X-Statik Build

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Hollis Prince

X-Statik Build
« on: 27 Jun 2021, 12:35 am »
I've been working on these on the weekends for the last couple of months. I did not buy a flat pack; I like doing everything myself. I'm not the best woodworker, but my skills get a little better every project. I've built a couple of speakers using the drivers from my old car audio days when I was a teenager/early twenties.
Here's a few pictures:







Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #1 on: 27 Jun 2021, 12:38 am »







Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #2 on: 27 Jun 2021, 12:45 am »
Adding the walnut veneer. The woodworking shop only had the peel and stick walnut veneer in a 48 x 96" sheet so that's what I used. My last project I used contact cement. Both ways work just fine. I've yet to use the wood glue/hot iron method. The contact cement method is super easy.










Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #3 on: 27 Jun 2021, 12:52 am »
Cutting out the circles for the drivers in the veneer on the back side was kind of a pain. The back side has a 3/4" radius, and so the router bit bearing doesn't really work. I cut out this circle with the laser at work. It worked flawlessly. While I'm an amateur woodworker, I've been a metal fabricator for about 25 years. Our shop has 4 giant cnc metal cutting lasers that come in real handy for my little home projects lol.



Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #4 on: 27 Jun 2021, 12:55 am »
Here's the holes after trimming the veneer on the back side. The veneer on the front side was easy. I just used a router with a straight bit and guide bearing.



Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #5 on: 27 Jun 2021, 12:59 am »
I used the same method for the veneer here too. I didn't get a picture of the metal jig I used. If someone wants to see it I'll take a pic. It looks just like the other one, just smaller  :icon_lol:



Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #6 on: 27 Jun 2021, 01:01 am »
Time to start staining!





Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #7 on: 27 Jun 2021, 01:08 am »
I'm staining the enclosure part black, and the entire baffle whitewash.
Here's a pic or two of the subwoofer enclosures I built a while back. The baffle will look just like this except this time I'm going to use a clear poly instead of a satin poly.

These are Boston Acoustic G2-10's. They sound amazing!












Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #8 on: 27 Jun 2021, 01:19 am »
No-rez!

I bought 2 sheets from Danny. I only had a couple of little tiny scraps left over. There's one spot on each speaker I left bare. I could've gotten another sheet, but I don't think it would be worth it just to cover one small spot.



Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #9 on: 27 Jun 2021, 09:39 pm »
I made a mistake. Well, I made lots of mistakes, but this particular mistake was that the black gel stain dried before I removed the excess and so I had to sand it back a bit. I actually like this better anyway. Before it was like paint. It was a super dark, inky black. Now the grain of the walnut is visible again.





jeffh

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #10 on: 28 Jun 2021, 12:03 am »
Very nice work!

Shives

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Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #11 on: 28 Jun 2021, 02:31 pm »
Yea man!!! Looking great! First pair, home run man! Wait till you hear them setup! It’s like a sound you’ve never experienced!

Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #12 on: 28 Jun 2021, 05:26 pm »
Thanks guys! I can't wait to hear them!

I've stained the baffles a whitewash stain. I'm going to sand them down too so that the wood grain comes through better.




subsonic1050

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #13 on: 28 Jun 2021, 05:46 pm »
Great job Hollis Prince! Those will be excellent. One question though - it appears that your entire front baffle is double thickness. In the plans for the X-statik - only the open top section is double thickness. Do you know if the change to the internal volume will alter the characteristics of the speaker? I imagine the difference would be subtle, if at all noticeable - but I don't design these things.

hawkeyejw

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #14 on: 28 Jun 2021, 06:54 pm »
Great job Hollis Prince! Those will be excellent. One question though - it appears that your entire front baffle is double thickness. In the plans for the X-statik - only the open top section is double thickness. Do you know if the change to the internal volume will alter the characteristics of the speaker? I imagine the difference would be subtle, if at all noticeable - but I don't design these things.

The inside dimensions of the box are the same since you’re just attaching the baffle to the front of the box. Also the original cabinets from AV123 were 1.5” all the way through, so no problem doing them this way.

subsonic1050

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #15 on: 28 Jun 2021, 09:01 pm »
Hawkeye - Interesting about the old AV123 construction. This is of actual interest to me since I have a friend coming over later in July to build a pair of X-Statik's in my shop with me. I've already drawn up everything in CAD to match Danny's plans on the GR Research site, but making the entire front baffle 1.5" thick would make it a bit easier as well as a little stronger. It seems that if you put the whole baffle on the front of the cabinet you are changing the internal volume - whether you set it back (reducing the internal volume but keeping the top of the baffle in the same position as the schematics) or put the whole thing in front of the cabinet (in which case the lower drivers are sitting further forward than they would have been - effectively increasing the volume of the cabinet). The difference must not be enough to make much of a difference from a sound perspective. I wonder why Danny has them drawn up the way he does on the GR Research site if the original AV123's were made differently?

hawkeyejw

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #16 on: 28 Jun 2021, 09:30 pm »
At most, the drivers are sticking into the enclosure .75” further, but there’s also the 3/4” roundover on the inside either way, so the difference is minimal. You’re still going to have the voice coils aligned and the internal volume change if any would have an imperceptible impact on the tuning frequency. Not sure why AV123 and the drawing are slightly different but either way is fine.

subsonic1050

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #17 on: 28 Jun 2021, 09:33 pm »
Awesome, this is actually instructive! I think I'm going to change my plans to build ours with the entire front baffle constructed as one piece. Easier and stronger - what's not to love about that!?

hawkeyejw

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #18 on: 28 Jun 2021, 09:50 pm »
Awesome, this is actually instructive! I think I'm going to change my plans to build ours with the entire front baffle constructed as one piece. Easier and stronger - what's not to love about that!?

Yep, that was my thought too. I did use just a .75” baffle on my Voce as there’s no need for the full 1.5” on that.

Hollis Prince

Re: X-Statik Build
« Reply #19 on: 28 Jun 2021, 11:57 pm »
Great eye subsonic! You're right, it's double sheet of 3/4" MDF for the entire baffle. The internal volume of the enclosure remains the same because I used the same dimensions for top, bottom, and sides. Imagine that the entire enclosure just moves back 3/4". All the dimensions/angles are the same. The only difference, like hawkeye mentioned, is the 6.5" drivers have another .75" of baffle. The interior baffle has a .75" radius. Also the alignment between woofers and tweeter remains the same.
I thought about this a lot before getting started. I just could see no reason to not make the entire baffle 1.5". It's stronger, more rigid, and easier to construct this way. And I also have seen several other X-Statik builds with 1 1/2" baffles.