[Ethan Macfarlane]

Greetings from London everyone! First post great to meet you all. Just started my build. had my First day today, and I've got all the mdf broken down and just had a bit of a dry fit, all looking pretty good, I cut the front and back panels oversize but not by nearly as much as I should have, looking back over some other posts it seems I'm not the only one to make this mistake, shouldn't be an issue just going to make things a little more awkward than if I'd oversized it by an inch or so.

Also managed to get my crossover twisted up in the evening, how is it all looking? New resistors seems to be much longer than the old brown ones I've seen pictured so my crossover has turned out a bit longer than I had hoped, so it may have to be fitted horizontally across the back wall to get the full 7" avaliable, is this an acceptable position? Because if not I will have to rearrange the entire crossover (the only other option would be leaving out the brace against the back wall which I imagine is not an option).

On to some other questions. I've heard mixed reports as to weather the crossover needs to be covered in no rez after fitting what do most people recommend atm? In terms of loose fill, I'm going to be using some natural wool as I have some lying around and want to save as much as possible (I know Danny recommends fiberglass but I don't have any around and can't really get it in small quantities) what is the recommendation for positioning the filling, should I try and make it the same as the x ls? (Behind and below woffer and on back wall over crossover) or something else, also what is the best way to hold it in place.

In regards to finishing is it worth sealing the interior before fitting no rez, I've not seen many do this so perhaps its excessive. I was planning on leaving them mostly unfinished until I have some more time and money on hand to venner them, what are the thoughts on this? Have any others here done this? Seeing how many single fit parts there are (tube connectors and port really but also having to de solider the drivers is a bit of hassle) I'm considering just going with duratex depending on what you guys recommend. Also undecided on what edges to round over, a 3/8 bit is all I have and from what I understand the top and sides of the baffle are essential but the rest is aesthetic preference.

Thats all for now! Glad to be part of the community, love what you guys do here. I'll keep the thread up to date as I go, will probably get a chance to get some more cuts done on Monday.

[JWCoffman]

Welcome!
I finished a MTM build a few weeks ago.  You should be very happy with the outcome.

I don't have history with that particular speaker so I can't speak to the accuracy of the xover.  However, one thing to note is please obscure the component values (caps in this case) when posting as those are not in the public domain.  Most people either cover them up with tape or use a photo editing app to scribble them out.

I just covered my xover with polyfill (acousta stuf in my case), but mounted it to the stiff layer of no rez by peeling off the foam to create a space for the board.

I also put some fill (not a lot) behind the woofers.  I would imagine it would be similar to the X-LS in your case.  I just put some in there, fluffed it up and let friction do the rest to hold it in.  The braces in the MTM provide a decent "floor" for the fill, so I'm not too worried about it.  If there was less bracing I probably would have use a little spray-on glue on the sides.  I'm sure others have better ideas.

I didn't seal the inside of mine, but learned later that it is indeed a good idea as a precaution.  Whomp, whomp  (is whomp, whomp a thing in GB?).  Luckily, I'm in a temperate, low humidity climate so it shouldn't be a big deal.  A few quick coats of wipe-on poly, shellac, or lacquer for example. should do the trick.

3/8" roundover is fine both inside the woofer holes and on the front baffle.  I went with 1/2" for aesthetic reasons.  Some folks don't roundover the top, probably to keep the veneering easier, but if you are doing duratex then you don't have to worry about that part.  If you are at all considering veneering, you could leave the top edge square and go back later to round it off if you end up painting them.  Veneer is a great way to finish them, but it can be a little pricy and time consuming.

Good luck and I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Welcome to AC!
You're crossover look good to me!

Mine is a base model kit + tune connectors, but otherwise pretty similar in overall layout, and I'm still really impressed with how good it sounds, yours are only just going to get better, esp as those copper caps burn in. 

If you live in a relatively humid environment I would definitely suggest sealing the inside of the cabinet if you can, just to prevent warping or swelling over time. I live in FL. And while I didn't coat the inside of my XLS, if I were to build another pair, I absolutely would seal them up on the inside. My current X-Statik and NX-Studio are fully sealed inside & out with dewaxed shellac. Except on the Studio's sides & back where it is coated in veneer and lacquer.

