My ADS 5.1 HT Project

Time to get back to my project. Took this week off to get'er done. Got the grill work done, again, thanks goes to @MATT0404 for providing me with some pics to get a visual on the front side of the grill box. As I've mentioned before, at this point I will seek an upholsterist (sp?) to do the Grill Cloth (I recognize my limitations). Stitching is required and best left to those who can do it better'n me. Mistakes, yes ... I've made a few. But it's been fun. Not completely done yet but close. After I get the grill cloth put on, I'll send the drivers to Richard to refresh them with some new domes. First, I'm going to enjoy these for a bit. When I get the Grill's done, I'll post finishing photos and do a Youtube highlighting them. I will also send the grill box for the center speaker to have that professionally covered as well. I did it myself ... and learned some things just have to be hired out.

I got the 1/4 x 1/4 steel rod from Home Depot. One rod covered one box. I had to add another bottom on the speakers to give me the room to mount the correct size wood trim. In my first attempt, I failed to remember I needed some distance for the Bottom Grill Support. Otherwise, the support would have covered part of the Woofer just above the trim. This caused me to have to strip down the paint on the speakers. I will be pulling out the Insulation in the boxes and replacing it with another "better" material. The insulation was from the L810's I started the project with. For humor, I included my work bench table top before I started and for reference, and just how cluttered it gets during the process.
Wow, phenomenal work! Those grill frames look great, almost OEM.
 
Thank you tubed.

I forgot one more thing WORTH mentioning. In the photo named Redoing with Corrected Trim ... you might notice I put square spacers on there to get the right dimensions for the grill box. Spacers will be added inside the grill box so the wood does not come in contact with the speakers so as to not scratch the paint. (ADS L1230/1530/2030) had them. HUGE mistake to use spacers with adhesive on the Speaker itself. I liked to never got the glue off when I tried to peal them off.
 
Wow, phenomenal work! Those grill frames look great, almost OEM.

Thank you Matt! They are custom to fit the surrounds which are shorter as you know. This caused a problem at first to make sure the box was sturdy due to no panel under the woofers as this series have. So I had to make solid supports to give the box rigidity. Worked out really nice if not a pain in the wazzoo to do.
 
I think speaker building benefits best from carefully controlled beer intake. That being said, I keep none in the fridge while I'm in the power saw/router phase of any given speaker project in the summer. There is nothing better than uncontrolled beer guzzling when you're frying hot, unless you're in the middle of routing some speaker recesses.I'm impressed if your work is done by hand - I can't do squat without jigs and guides, including drilling holes in anything thicker than 3/8". Fortunately, neither of this summer's projects involve recessing anything.

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Well fella? ... did you finish and how did it turn out?
 
Thanks for that link! I'm sorry I missed that. What a delightful read and not forgetting to mention how awesome the job turned out. Your thread made my morning. Now I have to change my tee shirt. Reading it I dribbled coffee on myself twice laughing. Oh yeah ... The fasteners were awesome. Never seen those before.
 
Spent pretty much my entire week trying to get this done. All I have left is some touch up work on the back, and oil the wood trim. I can do that some other time. Wife reminded me I have other things to do before my week runs out. Yeah, I got other things to do alright .. *#&(* # ^. Anyway, The project is off the table now and I am enjoying them so very much. I was so much more please with the wood work this time and the finish which is about 97% flawless. About as good as I can do with a can of spray paint. Pretty much no body would or could tell unless I point it out. After I get the grill's covered (Fabric has been ordered), I'll send the drivers to Richard. He's already done the crossovers when I got the parts.

I'll summarize my thoughts, experience and costs after I get the Grills covered and final fees from Richard. It's been a lot of fun, a lot of learning and a labor of love. Shout out to Glenn and Matt and Porkloin not forgetting Morgan (for the lunch time recommendation) for their wisdom, experience and photos of their projects. Not forgetting the many AKr's that inspired me to continue by your positive feedback, when at times ... I was really ready to scrap the idea. :beerchug:
 

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I run a pair of bi-amped L1530s in stereo. When I ran 5.1, I added a pair of L300e for the rear, an L400 center and an SVS SB200 sub for the LFE. Unfortunately the settings on my older pre/pro were best utilized by the on-screen menu, which my TV didn't like.
 
I run a pair of bi-amped L1530s in stereo. When I ran 5.1, I added a pair of L300e for the rear, an L400 center and an SVS SB200 sub for the LFE. Unfortunately the settings on my older pre/pro were best utilized by the on-screen menu, which my TV didn't like.

After I build the Center, I was running a set of L400's in the rear. It was actually okay at first. But then I think it was the pod race in Star Wars where I thought, no that's just not going to do. Then, Days of Thunder and a few more movies where I knew I had to change this. With regard to music, I rarely ever listen to music in 5.1 DSP. In those occasions it's because I can't sit in front of my system. I dream of a time I can find a pair of L1530's! The good news is this system would work well with those too. Do you have the C-2000?
 
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Loved the way you mirror-imaged the surround speakers. ADS should have done that with their 700 and 800 series book shelf speakers.

Well, they kinda did that with the 810 so to speak. The L1230's use the very same drivers as the L810's ... which helped me make my decision about what to use for the surrounds. That said, I didn't miss your meaning. They sound really good, VERY good and work as intended. Although the box did loose a little bit in terms of Sq inches, it didn't loose a lot. I will admit that I really thought this process over. Night after night. Did I really want to do this???. I researched it as well and found other manufactures also offered offset tweeters/Mids. BIC America comes to mind first, and others along the higher end. Someone mentioned this earlier though, and I think the response was at that time was that it wouldn't be cost effective from a production standpoint.
 
I found an Upholsterer who'll do the Surrounds for $35 each and the Center for $45 which for me is fair. Plus he'll come and pick them up which really helps me out in terms of time or the lack there of. Of course I'll have pics. What an awesome project this has been for me. And what a great group of folks to share it with.
 
Welp, the grill boxes got picked up today. The Upholsterer commented how nice the boxes looked and turned out as compared to the factory L1230 cover I left for him to examine. Which, I don't mind saying left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. He said it should't take any time to do this and he'll get back with me soon. Very nice man indeed.
 
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