The DIY discussion thread: post your projects!

[Ryan T]

Thanks guys . This is my first real fully self designed project and I'm just really happy it turned out well. They sound exactly like I was hoping they would. And they look a lot better than I imagined

After doing a lot more listening and A/B testing with my AV 1's vs these I just built. They are so close to the AV 1's its freaky. They have a lot less bass obviously but they sound so nice. I like the sound of the tweeter a bit better on my project speakers (I really gotta name them something). But the midrange on the AV 1's still have a little more presence to them. I think its cause they have a lot more power down to and well below 100 Hz. If i had to use just my new speakers coupled with the sub I wouldnt really miss my AV 1's (too much) . Of course now i have totally new problem cause i got these excelent sounding speakers and i'm gonna waste them on computer gameing lol.

Absolutely beutiful Ryan! How many watts is the plate amp?

The plate amp is 25 watts RMS into 4 ohms. Its on the slim side but I dont need to hit anything above 100 dB. According to my calculations it should hit around 103 dB before it runs outta juice. Not bad for the $25 price tag .


Ryan

 

[Ryan T]

Heres abother quick update. I got the system all instaled on my gaming computer. I actually have it in the closet of my room believe it or not. It makes it easy to get my computer out of sight when i'm not using it though. I wont be able to get to the Flexy rack untill early october :/. I've got a few things I want to get done on my computer before I get the laminate for the flexy.


Ryan

 

[Ryan T]

Been a while since I checked out this thread. Looks great, man!

I'm curious (just yell at me if this is obvious or you already mentioned it, I don't have the time to read the whole thread ), are you planning on making more of those speakers?

Also, how much did it cost in the end?

Sorry JoT some how I totally missed your post! The final cost for all the drivers and crossover parts is $36.50 per speaker (plus shipping). The PVC pipe is about $15 for 10' and you just need some MDF or no void plywood for the endcaps. The subwoofer driver I got used for $50 but you can get a decent one new for that price. Overall I spent about $200 for the whole thing.

Ryan

 

[Ryan T]

Another update on the flexy rack. I decided to go with spray paint instead of laminate. I picked up some krylon fusion gloss black and some gray primer today. Tonight i'm working on getting the shelves all smooth. I applyed some wood filler and i'm gonna let it dry overnight. Tomorrow i'm gonna start spray painting. I'm gonna do at least two coats fo primer (probably three) and sand between each coat. then I'm gonna do two or three coats of black gloss. I'm also thinking about using a clear coat gloss after the black to protect it some. I figure if it turns out really crappy I can always go back and buy the laminate and no one will know the difference . Unfortunately I wont be able to take pictures of the build process cause my dad is going outta town and is taking the the digi cam . I should have some completed pictures early next week if all goes well.


Ryan

 

[KaHNZa]

Wow, thats pretty cool.

 

[Ryan T]

thank you, I have no idea how the spray paint will tunr out. Last time i spray painted was when i was 12 years old lol. And it didnt turn out to good hehe.


Ryan

 

[stratcatprowlin]

Ryan,do they sell plate amps that have binding posts instead of the clip type connecters? I cant use the Line level connection.

 

[Ryan T]

They sure do. Depending on how much power you need. Mine is just there super cheap one. Heres Parts expresses whole line of plate amps.

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&DID=7&CATID=25&ObjectGroup_ID=505

The cheapest one with binding post is the $99 (120 watt) plate amp. I would suggest spending the extra $28 for the 250 watt amp. It really gets the job done and is built like a tank.

Ryan

 

[stratcatprowlin]

250 watts is good since I'll be using it for my main stereo sytem,not the pc.
TX.

 

[Ryan T]

no problem, I did just notice they have free shipping on the 200 watt plate amps. I dunno how they compare to the old 250 watt amps that everyone uses. Might be worth looking into though.


Ryan

 

[Ryan T]

hey guys, as promised heres some pics of the flexy.


The finish is OK. about what I expected. The biggest no no of high gloss finishes is not having everything perfectly smoothed out. I thought I did a good job untill I started painting lol. Also ran into some drips and such so I sanded them down bunch but the paint kept dripping each time. I guess is was going to slow or something. Anyway I got it to were it isnt too noticable.



Heres the biggest trouble area. The side of the board wasnt very smooth dispite all the wood filler and sanding. I guess somehow i missed a spot :/. It is the back corner but so you cant see it when my stuff is on the rack but i still know its there. (sorry the shelf is so dusty and smudged. its a pain to keep finger prints off it)



I really think i'm just gonna end up sanding smooth the paint and laminateing the flexy. I wanted to try the paint but it's just not my cup of tea . I'll prolly leave the flexy like this for a bit and work on a few other projects for now.




