[bbchem]

 

I am a total novice to speaker building, I would love to try and build a pair of high end speakers such as the HT3, If I bought the parts and added the assembled crossover and cabinets, would it be easy to build?? Hate to spend $1100 and ruin them. I have never even soldered before and can't do much handyman stuff. Anyother suggestions welcome   aa

Thanks,Bill

[S Clark]

The cabinets are the hardest part.  Perhaps you might build a design that would let you use pre-built cabinets from Madisound or PartsExpress.  It would increase the cost but would save tons of headaches and labor- especially if you haven't done this before.
Or, GR-Research lets you buy a kit plus a precut front baffle.  All you have to do is cut the rest of the box (the easiest part) and assemble.

[gjs_cds]

Cabinets are pretty tough to get right (and have look great) the first go 'round.  It all depends on who much you can spend on tools. 

You'll need a plunge router, and some type of circle cutting jig.  A nice sander.  And, at the very least, a circular saw.

But truth be told, MDF is very shape-able, so even if the cuts aren't perfect--if you're patient and have a good sander... you can buff a whole lot of sins out.

Further--there are some finishing techniques that look great and conceal imperfections.  One common example is using truck-bed-liner (super-thick spray paint).  I've done this and have had great results.  Another option would be to use a vinyl veneer, which can look good and is also easy to apply.

[RAW]

I am a total novice to speaker building, I would love to try and build a pair of high end speakers such as the HT3, If I bought the parts and added the assembled crossover and cabinets, would it be easy to build?? Hate to spend $1100 and ruin them. I have never even soldered before and can't do much handyman stuff. Anyother suggestions welcome   aa

Thanks,Bill

If you have woodworking tools the HT3 can be built.(this applies to any speaker kit)
Our HT3 does INCLUDE a CNC baffle pre cut midrange and tweeter holes (other company kits do not include this in the kits but may have for an additional cost) the rest of the holes cut can be done with a jig saw if you would like.The side woofer,terminal cup and port do not need to flush mounted .To flush mounting the side firing driver is only cosmetic.For a novice if you do not have a router these cut outs do not need to be flush as they can mount on the top of the cabinet.
The rest of the cabinet can be built with basic tools as we do INCLUDE CNC baffles for our HT3 kit.

Now as far as complete crossovers as an option yes the assembled crossovers come drop in ready , all wired with push terminals for all drivers and ready to connect on the terminal cup.No soldering at all to do, just mount the crossovers to inside of the cabinet which is done by putting the crossovers threw the side woofer hole.

Now if you add our MDF cabinets the finished speaker is just up to you as far as looks.
Do you want a painted finish or veneer the finish is up to you if you order our premade cabinets .These cabinets come assembled, sanded ready for your finish.

Included in our kits we include a CD with information on how to veneer,paint plus finish options in a documentation PDF for each process.

[S Clark]

 

"The rest of the cabinet can be built with basic tools as we do INCLUDE CNC baffles for our HT3 kit.

Now as far as complete crossovers as an option yes the assembled crossovers come drop in ready , all wired with push terminals for all drivers and ready to connect on the terminal cup.No soldering at all to do, just mount the crossovers to inside of the cabinet which is done by putting the crossovers threw the side woofer hole."


Wow. I didn't know that these options came with your kits .  Very nice for the novice.

[bbchem]

Thanks to all, If I then ordered the basic kit plus assembled crossover and cabinets, all I would have to do mechanically is place the crossover inside the finished cabinets and hook up the drivers to it?? No soldering or wood gluing etc;?

Thanks, Bill

[RAW]

You have it correct.
The cabinets will be unfinished MDF if you order the kit with MDF cabinets and assembled crossovers.
The cabinets are unfinished MDF ready for your finish,other than that yes if you wanted to assemble the speakers with them unfinished you could in fact be listing to a pair of HT3 in about 1hr after you unpack them after they arrive.

what you will need to do to have them playing with unfinished MDF cabinets
-mount the crossovers
-pull the wire to the drivers
-seal the wire hole for the midrange area
-place the poly fill were needed
-connect the drivers with push terminals
-mount the drivers with screws
-place ports in and mount with screws (2" ports come assembled as well)
-Pull wires threw to terminal cup and tighten onto the terminal cup with our connectors on the terminal cup then mount terminal cup.

Stand them up and listen.

Then if you want to finish the cabinets later, just remove the drivers,ports and terminal cups with screws.

Wow. I didn't know that these options came with your kits .  Very nice for the novice.

Thanks
Yes is one reason why our kits cost a little more we want them to be as complete as they can be yet use great value parts.
No soldering and no wood working with these options when you add them in the shopping cart.

Thanks for looking hope this will put some light on the over all process.