[timc90]

Hello everyone!

I'm starting this topic to document my build and hopefully in so doing, contribute to the body of knowledge already here which I have benefited greatly from.

On Monday, I reached home and was greeted by the sight of this:



An NX-Studio kit, a pair of Double Trouble kits and some speaker cable. Seeing the mountain of boxes, I'm suddenly scared I've bitten off more than I can chew but am trying to put that fear aside. "Fear is the mindkiller" - Lady Jessica

To get a preview of what it might be like building the Double Troubles, I made this thing which is kind of like a mini-H frame.





I realised it's quite challenging to spray the inner faces so I might paint those faces prior to assembly and gluing.

I've also found that superglue is very good for sealing MDF edges so they can be sanded smooth to allow an almost-piano gloss black finish to be achieved. Note: Only the first photo of the mini-H frame has edges sealed by superglue. In the second photo I used Minwax sanding sealer on the edges but it didn't seem that effective.

Polyurethane spray https://www.krylon.com/en/products/specialty/clear-polyurethane-coating?bvstate=pg:4/ct:q will be used to seal the faces of the MDF panels prior to applying the primer+paint spray https://www.selffix.com/rust-oleum-2x-ultra-cover-spray/. Top coat will be a lacquer spray https://www.selffix.com/rust-oleum-lacquer-spray-gloss-clear/ which I will then sand to 1500/2000, polish and finally glaze.

Unfortunately living in an apartment in Singapore, I do not have a garage with air compressor and spray guns so it's all spray cans for me 

[Digi-G]

Just be patient,,, with yourself.  I built a pair of NX Studios a while back and they took quite a bit longer than I had anticipated.  You'll get there tho.

Good luck.

Is that a pair of B&W 805's I see in the background (actually I only see one of them)?  When I completed my NX Studios I moved my 805's to the rear for surround speakers.  Might seem like overkill but what the heck.  They sound much better than the cheapo, very small Pioneer speakers that I was using.  And yes, the NX Studios can hold their own compared to the 805s.

[timc90]

Thank you @Digi-G for the words of encouragement! I am patient by nature but also kind of perfectionist, which probably doesn’t go well with amateur DIY. That said I know how to manage my expectations and am fully aware I won’t achieve true piano black gloss. I often remind myself, done is better than nothing!

You have keen eyes! Those are 705s which I will try and sell as I’m not in need of surround sound.

[NXSTUDIO-DRUMMER]

If you haven't built the NX-Studio's yet, I highly suggest you consider utilizing PeterJ's Video link here below.

Titebond link:  http://titebond.com/

As much as I appreciated the adheasives Peter suggested, which is a excellent product by the way.  I went in another direction, I felt personally it would make it less stressful, using a longer cure time adheasive. In my case as a beginner, I wanted more set up time to work with the cabinet getting it aligned and squared up properly with clamps.  Here is what I used and had excellent results. I'll emphasis, both are excellent options for any speaker build.

https://www.systemthree.com/

Titebond gives you a 15 minute working time, while the Systemthree T-88 gives you a 45 minute working time. In my case felt more beneficial for me personally. I had excellent results.

[timc90]

Thank you @NXSTUDIO-DRUMMER for the link to Peter’s video! Somehow it did not come up when I’ve searched “GR Research build”.

Great point regarding longer cure times. Unfortunately it seems the Systemthree is not readily available in Singapore. I used Titebond for a cheap Parts Express C-Note speaker build recently and I think as long as I don’t try to glue together too many panels at once, the 15 minute cure time is sufficient.

[nlitworld]

I used Titebond for a cheap Parts Express C-Note speaker build recently and I think as long as I don’t try to glue together too many panels at once, the 15 minute cure time is sufficient.

Hi Timothy,
For these, if you purchased the flatpack from Jay you'll want to do the entire assembly in one go. Since everything fits together super snug and to keep everything as square as possible, it doesn't leave any panels that can just pop on last in a second round. If you're building your own from scratch you could leave the back panel off til the last minute. As for titebond options, I believe titebond 3 had a longer work time which does just fine. Watch Peter's video and do a couple dry runs of assembly and clamp placement practice and you'll be fine. 

Also I did get your PM yesterday on painting questions. I'll sit down later today and get you some details and adjustments to your process that'll get you on the right track. Good luck with the build and we expect a lot of progress photos!

-Lloyd

[mlundy57]

If it's available to you, Titebond Extend has a longer working time than regular Titebond.

[timc90]

Thanks everyone for the guidance!

I only have 4 F clamps right now so I’ll need to buy more clamps so I can glue everything together in one go. Parallel clamps are hard to find locally here in Singapore it seems and importing them from the US through Amazon is really expensive. So I think I’ll settle for pipe clamps to substitute the parallel clamps Peter uses! Will let everyone know if they’re effective.

Titebond Extend also isn’t easily available here. Took me awhile to even source for Titebond III! It has a cure time of 20-25 minutes so should be good enough with some dry assembly practice before applying the glue.

[Vince in TX]

If your flat packs are like mine with inner and outer panels, here's what I did with my Double Troubles, which looks similar to your mock-up:   https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=176852.0