AR.com DIY cabinet dimensions...and a question/suggestion

[kexodusc]

PS: - don't forget to allow for feet in your tower design - these can be 1"+ if you use spikes

I like the idea of a shelf on an angle. Help break up panel resonances.

I notice with the Madisound kit they give you foam for the walls. Should you still stuff with batting / acousta-stuff? If it helps absorb unwanted midrange from escaping from the port - fine, but if it is just to make the box appear bigger for the woofer (which stuffing does by roughly10%) , I can do that by moving my partition down the cabinet.

I'm not sure I'm qualified enough to answer you question. It would seem to me that you could get some undesireable effects from standing waves, etc if you increase the interior volume of the "top part" of the cabinet by dropping that partition. I know some people have made larger cabinets for these with poly-fill, acousta-stuff, etc, and reported good results. I think you would want to keep the 13 inch height the same, at the very least, and maybe use bracing every 8" or thereabouts to limit resonance problems. I wouldn't want to go much more than 13" without a brace.

After a few discussions with some other people last night I think I'm going to abandon the sand filling idea and just use 3 or 4 "donut" and "H"-braces in the lower cabinet to cut down on resonance. Might stuff it with pink insulation, poly-fill, or something cheap so there's no "hollow" sound.

[poneal]

Got all 5 boxes coated with the first coat of black gloss enamel. Dang they look good with just the first coat (I can see my self in them). I have to let them dry for 3 days then sand and put the second coat, wait 3 more days, then sand a clearcoat, then wait 3 more days, then compound, swirl remover, and glazing. Can't wait.....

[kexodusc]

Great so in 10 days or so you'll have some pics up for us, right?
Paul, what speakers do you own currently that you could give us a head-to-head comparison with when you're done?

Man, I can't wait to get back at this...moving company is coming on the 9th, hopefully by Monday, the 13th I can get back at them...

[traut]

You're right though, I just ran speaker wires a few months back through the walls to hide them...that was a tedious job...now I gotta do it again.

kexodus,

I just bought my first house a few months ago, and I've been racking my brain about what to do with the speaker wires. The best idea I've come up with is to remove the molding, route out a space for the wires on some new molding, and then replace. How did you go about running the wires through the walls? Did you wind up with dozens of holes that you had to patch? Based on this thread, I know you're very busy moving, but if you could lay down the basics for me when have the time, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks,
RT

[traut]

Bump for kexodusc

[bcass]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but it looked as good as any. :-)

I am looking for the L-6 speaker cabinets at SoundCity.com and I can't find them. Are they still sold there? Are there any other sources for cabinets of the proper dimensions? I am almost tempted to build my own, since I can work OK with wood/MDF, but if I can get premade cabinets with nice veneer, grill and holes cut for reasonably more than the parts, I'd do it.

Thanks!
Bryan

[kexodusc]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but it looked as good as any. :-)

I am looking for the L-6 speaker cabinets at SoundCity.com and I can't find them. Are they still sold there? Are there any other sources for cabinets of the proper dimensions? I am almost tempted to build my own, since I can work OK with wood/MDF, but if I can get premade cabinets with nice veneer, grill and holes cut for reasonably more than the parts, I'd do it.

Thanks!
Bryan

I think you should try looking at speakercity.com, not soundcity.com.
If that doesn't work Madisound sells pre-fab cabinets as well.

Build your own...way more fun, and cheaper.

[bcass]

I think you should try looking at speakercity.com, not soundcity.com.
If that doesn't work Madisound sells pre-fab cabinets as well.

Build your own...way more fun, and cheaper.

Sorry, I meant SpeakerCity.com. Are the cabinets at Madisound the same size that Ed recommends?

Building my own... I'm sure I could get them put together, but I'm wondering if they'd look like I made them or not. ;-) I like the looks of the ones in the instructions on this site. But is there a materials list and cutting diagram for DIY cabinets of the same dimensions?

Thank you!
Bryan

[EFE Speakers]

Bryan,
The Speakercity cabinets are like the ones in the original posting, the new Madisound cabinets are the same volume but come with rounded corners rather than square. They both come with real wood veneer, driver and input terminal holes and finished grills. You'll have to drill all the holes for the screws. E-mail me for the right type and amount of insulation to install. Success!

Ed Frias
EFE TECHNOLOGY Speakers
efespeakers@commspeed.net

[bcass]

Bryan,
The Speakercity cabinets are like the ones in the original posting, the new Madisound cabinets are the same volume but come with rounded corners rather than square. They both come with real wood veneer, driver and input terminal holes and finished grills. You'll have to drill all the holes for the screws. E-mail me for the right type and amount of insulation to install. Success!

