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#1
10-06-05, 09:53 AM
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New speakers for sideshowbob - the easy way
As mentioned in a recent thread, I've decided to build a pair of speakers based around Ted Jordan's JX92S full-range driver. More for fun than anything, but I know that Konus Audio's Essence speakers, which retail for around £3K in the UK, are a slightly tweaked clone of Jordan's public domain VTL transmission line enclosure and are a speaker of choice for 47 Labs' designer Junji Kimura. Having heard them a few times, I know they're a very decent speaker too.
My DIY skills are minimal, but I reasoned that a crossoverless design should be within even my limited capabilities. Woodworking is a complete mystery to me, though, so I took the easy route and bought a pair of Tasmanian oak (in fact, a kind of eucalyptus, timber fans) kit enclosures from Decibel Hifi in Australia. Even accounting for shipping half way around the world, the whole kit, real wood enclosures, drivers, binding posts, and the rest, came to about £650. If you have woodworking abilities, these speakers could probably be built for half that. The kit was shipped on Tuesday and arrived today. That's what I call fast. Here's the component parts for one speaker:  You'll notice the panels have slots pre-cut for the transmission line, making assembly easy. Here's where it all goes:  So, time to start gluing the first cabinet together:  Now I have to wait for the glue to dry, because I've run out of clamps to do the second enclosure at the same time :-( Total construction time so far: 20 minutes. More to follow tomorrow. -- Ian Last edited by sideshowbob; 11-06-05 at 02:58 AM. 
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#3
10-06-05, 11:06 AM
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They look fantastic... I'd been wondering about a pair of these.
Please tell all..... :-)
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#4
10-06-05, 12:37 PM
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Well, second enclosure now glued. I won't bother with a picture, it looks just like the third picture above. ^
Very easy so far. Too easy. Something must go wrong soon. Not looking forward to sanding them down and oiling them, lots of waiting around for coats to dry, I'm getting impatient already. Total construction time so far (excluding drying time): 40 minutes. -- Ian
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#6
10-06-05, 01:42 PM
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Ian,
Have you sealed them yet? Wait while you can wire them with OTA! ss
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#7
10-06-05, 03:03 PM
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hi Lee, wiring can be fitted right at the end, and easy to change after construction too.
First front panel now on, this was harder than anticipated, the slots routed for the transmission line are a precise and tight fit, a mm or so out on the sidewalls and it won't fit at all. Some gentle hammering and a reasonable amount of swearing, and it's on and glued. Clamped and weighed down, I don't want any gaps. Reading is useful, there's a speaker under that pile:  Total construction time so far: 70 minutes -- Ian Last edited by sideshowbob; 11-06-05 at 02:58 AM.
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#8
10-06-05, 03:37 PM
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nice one Ian!
It looks like beautiful wood, and should sound great too  Are you going to stain and oil it? I've played around quite a bit with different stains and oils/ laquers/ varnishes in my DIY time. I personally really like an oiled and rubbed finish, and dye to bring out the wood grain. Have you decided which way to go? ( I know thats a way off yet..) Chris
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#10
10-06-05, 03:47 PM
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hi Chris: just a few coats of oil, I think. It's a nice wood, I don't feel the need to stain or lacquer it.
James, the area behind the driver gets stuffed with acoustic wool, which came with the kit, the rest of the enclosure is left completely bare. Nice and easy :-) Tomorrow, the sanding begins. Want to get the best finish I can, so won't be rushing that job. -- Ian
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#11
11-06-05, 03:01 AM
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Both cabinets glued and ready for finishing:
 The bottom, showing the exit for the transmission line on the right. The larger open bit gets filled with the binding post mounting block. The whole speaker then sits on a plinth, about 5cm high.  Time to start sanding. -- Ian Last edited by sideshowbob; 11-06-05 at 03:12 AM.
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#12
11-06-05, 06:45 AM
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The first coat of Danish oil is on, bringing out a beautiful honeyed colour:
 I took a *long* time sanding down the cabinets, a couple of hours, I'm glad I took the trouble. I think these look quite good considering I haven't done any woodworking for 30 years :-) A couple more coats will go on today, not much else I can do while they're drying. On target to have them finished tomorrow. -- Ian
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#13
11-06-05, 06:56 AM
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Great stuff Ian.
For some reason I imagined the cabinets the other way round - narrow side at the front so it was quite a shock to see the last pics. How should they be placed ? The shape would make them ideal for use close to a rear wall.
__________________
Rob.
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#14
11-06-05, 07:01 AM
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Wide apart, lots of toe-in seems to be the general preference.
I think they won't need too much space behind them. Much as I love my Harbeths they like to be quite a long way out into the room so I can get them into the nearfield, one of the reasons for trying these is to see if I can get some space back in my (already cramped) living room :-) I've never heard a transmission line that I've really liked in the longer term, so these start with a disadvantage :-) -- Ian
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#15
11-06-05, 07:14 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Rob.
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