# Speakers I built for my dad



## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

My dad is the one that got me into stereos. I'm 38 now (w/ a wife and 4 kids), and its nice to give back :smile:.

I wanted to try to match some of his rec room w/ these. He has hickory floors, a pool table, and my mom loves distressed furniture (so I added the mottled copper for her).

These weigh 120lbs each and sound absolutely amazing :icon_cool:. This is someone else's design; if interested its this one here... http://meniscusaudio.com/statements-pair-p-1338.html

Used threaded inserts for the speakers to screw into. Pic of the backside of the front baffle










Test fit on all the cabinet panels










Test run before the finishing the cabinets










Cabinet prep before the copper veneer (flush mounted magnets to go under the veneer for holding the grills on)










Copper veneer installed, now making/cutting up the hickory veneer










Veneer all glued up, now working on a 9ball/8ball rack inlay










Finished product

















The backs of the speakers










Close up of the bases










I did make grills for them as well, just don't have a pic of them w/ the grills on.


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## Travico (Dec 25, 2012)

Lovely, but I will need EAR PLUGS!! Those speakers look serious!!


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## Stephens73 (Aug 14, 2013)

Nice work, very impressive.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

If they sound as good as they look , your dad will be very happy.


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## jharris2 (Jul 9, 2012)

Very very nice!!

I'm curious about how you achieved the patina in the copper.


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## Gary Gill (Jan 27, 2013)

They look good. I bet your Dad will be pleased.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Nicely done. Those look awesome.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Very slick! :thumbsup:


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Thanks to everyone for the kind remarks!! The speakers do sound incredible! My dad is always saying "they don't make them like they used to", so I wanted to build him something that would outperform anything he's ever heard. These do this very well :icon_cool:. They have great mids, highs, and nice, deep lows; plus they take abuse very well!!



jharris2 said:


> Very very nice!!
> 
> I'm curious about how you achieved the patina in the copper.


It's mottled copper and its my first time ever working w/ copper veneer. I posted the question here a while ago about using copper veneer; then, after gaining some confidence, I talked w/ my mom about what she liked and from the many different variations of copper she chose the mottled copper.

When I first got it I thought, Yuck!! It was basically all black, chalky, nasty, messy... etc. But I forged ahead and cut it up, glued it down, then polished it w/ some basic automotive rubbing compound and this is what I ended up w/. After working w/ metal veneer and finding how user friendly it is, it opens up a LOT of possibilities. There's a lot of different metal veneers available and so many different things you can do w/ it. The biggest issue I had w/ this copper is how soft it is, if you breath too heavy on it you'll scratch it :blink:. Plus its kind of pricey.

This is what it looked like pre-polish.










And this a closer shot of it after polish












knotscott said:


> Very slick! :thumbsup:


Thanks knotscott! Are you still building speakers?? I'm actually working on my first design now; the other speakers I've built were all designed by someone else. Can't wait to get the ones I'm working on now done!! They're some 2 way bookshelf speakers for my home theater, making 5 of them, then eventually I'll make a sub (or maybe 2) to go w/ them.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

I haven't built any speakers in a while. You'll do fine. Stick the basics of high quality and solid design philosophies (laws of physics still prevail!). It's unrealistic to expect a first draft prototype to sound really good.....see what you get, and make small adjustments to the crossover to balance the drivers to your liking. It's how you learn....enjoy! :thumbsup:


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

knotscott said:


> I haven't built any speakers in a while. You'll do fine. Stick the basics of high quality and solid design philosophies (laws of physics still prevail!). It's unrealistic to expect a first draft prototype to sound really good.....see what you get, and make small adjustments to the crossover to balance the drivers to your liking. It's how you learn....enjoy! :thumbsup:


Fortunately through all this I've become pretty good friends w/ the guys at Meniscus Audio. They've been a HUGE help in driver selection and crossover design so far. I also got a good Dayton speaker measuring mic and program, but I'm still trying to figure that out.


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## gus1962 (Jan 9, 2013)

Totally amazing!Without a doubt, that is one of the finest wood work I've seen. I like the wood and design! Did you saw the wood yourself?


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

gus1962 said:


> Totally amazing!Without a doubt, that is one of the finest wood work I've seen. I like the wood and design! Did you saw the wood yourself?


I did saw it myself. I had the hickory left over from a kitchen I built years ago, and I have a Hitachi resaw. I fed the hickory (already finish planed down to 3/4") through the resaw and got 2 slices, then planed each slice down to about 3/16" thick. That's what I used for the veneer. The raw cabinets are made out of 3/4" MDF.


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## Salmon_Ears (Mar 20, 2013)

Very cool! I know this is a woodworking forum, but do you have any pics of finished speaker guts?


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Beautiful job. I have built some speakers in the past but none as well built as these. Did you mention what you used for the finish?

Al

Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

Gotta say, I love speaker builds and have done a number of them, but the fine joinery side of it is not my strong point. I generally use Hi Density MDF, and a Fleckstone painted surface.

This pair is very nice. Thanks for sharing. 

The speaker choice and crossover circuits are of interest, if you have that info available.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

What a great pair. I usually use those words for other objects. Nice work and unique design. I bet they sound as good as they look.


















.


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

^ ha! ^


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Thanks again to everyone for the comments!! They do sound fantastic!!! Most of all, I'm glad my dad's happy w/ them. I need to get a pic of them in his rec-room, w/ the grills on them.



Salmon_Ears said:


> Very cool! I know this is a woodworking forum, but do you have any pics of finished speaker guts?





Da Aardvark said:


> Gotta say, I love speaker builds and have done a number of them, but the fine joinery side of it is not my strong point. I generally use Hi Density MDF, and a Fleckstone painted surface.
> 
> This pair is very nice. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> The speaker choice and crossover circuits are of interest, if you have that info available.


Hopefully this will answer both questions about the "speaker guts" and crossover circuits and speaker choice.

Meniscus Audio sells a complete kit that includes all the drivers, as well as all the crossover components. The link is to their offering of that kit.

As far as pics, the crossover plots were taken from Curt Campbell's website, him and Jim Holtz designed these.



















And based on this ^^, I was able to make these. This is the only pic I seem to have, I don't have one of them all soldered together. But this is the crossover components pre-solder.

Woofer and tweeter crossover










Midrange crossover












Al B Thayer said:


> Beautiful job. I have built some speakers in the past but none as well built as these. Did you mention what you used for the finish?
> 
> Al
> 
> Friends don't let friends use stamped metal tools sold at clothing stores.


The final finish is Ceramithane, after I finish sanded to 220 grit (and then I have some sanding methods once the finish is applied).


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## MagGeorge (Jul 5, 2012)

Fantastic speakers! What's great is that it's American made. It shows great skills and craftsmanship. A great way to show appreciation to Dad. Way to go!


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## Masterjer (Nov 6, 2012)

Out of curiosity, why build out of mdf then veneer with hickory, rather than use solid hickory?


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## Da Aardvark (Oct 11, 2012)

I can actually answer that one. 
Solid wood is not as acoustically stable as mdf.

Oh, and thanks for the specs.


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## mattk8715 (Jan 22, 2010)

Masterjer said:


> Out of curiosity, why build out of mdf then veneer with hickory, rather than use solid hickory?


Da Aardvark's answer is a good one. I've seen people do it and it actually worked w/ solid hardwood cabinets, but its risky. You have inconsistent densities, and run the risk of either cracking or an air leak because of a knot or something like that (especially w/ hickory!).

Too much work on the cabinets IMO to chance it, so I go the veneer route :thumbsup:.


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## jojorik (Oct 18, 2013)

Nice work!!!


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