DIY Speaker Event in Grand Rapids, MI

[wogg]

I ended up in a business trip, sitting in the Netherlands instead this year. I hope the event went off safely and successfully!

[craigk]

Nice event. Good to see everyone. Had a great time.

[Wolf]

Yes- it was a blast. No rushing, as fewer attended than expected, and we took our time going through them. No duds at all.

Billet needs to use boxes again though.... Wokka-wokka, said the W6520.....

Wolf

[Billet]

I suppose I went a little light on the cone surface area for an open baffle with the room size and music selection. Found the Xmech! I knew this could happen, but they were sounding so good at home I really wanted to demo them. Live and learn, I guess

[Billet]

Yes, it was a very nice event. All were great sounding speakers, and its always interesting to see some experimental models. I learn something each time.

Thanks to all who made it possible.

[marvin]

Big thank you to the hosts and attendees. Great event, great projects. I also enjoyed the guest speaker, Andy Bauwman the tube expert. BTW, Andy has the best sounding speakers in the world--said so himself (and I think Matt Sobey agrees).

My little Duane Brown/ Dr Jay deluxe project was well received. I received a couple questions how I glued the fabric to the enclosures and then a follow up question was, "...did you use a roller? I used Mod Podge as an adhesive.

I must have had a mental block because each time I wondered why they need to know if I used a roller to spread the glue?! It was on my way home that I realized they were likely wondering if I smoothed the cloth in place with a roller! Doh! Yes, I did use a roller to smooth the fabic in place. Unfortunately, I did have a couple of minor spots where the adhesive bled through but not too badly. I will do better next time.

Another method would be to use spray adhesive to avoid bleed through, but then I think it would be more difficult to get a nice seam where the ends meet.

[dynamo]

Anyone get any pics of the event?

[s7horton]

Big thank you to the hosts and attendees. Great event, great projects. I also enjoyed the guest speaker, Andy Bauwman the tube expert. BTW, Andy has the best sounding speakers in the world--said so himself (and I think Matt Sobey agrees). My little Duane Brown/ Dr Jay deluxe project was well received. I received a couple questions how I glued the fabric to the enclosures and then a follow up question was, "...did you use a roller? I used Mod Podge as an adhesive. I must have had a mental block because each time I wondered why they need to know if I used a roller to spread the glue?! It was on my way home that I realized they were likely wondering if I smoothed the cloth in place with a roller! Doh! Yes, I did use a roller to smooth the fabic in place. Unfortunately, I did have a couple of minor spots where the adhesive bled through but not too badly. I will do better next time. Another method would be to use spray adhesive to avoid bleed through, but then I think it would be more difficult to get a nice seam where the ends meet.

They were super cool, thanks for bringing them. I probably missed it, but I never did hear what the buttons on top were for. I was curious if they had a Bluetooth receiver or something inside.

[Wolf]

Marv can run them in active or passive mode by a rear switch. It's the bluetooth speaker amp.
Wolf

[marvin]

Ben is correct. They sound decent even with the BT amp. Great solution for a desk top.

[marvin]

Here's a few pics...maybe someone else can post the projects I missed.

[marvin]

More pics:

[scottvalentin]

Wow great looking projects! Would really like to know more about all of them really, but particularly Craig K and Seth's project as well as the baby M2 due to that fantastic looking waveguide.

[LIDAR]

Is that a commercially available waveguide? If so, make and model. If not, was it 3d printed?

[scottvalentin]

craigk probably some details on the cabinet construction. The angled back stance of these really add to the appearance, and Seth obviously has professional level finish on those baffles. What tweeter to go with that Ellipticor or Illuminate woofer? They look beautiful

[s7horton]

I’m not sure why the Tapatalk app doesn’t show all the comments. I had to use the website to see all of them.

The cabinets are 1” mdf, there are a couple mdf braces dado’d in plus one hardwood brace near the top. Everything was built with mitered construction so nothing will telegraph through. I much prefer the look of the slanted cabinet, but leaving the top and base parallel to the floor adds a pretty big complexity to the cabinet - you lose your reference to square.

I use a vacuum bag to veneer. In this case it was walnut. I always use unbacked veneer, it gives me the cleanest edge detail. Everything was veneered except the bottom of the cabinet. That’s what allowed me to leave 3/16” exposed all the way around on the front baffle. You can’t tell, but the veneered top waterfalls into the front. They are also matched pairs (mirror image) since I buy sequenced veneer. I spray precatalyzed lacquer on all my veneer.

The front baffle rounded edge detail I did on the table saw and by hand sanding. I intentionally exposed part of the woofer frame. First, I thought it looked cool, and second it allowed me to minimize the width of the cabinet.

The cabinets are about 1 cubic foot, tuned I think to 37hz. Any other questions, let me know.

[marvin]

I learned a new quip from Billett at the event...."Look how good they sound!" LOL

[Billet]

Got that from a co-worker who hopefully never gets tired of hearing about speakers.

In all of these cases, they really did sound good!

[Wolf]

I see my EMP project photobombing a couple of Marvin's photos in the back by the room treatments.
This is a photo from the InDIYana 2021 event below...
Wolf

[craigk]

Wow great looking projects! Would really like to know more about all of them really, but particularly Craig K and Seth's project as well as the baby M2 due to that fantastic looking waveguide.

sorry for the delay. this project was designed about 2 years ago. someone ask " if i could build a 2 way design, and money was not an issue what would i build ? " this is the speaker that came from that conversation. the tweeter is the Scan Rev Be. it is one of the better sounding tweeters i know of. A little more difficult to work with compared to the Illuminator Be, but more natural sounding. this is not a cheap tweeter though. the woofer is the Scan Illuminator. Very nice driver, great bass and very nice mid range. Crossover is at 2000 hz. tweeter is 2 nd order with a parallel notch, and an L pad. the woofer is 3 rd order, with a notch for the Scan surround hump that all their drivers seem to have. nothing wild or crazy. just a long time period of listening and voicing to get to where the crossover is at now. i really like this design, but this winter i am going to start on an MTM version. so maybe in a year or so i will brining it to a show or maybe not.

would like to give Seth credit for building another great cabinet. well built and good looking.
thanks for all the comments at the show, nice to get some positive confirmation on a project.

[Billet]

Nice job, those speakers have a very clean and well balanced sound.

[s7horton]

would like to give Seth credit for building another great cabinet. well built and good looking.
thanks for all the comments at the show, nice to get some positive confirmation on a project.

I get to live with this great design every day. For me, it’s the best I’ve owned. My source is clearly the weak point of the system now.

I’ll admit, I’m curious of the capabilities of the MTM version.