Patrick Sun
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 1999
- Messages
- 39,664
Okay, here's a bunch of photo's of my DIY center channel speaker construction. I'm sure there are plenty of ways better to build the box, but going for simplicity and hope that form follows function.
The idea being I wanted a more consistent front sound stage, so I decided to use the tweeter and midrange from my DIY main speakers, and their crossover network. Then I would surround the tweeter and midrange with a woofer on either side of them. It's a modified D'Appolito design for center channel speakers.
This meant I had to figure out what woofer driver I would need to use to give my good coverage in the upper bass range as my midrange and tweeter handle the frequencies from around 460Hz and up. My main speakers had paper cones, so that was a consideration in the woofer driver selection.
With the help of EdP (can't thank him enough!) and many others on the HTT/HTF/HTG, I finally decided on the Vifa M18WO-09-08's, a paper coned driver. I had considered the Vifa P17WJ-00-08's, but it was a polyconed driver, and the M18WO-09-08 having a better low end response, I decided to go the paper cone route.
The components.
1 Philips AD11600/T8 1" dome tweeter
1 Peerless 1385 4" midrange (encapsulated)
2 Vifa M18WO-0908 woofer drivers.
2 2" wide ports 6.8" long - tuned enclosure to 45Hz
14 liters of volume for each woofer compartment
3/4" thick MDF to be veneered in something resembling rosewood.
28"x10"x14.3" are the outer dimensions for the enclosure.
Here we go:
Day 1 (Saturday 2/17/01)
The raw materials - wood panels:
Photo 1 : Here are the scraps of MDF from my previous Sunosub projects.
Photo 2 : More MDF scraps.
Photo 3 : Here a look of the MDF panel cut to my specifications by a friend of mine with a wood shop that would put Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor to shame.
Day 2 (Sunday 2/18/01)
Assembly
Photo 4 : For the front panel, I decide to use T-nuts so I can take out the drivers easily, this means glueing in a piece of plywood to give the T-nuts something to sink their teeth into because MDF is easily stripped. Here I am marking where the plywood panel should go on the backside of the front panel.
Photo 5 : I test for fit of the panel, roughly, and this give me an idea of how things will be put together.
Photo 6 : Here's the plywood panel and the glue.
Photo 7 : I proceed to squirt the glue on the back of the front panel.
Photo 8 : The plywood is glued in place.
Photo 9 : It doesn't look like it, but I'd got that front panel and the plywood underneath that stack of MDF, and this will apply the weight for a strong glue bond.
Photo 10 : Now I start placement of the tweeter and midrange, as well as the inner walls/braces for the enclosure.
Photo 11 : I mark off the walls and the drivers on the plywood for cutting purposes.
Photo 12 : Here's a close-up of the markings I made.
Photo 13 : Using a ruler and a compass, I draw the circles I need to cut into the front panel for the tweeter and midrange.
Photo 14 : I start with drilling the pilot hole for the router and the circle jig combo.
Photo 15 : The router doing its thing, cutting circles for me.
Photo 16 : Both the holes for the tweeter and midrange are now cut.
Photo 17 : I test for fit of the drivers.
Photo 18 : Next I start on the hole for the woofers. This gives me an idea of the total area the woofer will occupy on the front panel.
Photo 19 : I do the hole for the other woofer.
Photo 20 : After finding the center of the woofer hole and the inner width I need, I drill in a pilot hole for the router/jig combo.
Photo 21 : Routing out the woofer hole.
Photo 22 : Woofer hole finish and woofer waiting for placement.
Photo 23 : Test for fit of the woofer hole.
Photo 24 : I finish cutting out the hole for the other woofer.
Photo 25 : Test for fit of the other woofer hole.
Photo 26 : On the back panel, I mark the center point for the small terminal cup, this requires a 2" hole.
Photo 27 : While I drill out a pilot hole, I quickly discover my jig won't allow me to cut in a 2" hole.
Photo 28 : I use the compass to draw the circle, and then use the router free hand and cut out the cup hole.
