jocko_nc
Super Member
I posted this at the Klipsch forum site as well...
This is an extreme makeover of my dual subwoofers. They were originally black cubes, however since I got bit by the vintage Klipsch bug that would not do. If anyone else is in that situation, maybe this will be interesting.
Well, it has been a couple of weeks and I am back in the garage making a mess...
From Klipsch:
I posted a DIY Heresy center channel project a while back. In the end, I had (2) Heresys, (2) subs, and a DIY center. Problem, the subs were built to match another set of speakers from a different house. They are all-black cubes for which I was never able to devise a grille. Time for n extreme makeover.
I want a pair of subs that go with the whole vintage thing. I want the construction to be more old-school, to be similar to the Heresys. Thus, I am using veneered wood cut on a 45-degree corner and fitted with corner braces. The front baffle will be recessed to allow for a simple tweed grille. Also, I am going to ditch the internal amplifiers this time and go with a separate 2-channel amp, an H/K Citation -22 I have had laying around. The subwoofer controls onboard my AVR may work, or I may need to go with an EQ, a la a Feedback Destroyer or something.
I found some sweet 1/8" white maple plywood locally for $5.00 a 4 x 8 sheet. (It helps to be where the furniture in made) I made panels from this plywood and 3/4 MDF. The resulting material is excellent, the best of both. Note: I got real furniture wood this time. Corner braces are cut from 1 5/8" thick poplar stock. Front baffle will be double-thick, MDF over birch plywood. I will edge-veneer like Klipsch did. The drivers are the same, 10.00 Dayton Reference / Hi Fidelty subs in a Precision Port enclosure tuned to 22 Hz. The Daytons are excellent drivers.
Here is the concept. Stay tuned...
jocko
The maple ought to look sweet. I hate vinyl. I oversized the corner braces with the 1 5/8 stock, I will probably skip the cross barce I had originally planned. Careful, well-thought use of the table saw made for a good fit on the 45 degree corners. It glued up well without a proper jig for such things.
jocko
Here is one of the front baffles. MDF up front and birch plywood in the back, better for t-nuts to hold. I learned last time not to mount the driver flush to the front of the baffle. The subwoofer is quite thich and requires a lot of excursion travel, your grille becomes a project unto itself. This time I recessed the driver 3/4 back in to the baffle. Horray for me.
Note to anyone building this way: Do not try to cut both panels at the same time. That is a rather length router bit. A jigsaw will NOT turn a corner in material that thick without tapering the cut at an increasing angle. Even is you are making two holes of the same size, do them individually.
jocko
The specs were accurate, a real good fit.
Note: Like many, I don't have a proper jig for cutting holes. My router isn't even have a plunge function. I made a jig out of a small scrap of clear plexiglass. The plexiglass mounts to the router replaces the bottom panel of the router. Measure from the cutting tip over to a point on the plexiglass equal to one radius of the hole you want. Drill a small pilot hole there. Drill a similar hole at the center of the baffle. Clamp a third piece of wood to be the support, also with the same hole. Run a nail through the jig, through the baffle, and into the support. Now you can only rotate in a circle. The bit will eat down into the support, just make sure it doesn't go all the way through. When your part is done, the center point is still maintained by the support. Mark the hole on the jig as to what size hole it made. You can walk the router down into the part w/o a plunge function.
jocko
Another note, I have learned a few things since the last go-around: Tapered and / or odd size holes. I needed a 4.00 hole for the ports, since I trimmed them last time there is not a lot of room. 4.00 needs to be 4.00. I don't have a hole saw at 4.00, they may not even make one that big. Too small for the router jig. I drilled with a saw at 1.75, then widened it with a 3/8 rabbeting bit. Each pass is 3/4 larger. Three passes made 4.00. I kept the tapered cuts, since the precision port is tapered as well.
jocko
This is an extreme makeover of my dual subwoofers. They were originally black cubes, however since I got bit by the vintage Klipsch bug that would not do. If anyone else is in that situation, maybe this will be interesting.
Well, it has been a couple of weeks and I am back in the garage making a mess...
From Klipsch:
I posted a DIY Heresy center channel project a while back. In the end, I had (2) Heresys, (2) subs, and a DIY center. Problem, the subs were built to match another set of speakers from a different house. They are all-black cubes for which I was never able to devise a grille. Time for n extreme makeover.
I want a pair of subs that go with the whole vintage thing. I want the construction to be more old-school, to be similar to the Heresys. Thus, I am using veneered wood cut on a 45-degree corner and fitted with corner braces. The front baffle will be recessed to allow for a simple tweed grille. Also, I am going to ditch the internal amplifiers this time and go with a separate 2-channel amp, an H/K Citation -22 I have had laying around. The subwoofer controls onboard my AVR may work, or I may need to go with an EQ, a la a Feedback Destroyer or something.
I found some sweet 1/8" white maple plywood locally for $5.00 a 4 x 8 sheet. (It helps to be where the furniture in made) I made panels from this plywood and 3/4 MDF. The resulting material is excellent, the best of both. Note: I got real furniture wood this time. Corner braces are cut from 1 5/8" thick poplar stock. Front baffle will be double-thick, MDF over birch plywood. I will edge-veneer like Klipsch did. The drivers are the same, 10.00 Dayton Reference / Hi Fidelty subs in a Precision Port enclosure tuned to 22 Hz. The Daytons are excellent drivers.
Here is the concept. Stay tuned...
jocko
The maple ought to look sweet. I hate vinyl. I oversized the corner braces with the 1 5/8 stock, I will probably skip the cross barce I had originally planned. Careful, well-thought use of the table saw made for a good fit on the 45 degree corners. It glued up well without a proper jig for such things.
jocko
Here is one of the front baffles. MDF up front and birch plywood in the back, better for t-nuts to hold. I learned last time not to mount the driver flush to the front of the baffle. The subwoofer is quite thich and requires a lot of excursion travel, your grille becomes a project unto itself. This time I recessed the driver 3/4 back in to the baffle. Horray for me.
Note to anyone building this way: Do not try to cut both panels at the same time. That is a rather length router bit. A jigsaw will NOT turn a corner in material that thick without tapering the cut at an increasing angle. Even is you are making two holes of the same size, do them individually.
jocko
The specs were accurate, a real good fit.
Note: Like many, I don't have a proper jig for cutting holes. My router isn't even have a plunge function. I made a jig out of a small scrap of clear plexiglass. The plexiglass mounts to the router replaces the bottom panel of the router. Measure from the cutting tip over to a point on the plexiglass equal to one radius of the hole you want. Drill a small pilot hole there. Drill a similar hole at the center of the baffle. Clamp a third piece of wood to be the support, also with the same hole. Run a nail through the jig, through the baffle, and into the support. Now you can only rotate in a circle. The bit will eat down into the support, just make sure it doesn't go all the way through. When your part is done, the center point is still maintained by the support. Mark the hole on the jig as to what size hole it made. You can walk the router down into the part w/o a plunge function.
jocko
Another note, I have learned a few things since the last go-around: Tapered and / or odd size holes. I needed a 4.00 hole for the ports, since I trimmed them last time there is not a lot of room. 4.00 needs to be 4.00. I don't have a hole saw at 4.00, they may not even make one that big. Too small for the router jig. I drilled with a saw at 1.75, then widened it with a 3/8 rabbeting bit. Each pass is 3/4 larger. Three passes made 4.00. I kept the tapered cuts, since the precision port is tapered as well.
jocko
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