Ed Frias
EFE TECHNOLOGY Speakers
efespeakers@commspeed.net

Thanks, Ed. But my question was... where are the L-6 speaker cabinets on the SpeakerCity site? I can't find them in their catalog. I was just wondering if there are other internet sites besides them and Madisound that sell a cabinet of the same exact dimensions that I could look at. I can stain and finish a veneered cabinet, or even apply veneer to a MDF box. I was just leery of putting the box together solidly and making the cutouts and port tube the right size, since that is so critical.

What model number are the equivalent Madisound cabinets?

Thank you!
Bryan

[kexodusc]

Bryan, if you can veneer a raw MDF cabinet, you might as well build a cabinet yourself. Veneering is harder than the cutting and glueing MDF. And you'll save yourself at least $100 between parts and shipping. MDF is cheap. Heck, you could go to a Lowes or Home Depot and get them to cut the cabinets to your specs, then glue them together...the port tube is easy, just countersink a circle cut 1/4 inch or so the width of the port tube thickness and stick the port tube in that ring hole...apply goop or whatever. the port tube length plus thickness of cabinet to the outside should be 6 inches.

You could probably find people to make the cabinets for you.

I'm doubtful you'll ever find a cabinet the same size on another site. Most cabinets are a generic volume (ie: 0.375 cu ft) and aren't customized like these (0.338 cu ft). The closest I think you could find would be these at parts express, but changing dimensions will alter the sound of the speaker.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=302-712

The Madisound cabinets are probably the way to go...and, Madisound uses better parts for the crossover...(or better yet, buy the pre-made xo's).

[EFE Speakers]

AR.com Kit Cabinet specs:

3/4" MDF material

Outside dimensions are
13" high x 8 3/4" wide x 9 1/4" deep

Inside dimensions are
11 ½� high x 7 1/4� wide x 7 ¾ deep

Port size is 2" Dia. (ID) x 6" deep from rear surface.
Rear Port hole is centered (widthwise) and 3" from top to center of port.

Speaker input terminal hole is 1 15/16" Dia. It is countersunk 3/16" deep x 3" Dia. This can be changed if you desire another type or size speaker terminal. Rear Speaker terminal hole is centered (widthwise) and 3" from bottom to center of hole.

Front Tweeter hole is 3 5/16" in diameter. Front tweeter hole is also centered widthwise and also 3" from top of cabinet to center of hole. If you opt to countersink the tweeter, cut 1/8" deep x 4 1/8" Dia.

Front woofer hole is 5 5/8" Dia. If you opt to countersink, use 3/16" deep x 6 15/16" Dia.
Front woofer is centered 4 1/4" from bottom of cabinet.
Success to all!

Ed Frias
EFE TECHNOLOGY Speakers

[EFE Speakers]

Sorry about that!

AR.com Kit Cabinet specs:

¾ inch MDF material

Outside dimensions are
13 inches high x 8 ¾ inches wide x 9 ¼ inches deep

Inside dimensions are
11 ½ inches high x 7 ¼ inches wide x 7 ¾ deep

Port size is 2 inches in diameter (ID) x 6 inches deep from rear surface.
Rear Port hole is centered (widthwise) and 3 inches from top to center of port.

Speaker input terminal hole is 1 15/16 inches in diameter. It is countersunk for the flange 1/8 inch deep x 3 inches in diameter. This can be changed if you desire another type or size speaker terminal. Rear Speaker terminal hole is centered (widthwise) and 3 inches from bottom to center of hole.

Front Tweeter hole is 3 5/16 in diameter. Front tweeter hole is also centered widthwise and also 3 inches from top of cabinet to center of hole. If you opt to countersink the tweeter, cut 1/8 inch deep x 4 1/8 inches in diameter.

Front woofer hole is 5 5/8 inches in diameter. If you opt to countersink, use 3/16 inches deep x 6 15/16 inches in diameter.

Front woofer is centered 4 ¼ inches from bottom of cabinet.
Success to all!

Ed Frias
EFE TECHNOLOGY Speakers

[bcass]

[...]
I'm doubtful you'll ever find a cabinet the same size on another site. Most cabinets are a generic volume (ie: 0.375 cu ft) and aren't customized like these (0.338 cu ft). The closest I think you could find would be these at parts express, but changing dimensions will alter the sound of the speaker.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=302-712

The Madisound cabinets are probably the way to go...and, Madisound uses better parts for the crossover...(or better yet, buy the pre-made xo's).