Photo 29 : Test for fit of the terminal cup in the back panel.
Photo 30 : I drill holes for the screws to be used to firmly attach the cup to the back panel.
Photo 31 : I use 6-32 1.5" screws/nuts for the terminal cup.
Photo 32 : Screws are in.
Photo 33 : Nuts are screws on with washers.
Photo 34 : I drill the holes for the tweeter.
Photo 35 : I drill the holes for the midrange.
Photo 36 : To use T-nuts, the hole needs to be widen just a little bit, about 1/4" deep, which explains the masking tape on the drill bit.
Photo 37 : I apply a little glue around the holes for the T-nuts for extra adhesive.
Photo 38 : Then I hammer in the T-nuts.
Photo 39 : To seal the T-nuts, I apply some more glue around the T-nuts.
Photo 40 : I do the same for the midrange regarding T-nuts.
Photo 41 : I start on the woofer screw holes and the T-nuts, but then I realize I need to cut in the port holes...
Photo 42 : I place the ports for fit on the front panel.
Photo 43 : I draw in the port's outer ring and the hole needed for each port.
Photo 44 : I freehand the port with the router (since it doesn't have to be perfectly cut).
Photo 45 : Test for fit of the port and the new port hole.
Photo 46 : Both port holes have been cut.
Photo 47 : Test for fit of the ports.
Photo 48 : Next I start on the inside walls and the bracing for the back panel (which will allow me to use wood screws to screw in the back panel, and give me access later when I need to make changes for the crossover network.
Photo 49 : I use a saber saw to cut out of the corners out of the inner walls for the bracing to sit on.
Photo 50 : Test for fit of the bracing and the walls.
Photo 51 : Here's a shot of both inner walls with the required corners cut out of them.
Photo 52 : Here is where I draw in the grooves that I will use to hold piece of plywood that have the crossover network for the tweeter and midrange on one piece, and the bass network for the other piece.
Photo 53 : I use the router, and the straight piece of MDF to provide a rail to slide the router down to route in a 1/4" deep groove into the walls.
Photo 54 : The router in action, routing out the groove.
Photo 55 : One wall's grooves are done.
Photo 56 : The other wall's grooves are done, and the plywood pieces are tested for fit.
Photo 57 : This is how the crossover network will look inside the enclosure.
Day 3 (2/19/01)
Photo 58 : I finish applying glue for the rest of the mounting holes for the T-nuts.
Photo 59 : I hammer in the T-nuts for the woofer mounting holes.
Photo 60 : I seal up the T-nuts for the mounting holes.
Photo 61 : finally done with all the holes and T-nuts.
Photo 62 : Now is the time to glue the top, bottom, and side panel together.
Photo 63 : Apply the glue on the bottom panel.
Photo 64 : Apply the glue to the top panel.
Photo 65 : Apply the glue to the inside wall panels.
Photo 66 : I use the front panel (on the bottom) to line up the panels before clamping the panels together.
Photo 67 : The clamps are used to keep the panels glued together as tight and close to being a rectangular box as possible.
Photo 68 : One more look at the clamped up box. Notice the crossover panel stuck between the inner wall panel for fit.
Photo 69 : While the box is clamped, I was playing around with the bracing, and noticed that the bracing is sitting a bit too high, so I route just a little bit off the bracing so I can account for the weather-stripping later.
Photo 70 : Here's a look at the bracing.
Day 4 (2/20/01)
Photo 71 : This is the day I glue the front panel to the box, so here's all the necessary glue on the front panel.
Photo 72 : More clamp action, but this time, it's to clamp the front panel to the box.
That's it for now.
I'm waiting for some crossover parts, mainly the polypropylene capacitors from Madisound.
Next up:
1. Finish the crossover networks.
2. Install the bracing (leaving a 1/16" gap for the weather-stripping to add to the final back panel depth.
3. Veneer the box, cut out the driver holes in the veneer.
4. Screw in the drivers, hook them up the crossover, and hook up the crossover to the terminal cup.
5. Hook up the center channel speaker to the receiver and have a listen.
------------------
PatCave ; HT Pix ; Gear ; Sunosub I + III ; DVDs ; Link Removed
The idea being I wanted a more consistent front sound stage, so I decided to use the tweeter and midrange from my DIY main speakers, and their crossover network. Then I would surround the tweeter and midrange with a woofer on either side of them. It's a modified D'Appolito design for center channel speakers.
