I just don't know what to do.... How to finish DIY Speakers.. (1 Viewer)

[Brett DiMichele]

Owen,

My web site is so out of date it's not funny..

OK I am going to post a picture of my current setup and if
anyone says a word about my carpet I swear I am going to
come to your house and slap you with a stinky fish!

This is the current rack which will be replaced..


This is an overview of the whole mess..


This is what the new rack will look like when I get it finished up.


One of my tube monoblocks...

 

[Brian Bunge]

Brett,

I think you need a velvet Elvis poster to finish out the 70's retro look you've got going with that carpet!

I couldn't help myself since you practically dared me!

BTW, what's the latest on the new rack?

 

[Brett DiMichele]

You know what Brian... YOU SUCK!

 

[Owen Bartley]

that was fast! How about doing piano black speakers using a baffle the same as the wood used in your amps (and I assume in the equipment rack)? ...I guess those are actually just stands for the amp though, aren't they. Well you could always go with the aluminum baffle (no idea how much that would cost) to match the amps and the Parasound, or keep it simple and do all piano black. Nice and classy. Basically you have a million options. Good luck!

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

That is the ugliest car...uh, very nice monobloc stands, Brett That setup is calling for grey cabinets - carbon or graphite, but dark grey - and of course piano black finish would be very sophisticated, but it would require a lot of work, or a lot of money to your local auto body repair painter.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Hank,

If he's going to get the cabinets painted at a body shop I don't see black being any more difficult than any other color. I would think they'd do the exact same prep work regardless. After all, a flawless finish is a flawless finish.

 

[Owen Bartley]

Damn you Brett, now I've been looking into line arrays and I might end up with another potential project.

What made you decide to go with this setup? Did you look at pros/cons, have something you wanted to match them up with, or did you just have the need for a big bad project to work on?

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Brian is right for a change.. I can't believe I said that
"Brian is right" it just seems blasphemous

No matter what color you go with the prep work has to be
flawless to get the flawless finish. Though silver will
cost less than red to paint (materials are cheaper) red
paints on average run about $90.00 per pint and clear coat
plus the reducer and hardener will be about $50.00 I would
imagine.

I just need to figure out how to built the cabinets so that
they can be painted.. What I mean is... I can assemble all
of the cabinet with exception of the baffles which I need
to lay the Carbon Fiber or WilsonArt Laminate on, which
ever route I choose. But I can't have nails go through the
laminate or CF.. So how the hell am I going to secure the
Baffles to the cabinets after the cabs are painted???

Glue? Will Glue be strong enough? Or should I glue hard
wood blockers into the cabinets and have the baffles
attatch with removeable countersunk square drives or some
other fancy high tech looking fastener?

Then there is the matter of the XO Boxes.. I wanted to make
them so that the Lucite and the inner boards were held
captive in a dado and I wanted to do 45 degree miters on
all of the corners instead of a regular butt joint (I will
do 45 Chamfers on the top edges of the XO enclosures also).

But the question is how can I make the boxes so that I can
take them back apart later... If I glue the Miter joins and
secure the lucite in Dado's then I will never be able to
remove them and the painter will have to mask the lucite
off since it will have to be all glued together first..

Yep I need to formulate a plan of attack!

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Owen,

Well one of the reasons I wanted LA's is well because they
are just FREAKIN HUGE.. I mean who has 7.5' tall speakers
REALLY???

Honestly it's because each driver has 1/12th the amount of
work to do.. Lower Distorsion or as some say "Effortless
Dynamics".. Plus they use Planar Ribbons which I have
wanted to do something with Ribbons for a while now.. I
just love the idea of how the entire surface of a ribbon
radiates at all the frequencies where as the higher you
go in the Frequency range with a dome tweeter the more
narrow radiation pattern you get (point source).

Plus LA's are efficient.. Even with a passive crossover
these LA's are still at least 95DB efficient and they have
half of the linear falloff of a Point Source (3DB instead
of 6 per doubling of distance)..

