Have you ever had a speaker duplicated, (made) from a cabinet maker?

[jcamero]

I have a cabinet that suffered water damage and probably cannot be repaired, and I may not be able to find an orphan to replace it. Just wondering if anyone has had a cabinet maker duplicate a cabinet for you, and what cost could I be looking at? I think some of it can be saved, (front panel with cutouts for speakers/baffle/trimmer pot, and the back for terminals).

 

[KevinJS]

Depends what you want. I bought a set of speakers that had been damaged, intending to build new cabs. After figuring out how much work was involved, including time, I decided to just sell them on.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where materials are cheap and labour is expensive. If we lived in SE Asia or Eastern Europe, I could build you some great cabinets to rehouse your drivers. Since we live in North America, you'd be better off throwing them in a dumpster and starting from scratch. I'd build cabs for myself, but I wouldn't seriously expect anyone else to pay me what I'd need to charge.

 

[drbiggles]

I would head on down to your local mom and pop lumber yard and ask around to see if they know anyone. Take a gander through local listings for cabinet shops, woodworkers and ask around. Depending on the design and materials, it may or may not be affordable. What make and model speakers have the damage? Can you post images? They may be able to be repaired or a donor pair sourced.

Biggles

 

[trinhsman]

My brother in law built a set of custom cabinets to replace my Snell E II cabinets. Nothing wrong with them, just wanted an Audio Note build and look to my old Snells. Made out of Arctic Birch and very well made, including all the cut outs to perfectly match the originals. He did it for me for the cost of the wood. When he got done he told me if he ever had to do this for someone it would cost 800 dollars. So, can it be done? Yes. But cost could be a bit high unless you know someone. By the way, if your speakers are Snell E II's, I will send you my old cabinets for the cost of shipping them

 

[jcamero]

I would head on down to your local mom and pop lumber yard and ask around to see if they know anyone. Take a gander through local listings for cabinet shops, woodworkers and ask around. Depending on the design and materials, it may or may not be affordable. What make and model speakers have the damage? Can you post images? They may be able to be repaired or a donor pair sourced.

Biggles

Frazier Mark IV. I doubt if an image will show the damage. looking straight on, and from 2' away, nothing obvious, same with both sides and back. Where the damage comes in is if you rub your fingers across the top/sides of the cabinet, its wavy, and not straight. The top is slightly "cupped" maybe a 1/8" dip in the center using a straight edge. I'll get a few pics posted tomorrow. Maybe I'm over worried about this, and their may be an easier solution to this.
I have a post on the "Orphan Speaker Bingo" thread, and an inquiry on Facebooks Frazier Users Group.

 

[hertzdonut]

I did, but rebuilt the enclosure myself. I was able to save the front and back and integrate them into new top, bottom and sides.

Factors for you to consider: is the speaker a straight-forward rectangular box, no clipped corners or compound angles? What about material? Is the original an MDF core or plywood? Will you be applying the finish, or your builder?

A talented wood hobbyist supplying you with an unfinished box might pull it off for $100. Someone who makes a living at woodworking supplying you with a matching, finished speaker, I would guess in the $300 range.

If you're curious, I did document my rebuild, (a JBL L50) and posted a thread here: http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-l50-cabinet-rebuild.711100/

Good luck with your rebuild!

- Jeff

 

[drbiggles]

They look like fairly straight forward cabinets to make new. However, you'll never get the money back out of them if you end up selling them. I would buy a table runner or something to drape over the speakers smartly and just live with the imperfections. Enjoy their scars!

Biggles

 

[elcoholic]

It could take more time saving the front and rear panels than making new ones. The new cabinet veneer won't match the other speaker. You'll need to veneer both of them if that's a concern. I've made MDF speaker boxes for an AK'r and shipped them flat packed. The customer supplied a detailed drawing therein saving a lot of time and cost. On this basis a second box adds just a small incremental increase in milling cost. The material isn't all that much. Better if you can find a local guy and save the shipping, but if you can't PM me.

 

[tyella]

Is the veneer letting go? You may be able to get away with taking off the surface layer and reveneering.