This meant I had to figure out what woofer driver I would need to use to give my good coverage in the upper bass range as my midrange and tweeter handle the frequencies from around 460Hz and up. My main speakers had paper cones, so that was a consideration in the woofer driver selection.
With the help of EdP (can't thank him enough!) and many others on the HTT/HTF/HTG, I finally decided on the Vifa M18WO-09-08's, a paper coned driver. I had considered the Vifa P17WJ-00-08's, but it was a polyconed driver, and the M18WO-09-08 having a better low end response, I decided to go the paper cone route.
The components.
1 Philips AD11600/T8 1" dome tweeter
1 Peerless 1385 4" midrange (encapsulated)
2 Vifa M18WO-0908 woofer drivers.
2 2" wide ports 6.8" long - tuned enclosure to 45Hz
14 liters of volume for each woofer compartment
3/4" thick MDF to be veneered in something resembling rosewood.
28"x10"x14.3" are the outer dimensions for the enclosure.
Here we go:
Day 1 (Saturday 2/17/01)
The raw materials - wood panels:
Photo 1 : Here are the scraps of MDF from my previous Sunosub projects.
Photo 2 : More MDF scraps.
Photo 3 : Here a look of the MDF panel cut to my specifications by a friend of mine with a wood shop that would put Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor to shame.
Day 2 (Sunday 2/18/01)
Assembly
Photo 4 : For the front panel, I decide to use T-nuts so I can take out the drivers easily, this means glueing in a piece of plywood to give the T-nuts something to sink their teeth into because MDF is easily stripped. Here I am marking where the plywood panel should go on the backside of the front panel.
Photo 5 : I test for fit of the panel, roughly, and this give me an idea of how things will be put together.
Photo 6 : Here's the plywood panel and the glue.
Photo 7 : I proceed to squirt the glue on the back of the front panel.
Photo 8 : The plywood is glued in place.
Photo 9 : It doesn't look like it, but I'd got that front panel and the plywood underneath that stack of MDF, and this will apply the weight for a strong glue bond.
Photo 10 : Now I start placement of the tweeter and midrange, as well as the inner walls/braces for the enclosure.
Photo 11 : I mark off the walls and the drivers on the plywood for cutting purposes.
Photo 12 : Here's a close-up of the markings I made.
Photo 13 : Using a ruler and a compass, I draw the circles I need to cut into the front panel for the tweeter and midrange.
Photo 14 : I start with drilling the pilot hole for the router and the circle jig combo.
Photo 15 : The router doing its thing, cutting circles for me.
Photo 16 : Both the holes for the tweeter and midrange are now cut.
Photo 17 : I test for fit of the drivers.
Photo 18 : Next I start on the hole for the woofers. This gives me an idea of the total area the woofer will occupy on the front panel.
Photo 19 : I do the hole for the other woofer.
Photo 20 : After finding the center of the woofer hole and the inner width I need, I drill in a pilot hole for the router/jig combo.
Photo 21 : Routing out the woofer hole.
Photo 22 : Woofer hole finish and woofer waiting for placement.
Photo 23 : Test for fit of the woofer hole.
Photo 24 : I finish cutting out the hole for the other woofer.
Photo 25 : Test for fit of the other woofer hole.
Photo 26 : On the back panel, I mark the center point for the small terminal cup, this requires a 2" hole.
Photo 27 : While I drill out a pilot hole, I quickly discover my jig won't allow me to cut in a 2" hole.
Photo 28 : I use the compass to draw the circle, and then use the router free hand and cut out the cup hole.
Photo 29 : Test for fit of the terminal cup in the back panel.
Photo 30 : I drill holes for the screws to be used to firmly attach the cup to the back panel.