They should make for some amazing dynamic speakers with an
absolutely massive sound stage.

And I figure why play around with small projects if I am
going to do something it's going to be a big project

But thanks to John J... These things are going to be very
easy to put together.. The Pre CNC Routed Baffles alone are
a godsend (Thanks John!)

 

[Brett DiMichele]

MikeSJ wanted me to post a design he came up with in 3D.
The image is large so I will just post the link but take
a look it's neat!

http://www.westol.com/~brettd/temp/mikesj/new11.jpg

 

[Mike SJ]

I say slap a ferrari logo on it and you are good, too bad it would take years to cut all that out by hand

 

[Mark Wilson]

Brett, I've been looking for a way to finish my speakers as well (Adire Kit 281's) I think your idea is very very cool. Would you mind terribly if perhaps I finished mine in the same fasion?

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Mark,

why would I care? if you like the idea then run with it bro!

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Damn, that Brian lurks forums looking for opportunities to nit-pick and correct Excuuuuse me! I didn't realize/remember that Brett was going to have an auto body shop paint his red wonders. Unless he's got a buddy at the body shop, that's going to cost a pretty penny. I think Danny had to pay $300 to get a pair of A/V-2's painted.
Brett, you could glue the baffle on after the cabinet is painted. You could route a recess for the baffle like you route driver recesses, then glue the baffle in. Or, you could sink threaded inserts around the perimeter of the baffle recess, then attach gasket to the back of the baffle and attach it with machine screws. Replaceable baffle. How 'bout that, Brian?
Xover boxes: make the bottom removable for access to the xover board.

 

[Owen Bartley]

This project is getting complicated, huh Brett?

But you're right, one of the first things that attracted me to a LA project was the sheer coolness. Yours should be one of the cooler projects I've seen in the last year or so when you get them finished. I wonder if anyone has a pair of those around my neck of the woods, I'd love to hear a speaker like that.

 

[Mike SJ]

Brett, when I made those last night, I didnt realize you had 12 drivers in each and they were 72" tall! I got the idea from my computer speakers at home and the popular flexy racks that Ive seen people make. I can really picture these monsters standing in your living room, I enev think they would accentuate your new DIY equip rack. I tried to make a decent stainless texture but couldnt get it to come out right. so I went with the ferrari red, which looks good by the ferrari yellow drivers I was hoping to win some sort of contest to get a pair of these suckers for free [i know i know"keep dreaming"] but you gotta admit, they are different looking. Id like to read other peoples comments on these.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

To quote Michael J. Fox in "Risky Business":
"Every one in a while in life, you just have to say: "What the F___!"
Go for it! Life is short. "Let the Big Dog Eat".

waiting for Brian to correct my quotations...

 

[Michael R Price]

What about a shiny dark grey or dark color (red, green or blue) hammered paint finish on the sides?

 

[Brian Bunge]

Holy Shit, Hank! That was Tom Cruise! Go watch your cheezy James Bond movies old man!

And it's more along the lines of, "Every now and then, you've just got to say, What the F___."

 

[Chris Keen]

Oh man. I couldn't stop laughing. MJFox? WTF Over?

I still like the Ferrari Red and carbon fiber baffle(which the yellow drivers WOULD fit in well with). And then you could use the Ferrari badging -- which BTW, I think is cool. Just make sure you do Ferrari Red, and not Torch Red. I know Torch Red looks good on Vettes, but it would clash horribly with the yellow drivers.

If you don't do red, then my second favorite combo is Black with brushed aluminum baffle (wilsonart stuff).

Third would be a silver metallic paint with carbon fiber baffle.

There ya be.

Anyway you look at it, that GD carpet has gots'ta'go! Were you doin' queer duty when that stuff was picked out, or what?

Oh, one more thing bro! I'll pull a Holly (my wife) on ya ---> Why don't you finish one project (referring to the component rack) before you start this one!