Hobbs X-LS build

roscoe65 · « **Reply #20 on:** 26 Jun 2020, 08:11 pm »

I will add my endorsement for shellac as a sanding sealer. I will go further and express my preference as a top coat as well. It is not as tough as other finishes, but it is incredibly repairable. It also will not interfere with any subsequent finishes. Either apply in thin coats and sand between or French Polish (not as hard as it sounds). I like to finish with Briwax applied with 0000 steel wool with the grain and buffed out.

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #21 on:** 26 Jun 2020, 08:26 pm »

You guys using shellac as a sanding sealer, does it work well for the end grain on MDF? I learned the hard way that a regular water based sanding sealer sucks and spent time using wood putty and sanding to fix my X-Voce. I used Kilz original on my X-Static boxes which worked pretty well but I'm not totally confident on how well the latex paint I sprayed on top of it is going to hold up. Sounds like maybe I should try shellac next time?

Hobbs, sorry for hijacking your thread.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #22 on:** 26 Jun 2020, 08:31 pm »

Haha its all good! As long as people wanna share their knowledge and experience, I'm all for it!

Its all info I can use towards my next build

tubav · « **Reply #23 on:** 26 Jun 2020, 08:34 pm »

I've had good luck with spray Kilz on end grain MDF. Good coat, light sanding, good coat, light sanding as much as needed. Light sanding is with fine 150 or so and usually by hand. Works for me.

Peter J · « **Reply #24 on:** 27 Jun 2020, 12:08 am »

Quote from: hawkeyejw on 26 Jun 2020, 08:26 pm

You guys using shellac as a sanding sealer, does it work well for the end grain on MDF? I learned the hard way that a regular water based sanding sealer sucks and spent time using wood putty and sanding to fix my X-Voce. I used Kilz original on my X-Static boxes which worked pretty well but I'm not totally confident on how well the latex paint I sprayed on top of it is going to hold up. Sounds like maybe I should try shellac next time?

Hobbs, sorry for hijacking your thread.

Sealers of any type will do just that...seal. What they won't do very well is fill without many coats. The porous core of MDF varies with the density, but all needs some filling to get flat. Body filler, epoxy, high build primer, and MDF specific primers will accomplish this better and faster.

I'm not keen on acrylic (latex) for speakers, better on walls IMHO, but I admit to being jaded by pro finishing stuff that's kinda hard to come by. Commercial stuff will typically be some kind of catalyzed urethanes (auto body) or tinted lacquer or conversion varnish.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #25 on:** 27 Jun 2020, 03:34 pm »

Okay so, I've finally started on the Crossovers, and i wanted some verification that everything is set up correctly before i start soldering and building the second crossover.
(I know the smaller air-core inductor still needs to be attached to the tweeter circuit, but the leads are a lot longer than i need, should i trim the ends down to a more reasonable length?)

Captainhemo · « **Reply #26 on:** 27 Jun 2020, 04:07 pm »

You can trim the leads so they work in your layout.. just remember to sand the varnish off after trimming so you get a good solid connection. The only part of the inductor that matters is the actual coil, that is what determines the frequency filtering

jay

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #27 on:** 28 Jun 2020, 08:35 pm »

Okay! These speakers are 95% done!

Soldering is NOT my forte, but the crossovers came out pretty well and they both sound great!

Just awaiting my sheet of Norez, which should be here Tuesday. I'm sure will only make them sound better! And while I'm installing that, I'll be spraying the screw heads gold to contrast against the black.

Really happy with these so far!

I want to hook up the subs to fill out the bottom end, but the housemate is asleep... even so, I'm really happy with how these sound!

Killian Smith · « **Reply #28 on:** 28 Jun 2020, 08:45 pm »

Hobbs! These turned out great! Glad to see the cabinets took to the paint well and that the crossover template board worked! Congrats and enjoy!

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #29 on:** 28 Jun 2020, 08:54 pm »

Congrats! Glad your soldering was successful as well, it’s always a little nerve wracking to fire them up the first time.

