Hobbs X-Statik Rebuild & Upgrade

Hobbsmeerkat · « **on:** 5 Feb 2021, 03:00 am »

Just got my X-Statik flat pack from Killian Smith today! So it's time to start the build thread!

It's a really clean kit! And being one of the first ones off the line I'm a bit of a guinea pig, but as explained below its only a single-tower kit, but I'm excited to do this one up to the best of my abilities.

Those of you who have been following me a little while saw I picked up a pair of AV-123 X-Statiks a little while back, but that one of them was unfortunately damaged in shipping..

In order to process a refund, I had to give up the damaged speaker.. So I harvested the few parts I could get away with. Namely the plinth/base, binding posts, crossover board & stuffing.

Not 100% sure on the paint scheme, if i wanna stick to the all black Scheme, or a black/white theme. (White baffle & black cabinet)
Tho im leaning towards the latter, esp since I'll need to strip the 2nd cabinet clean for some upgrades, plus I'll need to fill in the holes from the grill mounts so they will at least match visually!

Gunna learn from my previous mistakes with my NX-Studio build, & stick to only lacquer based coatings, save for the undercoats of shellac to seal the MDF.

I'm also going to be building separate crossovers that will use Mills resistors, Sonicaps & Miflex Copper bypass caps for both towers along with tube connectors for the upgraded crossover, & stock crossovers with the stock binding posts. Gunna be a fun project!

I'll be sure to keep you all updated on the progress!

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Feb 2021, 04:05 am »

Quick update cuz I can't wait to get this project rolling!

Got the cabinet glued up & clamped!

corndog71 · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Feb 2021, 04:30 am »

Don’t forget the No Rez!

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Feb 2021, 04:44 am »

Dont worry, I made sure put in the order for 2 sheets of Norez when I called Danny to order the kit.

The original stuffing will be used over the crossovers and norez. Before adding some loose polyfill to the cabinets.

I think I'm just waiting for the Tube connectors to arrive before all that gets shipped.

Tyson · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Feb 2021, 04:52 am »

With the new crossovers those speakers are gonna be a big step up over the originals!

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #5 on:** 9 Feb 2021, 04:58 pm »

Was hoping to have more done already, but I ended up catching Covid from my father, and have spent the last few days taking easy, getting lots of sleep & taking plenty of meds..
Thankfully, I seem to be on the better side of things now, and decided decided to make good use of the sunshine & nice weather to make at least a little progress...

I rounded off the front baffles, and the back side of the tweeter to best match the roundover on the AV-123 model. It looks pretty good! Ill use some sandpaper to soften the edges near the terminals later today or tomorrow.

Hopefully start working on the cabinet, filling in any small gaps that i miss and sanding a couple areas flush to ensure a clean fit with all the panels

Luckily, before I started feeling sick, I was able to coat the insides of the cabinet with the last of my dewaxed shellac, I'm probably gunna use spray shellac for the outside of the cabinet before using the lacquer pigments I have planned..

JWCoffman · « **Reply #6 on:** 9 Feb 2021, 06:00 pm »

I just started tackling my MTM build over the weekend and was wondering about a roundover on the tweeter like you've done. The plans don't call for it and AFAIK the tweeter is designed in such a way that it wouldn't need it, but it just feels wrong not to round over everything inside the box.
Aesthetically, I think the roundover looks better on an OB speaker, so at the very least that gets a thumbs up from me.https://www.audiocircle.com/Smileys/audiocircle/smiley_thumb.gif
Those roundovers look good BTW.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #7 on:** 9 Feb 2021, 06:46 pm »

Yeah it's only necessary for the woofer holes since the tweeter is a sealed unit, but my original baffle has a roundover on the back of the tweeter as well, so I figured I'd just follow the original designs as closely as possible.

Looking forward to your journey of the X-MTM!

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Mar 2021, 12:13 am »

My kit for the 2nd tower just arrived!
1 tweeter, 4 woofers, fully upgraded crossover parts + Miflex caps, Norez, tube connectors & binding post cup, etc.

