[Straasha]

Last summer I posted a few questios about placing the AV3 near the front wall of my living room.  Danny recommend porting to the front instead of the back, eliminate brace C, and it would work.  After searching through the forum, I have found that others have done the same thing but I could not find any pictures of what it would look like.  So, I built them, veneered them in walnut, and they look and sound great. Here are some pics:

[Cacophonix]

Nice work!!
I've veneered mine in walnut as well .... not as nice though.

[Loftprojection]

Nice, I also like mine quite a bit, they are the rear ported standard.  They really need a good feet behind them to come alive.  When I put them closer to the rear wall the bass doesn't sound too good and imaging/soundstage becomes very ordinary.  Too bad your setup doesn't seem to allow you much space to play with their position.  Enjoy, your finish sure looks great.

[phoenix_rising]

LoftProjection I think that because they are front ported they can be  lot closer to the wall without affecting the bass, that was the reason he front ported them, because of where they would have to be placed.

[mas]

Straasha, your  speakers look great. How did you finish the inside of the transmission line?

[Straasha]

Before I veneered the enclosure, I taped off the opening and sprayed painted it with gloss black.  The MDF really soaks up the paint so it took about three coats to get it right.

[RAW]

With MDF you can seal the MDF a few ways.

Mix glue and water (waterbased glues only) and cover the cabinet,seams really well.A few coats may go into the seams.
But the glue is on hand.

Some people use Shellac as an option

Now if you use the glue for veneer from Joe Woodworker.com this glue is very thick and brush on one coat on all the ends of the MDF.
Then roll out a single coat over the cabinet.And one coat on the veneer and you are good to go.

With the binders in this glue it is very thick and seals MDF in 2 coats at the most.

Now if you use solvent based contact.
You can use the same method as this glue from Joe Woodworker.com.
Let the contact dry on both the cabinet and veneer,100% dry let it sit for days,months does not matter.
But when you want to apply the veneer just position the veneer on the cabinet and iron it on.
No need to worry about it sticking before you line up the veneer to the cabinet.


Nice job on them AV3

[Danny Richie]

They look great!

I can't tell from the pictures if the supplied floor spikes are being used or not. Your carpet my be hiding them.

If not, I'd add the floor spikes. It will tighten up the bass response and give you a more solid sound.

[Straasha]

I am using the small, black floor spikes that came with the kit.  They go all the way through the carpet and make it appear as if the speakers sit right on the carpet.

[Danny Richie]

Perfect. 

[Hank]

Looking good, Straasha!  I know you'll enjoy those A/V-3's - quite the bargain, they are.

[mas]

I just noticed that the bases were rounded on the top and corner edges. That makes me suspect the bases are solid. If they are veneered, I'd love to hear about how that is done.

[Straasha]

I had several pieces of 1 inch think walnut left over from a hope chest that I had built.  I cut a piece of 3/4" plywood slight smaller than the base of the enclosure.  I then ripped the walnut to 1 1/2" wide and cut/mitered it to go around the plywood.  I attached the pieces to the plywood base using biscuits.  Then simple 1/2" round over bit to get the decorative edge and glued/screwed it in place.

Kevin

[mas]

Great idea and implementation. Thanks for sharing!

[lord_glum]

I have been a lurker and finally decided to post....i just finished my 7.1 system w/sub (all from danny).  I will post the crazy trials and tribulations i went through (almost 1 year of build time), but i have a comment on the how to finish a base w/roundover quesiton.

You can do something similar w/mdf bases. 

1st option (thanks danny and al) is veneer all sides of your base and then round over the corners in 2 passes, i used a 1/4 round on my a/v 3's.  Looks like a hard wood insert as al put it.  and once its stained it looks really nice.

2nd option is the prime and paint option.  I have a near paino gloss finish on some of my bases with regular brush paint and wipe on oil based poly.  I can take some snapshots if somebody wants to post pics.

thanks,
jeremy

[mas]

Jeremy, I can't host pictures, but I'd love to see them. I'd also enjoy reading about your build.

[volleynbike]

Danny,

The front ported A/V-3 idea has my interest.  I'm planning on putting my system in a room corner (TV in the corner - speakers to either side.)  Any chance of buying a set of your pre-made cabinets with a front port?

[Danny Richie]

I am not stocking any enclosures right now. You can order set from Al at Raw Acoustics or Denny at Custom Concepts. Hank might even be interested in building you a set.