Calling all DIY speakers enthusiasts....!

Hi everyone,
Are there any DIY loudspeaker enthusiasts out there? Read on Troels Gravesen, Denmark website. Looks interesting especially the Scanspeak Projects. Thinking of trying one of the projects someday. Reminds me of dad.
Has anyone had any experience with DIY?
Cheers

Hmmm... did some DIY valve tappets adjustment & camshaft-swap job, rear muffler swap job.

Oh excuse me, did u mean for HIFI stuff instead?

Hi, I wouldn't call myself an avid diy as yet, but I did try on a simplest cabinet, crossover free full range Fostex speaker once recently.

It is now my centre speaker, since it is good in vocals.

peter32 wrote:Hi, I wouldn't call myself an avid diy as yet, but I did try on a simplest cabinet, crossover free full range Fostex speaker once recently.

It is now my centre speaker, since it is good in vocals.

No I havent but would like to try.
There was a chap on Lowyat forum who was trying to get people interested in a kit from UK.
He was trying to get 10 interested parties so as to nego a better price. I think clone of Proac 25 or something like that.
I was too late but have not checked up on the forum to see how they got on.

Have been wondering about these fullrange Fostex and Lowthers
http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/
Do u get good bass with them?

No. Fostexes is notorious with its bright upper end, but supposedly tapered off after a prolonged listening session. Mid is very transparent. For bass, I think it would depend on the cabinet you are building it on. Some fostex enthusiasts developed very good horns with lots of bass with the same driver. So far, the best ever fostexes I read is the FE206E it seems. With good BLH design it can bring up the bass very very well.

Yes I have read about the lowyat offer to get a group to buy the famous Proac 25 design. I don't know much about the proac design actually. But with ample online research material and feedback, it seems like a very safe bet. Why don't you find out the cabinet design online, and share with us about it. I can have a look and to give you feedback as to whether it is difficult to build by a amateurs like you and me. I am not much a wood worker before, so I have invested in a few power tools to get it done till this stage. I can probably give some feedback on the potential difficult along the way on its cabinet.

Cheers.

Guys,
I'm "that guy" who is starting the group buy in LYN. Let me elaborate, the "kit" is not from UK, just the ScanSpeak drivers are from Danmark & the rest will be collected as we go along. You guys are not too late, to joint as I'm busy with building a CNC machine to produce the cabinet... So I'll take care of the the saw dust part of it & the group buiild member will only have to handle glue.

Merry X'mas

Ken

BTW,
The cabinet is not difficult to build. Even Proac uses glue on straight cut MDF, Its the saw dust which came along while sawing that is the headache.

Hi Ken, its great that u have responded.
I am still quite interested.
Can u give us an idea of the expected cost?
I would also like to know what the finish will be on the speaker cabinets.
Is it the same model that u intend to build?

This is a group build, there are many options/stages, the cost, its in the LYN & diyparadise forums, I need to check back as my brain has too much to fill for the moment. Off the back of my head, the damage will be about RM2k ball park but really, it all depends on how much you are willing to indulge yourself, the components, parts cost is transparent & group buy really save some money.

I want to emphasise that this is not a kit, I don't supply the finished product.
there are 3 Option/stage 1
1st, Buy drivers,
2nd, buy crossover components
3rd, make cabinet. i.e. the wood work, the damping... etc

The design? There were countless work done by bus load of people that are smarter then me, hence no point for me to repeat. Google Clonac or Proac clone... use your imagination.

The drivers will be ori ScanSpeak from Denmark.

The crossover has 7 choices if you check out Dr. Troel's work. including the original & "chinese" design.

The cabinet design is direct copy off the net, its been beaten to death so no need to argue.

I had put a lot of thought into the wood working part, I concluded that no matter how simple its gonna to be, someone will stare blank at me & say "I can not la..." so I'm going to cut all the MDF according to dimention & the group build members can "Lego" the box up with glue & the comfort of their air-conditioned room.

Finishing? Group build ma, finish the boxes yourself la... Somemore can finish with what ever that fulfill your deepest most fantacy.... Or if you really "stare blank at my face", go get a automobile paint shop to finish em off for you. I hate finishing.... Lagi best, leave them bare.... actually very cool looking one...

I'm an avid DIY kaki & love to tinker & tweak... Doing this as part of my social responsibility to arouse interest in making "real" stuff with our hands.... hee hee... big slogan... loud motto... what to do?? Gotta give myself excuse to hang on to more project ma...

I apologise again for cutting everything short, but really really need to take care of other important things in life....

Hi Ken,

i have never done any DIY project but i'm interested in this, count me in.

regards.

I'm going to cut all the MDF according to dimention & the group build members can "Lego" the box up with glue & the comfort of their air-conditioned room.

would need a wood clamp to get the pieces together, need a router to make reasonable finishes,not as easy as in words. personally I like DIY and owns the table saw, circular opener, router, wood clamp and drill stand, yet unable to DIY the box myself, the box is not square enugh and the finishing not up to expectation,waste $ only. this job is better give it to profesional speaker enclosure builder.just my 2 cents..

I am also interested in the project but not for the time being. If I were to do it, I will need a set of speaker drivers and the crossover component.

My challenge is to make a circular hole without a router. Thats a major challenge for me. So far I am able to make holes on my previous speaker cabinet by using a hole cutter installed onto the power drill. It works but can be dangerous!

