[Captainhemo]

Mike,  when I used the acousta stuff in the N3's,  I found  an ounce  (really fluffed up) fit nicely behind the  upper woofers and the tweeters.   When I put the   stuff (no pun intended) in the lower areas, I used a bit of spray adhesive to keep it up against the baffles., don't need much.

-jay

[mlundy57]

Got most of the work done (except for plinths) and some more pictures:

Testing out the crossovers before installing in cabinets



Installing the drivers in the finished cabinets. Not a bad shine for shellack 



Here are some pics of the finished speakers except for the plinths. While the outriggers look too wide, they won't be once the plinths are done and on. The lighting in this room comes mainly from a bank of windows behind me. In taking the pictures I either got too much glare or not enough light so the depth of finish doesn't show up really well.









I realize that without the bases the tweeters are too low but I couldn't wait any longer to get these hooked up and playing    The finish shows up better in these pics.





I have only had about 30 minutes to listen to music on these.  They sounded really good but I am withholding judgement until they have had a chance to break in. I put the platinum by-pass caps in these so I know this is going to take some time.

The weather was nice this past weekend so I was able to cut and route the plinths. I decided to use red oak for the plinths which I am ebonizing using a black universal tint dissolved is a 50/50 water/alcohol mixture. I will use a black pore fill and then a black tinted shellack for the finish.

Mike

[slosjo]

That veneer and finish looks amazing.  You sir, have skills.

[Guy 13]

Hi mlundy57 and all Audio Circle members.
I cannot say that the color or the type of wood you've used is my favorite,
but I must admit that they look gorgeous.
Really nice work.
Of course, anything that I cannot do, always look better when done by others.
I have the N3 but not the floor satnding model which is N3TL
and I am wondering how good is the bass?
With my N3 depending on the source and amplifer,
I am some time very surprised on how low those little drivers can go.

Guy 13

By the way, those two little Japanese statues look really nice,
may I ask where you got them?

[Captainhemo]

Necely done  Mike,   they look fantatic
You're right,   the  last 2 pics  do show  them off better,  can get a pretty good idea of the finish by looking  at the sides... maybe try a closer up sot at a  similar   angle 

Enjoy !!!


-jay


-jay

[mlundy57]

Thanks everybody.

The wood is Pau Ferro. It mainly comes from Brazil and is also called Santos Rosewood or sometimes South American Rosewood among others. The finish is dewaxed super blonde shellack and grain alcohol made up into a 3/4 lb cut (3/4oz of shellack flakes mixed with 8oz alcohol).

slosjo, thanks

Guy13, these transmission line speakers play down to 40Hz with plenty of authority and sound really good by themselves. However, I prefer to cross the N3TL's over at 60Hz to my 12" sealed servo sub (Rythmik F12). While the M130 drivers handle the bass quite well, the sub does a better job.  The statues came from a local Japanese restaurant called SHOGUN.

Jay,  Thanks. My photography is done with an 8 year old pocket size point-and-shoot camera by a complete photography boob, me.  I'll experiment some and see if I can get some better pictures.

Mike

[Wig]

They look awesome! Your outriggers are too wide but I know you're enjoying the music...

Wig

[mlundy57]

They look awesome! Your outriggers are too wide but I know you're enjoying the music...

Wig

Thanks.

I know they are too wide at this point. The plinths are not attached to the cabinets. Actually, they aren't finished yet. Once the plinths are completed, they will add an additional inch and a half to each side of the cabinets. Then the outriggers will be just right.

Mike

[Guy 13]

Thanks everybody.

The wood is Pau Ferro. It mainly comes from Brazil and is also called Santos Rosewood or sometimes South American Rosewood among others. The finish is dewaxed super blonde shellack and grain alcohol made up into a 3/4 lb cut (3/4oz of shellack flakes mixed with 8oz alcohol).

slosjo, thanks

Guy13, these transmission line speakers play down to 40Hz with plenty of authority and sound really good by themselves. However, I prefer to cross the N3TL's over at 60Hz to my 12" sealed servo sub (Rythmik F12). While the M130 drivers handle the bass quite well, the sub does a better job.  The statues came from a local Japanese restaurant called SHOGUN.

Jay,  Thanks. My photography is done with an 8 year old pocket size point-and-shoot camera by a complete photography boob, me.  I'll experiment some and see if I can get some better pictures.

Mike

Hi Mike and all Audio Circle members.
Thanks for your answer/comments.
I also have Rythmik sub-woofers.
I have two and they are F12G (GR Research drivers.)
however, I do prefer the sound of my OB Dipole sub-woofers
even if they require more space behind them.
I really need sub-woofers
because I have OB Dipole Omega 7F drivers.
I am more or less starting a collection of Asian statues,
but yours are really nice.