EDIT: Good point, elcoholic. You'd likely have to reveneer both if you want them to match. However, if you're that concerned about matching the pair, you'll want 2 cabinets anyway.

 

[ferninando]

a co-worker tech at HP when I worked there, was also skilled at woodworking.
He built a pair of JBL Olympus S8R speaker systems from JBL enclosure plans and JBL components.
Later he sold them to me to pay for his divorce. Very sad for him and whoppie for me.
they were just like made in JBL factory.

 

[mech986]

My brother in law built a set of custom cabinets to replace my Snell E II cabinets. Nothing wrong with them, just wanted an Audio Note build and look to my old Snells. Made out of Arctic Birch and very well made, including all the cut outs to perfectly match the originals. He did it for me for the cost of the wood. When he got done he told me if he ever had to do this for someone it would cost 800 dollars. So, can it be done? Yes. But cost could be a bit high unless you know someone. By the way, if your speakers are Snell E II's, I will send you my old cabinets for the cost of shipping them

Uh, Arctic Birch is probably not possible as birch doesn't grow in the Arctic, perhaps you're thinking of Baltic Birch, a favorite of British speaker builders?

Frazier Mark IV. I doubt if an image will show the damage. looking straight on, and from 2' away, nothing obvious, same with both sides and back. Where the damage comes in is if you rub your fingers across the top/sides of the cabinet, its wavy, and not straight. The top is slightly "cupped" maybe a 1/8" dip in the center using a straight edge. I'll get a few pics posted tomorrow. Maybe I'm over worried about this, and their may be an easier solution to this.
I have a post on the "Orphan Speaker Bingo" thread, and an inquiry on Facebooks Frazier Users Group.

From the pictures on the web of the typical Mk. IV cabinet construction, its a thick walled plywood construction, with either dado or overlapping joints, plus nailed or screwed in battens (or fillets?) supports for the screw in front and back baffles. The batten also give some level of bracing. This type of construction is somewhat like typical BBC cabinets except BBC uses thin walls with bitumen pad wall damping. As such, it wouldn't be physically difficult to have someone cut the lumber, cut the joints, and then glue it up making sure its square all around. Once built and front and back baffles fitted and screwed in, the cabinet can be veneered to taste.

I would think if one asks around, or even looks for someone on CL with woodworking skills, you might find a hobbyist or home pro nearby who has woodworking experience, a nice table saw, and could do this relatively easily.

Looking at hertzdonut (Jeff) thread on his JBL L50 save, I bet he could easily cut panels to your measurements, cut the dado joints, and flat-pack ship it out to you.

 

[trinhsman]

Uh, Arctic Birch is probably not possible as birch doesn't grow in the Arctic, perhaps you're thinking of Baltic Birch, a favorite of British speaker builders?


From the pictures on the web of the typical Mk. IV cabinet construction, its a thick walled plywood construction, with either dado or overlapping joints, plus nailed or screwed in battens (or fillets?) supports for the screw in front and back baffles. The batten also give some level of bracing. This type of construction is somewhat like typical BBC cabinets except BBC uses thin walls with bitumen pad wall damping. As such, it wouldn't be physically difficult to have someone cut the lumber, cut the joints, and then glue it up making sure its square all around. Once built and front and back baffles fitted and screwed in, the cabinet can be veneered to taste.

I would think if one asks around, or even looks for someone on CL with woodworking skills, you might find a hobbyist or home pro nearby who has woodworking experience, a nice table saw, and could do this relatively easily.

Looking at hertzdonut (Jeff) thread on his JBL L50 save, I bet he could easily cut panels to your measurements, cut the dado joints, and flat-pack ship it out to you.

ARCTIC BIRCH (Betula Pendula Carelica)
Figured Arctic Birch is rare, originating from the middle and northern parts of Finland. Not only does it look spectacular, but the sound is amazing as well! Arctic Birch weighs generally about the same as many figured maple species traditionally used for electric guitar tops. The tone is similar to maple, even though it seems to be even better balanced, especially when Thermo Treated and used together with Spanish Cedar, offering great punch and brilliant highs. We offer Arctic Birch as fretboard material as well.