Eldergod · « **Reply #30 on:** 28 Jun 2020, 08:59 pm »

Quote from: spains69 on 26 Jun 2020, 07:07 pm

Hobbs,
I recently decided im gonna return my XLS kit,
I found that theres not enough good info on the Xovers,no detailed illustrations and Ive been hounding Danny to do a vid
on just a step by step on one crossover.
Can you clearly document your step by step,you can exclude the wire tie part and stuff,just
the way its connected .It might save me from abandoning this project.
Steve
not sure if they allow contact info

Don’t throw in the towel. This was the first crossover I’ve built, and it wasn’t bad at all. In hindsight it was fairly easy. The crossover sticky was really helpful, as were a couple of Danny’s videos in upgrading some of the Klipsch 600’s. I would also recommend a Kirby Meets Audio vid where he walks through the process of taking a crossover diagram and converting to the actual build. Here is a pic of one of my crossovers. I connected the woofer and tweeter negative together which is not in this pic.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #31 on:** 28 Jun 2020, 09:03 pm »

Quote from: Killian Smith on 28 Jun 2020, 08:45 pm

Hobbs! These turned out great! Glad to see the cabinets took to the paint well and that the crossover template board worked! Congrats and enjoy!

Yeah! Thanks again! They're not "perfect" but one it cures theyll be super durable, and I can always sand/paint them in the future.

Yeah! The picture you sent me really made it easy to figure out where everything needed to go!

Quote from: hawkeyejw on 28 Jun 2020, 08:54 pm

Congrats! Glad your soldering was successful as well, it’s always a little nerve wracking to fire them up the first time.

Thanks! Yeah it was definitely a bit worrysome, but once i got the first speaker assembled and tested it in mono, i was happy to hear it sing!

And now that both are complete, I'm absolutely loving how they sound, but now i really need a good sub to pair with them... lol
All in due time, of course!

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #32 on:** 29 Jun 2020, 02:54 pm »

Got the sub hooked up late last night and it really helped fill in the bottom end, esp in more modern songs.
Listened to a fair bit of classic rock and some jazz and I'm really impressed with the clarity on the the top end. Some of the more ambient stuff I first listened to sounded truly incredible.

But while I'm awaiting the Norez tomorrow, i have them buried under a pile of blankets and pillows playing pink noise to help break them in while I'm at work/asleep. They've probably got about 9 hours on them already. By tonight, should have another 9.
Should be able to get a good 30 hours on them by then.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #33 on:** 1 Jul 2020, 02:10 am »

My X-LS Encore are finally complete! Got my sheet of Norez today & installed it while also spraying the tops of the screws gold, since I couldn't find any usable brass screws, but I'm digging the look!

I haven't had a chance to fire them up again, but Norez is not joke. I thought the stock cabinets were already pretty dead, but Norez does an amazing job taking that even further.. I'm excited to get them hooked up again!

hawkeyejw · « **Reply #34 on:** 1 Jul 2020, 02:31 am »

Looking good! The norez is definitely a worthwhile upgrade.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #35 on:** 1 Jul 2020, 02:55 am »

Quote from: hawkeyejw on 1 Jul 2020, 02:31 am

Looking good! The norez is definitely a worthwhile upgrade.

Absolutely! Now that I've got them hooked up on my desktop, the midbass & bass definitely feel tighter, and more controlled.
I wasnt sure if having them close to the walls would be an issue for the Bass bloat, but, they seem a bit lacking. Thankfully my tiny/cheap 8" sub is doing a good job of filling out the low end!
Im a very happy camper right now!

Stephen Scharf · « **Reply #36 on:** 1 Jul 2020, 04:39 am »

Hi Hobbs,

Looks great, thanks for the walk-through.

Cheers,
Stephen

Sonicjoy · « **Reply #37 on:** 1 Jul 2020, 01:25 pm »

Those look great Hobbs! Glad you are happy. One thing that can help is to elevate them off the desk top as much as possible while keeping them at ear level. That will help with floor/desk bounce reflection.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #38 on:** 1 Jul 2020, 01:56 pm »

Yeah! they're sitting about 5 inches above the desk with the tweeter at ear height, just like my old monitors.

I'm so glad to be rid of the eternal hiss from those active monitors. Its non existent at room scale but near-field it's unavoidable.

Killian Smith · « **Reply #39 on:** 2 Jul 2020, 11:49 pm »

Quote from: Hobbsmeerkat on 1 Jul 2020, 02:10 am

My X-LS Encore are finally complete! Got my sheet of Norez today & installed it while also spraying the tops of the screws gold, since I couldn't find any usable brass screws, but I'm digging the look!

I haven't had a chance to fire them up again, but Norez is not joke. I thought the stock cabinets were already pretty dead, but Norez does an amazing job taking that even further.. I'm excited to get them hooked up again!

Gold screws is a cool look! Was it easy to achieve?