Guy 13
 

[Outofthewoods]

Outstanding job, Mike!!! 

Ruben

[Ron]

   Your speakers look absolutely beautiful Mike.  Excellent job !! 

[mlundy57]

Finally, everything is done.

The last thing I had to do was remake the plinths. I decided to use red oak for the plinths. I tried a couple of ebanizing techniques. Alcohol based India ink with shellack in it worked best. Here's how they came out:







I drilled 1/2" through holes for 1/4" mounting bolts to allow the wood to expand and contract. The bolts are snug but not overly tight.

Here are some pics of the finished speakers:















As for how they sound: 

They are playing right now. I have been burning them in with mixed music for about 10 hours during the day then my wife watches TV/movies in the evenings for about 3 hours. Probably have 100-120 hours on them at this point.

They are opening up more all the time. At first I wasn't all that impressed with them compared to the N1X's, which don't have the platinum caps, but the more the N3’s play, the better I like them.

These N3’s WAF is extremely high. My wife absolutely loves them, both their sound and appearance. As a matter of fact, she has me turn them on so she can listen to them while she works in her craft room. In the past she would always listen to an iPod on one of those little iPod dock speakers when doing her leather work.  Now she prefers the N3's even though they are downstairs, don't understand why   

I can see why so many people have raved about these speakers. I would have to say they are the best sounding speakers I have ever heard, including a couple of Martin Logan electrostatics and a pair of PSB Imagine T2's.

I thought maybe my wife wouldn't like them any better than the Klipsch reference series speakers that had been in the living room system so I could keep them for myself and put them in the man cave. No such luck  .

Mike

[murphy11]

These are beautiful and I'm sure they sound great. Have you tried moving them forward about 4-6" so they are flush with the front of the equipment cabinet under the TV? Just wondering if the cabinet affects the sound stage.

[chip]

Those look wonderful....great job! 

What are you using to drive them?

Still enjoying my N3tl, N3 center and A/V-1RS.

[Captainhemo]

They look  great Mike, very impressive.    I know I originally  had my doubts about the black bases but  it appears it was the right choice . 
Now,  you  just need to rack up another 200-300 hrs  to have them sund their best, slmost there   

You didn't really think  you had a chance at keeping those for your  room did you  ?

-jay

[Mr. Oczka]

The veneer on your speakers looks incredible! I also really like the outriggers.  What did you use to build them?

[mlundy57]

Thanks again everybody for the compliments. Considering the level of craftsmanship many of you demonstrate, especially Ruben, this is high praise indeed.

The veneer on your speakers looks incredible! I also really like the outriggers.  What did you use to build them?

Mr. Oczka,

I didn't build the outriggers. I bought them from Soundocity http://www.soundocity.com/products.html .

They look  great Mike, very impressive.    I know I originally  had my doubts about the black bases but  it appears it was the right choice . 
Now,  you  just need to rack up another 200-300 hrs  to have them sund their best, slmost there   
-jay

Jay,

Give me a couple of more months and I should have them completely broken in

You didn't really think  you had a chance at keeping those for your  room did you  ?

-jay

Jay,

Considering she picked out the veneer probably not. But then one can always hope  .  As we talked about earlier, it will give me an excuse to build a pair of OB speakers for the man cave system.

Those look wonderful....great job! 

What are you using to drive them?

Still enjoying my N3tl, N3 center and A/V-1RS.

chip,

I am driving them with a Marantz SR5007 AVR. Sources include the AVR itself for Standard and HiRes FLAC files via the USB port and streaming audio such as internet radio and Pandora; plus Sony and LG BDP's. I have the material cut for an N3S to match.

These are beautiful and I'm sure they sound great. Have you tried moving them forward about 4-6" so they are flush with the front of the equipment cabinet under the TV? Just wondering if the cabinet affects the sound stage.

murphy11,

The setback is more of an optical illusion. The front edge of the plinths are even with the front edge of the equipment stand. That puts the  front baffles only 1 1/2" back from the front edge of the stand.

   Your speakers look absolutely beautiful Mike.  Excellent job !! 

Outstanding job, Mike!!! 

Ruben

Thanks Ron and Ruben.

And thanks again to everybody who has helped and commented along the way for this project. All of your input has been greatly appreciated.  A special thanks to Danny for designing and making this kit available and all his help throughout the process.

BY the way, I decided to add a couple of subwoofers ...



The Basset Hound on the left is Bennie. On the right is Rocky, a Basset Hound/Begal mix.

Now, to go shovel the driveway, again

Mike