I don't know, but I don't think I could build a cabinet that needs that tight of a tolerance for volume (0.037 cu.ft. makes that big of a difference?). I don't even know if I can measure inside dimentions that accurately to get within 100ths of 0.338 cu.ft., much less 1000ths. Maybe I'll just buy the Madisound ones and save myself the frustration. I would sure hate to spend all that time building a cabinet only to find out that I have to rebuild it because the volume is off by 0.037! :-) Plus, then you have to worry about making your own grills so that they look nice and attach securely.

Soldering parts to a circuit board I can do. But if it's only a few bucks more to buy it pre-assembled, why not? I've done my own car repairs for about 27 years now, but I'm coming to the conclusion that it's more fun to pay someone else to make all my mistakes for me - and then fix them! ;-)

Thanks,
Bryan

[kexodusc]

Bryan,
I think maybe you're reading a bit too much into the numbers...actually, that's just what you get when you cut the pieces out...I'm sure they're quite flexible, after all, you're going to insert drivers, port tube, damping material, crossovers, terminals, etc that will eat up some of this volume anyway...there's a ton of flexibility.
But buying the Madisound cabinets is a good way to start too...that's exactly what I did when I made a different project...
Then I realized building the cabinets wasn't that hard.
There's a ton of people willing to help if you decide to try your own...Good luck!

[bcass]

Bryan,
I think maybe you're reading a bit too much into the numbers...actually, that's just what you get when you cut the pieces out...I'm sure they're quite flexible, after all, you're going to insert drivers, port tube, damping material, crossovers, terminals, etc that will eat up some of this volume anyway...there's a ton of flexibility.
But buying the Madisound cabinets is a good way to start too...that's exactly what I did when I made a different project...
Then I realized building the cabinets wasn't that hard.
There's a ton of people willing to help if you decide to try your own...Good luck!

I wrote to SpeakerCity and they wrote back with the price of the L-6 cabinets at $65 each. I'm not sure if that includes the binding post, grill, etc.; they were very terse in their responses. Madisound wants $82.50 each for theirs, but there seems to be more finish options.

I'm almost tempted to just build the cabinets myself, but I'm hesitant only because there's no cutting diagrams or assembly instructions. I see Ed's measurements above, but I have gone solely on measurements before and messed things up. :-) Plus, where do you find the port tube, how do you build the grills, where do you get grill cloth, how do you attach the grills, etc etc. I'm a good direction-follower, but not a good fabricator, and there are too many unanswered questions for me to venture into it yet. ;-) One would think that with so many people who have built these, there would be some detailed bill of materials, cutting diagrams and assembly drawings/instructions out there somewhere.

Thanks!
Bryan

[kexodusc]

Bryan:

The cutting dimensions are really open to a number of possibilies. Especially if you have dado-blades and can cut a rabbet or mortis-and-tennon joint or something (but those aren't necessary).

I recommend making the front baffle the entire width and height of the speaker, that is 13 X 8-3/4, then adjusting the other dimensions accordingly. It's not that hard, and it doesn't have to be 100% perfect...that's what body fill is for!

Just make sure when you are cutting MDF that you set your saw for a certain dimension and cut all the same pieces at once so you aren't readjusting every cut. This helps to ensure that any slight defects are at least consistent for all sides and all speakers. For example, my tops and bottoms, and lefts and rights were the same. I built 12 at once. I cut 24 top/bottom pieces, then 24 left/right pieces, then the fronts, then the backs. I had to use a wee bit of bondo to seal up one crack on all the speakers....it was air tight because of the rabbet joints I used, but this was an important step for later when veneering so lines didn't show.

Port tubes need only be a 2 inch inside diameter PVC or ABS tube such as you'd use for home plumbing, available at any hardware store, but you can order from Madisound/parts express etc...I recommend getting the port covers too to make them look pretty. You just need to chop off the port tube to the right length.

Grills aren't 100% necessary, but I used 3/4" MDF, and a jig saw, kept them very thin and just glued grill cloth on to the back with spray adhesive...probably the hardest part of this whole project. I used earth magnets countersunk into both the front baffle and grill corners for a clean look, but grill pegs can be purchased cheap too, and are probably easier if you're not fussy.

C'mon bryan, MDF is cheap...go to it and build your own from scratch , you'll love these that much more.

FYI...I recommend starting a new thread in this forum for future questions, you might draw more interest. Tons of people here who can help you.