[RonP]

FYI Its customary to cover up the cap values in the images. It's GR Research's "secret sauce".

[Sonicjoy]

Welcome! Lot's of helpful folk around here. Enjoy your project.

[Ethan Macfarlane]

Thanks so much for the help so far everyone, really sorry about the cap values! Is there anyway to edit a post on AC or take this one down? Suppried it got past the moderators.

[JWCoffman]

You should be able to edit your post to swap out the photo.  There should be a button in the upper right hand corner of your original post to do so, but that may not be available to you until you have more posts in your history.

[Vince in TX]

FYI Its customary to cover up the cap values in the images. It's GR Research's "secret sauce".

Yeah, I made this mistake when I posted photos of my X-Static and X-Voce.   I just edited them and deleted the original photos.

[Ethan Macfarlane]

Yeah, I made this mistake when I posted photos of my X-Static and X-Voce.   I just edited them and deleted the original photos.

I'm not able to to that yet perhaps I need some more posts firsts. If any moderators see this please remove the pictures.

[adminRH]

Members are limited to edit their posts within 8 hours of posting, iirc.
Admins can't change the editing window length. Moderators and admins can't edit posts.
The circle facilitator may request an edit from the site admin (forum owner.)

[coopman]

The X-SLS cabinets seem to be pretty well braced.  Is No-Res recommended for them?  If so, how much is needed?  Thanks.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Norez isn't necessary, but it's definitely recommended.

I know a pair of XLS will use roughly one sheet, and I believe the X-SLS uses a total of 2 sheets, one sheet per tower.

[Ethan Macfarlane]

Not quite sure what to do about the values as there doesn't really seem to be anyway for me to remove the post or edit anymore so carrying on with updates.

Had a day back at home and got all of the internal braces cut and rounded off today, quite happy with how they all came out!

One issue I've come across is that my crossover is much longer than expected and this means that I don't have space for the back diagonal brace in the origonal cabinet design and also that the half brace behind the woofer is about 1/4" too low. Will leaving the diagonal brace out and having the half brace a bit lower cause an audible issue? If so the only other options are to relocate the crossover to a position where it cant be removed or worked on (a big no I guess) or totally remake the crossover but even then I could only make it a little smaller, I've attached a picture for reference.

Do I need to remove the moldings for the port pictured? Also is there anyway to do a temporary installation of the male tube connectors? I've got some cables I made a while ago at the moment but would like to upgrade in the next year or so.

The other two question I had about the cabinates, is there any trick to not going too far over the edge (past the bearing) when using a round over bit and ruining the corner? Or is this just a slight of hand thing? And in terms of flush trimming the front baffle, do you guys clamp the baffle, flush trim, then measure out for the drivers or do you get things aligned take measurements for the drivers then flush trim after glue? Just trying to figure out how to make the whole process as accurate as possible (worried about having slightly different alignment between measuring and claiming etc) and can't find much about this!

Thanks for all the help so far guys.
Ethan

[corndog71]

I would keep the diagonal brace and redo the crossover.  Keep the coils perpendicular and tighten up those caps and resistors.

With my AV123 X-SLS I could only put No Rez in that top section which helped make the mids a bit clearer sounding, less boxy.  If I could’ve done the whole cabinet I would have.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

The crossover is fine, but i think he means the post.
There's a time limit on how long before you can no longer edit a post

[Ethan Macfarlane]

Would really prefer not to redo the crossover if possible.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Would really prefer not to redo the crossover if possible.

Oh yeah, you don't need to redo it, just put the braces where you can, it shouldn't hurt anything to miss one or two, esp if you can fit them close by.

[Ethan Macfarlane]

Fantastic thanks Hobbs, just had a look at your xls build btw looks fantastic, thinking of going with duratex and round over only on the sides now. Where can I find the details for getting a similar finish to you?

[Ethan Macfarlane]

Oh yeah, you don't need to redo it, just put the braces where you can, it shouldn't hurt anything to miss one or two, esp if you can fit them close by.

Just wanted to check that having the brace not directly in the middle behind the woofer would not be an issue its only about 1/16" lower.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Yeah that's fine, so long as you can fit the woofer you're good