Ryan

 

[stratcatprowlin]

A sticky for those who want to do it themselves? Hmmm,sounds good to me

 

[Ryan T]

Just finished moving the Flexy into my room and stacking all my equipment on it . I think it looks a lot better than the nastly raw MDF shelves before.


I have kinda poor lighting but you guys get the idea.





You can see the crappy edge on the top shelf in this pic :/. It isnt really noticable when your looking at it. I guess the flash really brings out all the blemishes heh. I had a really hard time with the edges of both shelves. I used a lot of wood filler and primer but the MDF is soo absorbant. I guess i was just too impatient lol.




Heres the back. Its really just one big mess lol. I need to order some tech flex and start cleaning all the cables up. I have that split loom tubing that holds the three power lines but I need to get one that goes all the way to the power strip.



In case you didnt notice I have a new addition to my sound system . I picked up a JVC XL-MC222 200 disc CD changer for $35 at a garage sale! Its in perfect condition too (just missing the remote). My H/K CD changer is starting to die on me so i've been shopping around for a CD player for a while. Its still not the NAD 521i I wanted but this will hold me over for a while hehe.

I've also been working with the placement of my speakers a lot. My room is small (11' x 13') and it echos like nobodys business. So my main goal for now was to get rid of some of those early reflections. I use to have the speakers right up against the short wall and about 2' from the side wall. So i was getting a LOT of early reflections from the side walls. Now the speakers are about 4' out from the back wall and about 3' from the side walls. They seem to have a cleaner image from my seating area (bed on the other side of the room). I'm still planning on make 4 big acoustic panels with fiberglass/poly batting/burlap layers. It should cost me around $70 or so for all the materials and as always i'll post construction pics when I get to that project .



Ryan

 

[JoT]

This forum has very few stickies, so no one will yell at me if I make this one

Good how-to, and people can add to it if they so desire (that's how this thread started out, anyway )

 

[Ryan T]

Woo sticky ! I just wanna post another invite for anyone whos got DIY stuff they wanna share. It doesnt matter if its already done or if your even in the planning stages If you wanna share it feel free to post!

I've started another project myself today and continued the Flexy rack. I decided that the black paint was just too crappy so i sanded it all smooth and started over with the wood filler :/. I'm just gonna go with what I know works and use the textured black laminate.




Ryan

 

[Bensa]

Those cylinder speakers look damn nice, you cut the edge really sharply.

I've got a problem now though, been building up my audio system, but now need longer cables and better ground wires (grounded to water-pipe). Wondering what size cabling I should go for speaker cables (coax speaker, 6m max) and ground wire? I know you will tell me in Ga, but that doesnt really help much (whoever designed a system where a smaller number is a thicker wire deserves a smack). So anyone know the conversion from Ga to mm?

Probably will keep on using my existing cables to connect my receiver, tuner etc. (RCA)

 

[Ryan T]

Hmm i've never heard of grounding a speaker wire. What type of speakers and reciver/amplifier are you using? Also whats the distnce you need to run the speaker wire. Usually 12~14 Ga is what you would want to use but how thick that is in mm i'm not sure. I can go measure my 14 Ga qire and let you know though .


Ryan

 

[JoT]

Ryan, where are you getting that laminate from?

 

[Ryan T]

So far i've been really pleased with the Parts Express laminate. I used the red maple on the computer speakers and textured black on my main speakers and stands. Heres the link.

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage...7&CATID=48&ObjectGroup_ID=135&filter=laminate

Bensa,

Looks like the 14 Ga wire is about 1/8" thick copper wire. so that should equal a little more than 3 mm. Now thats not the total wire diameter just the actualy copper condutor wire.


Ryan

 

[Bensa]

Those cylinder speakers look damn nice, you cut the edge really sharply.

I've got a problem now though, been building up my audio system, but now need longer cables and better ground wires (grounded to water-pipe). Wondering what size cabling I should go for speaker cables (coax speaker, 6m max) and ground wire? I know you will tell me in Ga, but that doesnt really help much (whoever designed a system where a smaller number is a thicker wire deserves a smack). So anyone know the conversion from Ga to mm?

Probably will keep on using my existing cables to connect my receiver, tuner etc. (RCA)

Using a Pioneer SX-780 stereo amp/receiver, and Technics SB-RX50 speakers. Just using scrap wires for grounding right now, and about 1mm thick stock cables. I'll go pick up some new wiring.

Do you think its worth changing from standard RCA cables (these came with an old hi-fi set)?