Photo 31 : I use 6-32 1.5" screws/nuts for the terminal cup.
Photo 32 : Screws are in.
Photo 33 : Nuts are screws on with washers.
Photo 34 : I drill the holes for the tweeter.
Photo 35 : I drill the holes for the midrange.
Photo 36 : To use T-nuts, the hole needs to be widen just a little bit, about 1/4" deep, which explains the masking tape on the drill bit.
Photo 37 : I apply a little glue around the holes for the T-nuts for extra adhesive.
Photo 38 : Then I hammer in the T-nuts.
Photo 39 : To seal the T-nuts, I apply some more glue around the T-nuts.
Photo 40 : I do the same for the midrange regarding T-nuts.
Photo 41 : I start on the woofer screw holes and the T-nuts, but then I realize I need to cut in the port holes...
Photo 42 : I place the ports for fit on the front panel.
Photo 43 : I draw in the port's outer ring and the hole needed for each port.
Photo 44 : I freehand the port with the router (since it doesn't have to be perfectly cut).
Photo 45 : Test for fit of the port and the new port hole.
Photo 46 : Both port holes have been cut.
Photo 47 : Test for fit of the ports.
Photo 48 : Next I start on the inside walls and the bracing for the back panel (which will allow me to use wood screws to screw in the back panel, and give me access later when I need to make changes for the crossover network.
Photo 49 : I use a saber saw to cut out of the corners out of the inner walls for the bracing to sit on.
Photo 50 : Test for fit of the bracing and the walls.
Photo 51 : Here's a shot of both inner walls with the required corners cut out of them.
Photo 52 : Here is where I draw in the grooves that I will use to hold piece of plywood that have the crossover network for the tweeter and midrange on one piece, and the bass network for the other piece.
Photo 53 : I use the router, and the straight piece of MDF to provide a rail to slide the router down to route in a 1/4" deep groove into the walls.
Photo 54 : The router in action, routing out the groove.
Photo 55 : One wall's grooves are done.
Photo 56 : The other wall's grooves are done, and the plywood pieces are tested for fit.
Photo 57 : This is how the crossover network will look inside the enclosure.
Day 3 (2/19/01)
Photo 58 : I finish applying glue for the rest of the mounting holes for the T-nuts.
Photo 59 : I hammer in the T-nuts for the woofer mounting holes.
Photo 60 : I seal up the T-nuts for the mounting holes.
Photo 61 : finally done with all the holes and T-nuts.
Photo 62 : Now is the time to glue the top, bottom, and side panel together.
Photo 63 : Apply the glue on the bottom panel.
Photo 64 : Apply the glue to the top panel.
Photo 65 : Apply the glue to the inside wall panels.
Photo 66 : I use the front panel (on the bottom) to line up the panels before clamping the panels together.
Photo 67 : The clamps are used to keep the panels glued together as tight and close to being a rectangular box as possible.
Photo 68 : One more look at the clamped up box. Notice the crossover panel stuck between the inner wall panel for fit.
Photo 69 : While the box is clamped, I was playing around with the bracing, and noticed that the bracing is sitting a bit too high, so I route just a little bit off the bracing so I can account for the weather-stripping later.
Photo 70 : Here's a look at the bracing.
Day 4 (2/20/01)
Photo 71 : This is the day I glue the front panel to the box, so here's all the necessary glue on the front panel.
Photo 72 : More clamp action, but this time, it's to clamp the front panel to the box.
That's it for now.
I'm waiting for some crossover parts, mainly the polypropylene capacitors from Madisound.
Next up:
1. Finish the crossover networks.
2. Install the bracing (leaving a 1/16" gap for the weather-stripping to add to the final back panel depth.
3. Veneer the box, cut out the driver holes in the veneer.
4. Screw in the drivers, hook them up the crossover, and hook up the crossover to the terminal cup.
5. Hook up the center channel speaker to the receiver and have a listen.
------------------
PatCave ; HT Pix ; Gear ; Sunosub I + III ; DVDs ; Link Removed