Next Project: Arc 40 CBT Array

[Kevin K.]

That grain looks really nice after the BLO! Did the filler work better for you this Rhine or are you still getting white spots?

This filler worked a lot better for me. No spots and it indeed looked clear if another liquid was applied over it. This is the first time I used the Crystalac. The only other time I tried to use grain filler was on the "Silverbacks", maybe that's what you are referring to when you said "did it work better". The filler I tried on the Silverbacks was something made by Behlen. It looked very similar but dried to more of a white color and didn't really become completely invisible when you top coated it.

[Navy Guy]

This filler worked a lot better for me. No spots and it indeed looked clear if another liquid was applied over it. This is the first time I used the Crystalac. The only other time I tried to use grain filler was on the "Silverbacks", maybe that's what you are referring to when you said "did it work better". The filler I tried on the Silverbacks was something made by Behlen. It looked very similar but dried to more of a white color and didn't really become completely invisible when you top coated it.

Ahh, I thought you tried Crystalac on those too.

[Kevin K.]

These speakers just keep getting better and better looking.

Fantastic design and craftsmanship.

Thank You Sir!

[donradick]

Wow - BLO really made the Sapele pop. Too pretty for words.

Do you have any problems getting the Sealcoat nice and flat?
I can't seem to lay it on totally flat and even because it wants to dry so fast.

[Kevin K.]

Wow - BLO really made the Sapele pop. Too pretty for words.

Do you have any problems getting the Sealcoat nice and flat?
I can't seem to lay it on totally flat and even because it wants to dry so fast.

I know exactly what you mean. I applied it with a cloth and yes, there were some areas that didn't lay down nice and flat because it was drying so fast. Wasn't to concerned about it since most of it would be sanded or scraped off when applying the grain filler. After this next coat of BLO dries, I will spray the sealcoat on prior to the lacquer. Do you have a compressor and spray gun? I sprayed it on the Silverbacks and it worked pretty good for me. I like spraying for the exact reason you mentioned, nice and flat. Just have to get accustomed to spraying to avoid the runs. It's better to shoot many light coats instead of one heavy one.

[Squidspeak]

Kevin, awesome project on every level. If you have the ability to spray, there are professional products you could purchase that you could get the same fine finish
in a fraction of the time you have spent on the beautiful results you achieved.

[Kevin K.]

Kevin, awesome project on every level. If you have the ability to spray, there are professional products you could purchase that you could get the same fine finish
in a fraction of the time you have spent on the beautiful results you achieved.

Please share, I'm all ears. I did pick up some Sherwin Williams Precat Lacquer for this project. It's the T77 F37. I know multiple coats of this can be applied, sanded, applied and sanded but I just thought it might still be faster to apply the grain filler first. Thanks.

[donradick]

I know exactly what you mean. I applied it with a cloth and yes, there were some areas that didn't lay down nice and flat because it was drying so fast. Wasn't to concerned about it since most of it would be sanded or scraped off when applying the grain filler. After this next coat of BLO dries, I will spray the sealcoat on prior to the lacquer. Do you have a compressor and spray gun? I sprayed it on the Silverbacks and it worked pretty good for me. I like spraying for the exact reason you mentioned, nice and flat. Just have to get accustomed to spraying to avoid the runs. It's better to shoot many light coats instead of one heavy one.

That's what I thought, a spray rig for shellac is best. Thanks K

[Squidspeak]

Please share, I'm all ears. I did pick up some Sherwin Williams Precat Lacquer for this project. It's the T77 F37. I know multiple coats of this can be applied, sanded, applied and sanded but I just thought it might still be faster to apply the grain filler first. Thanks.

Hi Kevin, Sherwin Williams, Valspar and Cambell Coatings all have a full range of finishing products. both solvent base and waterbourne . Grain filling aside most of these products can be done in a 48 hr. time period start to finish.

[JavadS]

Looking great Kevin. That veneer is beautiful, can't wait to see and hear these this summer! =)

[Kevin K.]

