[zlib]

Hello. New potential NX-Studio owner is here.

I'm still waiting for my main order with NX-Studio kit, but I have just received a flatpack from Jay and I'm starting to plan my build. I've watched Peter's video on cabinets assembly but still I have a few questions:

• If I understand correctly, tweeter's and woofer's enclosures are sealed from each other completely. Thus I need to drill 2 holes for a wire between a crossover and a tweeter. Where is the best place for it?
• If I paint glued cabinets from outside, the inside area will remain uncovered. Sure, woofer's enclosure is sealed but the air may go inside through binding posts. Isn't it bad for wood?
• Even if I implement something like this https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=177748.0 for removable crossovers I won't be able to remove them because they will be soldered to binding posts and GR Research's tube connectors are not really removable. Am I right?
• Maybe it is a good idea to make speaker's bottom removable in order to be able to remove crossover without touching drivers and binding posts. Are screws a bad idea instead of glue?

[E-Zee]

You'll get lots of help here in forum and others will contribute additional but here's my answers.

1- yes, lower cabinet containing woofer is sealed separately from the tweeter that remains open.  Yes, two small holes to pass the two wires from crossover inside the sealed portion of cabinet to the tweeter above.  Those holes are best placed just below and behind where the tweeter is mounted.  It will feel pretty intuitive as soon as you dry fit the cabinet pieces together to visualize fit and procedure.

2-yes, paint on the outside will seal the exposed mdf from absorbing moisture from the atmosphere. Unsealed inside will allow those surfaces to absorb moisture from atmosphere.  This is normal and wood always seeks equilibrium and tries to match its moisture content to its environment, dry or moist. If you live in a high moisture environment such as coastal air, or high humidity than this will have greater affect than in a milder non-humid climate. 

Others may disagree with me and say that sealing inside is absolutely necessary, which is fine, and personally I like to always put in the extra effort.  However reality is that most retail speakers are unsealed or inadequately sealed and they hold up just fine.  Unless you live in a high moisture or highly fluctuating environment, it may not be as critical as you think, but again no harm in the effort. My point is only that this should not be a point of stress. Just do the best you can. Your speakers aren't going to start crumbling or deteriorating if you haven't sealed them inside. They will perform similar to every other unbalanced or unsealed wood surface in your house (dressers, cabinets, bookshelves, tables, etc)

3- yes, if you ever wish to fully remove your crossovers from the cabinet, you will need to either desolder a few connections or install them with enough internal wire slack to pull the crossover out through the woofer opening and place it in front of the cabinet. That means longer wire to tube connectors and to tweeter.  Desolder options are disconnecting at crossover or at the driver end. For the input connections I probably wouldn't desolder the tube connectors as they are a little more difficult of a connection, I would instead desolder the wire connection at the crossover. For driver connections I'd desolder at the driver terminals. Yes, screwing the boards to base will be easier to remove than glue, as long as you can reach the screws.

4- no, you probably don't want to build your cabinet with a screwed in only base, or removable panel.  The driver opening is plenty large for you to remove and insert the crossover board through the driver opening.  Front baffle is 8.5" wide externally, 7" wide internally, minus the thickness of norez on both internal side walls and your probably in the ballpark of 5.25" max width of crossover board and a 5.75" opening for the woofer.  No need for any special trap door.

Good luck with your project and enjoy your new speakers.


Elon

ezeescrossovers.com

[Peter J]

Elon covered your queries well, but I'll add a few things.

1. I like to bring wires through a single hole located right behind tweeter. 1/4" can accommodate twisted pair. 5/16" is easier to deal with. Before woofer install, I use what I know as dum-dum to smoosh around wires/hole.

2. This is where theory runs down a rabbit hole and contrasts with common practice.  If it were a real liability we'd have thousands of speaker box failures, both commercial and DIY. Balancing a panel is sound practice, but once a structure is assembled, it's value in likely negligible.

3. I typically center a couple of pan or washer head screws front and back. Not drywall screws which are designed and intended for drywall (one of my pet peeves, can you tell?). At some point I may try the grill fasteners, but removal would be harder than screws, methinks.

4. Removable panels have their place, but IMO juice isn't worth the squeeze in this case, and it compromises the cabinet structure somewhat.

[oskar]

Quick question: does the NX Studio kit come with the front baffle? Thanks.

[subsonic1050]

Quick question: does the NX Studio kit come with the front baffle? Thanks.

Yes, all the NX series kits not only come with a front baffle, but with a complete flat pack. I believe all the NX kits are made in British Columbia by Jay (captainhemo). They need to be made on a CNC due to the design of the wave guide for the tweeter. The price on the GR Research site includes the flat pack, unlike the other series of kits for which flat packs are available - but sold separately.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Yes, all the NX series kits not only come with a front baffle, but with a complete flat pack. I believe all the NX kits are made in British Columbia by Jay (captainhemo). They need to be made on a CNC due to the design of the wave guide for the tweeter. The price on the GR Research site includes the flat pack, unlike the other series of kits for which flat packs are available - but sold separately.

Partially incorrect.

They used to come with front baffles.

Flatpacks for the studios need to be ordered from Jay.
The other NX kits have flatpacks already included in the price of the other kits.

