[Cacophonix]

Hey no foul language in here.

I think he means it would look something like this.

Sweet ... this is the way i'm taking for sure! Much easier to build. Its almost like building a large bookshelf except
for the front baffle 

(nice photo editing skills, danny!) 

[Hank]

Cacaphonix, I'll get a quote to you this evening - sorry for the delay.  I was going to suggest the baffle-only top version, but I see you do like it better than the "box" look, so that's what I'll quote.  Have you had a chance to look at different veneers locally?  Remember to look at a sample with finish, which always darkens the bare veneer.  One trick is to wipe turpetine on and see how you like the darkened look.  The turpentine will evaporate and leave the veneer as it was.

[sts9fan]

I would love to find someone within a few hundred miles of Boston to build me a pair of OB7s so I don't have to ship them. Do you know of any?

[Cacophonix]

Cacaphonix, I'll get a quote to you this evening - sorry for the delay.  I was going to suggest the baffle-only top version, but I see you do like it better than the "box" look, so that's what I'll quote.  Have you had a chance to look at different veneers locally?  Remember to look at a sample with finish, which always darkens the bare veneer.  One trick is to wipe turpetine on and see how you like the darkened look.  The turpentine will evaporate and leave the veneer as it was.

No, Hank....i've not had a chance to go out looking as yet. I'm carrying the support pager this week, and that bloody thing goes off, i need to log into customer site within 5 mins 
I'll look around this weekend once i hand the pager off to the next unforunate soul on the list.

[RAW]

Heads up
1 Pair of the new OB-5 with the open tops coming the end of Sept in Figured Cherry.
Pictures to follow 

[FredT300B]

Here's a pair of OB-5's in the first phase of construction. This one will use the simplified version of the enclosure with no back panel or side grills.

http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/1811236/1/90405905

[Danny Richie]

Hey Fred,

Are you building just the boxes for him or are you doing a full assembly?

Nice work shop man! Is that your work shop?

Oh yea, It is easier to radius the back side of the woofers holes before you mount the front baffles.  Then again you could be using them to make sure that the other fours sides are straight and that would be a very good idea.

[FredT300B]

Hey Fred,
Are you building just the boxes for him or are you doing a full assembly?
Nice work shop man! Is that your work shop?

Just doing the flat panels. Rajiv has a hand saw and a router but not a table saw, so it was obvious to me in two hours in an air conditioned shop I could do the work that would have taken him much longer, and my table saw in the picture is repeatably accurate to 1/32" or better. Life is too short to drink cheap wine, listen to cheap speakers, or use cheap tools:)

He will appreciate the tip about doing the radius on the back sides of the woofer cutouts before you mount the panels.

[Cacophonix]

I ordered and received veneer (raw, not paper backed) from ebay. Beautiful quilted bubinga for the OB-5 that are being built , and walnut for the unfinished AV3 that i bought from here. My idea was to first try the veneering on AV/3, get a handle on it, and then try my luck on OB-5. Well, I did some trials on some scrap MDF, and the results are not very promising.

I'm using titebond 2 to glue it to MDF. I applied glue to both the veneer and MDF, allowed them to dry and then used the hot iron method. I also applied some water on the other side of veneer to prevent warping and to take care of rippling in the veneer.

First problem is glue bleed through. The veneer seems porus as its not paper backed. I can see quite a bit of yellow glue on the other side. Though i wiped it away with paper napkin, i am concerned that this will affect the finish. I am thinking of going with regular tung oil + wipe on poly or lacquer as far as finish is concerned. I've read that using thicker glue prevents bleed through... but can someone suggest an alternative to titebond 2? Is heatlock iron-on veneer glue really that much different from regular titebond glue? Recently i came across titebond cold press veneer glue. Has anyone used this? I really don't want to use contact cement. All my work is being done on the kitchen table. So i don't want to deal with anything toxic.

Next problem is veneer splitting/shrinking. After ironing, things look fine, and then after a while, i can see the splits. This totally bums me out. How do i get around this problem?

Thanks once again to Fred for getting me started on this kit!

[Christof]

Cacophonix

Regular Titebond has a lower melting point than Type II pva and will be easier to work with an iron.  It will hold just as well and costs less, unless you plan to listen to your speakers in the rain   The heat required to reset Type II could easily crack your veneer.

[slksc]

I really don't want to use contact cement. All my work is being done on the kitchen table. So i don't want to deal with anything toxic.

I just finished glueing the veneer on my AV-3S.  Contact cement worked great for me, but I agree with you: I'd never want to use contact cement in the kitchen.  The fumes can be a bit overwhelming on a project like this.

[Hank]

Rajiv, hang in there.  If you can work in a well-ventilated area, use contact cement (experiment first).  I've been using it for years.  I know several guys have gone to the wood glue/hot iron method on paper-backed veneer, but I can't comment on that method, as I've never tried it.  Don't give up - you'll get there. 

[yithai]

Danny, what is a recommended amp to go with OB-7?
I purchased OB-7 without the sub amp.  And now that I'm here in Thailand, i could only find about 150w/200w (8/4 ohm) sub amp.
Also how do i hook up the sub amp to since to drive the amp u need a line level input or speaker wire input, and how does the output goes to the bindpost on the speakers?

Cheers
Hai

[Danny Richie]

The amp that you have found is plenty powerful enough to do the job.

You can connect it by running a jumper (speaker wire) from the speakers binding post to the speaker level input on the amp.