I don't know what's been happening to me the past year or so, but I just haven't felt like messing with speakers that much. This despite being nearly finished a pretty cool (if I do say so) tiny set of mini tower speakers similar to a set I've built before. It's got basically the same cabinet as the 'Summer Winds' from a few years back, but with all different drivers. (I made 3 sets of cabinets but only finished one)
Today I decided that being Columbus day, I'd take part of the day and devote it to working on these whether I felt like it or not... I really didn't, but I forged ahead anyway...


The top TM will be the drivers from the Bantams speaker system, an AMT Pod-4 tweeter, and a Dayton ND91-4 with a Tang Band 1138 SMF subwoofer down-firing. This ought to be a pretty nearly full-range speaker system; low 40 Hz range is where I think it was at. I have panels cut out for the side sections (2 layers of 1/8" HDF) which will glue to each other to form an 'insertable' panel on each side of each speaker. That will be covered with some leather-like fabric that I have. Probably darker finish veneer on the rest of the cabinet, possibly walnut or maybe even striped ebony.
It's kind of tricky sanding down the excess layers of HDF with the curves and all. I used Kevin K's trick of using a 1/4" spiral cutting bit in a tiny air-powered die grinder. You've gotta be careful with it, but it has maneuverability that can't be beat, kind of like sculpting free hand. I created a curved sanding block with a piece of 3" roundover made of MDF I had purchased for large curves. I cut up a piece of 6" wide 80 grit belt sander material and glued it to the curve; that enabled me to sand without taking too much time or gouging things up worse.
I have a few spots here and there that have to be filled in and sanded smooth, but in a few weeks I should be able to get this upstairs with drivers inserted and see what it can do. It's nice to come upstairs covered in sweat, smattered with sawdust and feeling like I actually did something speaker-related for a change.
I intend to bring these to MWAF 2021 if I can keep myself motivated.
TomZ
Today I decided that being Columbus day, I'd take part of the day and devote it to working on these whether I felt like it or not... I really didn't, but I forged ahead anyway...
The top TM will be the drivers from the Bantams speaker system, an AMT Pod-4 tweeter, and a Dayton ND91-4 with a Tang Band 1138 SMF subwoofer down-firing. This ought to be a pretty nearly full-range speaker system; low 40 Hz range is where I think it was at. I have panels cut out for the side sections (2 layers of 1/8" HDF) which will glue to each other to form an 'insertable' panel on each side of each speaker. That will be covered with some leather-like fabric that I have. Probably darker finish veneer on the rest of the cabinet, possibly walnut or maybe even striped ebony.
It's kind of tricky sanding down the excess layers of HDF with the curves and all. I used Kevin K's trick of using a 1/4" spiral cutting bit in a tiny air-powered die grinder. You've gotta be careful with it, but it has maneuverability that can't be beat, kind of like sculpting free hand. I created a curved sanding block with a piece of 3" roundover made of MDF I had purchased for large curves. I cut up a piece of 6" wide 80 grit belt sander material and glued it to the curve; that enabled me to sand without taking too much time or gouging things up worse.
I have a few spots here and there that have to be filled in and sanded smooth, but in a few weeks I should be able to get this upstairs with drivers inserted and see what it can do. It's nice to come upstairs covered in sweat, smattered with sawdust and feeling like I actually did something speaker-related for a change.
I intend to bring these to MWAF 2021 if I can keep myself motivated.
TomZ
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