We do offer front baffles for $40 on request.
And we are planning to have some made from hardwood for $80
I don't remember if that is each or per pair off hand

[mlundy57]

Yes, all the NX series kits not only come with a front baffle, but with a complete flat pack. I believe all the NX kits are made in British Columbia by Jay (captainhemo). They need to be made on a CNC due to the design of the wave guide for the tweeter. The price on the GR Research site includes the flat pack, unlike the other series of kits for which flat packs are available - but sold separately.

The front baffles are no longer part of the kit.

While the price of the flatpack is included in the kit price for the NX-Otica and NX-Treme, the flatpack is not included in the kit price of the NX-Studio. You have to order the NX-Studio flatpack from Jay, captainhemo@shaw.ca.

For the NX-Studios you need to order both the kit from Danny and the flatpack from Jay.

Hobbs beat me to it with more info than I had on the front baffles.  I'm a day late and a dollar short.... well a few seconds late anyway

[zlib]

Thanks for all the answers, guys. It really helps.

[Argoncat]

And we are planning to have some made from hardwood for $80
I don't remember if that is each or per pair off hand

Hardwood?      Gonna have build another pair!  Gives me a chance to correct my 1st timer errors.  Will these be on the site or by request only?

[subsonic1050]

Partially incorrect.

They used to come with front baffles.


Flatpacks for the studios need to be ordered from Jay.
The other NX kits have flatpacks already included in the price of the other kits.

We do offer front baffles for $40 on request.
And we are planning to have some made from hardwood for $80
I don't remember if that is each or per pair off hand

Shoot! Sorry for the wrong information. I thought all NX series were handled that way.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Hardwood?      Gonna have build another pair!  Gives me a chance to correct my 1st timer errors.  Will these be on the site or by request only?

Here's one made from Walnut, along with a few other varieties like cherry, maple & mahogany lying behind it.

These will be sold as front baffles only, and aren't compatible with Jay's flatpacks.
We are waiting to hear back from Killian on their final costs as they my vary based on wood type

[hawkeyejw]

Excuse me while I drool over that walnut baffle. That would look killer with some well matched walnut veneer on the rest of the box!

[Killian Smith]

Here's one made from Walnut, along with a few other varieties like cherry, maple & mahogany lying behind it.

These will be sold as front baffles only, and aren't compatible with Jay's flatpacks.
We are waiting to hear back from Killian on their final costs as they my vary based on wood type

Thanks for the cool picture Hobbs!

I think I'll ask a flat +$120 (+$200 total...$80 is built into the cost of the kit) for all species.

That'll be for maple, mahogany, cherry, and walnut.

They will be sold unfinished so that you can pick what finish you'd like and not have to worry about squeeze out or small scrapes during assembly.

We've been using Rubio Monocoat to great success and I'd recommend using it for finishing these baffles! 

[zlib]

I have another question. I want to have some connection flexibility for NX-Studio, so I need traditional binding posts in addition to tube connectors. But looks like my problem won't be solved if just drill 2 more holes on back side, because the back side of NX-Studio cabinets is too thick for them (I measured 13 mm and usually binding posts require 7-11 mm thickness max). Should I use a plate for binding posts or there is another way?

[mlundy57]

I have another question. I want to have some connection flexibility for NX-Studio, so I need traditional binding posts in addition to tube connectors. But looks like my problem won't be solved if just drill 2 more holes on back side, because the back side of NX-Studio cabinets is too thick for them (I measured 13 mm and usually binding posts require 7-11 mm thickness max). Should I use a plate for binding posts or there is another way?

The tube connectors will also accept banana plugs

[Peter J]

I have another question. I want to have some connection flexibility for NX-Studio, so I need traditional binding posts in addition to tube connectors. But looks like my problem won't be solved if just drill 2 more holes on back side, because the back side of NX-Studio cabinets is too thick for them (I measured 13 mm and usually binding posts require 7-11 mm thickness max). Should I use a plate for binding posts or there is another way?

Seems you're looking at panel mount binding posts. Something like this would work on 3/4" back:
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-BPA-38G-HD-Binding-Post-Pair-Gold-091-1245

But like Mike points out, bananas work just fine if you have cables already terminated that way.

[roscoe65]

I’ve been using bananas with my Encores with Tube Conectors for several years.  My current amp only accepts banana plugs.  Low mass banana plugs are a reasonable alternative to male tube connectors.

[zlib]

But all my speaker cables are terminated with spades right now...

[NoahH]

But all my speaker cables are terminated with spades right now...

There are connectors you can buy that are meant to adapt bare wire to bananas that use a screw to lock down the wire. The upper part with the screw can accept a spade (depending on spade size). That can be an alternative to adapt in the short term.

If general, if you like the speakers a lot, terminating cables or replacing them is not a huge thing to do.

[Endo2112]

In case there is confusion, our flat packs(NX's), (Jay's and mine) always include front baffles and the omission of the tweeter hole was intentional so that each individual could choose the right spot for their specific(internal) x-over lay out. I doubt that Jay would blow a gasket if you asked him to drill a hole upon ordering, we try to accommodate as much as possible.

Cheers,

Don