Ruination Rev 2 build

[Brewski]

Started Work today on the revision to the Ruinations so I figured I'd go ahead and start a build thread. Dave_W cnc'd the baffles that are the same size and shape as the unisound grills. I managed to get the hurricane nuts installed for the FW168's and filed out the notches for the DX25 and then drilled the holes for mounting the tweeters. After my daughter went to bed I went ahead and started work on getting holes drilled for attaching the baffle to the AU265 cabs.

I'll post up more pictures as I get more done on them.

Take it easy
Jay

Midwest Audio Fest feedback:

3. Balanced well integrated overall sound, A touch of stage compression.
2. Nice tonal balance, Good Bass Extension
1. Great Balance, Great Bass, Great job

Feedback from GTG and post listening session:

"I would say best value speaker of the day. They do deep enough bass without a sub, Handle enough power to get your heart racing for a small-ish home theater, and are well balanced from top to bottom with music. What more can you ask from a sub $400 tower build (I think that's even a high estimate)." - MZisserson

"What a great speaker for receiver folks. Easy to build, good looks, good efficiency, great imaging, good air, surprising bass for their size, forgiving to normally priced electronics, etc. It's a great first "full range" build for many folks and could be the final speaker they ever build." - Billschu


Link to project PDF

http://www.parts-express.com/pdf/RuinationR2_16589.pdf

[mzisserson]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

What cabinets are those?

I like the look already... The sim seems much smoother. How is the Power responce?

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Mike,

They are the Unisound AU265 cabinets. The speakers were on sale for $150 with shipping last year. Since then I've used the tweeters in the Levitations and the towers for this project so I'm viewing them as a bargin.

The power response is about the same to maybe slightly better as the SB29 version which is to say it's not as pretty as I'd like. I wanted to keep the low pass pretty much the same as the previous version and change the high pass for the DX25. Plus another goal was to keep the impedance to around 5 Ohms to keep the speakers slightly easier to drive.



I was originally thinking of going black/oil rubbed bronze for the baffles but I'm liking the lighter contrast so I'm open to paint suggestions.

Take it easy
Jay

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Got the other baffle attached this afternoon. I was thinking about trying to rear port the speakers but decided to keep them front ported and minimize my chances to screw up the veneer on the cabinets. I'll need to trim/sand a few points on the cabinets to make room for driver screws but they're fairly close to being able to try out at this point.

Take it easy
Jay

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Drilled out holes for the grill cups, Prime/ sanded, primed/sanded, pimed etc. etc. etc. the baffle, sanded away some of the material from the original cabinets that would partially obstruct the drivers. For the cabs I applied a few coats of wipe on poly.

I'm mixed on the wipe on poly on these cabs so far. In general people posted the Unisound cabs were prone to scratches and damage to the veneer so I wanted to add poly to them to help protect them some more since the originals have very little gloss on them. Looking straight on the poly looks great but looking at an angle it's slightly streaky in places so I'll need to work on that some more.

I've got to finish the high pass crossovers later tonight and then should get to listen to them a bit.

Anyways here's the latest photos

Take it easy
Jay

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

I've made a little progress since the last post the crossovers have been installed in the cabs and the baffles have a couple of coats of Krylon Brushed Metalic Champagne Nouveau. I'll need to work on adding connectors to the wires, damping to the cabs and then installing the drivers to take them for a test listen.

Take it easy
Jay

[mzisserson]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

So you bringing them over in a couple of weeks? I do need another set of ears on the Fatbelly's too.

I think its my turn to buy lunch too, so It's a win-win for ya!

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Yeah I'm planning to bring them down your way. I'll shoot for getting them running by next weekend to listen to them here for a bit before taking them down. You freeze the mugs I'll bring the beer....

Take it easy
Jay

[Wolf]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Krylon Brushed Metalic Champagne Nouveau.

I see you went back and found some! It's a nice shade ain't it?
Lookin' good,
Wolf

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

I see you went back and found some! It's a nice shade ain't it?
Lookin' good,
Wolf

Thanks Wolf. Yeah it took looking in a few stores 30+ mins from home before I could find it but it was worth looking for. The nickle and caramel brushed metallic didn't look right in test sprays.

I'll need to work on the paint more but I'm liking it so far.

Take it easy
Jay

[Pete00t]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

excellent build so far. Why did you go with gray primer instead of black under a metallic?

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

excellent build so far. Why did you go with gray primer instead of black under a metallic?

I had a can of filler primer left over from the levitation build and while the CNC work is excellent there were some low spots that needed to be evened out. There are still a couple of spots that I need to see if wet sandng before the final coats of gold helps. As it is the baffles look really nice and I could let it go but I figured I'd like to see if I can improve them some more.

Of course I'm going to drive them 800 miles so obsessing every little detail on them might be somewhat pointless. I'll try to wrap them in blankets to try to keep them from getting too dinged up during the drive.

Take it easy
Jay

[Ryan_M]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Hi Jay,

Just wondering... In post #3 your graph heading has a 27TDFC in the title. Is that a typo or are you planning a Seas version as well?

Thanks

[Brewski]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Doh its a typo I didn't change it in PCD when I when I loaded up the files so I could show the power response. I've not fired them up yet but my guess is I'll stick with the DX25 version. I really liked the tweeter when I heard it in the Lambics so I bought 6 pairs when they were deal of the day for 16 bucks.

As for progress I added Damping a couple of nights ago and soldiered leads on the tweeters last night before going to bed. My plan is to get them installed this evening after my wife gets home from work and takes over the baby watching. Then tomorrow I'll work on adding the gasket material Arlis sent me to the cabs and try to get them running either Thursday or Friday.

For the dampening on the top woofer since I'd like to try them out ported I cut a strip of foam mattress topper ~4 inches tall that I'm trying out as a divider between the driver and the port that is directly behind it I'm hoping the obstruction while still porous helps a bit with the non ideal port placement in the AU265 cab. In general I think the damping will end up being a bit experimenting while listening to try to reach a point I'm happy with.

Take it easy
Jay

[PWR RYD]

Re: Ruination Rev 2 build

Jay those baffles and cabinets look great! Your sim looks really good. Can't wait to hear how you think they sound.