Next step will be to get the crossovers assembled, and figure out how I want to place them in the cabinets. And considering their size, if I would rather just have just the new crossover only, or both, as i originally planned..

(the former would definitely be easier)

I still need to disassemble the stock tower so I can access & remove the stock filler, & install the norez & prep it for painting.

In order to keep left & right balanced, I'll probably use new & old woofers on both towers, to help keep them tonally balanced.

Some of these caps are huge! And it's amazing how much bigger the Miflex caps are vs Sonicaps of the same value.

I'm really excited to get moving on this project again!

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Mar 2021, 02:19 am »

Got the crossovers assembled!

It actually went together really quickly. They took maybe 2 hours to build both full circuits?

The trick now will be to figure how to best mount the circuits into the cabinets. (Not sure if I want them to be all mounted onto one big unit, or 3 separate units..)

I think this weekend I'll work on painting the back sides of all the woofers to clean them up, & start planning out the mounting boards.

Considering picking up some basic 4 & 8 Ohm resistors to quietly burn-in the crossovers while I'm still busy with the cabinets, & should easily allow for a few hundred hours by the time they cabinets are ready. (unless some one has a better/safer idea.)

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Mar 2021, 06:15 pm »

I swapped out the binding posts on the binding post cup for the original X-statik ones!
I wanted to keep them both as close to stock as possible and they were an easy part to harvest.

Just a small update today cuz I've been working since 4 am, so it's definitely nap time..

Tyson · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Mar 2021, 06:17 pm »

No tube connectors for this build?

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Mar 2021, 06:34 pm »

There's definitely going to be Tube connectors, they'll be above the binding posts.
The idea for now, is to connect the binding posts to the stock crossover, with the tube connectors going to the fully upgraded ones. For some fun with A/B comparisons between both options.

So long as having both connected in such a manner that doesnt lead to unexpected issues.

Tho that plan may still change, and they'll just be connected the same way my XLS are with binding posts to tube connectors to crossover.

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #13 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 01:10 pm »

Will you have no-rez in there as well? There’s a lot of bracing in the cabinets and the original crossovers take up pretty much the entire bottom of the cabinet. May be difficult to fit both networks in there without leaving more of the cabinet in-damped than you want?

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #14 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 02:01 pm »

Yup, I'll be adding Norez. But I'm pretty sure I can maintain the damping by slicing off the foam layer, and using the stock insulation to cover the crossovers.

I also want to keep them separated enough to not become an issue, esp the larger inductors on the mid & bass circuits. So I was thinking about keeping the stock crossover on the bottom, and mounting the custom crossovers to the side walls, above the first brace.

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #15 on:** 8 Mar 2021, 01:09 am »

Got it. Looking forward to hearing how they turn out.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #16 on:** 8 Mar 2021, 01:36 am »

Knowing how well they sounded beforehand, I have no doubts!

So far I've planned out the crossover boards, & finished 3D modeling out two of the mounting boards, last one is the Mid-woofer circuit.
I also sealed the front baffle with de-waxed shellac, & still need to drill out the hole to feed the wires thru to the OB portion. I just need to get a tool that can drill at a right angle. lol

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #17 on:** 8 Mar 2021, 04:09 am »

Yeah, after all the work that went into mine I chickened out and just ran the wires behind the baffle. Good luck! Will look really nice.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #18 on:** 8 Mar 2021, 01:34 pm »

Quote from: hawkeyejw on 8 Mar 2021, 04:09 am

Yeah, after all the work that went into mine I chickened out and just ran the wires behind the baffle. Good luck! Will look really nice.

I considered that, but since im working with one OEM cabinet and one DIY, the more identical I can get them the better I'll feel about them as a pair. They won't be 100% but at a glance, they'll be a matching pair.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 Mar 2021, 09:29 pm »

Got my crossover board designs completed!

I added some slots for the couple vertical inductors to sit in, as well as some channels on the underside to keep the boards flush against the MDF.

Time to get printing!