Another Sprite Build

[kevin007]

This has been a long journey but it is finally done. There were some bumps in the road along the way but this will chronicle my Sprite Journey.

First I need to give Takitaj aka Tom Jones for making such a nice flat pack. It was something that went together quite easily and fit together perfect.



My problems did stem from the cabinet but my own dumb mistakes...

I had bought some really nice looking Chestnut Burl veneer and I had veneered it up and it looked fairley nice. But when it came to sanding it down I made a bad mistake. I went right through it.

[kevin007]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Since I was a little low on money I decided to use some left over Bubinga veneer. I also found a good deal on some Wenge veneer and decided to do a two tone build. Now I have never done anything like that before. I read what others had done and did some reading on verious websites like joewoodworker.com and came up with a plan of attack.

I was able to get the veneer on and it came out what I consider OK. I took a trip to my local woodcraft store and the store owner showed me how to fix the cracks that developed in the veneer using sanding shellac. I think I got most of the problems solved and I will let ya al' judge for yourself if you think it turned out ok.

[Leroy R]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Looks awesome Kevin!

[Paul Carmody]

Re: Another Sprite Build

That's one classy boom box!

[thekorvers]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Looks great! I am wondering now if I should jump on the Sprite bandwagon.

[lowpolyjoe]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Looks great man. I love Bubinga. Looks like the veneer on the roundovers came out really good, was it contact cement?

It's heartbreaking to see sand-through like that. I've done it a number of times myself. After several helpful comments from others, I learned not to use my random orbital unless absolutely necessary for cleanup. And even then, apply no pressure and go very slowly. 99% of my veneer sanding is by hand these days. No belt sander either

I stopped using paper-backed veneer altogether because you *barely* have any room to sand that at all when it comes time for cleanup for finishing. I'm a messy worker and always end up with glue drips and random bits of sawdust stuck to the cabinet... I need to be able to sand, so it's raw veneer for me.

[kevin007]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Thanks everyone for your comments and complements. The sprite sounds great. I hooked up a lapai 2020 amp to it and played songs threw my phone and we were rocking my living room/kitchen area pretty good. I too am blown away by the bass output of that little guy. In fact I used the EQ built into my phone to trim some of the bass because of the high output.

I am letting my brother-in-law use it like PC speakers right now and he thinks it is the shiznick. I would think that a pair of the separate sprites or pico neos with that 2.1 lepai amp and a voxel sub would be pretty much make the ultimate PC speaker setup.

I am sure the sprite will serve us well for many years.

Thank you Paul for designing another knockout speaker!

Kevin

[Cajun Jeff]

Re: Another Sprite Build

The sprite sounds great. I hooked up a lapai 2020 amp to it and played songs threw my phone and we were rocking my living room/kitchen area pretty good. I too am blown away by the bass output of that little guy. In fact I used the EQ built into my phone to trim some of the bass because of the high output.

I would think that a pair of the separate sprites or pico neos with that 2.1 lepai amp and a voxel sub would be pretty much make the ultimate PC speaker setup.

This is great news to me!!!

I am deep into constructing EXACTLY what you've described. A pair of Sprite seperates and a Voxel sub. Actually......3 pair of Sprites, 2 pair of the Wolfs PC, and 5 Voxel subs. My build thread here -

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?239659-Wolf-s-PC-Sprite-and-Voxel-Subwoofer-2-1-s-in-Walnut

Your veneer looks very nice. Id love to get my hands on something like that for my next project!

Well done!!!:D

[kevin007]

Re: Another Sprite Build

This is great news to me!!!

I am deep into constructing EXACTLY what you've described. A pair of Sprite seperates and a Voxel sub. Actually......3 pair of Sprites, 2 pair of the Wolfs PC, and 5 Voxel subs. My build thread here -

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?239659-Wolf-s-PC-Sprite-and-Voxel-Subwoofer-2-1-s-in-Walnut

Your veneer looks very nice. Id love to get my hands on something like that for my next project!

Well done!!!:D

If your interested in some very nice bubinga click on this link: http://www.certainlywood.com/woodmenulist.cfm?c=63

They are the same place that supplies Taylor speakers and are known to carry quality veneers. The stuff I used came from veneer supplies.com and it worked out nice.

Kevin

[cmac]

Re: Another Sprite Build

How are you inputting the music to the Sprite? I don't see input connectors..........Bluetooth?

[kevin007]

Re: Another Sprite Build

How are you inputting the music to the Sprite? I don't see input connectors..........Bluetooth?

Just a 3.00 cable from PE. Nothing fancy.

Kevin

[kevin007]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Looks great man. I love Bubinga. Looks like the veneer on the roundovers came out really good, was it contact cement?

It's heartbreaking to see sand-through like that. I've done it a number of times myself. After several helpful comments from others, I learned not to use my random orbital unless absolutely necessary for cleanup. And even then, apply no pressure and go very slowly. 99% of my veneer sanding is by hand these days. No belt sander either

I stopped using paper-backed veneer altogether because you *barely* have any room to sand that at all when it comes time for cleanup for finishing. I'm a messy worker and always end up with glue drips and random bits of sawdust stuck to the cabinet... I need to be able to sand, so it's raw veneer for me.

Ya I was using raw veneer. It was just very thin. The bubinga was much thicker. But live and learn I guess. I was another technique for fixing cracks in veneer from the owner of our local woodcraft store using shellac and sanding particles. It worked lretty well. I think if I have more practice I could get it almost perfect.

Kevin

[lowpolyjoe]

Re: Another Sprite Build

another technique for fixing cracks in veneer from the owner of our local woodcraft store using shellac and sanding particles. It worked lretty well. I think if I have more practice I could get it almost perfect.

I don't think I've heard of that one. Maybe i'll search around for videos and give it a shot. I'm a big shellac fan

I read recently about filling cracks or small gaps with colored wax pencils that match the color of the final finished surface. Seems *too* easy so i'm a little skeptical. I haven't tried to track down the pencils yet.

[cmac]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Duh, I see now. Your version of the Sprite is a speaker cab only............amp separate. Looks great.

[kevin007]

Re: Another Sprite Build

Duh, I see now. Your version of the Sprite is a speaker cab only............amp separate. Looks great.

Thanks, It took a long time but the final result was pretty good. Not perfect by any means but nice. Most of the veneer cracks cant be seen unless you really stare at it. But over all with such great booming sound it will serve us well for a long time.

Kevin