Stonerboy's new scratch build speakers

[Stonerboy779]

The guts of each of the speakers will be:
- Hertz DX 200 woofer 6 1/2"
- Hertz DX 100 dome tweeter
- Bohlender Greabener Neo 3 Ribbon tweeter
- gold plated banana socket
- gold plated banana plug
- sleeved 12awg speaker cables
- cut up foam for general sound deadening and sealing
- black noise isolating speaker spikes

The materials used for the speakers
- an internal 16mm MDF box
- an external 19mm clear pine casing
- a white oak wood putty for filling dents and gaps
- Black Japan Satin stain
- Clear Satin finishing coat

I have a matching Sub box to be completed at some point too.

Some pics for now more to come soon

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8008/7659397090_d83360c948_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659397090/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/7659363654_a9a5ce06d7_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659363654/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8028/7659364884_583f6764bc_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659364884/)

These are just the first coats they will end up looking nearly pitch black.

[Stonerboy779]

Some pics from the other day

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7659450804_5e2c93ceb0_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659450804/)

The drop saw with the colapsable benches and work frame that have been made for it.
Unfortunately one of the benches got wet in storage and just being a clear coated mdf it swelled up shockingly so it was removed back to the hardwood frame.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8147/7659449478_f6fb4f12dc_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659449478/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7659448146_1e9fd592e3_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659448146/)

The new top was perfect was a bit of spare melemine that was the perfect length and an hour of cutting later

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8281/7659454840_aee9a585ee_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659454840/)

and this is what those pieces started life as

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7659453320_d5ce47f126_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7659453320/)

[TLHarrell]

Those are some beefy boxes. Subbed.

[Stonerboy779]

Of course, total isolation of the back wave is the aim :)

Just finished another coat and am going to let it thoroughly dry before I give it a sand and I may leave it with the slightly mottled look because it looks nice atm.

[Stonerboy779]

Some pics of the stuff going into the boxes.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7672704358_de12878359_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672704358/)

The speakers

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7672707554_14c66aec21_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672707554/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7127/7672703008_864192ff60_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672703008/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7131/7672701482_2998f41880_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672701482/)

Crossovers

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7672698762_fbd39ed0ff_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672698762/)

B&G tweeters

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7672697414_e5cd55d87a_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672697414/)

Spikes

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7273/7672696116_174baa3473_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672696116/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7672694746_c2abf6f447_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672694746/)
(My phone may be **** and old but these shots are why I like it still)

Connectors

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8028/7672699860_76a20598fe_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672699860/)
(might end up not using these because I my be putting them into something different not sure yet)

Stain and varnish this stuff is expensive

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8021/7672693178_53c8ebbe78_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672693178/)

And a crappy shot of the mottled look atm.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8153/7672705984_504f2ae8a1_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7672705984/)

[Stonerboy779]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8144/7687348874_fe30e41070_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7687348874/)

I know it looks rough and harsh but I am loving this battered look.
I even purposefully scuffed some bits up haha

Need to get some black screws today just cant seem to find enough around the house. Should have these singing later.

[Stonerboy779]

Thanks to a suggestion to someone over on OCC I have decided that going with a steampunkish style for these speakers could be quite awesome.

Now he linked me these grills on ebay
http://www.speaker-grill.com/productsimages/metalcabinetcorner3leg_144162.jpg

But I do have these lying around instead.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7688180460_8196278644.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stonerboy779/7688180460/)

However I feel it is far too chunky so I thought of something else instead.
That is use PC fan grills.

http://static.pccasegear.com/images/FG-120140-BK.jpg

They have a 125mm seperation from the mounting points I only need 110mm which means I can bend them slightly to put them up above the rubber surround of the speaker cone easily and then I think I will knock a few rings out. Keep the two inside and two outside rings and remove the rest then spray lightly with some copper/brass coloured spray paint. Because it is already black a light coat should give a good finish.

I have a bunch of these lying around.

http://www.speaker-grill.com/productsimages/metalcabinetcorner3leg_144162.jpg

Would give the same light coat and would finish all the corners with this. Might straighten out and do something with the excess bars from the grills but that would need to wait.
So what do you guys reckon?

[CorsePerVita]

Looks good man! Some crazy steampunkish stuff may not look too bad afterall.

[TLHarrell]

Speaker spikes... dubious as to their usefulness...

[Stonerboy779]

Speaker spikes work wonders :P

My pos sub was giving me issues with serious vibrations being sent into my wooden floor and into the wall. Chucked the spikes in and boom now I really need to crank it to the point where it really pushing some air before I experience the same annoying vibrations in the house.

All I got now is clean bass that sounds great in my music.

Going to get some 2mm mdf today to do some details, I broke one of my grills yesterday *facepalm* so one speaker will be without a grill for a while. I have some copper paint and will see how it comes out today.

[CorsePerVita]

I dig the spikes idea! Can't wait to see more :)

[Stonerboy779]

I dig the spikes idea! Can't wait to see more :)

I can't wait either but I snapped a grill and can't find where I put my metal corner protectors. In fact I have missplaced a whole heap of my speaker cab making parts grr.

I may have time for this project today after I cut stuff for the arcade cab.

[Luke122]

I'm a fan of spikes too! Looking forward to some listening tests of these, curious about the sound quality. :)