 

[trinhsman]

Uh, Arctic Birch is probably not possible as birch doesn't grow in the Arctic, perhaps you're thinking of Baltic Birch, a favorite of British speaker builders?


From the pictures on the web of the typical Mk. IV cabinet construction, its a thick walled plywood construction, with either dado or overlapping joints, plus nailed or screwed in battens (or fillets?) supports for the screw in front and back baffles. The batten also give some level of bracing. This type of construction is somewhat like typical BBC cabinets except BBC uses thin walls with bitumen pad wall damping. As such, it wouldn't be physically difficult to have someone cut the lumber, cut the joints, and then glue it up making sure its square all around. Once built and front and back baffles fitted and screwed in, the cabinet can be veneered to taste.

I would think if one asks around, or even looks for someone on CL with woodworking skills, you might find a hobbyist or home pro nearby who has woodworking experience, a nice table saw, and could do this relatively easily.

Looking at hertzdonut (Jeff) thread on his JBL L50 save, I bet he could easily cut panels to your measurements, cut the dado joints, and flat-pack ship it out to you.

However, you were correct. The Birch used in my speakers was a Baltic Birch plywood.

 

[dondoucette]

I looked into getting some nice cabs made to replace my 2 piece industrial lascalas, turns out it's cheaper to buy a pair of used lascalas. I decided I'd use them as is, of course I would have sold the empty cabs and got some $$ back but I didn't think it would be enough to make the build feasible.

 

[jcamero]

Pics added

 

[kkd]

Re veneer is probably the best way to go if you can glue and clamp up the water damage. You will need to sand and somehow get the surfaces flat again

But.....
I had a great friend who is a cabinet builder build a set of cabinets for my Infinity Qb's.
Came out great

I did indeed save the front and back panels which were easy to salvage.
Just knocked the old vinyl cabs apart and the front and rear panels popped off and were reusable.
If I needed to, I could have cut the front and back panel off with my table saw, but the old cabinets just banged apart real easily.

It was a fun project as I love the Qb's but hate the cheesy vinyl that Infinity used to cover their cabinets
So a make over was desired

If I had to pay my friend to build those same set of cabs, which he made in birch, it would have been a very expensive endeavor

 

[graywolf]

Back when I lived in big cities I knew a few kitchen cabinet makers, but that was a long time ago. One thing is they tend to buy Baltic Birch Plywood by the truck load, so you can save quite a bit on the lumber end to partially offset the labor. I don't remember that any of them ever cut round holes tough.

As others have said, you pretty much have to love those speakers to make it worthwhile.Of course new equivalent speakers might be be even higher priced.

If you are at all interested in DIY, you can buy all the tools you need to build speaker cabinets for only a couple of hundred dollars, if you do not think you need the most expensive tools.

 

[westend]

Frazier Mark IV for those following along:

That's a pretty simple cabinet to build. Especially if the owner can add in the bracing and ledgers for panel attachment. The major cost of such a project will be any veneer and finishing work required. If an owner liked the finish of a light plywood like Baltic Birch, veneer could be bypassed. I'd suggest to get some quotes from a cabinet maker for the cost.

 

[donprice]

Check around for a local woodworking club. You might find someone (retired) willing to tackle the job at a reasonable cost.

Got any excess gear to trade for labor?

 

[jcamero]

Frazier Mark IV for those following along:

That's a pretty simple cabinet to build. Especially if the owner can add in the bracing and ledgers for panel attachment. The major cost of such a project will be any veneer and finishing work required. If an owner liked the finish of a light plywood like Baltic Birch, veneer could be bypassed. I'd suggest to get some quotes from a cabinet maker for the cost.

Mine are horn loaded, so whatever I decide, I want to keep the front and back's original, along with the port. I see the assembler's name inside your
cabinet. If you post it on FUG, (Facebook) someone can tell you who it was. Another thought is to find an orphan speaker with somewhat larger dimensions, and finish, then cut the sides, top, to match my cab. (As long as the thickness is correct).