My new 5.1 system

[socratous]

Hi guys, first posting outside of the g'day section!

I was at the Adelaide T&WWW show yesterday discussing speakers and other bits n pieces with a few people and 2 of them suggested that I join this forum and share my experiences.

I have been into making speakers for a little while now, its the hybrid child of my high school love of electronics and woodwork. I've made a few sets for family and friends over the past 18 months, but seeing as I have had a bit more interest from other people and not actually having anything to show them (never built myself a pair that I kept for very long) I thought it time to make something pretty decent.

Basic specs of the system are as follows;
5.1 (well, will be when I get time to finish the sub!)
centre and rear channels use 2x 5.25" peerless PAE drivers and a vifa tweeter in a ported enclosure
front main channels use 1x 8" peerless PAE driver for a woofer, 1x 5.25" peerless PAE driver for a mid and a peerless HDS tweeter in a semi transmission line enclosure
sub will be 1x 12" peerless resolution driver in a hybrid ported/transmission line enclosure

I am making the enclosures out of 17mm tasmanian oak veneered mdf with mitred edges for a seamless design and a hand applied oil finish. The internal braces and baffles are a combination of 16 and 18mm mdf pieces, pocket hole jointed into position. For the crossovers, I have tried a series design, as opposed to the more traditional parrallel design.

The build process so far looks like this...

*special note to the pic in the clamping stage, proof you can never have too many clamps, regardless of what the girlfriend says! lol

[Waldo]

Should look smick when you've applied the finish. :2tsup:

[socratous]

The finish has been applied in pics 7 and 8. I'm not a fan of high gloss speakers (get too many annoying reflections off them in my room) so I went for the more low sheen finish. The picture quality is a bit average as I only have the iphone to take pics atm, but in decent light it looks about like a satin finish.

[Christos]

Looks nice.

[Harry72]

They going to be a nice looking set:)

Speakers/car audio is what got me into WW too :D

[socratous]

A port pirian!

I used to live there many moons ago, been meaning to take a detour through there one day to see what it looks like now.

[BeanerSA]

May i ask where you sourced your veneered MDF?

[Harry72]

I'd dare say not much would have changed, dont get lost in the road works on the way... there's half a live time worth of speed changes to contend with:(

[socratous]

I got the veneered MDF from Bone Timber on South Rd. They did a good job, took them my measurements (I used cutlist pro to get the most out of the sheet) and was ready for collection at 7.30am the next morning! Now I'm faced with a dillema... if I get a sliding table to handle ful sheets myself, I will also need to buy a ute to take said sheets home with me! lol

[Harry72]

A decent roof rack can hold a sheet or two or a 6x4 trailer(cheaper option than a Ute).
You dont really need a full slider saw, it can be achieved other ways that dont take up a large space in the workshop.

[BeanerSA]

So are you copying some sort of reference design, or are you calculating dimension / volume using software or some other method?

Are you using crossovers, or bi-amping?

[socratous]

I was fortunate enough for a designer to share with me his plans for his commercially available units, as such I am sworn to secrecy and unable to share the plans.

The crossovers are a path less travelled, using a series design as opposed to the more traditional parallel variety. I usually design all my stuff with software, but the offer I had was to good to refuse (actually I think he just wanted to know what it sounded like with my tweeter choice, so was happy to help out).

My girlfriend's dad wants a set made too after he heard these (finished them last night all bar the grills) and is budgeting $1k for materials and parts, so should be a decent pair! Also have had 2 requests for custom tv cabinets yesterday, guess I'll be a busy boy for the next few weeks!

[socratous]

Well here they are (just ignore the finger prints on the centre speaker! lol, stupid flash shows up what I missed grrrrr).

[BeanerSA]

Nice work fella :2tsup:

[Harry72]

I think most would be proud to have a set like that, nice work mate:)

[socratous]

Thanks guys :)

Now I just need to work on a more permanent stand for the rear speakers (bar stools for the photos, but they reside raised on 2 milk crates eack atm!!!). I'm leaning towards satin black top and base plates (to match the bases of the front speakers) with a piece of 4" polished stainless steel pipe providing the required height. Opinions?