OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Wow, that's quite a compliment.

Great-looking veneer, by the way. My only words of advice on the "flaky" baffle would be to use a skim coat of bondo on just about the whole thing (it's time-consuming, but it works REALLY well), and/or covering the whole thing with "glue size" (50/50 wood glue and water) a few times, and sanding that flat. Again, laborious.

Otherwise, congrats. And enjoy!

Paul,

I from the start had wished I could had got the veneer to have made the "bend" over the round overs. When we tried it started to break. Since I now have the MTM's with the vinyl face I will make the OS CC and TM's the same way. I just ordered more Bubinga veneer to finish them off.

Once again Paul thank you for such a wonderful designed speaker! I know we will enjoy them for years to come.

Kevin

[Paul Carmody]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Wow, that's quite a compliment.

Great-looking veneer, by the way. My only words of advice on the "flaky" baffle would be to use a skim coat of bondo on just about the whole thing (it's time-consuming, but it works REALLY well), and/or covering the whole thing with "glue size" (50/50 wood glue and water) a few times, and sanding that flat. Again, laborious.

Otherwise, congrats. And enjoy!

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

I just got done having a listening session with the OS MTM's and I would have to say that they are impressive. The person who's house I went to had many other speakers that he had built and we were able to put the OS MTM's and the OS CC through their paces. I think the clincher for me was when the roommate came home and thought that we were listening to music through his 6'2" line arrays. He was clueless that he was listening to the OS MTM's and was completely blown away when we showed him.

I am astonished at the big sound and detail that come out of such small unassuming MTM's. Thank you Mr. Carmody for designing such wonderful speakers!

Kevin

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Looking good. You might have tried automotive urethane primer. When I strip a plastic bumper, it looks fuzzy when I prime it, but it smooths out when the primer cures and is sanded with 400.
Anywhoo, how hard was it to do the laminate. Im wanting to give that a try if its not any harder than tinting a window

I am not a cabinet maker. That said the process of veneering isn't difficult to say in the forum, but it does take a long time.

The worst part of it is the prep work. Sanding each face of the cabinet just perfect to make sure you get a perfect flat defect free surface to glue your venneer on. That took 4-5 hours easy. Since I had raw veneer we used the following method to apply the veneer.

When we veneered the cabinets we cut each piece of veneer a 1/4 inch larger then the surface of the cabinet. We then painted up the cabinet and the veneer with the contact cement. We waited for it to become just slightly tacky dry, about 20-30 mins and then applied a second coat. Afterwords we used pencils and placed them on the cabinet and placed the veneer on top. We got it centered up and then started pulling the pencils out one by one starting in the middle. Once the veneer touched that was all she wrote. We got it down and smoothed it out and used a J-Roller to further smooth out. We then trimmed each side of the veneer with a razor knife taking small shallow cuts to avoid it ripping out the veneer. When all the sides were done I let the cement cure for a week before using the wipe on poly. I took me an entire Saturday to apply the poly. Wipe on a coat, wait an hour, sand and apply again. Currently it has 7 coats of poly.

So it is not a complicated process. It just takes a long time to complete that process.

Kevin

[Leroy R]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

When we were applying your veneer and I saw your baffles I was a bit concerned for two reasons. The first being that they were cut too small. We discussed that when you were here. How did you wind up fixing that? The second was the mdf seemed defective. It was not as heavy as mdf of that thickness typically is and even the face surface was fuzzy. I hoped a couple coats of primer would seal the surface and allow it to be sanded smooth, but I guess that didn't work out. Normal mdf is not that difficult to deal with.

[Jbarnes]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Darren, change your mind much?

J

[DarrenM]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Looking good. You might have tried automotive urethane primer. When I strip a plastic bumper, it looks fuzzy when I prime it, but it smooths out when the primer cures and is sanded with 400.
Anywhoo, how hard was it to do the laminate. Im wanting to give that a try if its not any harder than tinting a window

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Well we are down to the home stretch now. We have certainly learned some leasons doing this pair of speakers. I will outline some of them below and then include some pics of them.

1. I hate MDF! The cabinets were ok but the baffle sucked. I was going to paint the baffle, back of speaker, and the bottom black. I sanded smooth with 220 and put a coat of primer. Sanded again, repeat. I got to 7 coats and they looked hideous. The round overs kept looking and feeling fuzzy. I would sand smooth, prime, and when dry it looked and felt fuzzy. I asked those I knew who were in the know and got some advise but it didnt work. So I sanded them down smooth, sprayed some 3M glue on and laminated the baffles with that Dayton black ash vinyl. Now they look nice and the laminate is sticking.
2.I love plywood. The first pair of DIY speakers I ever built were Paul Carmody's Classix II's. They were easy by comparison. I sanded, stained, repeat. They look awesome. No sweat, no problems.



I think they came out looking fantastic. Leroy R had a lot to do with that. He helped me out in the veneering and the Bubinga I got from ebay looks beautiful. When my wife saw them she was flabbergasted. Many hard long hours went into making these puppies. Hopefully they will last us a long time.

[Leroy R]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Glad I could help. Looking forward to seeing and hearing the final product.

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

I'd say some happiness is in order. Nicely done!

Thanks bro. Thanks to Leroy R these are turning out very nice.

Kevin

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

I just applied the 6th coat of wipe on poly. The cabinets just keep looking better and better with each coat. My wife came home last night and was very impressed. She wants me to build some more now for our bedroom because of how beautiful these are.

I will post some more pics as soon as they are complete.

Kevin

[fastbike1]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

I'd say some happiness is in order. Nicely done!

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

First I would like to thank Leroy R for all his help. Lee lives in my area ad offered to help me out a while back. Lee was able to show me how he veneers and how to finish the speakers. The results that we got I think are amazing. Below you can see some pics of the cabinets that were veneered a week ago. the last photo is a side with the first coat of wipe on poly.





I do not think I could be happier with the results. Thank you Leroy R for all your help!

[fastbike1]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Don't use contact cement. Coldpress w/ titebond will work, but a specific coldpress glues will be better. www.veneersupplies.com can help.

Well its official. I just bought some Bubinga veneer off of ebay for 22.00 and free shipping. I guess we will strip the vinyl off and make the speakers ready for the veneer.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom in regards to working with raw veneer? I have never used it before.

Thanks,

Kevin

[kevin007]

Re: OS MTM Build (And So It Begins...)

Today I got the crossovers finished and I mounted the drivers in the baffle. I used clamps to hold the baffle on since the cabinets are not finished and played some music through one of them. I did a side by side comparison between the OS MTM and my Classix II's.

Listening Impressions:
The OS MTM had a lot of detail and was just as loud as the Classix II. I did notice that the Classix II went lower then the OS MTM could. I beleive setting the MTM up as a "small" speaker would be advantageous and let everything south of 80Hz come through the sub. I really felt where the OS MTM shined was in detail. You could hear things that my Classix II would kind of "wash out". I still prefer the Classix II for rock/metal type recordings. But if you want to hear more details the OS MTM is your guy. I do say they are worth every penny that I spent for them and more. I would not be afraid to use these as mains and/or surrounds in a HT system at all. You just want to make sure you have a good sub for the low end.

Another great aspect was that they do blend well with the Classic II's. My idea was that I would use the OS MTM as surround speakers, and I think they will do nicely!

Now all I have to do is veneer the cabinets, time to get back to work... ;)