Looking great Kevin. That veneer is beautiful, can't wait to see and hear these this summer! =)

Thanks Javad! I'm getting really close to the finish line. Was hoping to spray the lacquer this weekend but we're not coming out of the 40's here in Texas. Next weekend looks better, highs in the upper 60's. Not gonna take a chance on messing them up with this much work already in em. Looking forward to seeing what you bring to this year's MWAF as well!

[Kevin K.]

Evidence the end of the build is close, very close! That late Christmas present finally arrived.



Enclosures are done for the most part, just need to fluff and install Acousta-Stuf , then the drivers. Shading boards are built and ready to be installed. Still need to build the harnesses from the amp to the speakers, that shouldn't take long.

This weekend will consist of running a few test to confirm everything on my end is right, rub and buzz, impedance, and then some sweeps. Will be working with Rick on and off over the next week to finalize the programming on the DSP. With a little luck (fingers crossed), these may actually get fired up and roaring by next weekend. Will post final pics of the enclosures later this weekend once the drivers are installed and will follow that up with the measurements once they are completed.

Was thinking about recording these playing a few different songs once everything was worked out but I don't have any idea what is needed to create a high quality audio recording for YouTube. Does it take specialty equipment? And if so, wouldn't it still only be as good as what the viewer is listening to it with amp and speaker wise?

More updates soon fellas!

[Kevin K.]

It was a long day but I feel like I made some good progress. One of the cabinets is completely finished, the other will follow in a couple of days. Plan on spending tomorrow learning how to use the Omni-Mic. Once I have some good measurements from the first speaker, I'll send those to Rick so he can start doing his thing and in the meantime I will go back to work on the second cabinet.

Today consisted of lots of testing to confirm I have everything wired right and to make sure all the drivers are good. I did a "Rub and Buzz" test on all of the tweeters, one out of the 40 failed. The test sample had an Fs of 875hz, the one that failed showed over 1450hz. All of the others were within 5-10% of the original. I ordered a couple of extra tweeters so no big deal. Performed the "Rub and Buzz" test on the woofers twice. Once before installing and once after installing, they all passed with no problems. After all of the woofers were installed, used a AA battery to check each bank and confirm the drivers were in phase, everything was right. Still need to do a phase check on the tweeters but don't have any reason to suspect anything is wrong.

Part of what took so long today was "poor planning" on my part. I made the decision this last week to change from Phillip's wood screws to Allen head machine screws to mount the drivers. Because of this, 100 t-nuts had to be installed the hard way and that took a while. To me, it was worth it, I love the look of these screws with the drivers.

Here's some pics. Yep, they were all taken with the camera on the phone, it's all I've got. I'll try to put a real camera in the budget later this year. Anyway, the phone isn't to blame for one of the characteristics of the speakers. The Sapele can almost appear to change hues depending on where you are standing and how much light is on it. If it has very little light on it, it looks reddish brown. If it has a lot of light on it, it looks more orange. I love it!! This first photo shows exactly what I'm describing, they appear to change colors as you move from the bottom to the top of the photo.




I took pictures in two different rooms, my office and the conference room. The pics above were in the conference room with no flash, the pics that follow this were taken in my office (which has a couple of lights out right now) so the flash was used to offset how dark it was.





I've tried about everything to get a good picture of the Karelian baffles, not much luck. It's difficult to get a good shot of it with out the glare taking away from it. The Karelian is quite stunning up close. This pic also show the screws I decided on. Wish they had done a better job on the black plating but it will have to do.



That's about it for this weekend fellas. Hopefully I can post some measurements of the finished speakers by next weekend. I'm dying to hear these fire up and this next week is going to be like one gigantic tease, all I can do is look at em!

If any of you guys have suggestions for good demo CD's, let me know please. Rick is trying to get me that track Don played last year at MWAF of the prop plane. Wish I never would have heard that on Don's CBT's, it's what started me down this path months ago.

[jhollander]

Looks great. Telarc Sampler five plus has some good explosions and cannon fire.

[Sydney]

They turned out very nice - ( how much run time on them? ).
As far as test material - there is gobs on Recommended Test Tracks/Recordings Sticky
I tend to play from my current play list