[radiob]

I orderd a set of ST/rSe last week from Brian in kit form. I heard them  back in 98 and have finally bought a set. What could you all advise me in to help make my build a rewarding one. Is there any internal wire favorites? Any crossover upgrades? Any build tips / tricks please let me know.  Thanks, soon to be vmps listener, Rob

[Rory B.]

Yeah, don't power it with the 3w SET amp.

In seriousness, though, when you are measuring the panels, measure three times, then cut precisely. Use Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), and follow the plans exactly. MDF is wodely accepted as the best material for making speaker cabinets because it is very acoustically inert. Use the recommended thickness. You can find it at both Lowe's and Home Depot stores. Air leaks are your worst enemy. Use the glue-and-screw method at the cabinet edges. A good glue is Titebond brand. First glue and clamp (big clamps, obviously - they make these things that go on the ends of threaded galvanized pipe and work like clamps, I think they are called pipe clamps), then put in the screws. You can put the screws in before the glue has dried (but wait about 30 minutes), and this frees up the clamps for other things. Once you first clamp the edges together there will be lots of glue that comes out. Wipe this up, because I don't think it sands off very easily. Flush-mount the tweeter and midrange drivers. Cut the hole for the driver in the baffle (fancy term for the front panel). Drop in the driver and trace its outline. Keep the inside edge of the pencil as vertical as possible to track the driver edge as accurately as possible. Set a rabbeting bit on your router to the depth of the edge of the driver so that when you drop in the driver the top edge of the driver will be even with the baffle surface. Remove the driver from the hole before you start, obviously. First, (VERY CAREFULLY) follow the inside edge of the line you drew around each driver. Then, rout out the rest. Using a router on MDF makes a lot of very fine dust (MDF is, after all, a wood fiber composite material, not actual wood but wood fibers in an adhesive matrix) so be ready. You may want a dust mask, and you will probably want goggles or glasses. GO SLOW or else you'll probably make a mistake. I know from experience that the adrenaline really gets going from the noise of the router motor and the pressure of the situation, but take it a little at a time and be as accurate as you can. No one will see the mistakes except you, but you can be your own harshest critic. As far as woofer wire, use at least 12-gauge oxygen-free copper wire on the big woofers, and use nice wire on the midranges and tweeters.

Enjoy your speakers. Perhaps someday I'll have enough of an income to afford a VMPS kit. (I'm a poor college student.)

[warnerwh]

I own a pair of these speakers. They were significantly improved by more bracing. The two window braces are not enough for these large boxes. Ask Brian what he recommends since you're starting from scratch. You'll find him very willing to help even to modify his speakers.  These things like current, 200wpc minimum unless you listen only to very low volume. Good luck and have fun.

[Rory B.]

You should have the mass-adjustable passive radiators (PRs). Don't do anything to the mass of putty in the middle of the PR until you have completed the speakers. Then you may adjust them. Don't give up if you can't get the bass just right. Ask someone here and they will help you. The bass will sound funky until you have that passive radiator tuned just right. Also, don't alter the size of the base or the slot into which the PR fires. This slot loading is a way of acoustically mass-loading the passive radiator so that a comparatively small mass needs to be physically attached to the PR, allowing it to be used down-firing without the cone sagging under the weight.

[radiob]

I own a pair of these speakers. They were significantly improved by more bracing. The two window braces are not enough for these large boxes. Ask Brian what he recommends since you're starting from scratch. You'll find him very willing to help even to modify his speakers.  These things like current, 200wpc minimum unless you listen only to very low volume. Good luck and have fun.

I will be using a sunfire 300 two with a juicy music blueberry tube pre amp. I am interested in a large soundstage with smooth articulation. Do the vmps st/rse have good image/soundstage qualitys?

[warnerwh]

Imaging and soundstaging are excellent.  This with my system in a treated room.  Ancillaries are Audio Research LS 16 pre, Parasound Hca 3500, modded Kenwood 7500 and a Sony Dvpnc 555es.  Almost finished with my new listening room.  This is a dedicated room and will be true LEDE.  New room, new acoustics. We'll see what happens.  I'm very happy with my ST/R Se's.  These have the Scanspeak 9505/9300 tweeters in them btw.

[audiochef]

warnerwh, which midranges do you have ?

[radiob]

I received a e-mail from Brian, and he appologized because he had to build my speakers for me because he wanted to tweak the crossovers, they are currently in his listening room until thursday. He want to make sure they have the latest tricks. NO PROBLEM BRIAN, GO AHEAD AND TUNE THEM! no hard feelings here!

[warnerwh]

audiochef: the midranges are the Dynaribbons, which are in reality Dynapleats by Sawafuji.

Radiob: once Brian tunes them for his room and equipment they will still need to be tweaked by you. Your room can make a huge difference.  If you haven't already read up on room acoustics. Acoustics can make or break any system with ease. I finally bought an Audio Control C101 equalizer.  Well worth every penny. Should have done it a long time ago. Best of luck with your new speakers.