I will follow up the thread though.

wabun wrote:

I'm going to cut all the MDF according to dimention & the group build members can "Lego" the box up with glue & the comfort of their air-conditioned room.

would need a wood clamp to get the pieces together, need a router to make reasonable finishes,not as easy as in words. personally I like DIY and owns the table saw, circular opener, router, wood clamp and drill stand, yet unable to DIY the box myself, the box is not square enugh and the finishing not up to expectation,waste $ only. this job is better give it to profesional speaker enclosure builder.just my 2 cents..

With table saw and router, and i believe some practice, I think you are in a better footing to get this done well. Why don't you try again?

My first pair of cabinet was a practice cabinet. I discarded it after completed it, and fit the driver into a newer cabinet as centre speaker. So far so good.

That old practice cabinet is still with me, empty with foam and wire still inplace. Its not a waste, all the experience are well treasured.

small is Ok, my JumPan1 chassis also made by myself, see below.
but big size like spk box DIY not look nice even got the tools..
maybe my finger skill not up to par








https://i.servimg.com/u/f17/14/17/71/23/rimg0211.jpg

Nice work Wabun !

Cute Wabun! If manufacturer s make em like this they'll charge you a premium.

if u got the table saw, router, sander and necessary clamp, it is not difficult do it. just use glue ( liquid nail ) to done the job. but if big size, then i can't do it nicely, especially when apply the real wood vinyl or formica, need some wood work skill..

When I am in a complaining mode I'll go to a restaurant & let the professionals do the cooking and I'll do the complaining.

FYI, using a router is easy, but the wood dust it churns up is a PITA.

Tip, It is easy to cut a circle or any curvature with a RM 8 copy saw, just have to draw your circle round la.... One tip, draw a circle that you are handy with, print a copy of the circle with 1:1 scale, glue or double sided taped on what ever you wish to cut, the drill a hole inside the circle & insert the saw into the hole & you can start sawing away carefully.

There are no secret in cutting straight, the trade jagon is "cutting through". you can't cut straight without a guide edge... If you think you can, you should quit your day job and become a woodworking artitian. I have a length og 6meter 30mm x 76mm hollow aluminium section which I split into one 10 ft, 6 ft & 4 ft guide which will double as long straight edge.
To cut squate, one must have a frame square, or can draw a 2-3-4 rectangular. Use them to guide your fitting of draw out the cutting/construction line. check parallel edges by measuring for equal shortest distance between the lines & check for 2 equal or very close diaganal distance my tolorance for the diagonal is +/-3mm & the parallel is +/-1mm.
I don't have a table sow, I use circular saw, jig saw for first cut & finish off with trimmer after fitting. I used to cut everything with router but the dust is unbearable over time. As my circular saw cuts gets better, I even don't need to tough my trimmer now a days.
White glue is for accurate cut & good fitting those new type of construction glues which has gap filling capability are nice too, helps a lot when I need to get thing going in a hurry.
Some pix of a storage box 4ft x 2ft x 2ft, total time taken including visit to lumber yard is 6 hours.

I uploaded a few pix but can't seem to attach it to this post. Can someone enlighten me?

Thanks In advance.

I left out the wood clamp part in the previous post. It is great to have enough clamps for all kind. But to be realistic, If I were to build it one once before you die. I will resort to alternative clamping method. I had tried Polyethele ropes (Boyscout ropes?) and the work really well.
Method.
Wrap a rope around the box, and tie a dead knot as hard as you can by hand, insert some guard ad the box edges to prevent damage, insert a small block of wood of about 1 inch or larger at the center of each side where the rope comes around. Then use a broom stick to twist the rope so that the rope will tighten up. with a RM10 worth of rope, you can have easily 6 clamps made.

Again, use your imagination.

Cheers

Ken

finylvinyl, You are most welcome to join the group build. Every journey starts with the 1st step, I sincerely applause your courage to discover your potential.

I don't know how did I missed finylvinyl's post earlier ....

Honestly, I never thought there are many audiophiles that are advantageous enough to try their hands to build their own equipment... From this group build experience this far, most are happy to spend 5 times more base on magazine reviews & sales brouchure... Not confident enough to trust their own judgement, afraid of failure and belittle themselves... I know I'm going to get many people offended, but hey, truth is always offending...

The group build is still open, and all are welcome.

For what ever reasons there may be, the first step is always the toughest.

Lets make a list of courageous group builders.

Name
1) ....
2) ....
3) ....

My DIY speaker - The 1962-an JBL Linear Efficiency LE14C Alnico V Coaxial Spk

(1.)The LE-20 tweeter "inside" voice coil of 14inch woofer
(2.)The cabinet, side 0.75inch MDF,front and back 1inch marine plywood
(3.)The cast aluminium speaker frame,alnico V magnet with bell encapsulation
(4.)All cast aluminium crossover enclosure with bee wax capacitor
(5.)Outlook without grill..

The sound ? Marvelous, come pay me a visit..can compare JumPan2 as well

Jealous, envious !!
They are lovely
Well done Wabun

Well don Wabun!
I wish I can show you some of my passed projects, but lately, I just relocated myself back to Klang & the old cabinets were either gave away or sold to recoup cost.
I wish to attach some pix of the only work-in-progress horns here but I can't figure out how. please, if you ca show me how.

Cheers

Ken

honestly, i satisfied with the result. the DIY spk really sings quite well. damping material used were: cloths rug for top, guni bag for side, polyester + glass wool for front baffle. all the side sealed with white sealant, spk & crossover put car windshield dunlop gasket.