CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

[knowledgebass]

I've been posting my progress over on CJD's design thread on HTGuide, but I post here on TT often enough I thought I'd post the final result in the speaker gallery. These are done but I still need to finish grills. This is CJD's design, I took some liberties with the facets. The baffle maintains the minimum 1.5" thickness through the front, even on the facets. These things are tanks. They go deep, are crystal clear up top. I can't imagine needing anything louder in my current space. Driver is the Exodus Anarchy, now available from DIYSoundGroup and the tweeters are a SB Acoustics SB29RDC-C000-4. The cross over is a 2.5 way, and I built the parallel version (also a series version - apparently they sound very similar). Full details are available at CJD's site DivineAudio.com.

















Got to get some better final product shots but there they are. I was thinking about painting some screws black but I kind of like it so thinking about going silver on the tweeter. In theory with my toddler resistant grills it won't matter ;)

Also, I see a lot of questions about these speaker feet, and the documentation at Solen and Meniscus is pretty poor so just sharing this photo as an explanation as to how these go together. Not sure if these are the same as the PE close-out ones I see mentioned, but all assembled and attached they are more sturdy than the appear they should be. Seem big enough for this box to me, and do add to the stability. For scale, baffle is ~9" wide, about 36" from the floor. Dimensions are given at Solen.

[Chris Roemer]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Slot vented to the rear?

[knowledgebass]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

3" ABS ported to the bottom. I wanted to head off any lost toys to the speakers 'mouth'. I believe I read a post where that was your experience, Chris? Maybe it was another forum member. Anyway, that post convinced me to 'hide' the port somewhere.



I had planned a bell flare for the end out of plywood but haven't heard chuffing at normal playback. The last cut was not 90 deg. to the pipe so the opening is actually elongated, which should simulate a bell to some extent. 25Hz test tones as loud as they'll go at that frequency: yes it chuffs (although it may be it's the drivers making noise). Music at 100dB: none that I can hear. I hope to test the tuning at some point and if it's not quite to the target I'll lengthen it with a bell, or if I start to pick up chuffing during regular playback.

[Chris Roemer]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Yup, that was me (those look terrific, by the way).

[Carbon13]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

WOW! Those are beautiful speakers! That's some serious woodworking talent my friend!

[knowledgebass]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Thanks for the compliments gentlemen.

[judah517]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Truly gorgeous.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Showing some mad skills there.

[Uncle Bob]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Those look great!!! The facet's, feet and even the "screws" on the exodus drivers. I've been holding out with my 4 exodus drivers for a few years now, but this may just push me to build these to replace my Stentorians. Thanks for providing the link to the build. How did you cut those facet's? I really like that look but not sure how to pull it off.

[brasspile]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Very nice! Big thumbs up!!

[kenny_k]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Amazing.

[bigslim3k]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

I had to look multiple times to realize the front baffle wasn't curved. The facets are quite an optical illusion. These cabinets are really stunning, congrats.

Mike

[knowledgebass]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Those look great!!! The facet's, feet and even the "screws" on the exodus drivers. I've been holding out with my 4 exodus drivers for a few years now, but this may just push me to build these to replace my Stentorians. Thanks for providing the link to the build. How did you cut those facet's? I really like that look but not sure how to pull it off.

I don't have a photo of the cut being made but the facets really start with how I made the baffle. The Ansonica calls for a baffle that is 1.5" thick. So the outside lamination one baffle is 2.5 inches, then in one lamination is 2 inches (or was it 3 inches and 2.25 inches..). You can see the profile here:



Glued together before trimming the corners. I did the math and sized the cut accordingly to maintain the 1.5 inch baffle through the corners. Did some sketches to see what I thought would work and drew it on the box to confirm it would look right.



I put the boxes on the bench (on the sides) and cut with a skill saw. I used a board clamped to the side to guide saw. I cleaned up the cut with a hand plane and a sanding block.

[djg]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Really nice. I saw cjd's Ansonicas at Iowadiy, but did not get to hear them. If I needed more speakers, I would want to make a pair of Ansonicas.

[tomzarbo]

Re: CJD's Ansonica: Translam Veneer Inlay Facet Build

Wow, those are seriously impressive. Fantastic looking, that translam stuff is so cool looking. The whole thing came out great. Brave of you for trying an inlay! More guts than I.

Nice!
TomZ