've also been big on recently with the solid wood). I love how it goes on and dries super fast. And it looks great. It also seals the wood really well. I then decided to add a couple coats of varathane. I know that you're not supposed to do this unless using dewaxed shellac but the woodwhisperer did an empirical test of this and found no ill effects. The only thing I did wrong is that I should have built up more layers as I ended up sanding through the finish in some spots (particularly roundovers and corners).

I also experimented with glazes but ended up not going that route. I was surprised but a little suntanning of the cherry did a lot to bring out the richness of the wood that I was hoping for. I'm hoping that continues over time.

As for the pics, no special effects ;) That's the natural lighting in my kitchen but it does have 2 skylights that could give a cross-lighting effect.

[Carbon13]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Absolutely beautiful. Maybe you got the lighting just right ;) but your box joints look professional to me.

I hope your wife likes them!

Thanks Paul! And yes, she does really like them.

Full disclosure: I did choose the best angles to show. Actually, most of the mistakes are buried on the bottom of the box. I had to patch a couple of the box joints but it's one of those things that seems glaring to me but no one else will probably ever see it. Thanks again for another sweet design!

[donradick]

Re: Sprite in Solid Cherry

Beautiful work!
You are correct about the volume thing. IME, the NS3 sounds great and has solid bass as you crank it up,
and suddenly doesn't sound quite so good (distortion). Yep, there's only so much you can get out of a 3 inch driver.

I"m really getting into solid wood these days, and your joints are killer.

Two questions - looks like you put an amp inside? Yes ? which one?
What's the finish?


Very nice pics. Looks like you setup cross-lighting.