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Get familiar with the reaction system: Introducing the Reaction System
The new old
Something new that I built using some old parts.
Uses Vifa XT25TG30 in a WG148, Eton 5-880, and Scan-Speak 22W/8534 is in a TL.
Baffle is sapele with a stripe of maple down the middle. Cabinet is MDF and painted flat grey. More details posted at HTGuide here:
https://www.htguide.com/forum/forum/mission-possible-diy/947504-disco-on-the-floor-p
I'm going to try and make some decorative feet using the leftover sapele off-cuts. Will post back if they turn out to be presentable.
I'm not deaf, I'm just not listening.
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Is the baffle glued-on or pocket hole/screws from the rear?
Looks really nice - makes me want to do something with this pile of spalted maple in my shop . . .
It's screwed from behind with a weather stripping gasket. I router a shallow 0.5mm groove for the gasket to sit in so the baffle sits flush. It's way more work that just gluing it on, and not meant to really be removable but gives confidence that the baffle won't split if the humidity level changes.
Nice baffle board. I think the natural wood features give them a very distinct and unique look. And thanks for posting the link to your HTguide thread. I always learn a great deal from seeing how an experienced builder deals with design problems (i.e., midrange 2kHz response dip).
Very, very nice !
Great looking speaker
& extra points for the matching plate in the rear
@4thtry The expectation was for the crossover to land around 2kHz anyway, the wonky response just limited the amount of freedom for being real fiddly with it, it somewhat "forces your hand". Regardless of the midrange limitations, they ended up sounding pretty dang good.
Great execution. Have you compared it to your other 3-way towers?
Of course, this is I think my 4th 3-way tower build, however the first as a transmission line. The TL I came up with is a bit smaller than what it should be for this specific woofer, but I wanted to keep the dimensions reasonable so compromised a bit on the deep bass extension. Regardless, the bass it produces is quite outstanding, especially drums sound fantastic with kick drums having an impactful punch. The midrange and treble doesn't reveal every micro-detail, but nothing stands out or appears to be missing, overall it's just a pleasant listening experience that lets you enjoy the music and stop focusing on the "sound of the speakers". Tonality is just right, I'm very happy with these.
Beautiful. Would like to see build pics.
I'm not big on build pics, and I don't make my speakers to look pretty on the inside, but I do have a few I can share.
TL view. exit is top left, mid chamber on top right.
Here you can see the grooves I put in the baffle for the gasket.
Terminal plates made from the part you throw away.
Getting ready for final assembly. Screwed through the cross braces and some angle brackets, it's awkward but doable with a stubby screwdriver. Two closely spaces brackets in the bottom right are to deal with a minor crack (checking?) in the sapele. The board is solid, but wanted to be sure that it doesn't split over time so it's very well held in place without putting stress on the crack. You can see the crack in the very first photo above.
Baffle with gasket installed.
I'm not all that into doing build pics/progress updates either mostly because I find it very distracting to be thinking about how and when to take pics and document/explain them when this hobby is much more enjoyable when I can just get into the groove of building and lose/absorb my mind all by myself in the endeavor for a few hours at a time.
There is just so much noise inside my head as it is with life being so complicated these days due to too much input - past and present.
I find this hobby very relaxing as an individual sport and an excellent escape from the world while being productive.
It's neat to see the individualality of the builder on how they imagine the construction of their design. It's one of the more interesting sides of this hobby to me.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
These look great dB! I really like that look. I've done a couple builds lately with flat or egg shell gray paint on the cabinets and real hardwood baffles. My current project will feature that same look with baffles that have a center section of curly maple (similar to your's) that is flanked by walnut. Not towers though, only 18" tall stand mounts.
Thanks, I mostly decided to paint because I'm pretty terrible at veneering, and especially with such large panels, and prefer the rounded corners over sharp edges which again doesn't lend itself well to veneering. Paint is the easy button, it's a high quality washable flat paint but still a bit of a finger print magnet, so keep your grubby paws off my speakers
.
Originally I was going to paint them white, glad I chose a dark colour instead, I think it compliments the drivers and wood well.
I've started work on the feet, which will wrap around the side corners for a decorative touch. I think they'll turn out well, but the bandsaw blade broke so I've only got 2 of 8 cut out at the moment.
To each their own. I really dislike working with paint... To the point I'm going to try solid color countertop laminate.
I'm sure I'd like paint a little better if I worked with the right paints. But still has alot of negatives for me, mostly on the prep side of things. At least when dealing with wood products the variation of the wood grain can hide alot of surface blemishes that would otherwise telegraph quite obviously in paint due to it's uniformity and typically being a rather thin coating even compared to veneer.
Though, If I need to save on materials you'll still likely see me hosing down the back/bottom of a speaker with black spray paint just to tone down the ugliness.
I would likely not paint any real wood, but MDF doesn't count, its already high uniformity with no grain to hide blemishes. Seal with shellac or BIN primer and sand, any blemishes will be obvious with the white BIN primer prior to painting, and the stuff sands very easily. Low sheen helps to hide blemishes as well, I would never roll on a glossy paint.
Nice! How is your neck of the woods for smoke these days? Clearing up yet?
What glue do you use on those shelf boards with the laminate/vinyl coating?
Those shelf boards have real wood veneer, I sand the varnish and use regular wood glue. If you have laminate or vinyl, heat and remove it.
Well, my town is clear of fire luckily, my workplace however was evacuated as well as many of my coworkers. Kelowna airport shut down as well due to the close proximity of the fire. Smoke levels have been worse, but still not great. We got a light sprinkle of rain the other day which helped, with any luck well get some more next week.
A lot of the smoke has made it's way down here to the coast - we do have the ocean wind that blows it away every few days and then it rolls back in. Some more rain in your area would definitely be welcomed by everyone I'm sure!
Feet made from the scrap off-cuts that usually get thrown away. I think they turned out pretty well.
Great speakers. Well done.
They sound great too
That first pic I though the speaker was CG it is so perfect looking.
Nice design on those feet🔥
There’s plenty of imperfections don’t you worry
Do you have a right angle drill or screwdriver to install the baffles? I see no mention how you screwed from the inside to keep the fasteners off the faces.
That said, love the feet, and the Robertson screws!
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No, a right angle tool sure would be handy, but I just use a stubby robbie screwdriver, awkwardly screwed in from behind through the driver holes, my wrists get a bit of a work out. It's not meant for any easy removal in the future, just to avoid splitting the baffle from any movement from change in humidity.
I've become quite fond of the brass screws it complements the darker wood colours nicely. You just have to be careful not to over-torque brass screws, they're quite brittle and can sheer the head off leaving you with a real PITA. unfortunate that the Visaton WG148 is made for flat heads so it looks a bit out of place against the rest of the pan heads, and really should be #6 screws there, not #8 but I think I may just live with it instead of try to fill the screw holes and re-drill for #6.
Can't just use pan heads anyway? If you don't think the heads would be countersunk enough could try gluing some sand paper to the end of a dowel and spin it by hand in each hole to create a bit of a flat countersink. Would be fiddly to do by hand but using a drill would be too risky for me.
I suppose I could have attempted to drill the tapered countersink flat and use pan heads, Just have to be careful with it. I'd want to avoid sandpaper for risk of scratching the waveguide surface. I do have access to a drill press so it might not be too difficult. On the other hand, I could do nothing and enjoy...tough call after proclaiming to myself "It's done" yesterday