[Peter J]

I'm building this with a removable back. Thats a first for me. Also using "furniture joints" throughout for a kinda modern look.

[Tyson]

Very cool looking.  How are you making them airtight with the back being removable?  Just a gasket or foam?

[Peter J]

Thanks Tyson, I'll use PVC foam gasket tape. Similar or perhaps same a drivers gaskets.

[Peter J]

First coats of sealer. Starting to look like I imagined!

[mresseguie]

Peter,

These are going to be beautiful speakers once you're finished. Hell, they're already great looking! In your opening post, you mentioned using furniture joints. Which kind are you using? [I looked up 'furniture joints', and came up with nearly a dozen different joints. 

What made you decide on the Speedster over other 2.5-way designs out there?

Michael

[Peter J]

Peter,

These are going to be beautiful speakers once you're finished. Hell, they're already great looking! In your opening post, you mentioned using furniture joints. Which kind are you using? [I looked up 'furniture joints', and came up with nearly a dozen different joints. 

What made you decide on the Speedster over other 2.5-way designs out there?

Michael

Honestly, I chose this design because I liked the form factor of a small tower and I wanted to bring my own interpretation to it the woodworking end of it. I've probably had the parts for at least a year and just tinkered with it in Sketchup and Aspire whenever the mood struck me.

I first heard of furniture joints in cabinet shop job years ago. It may well be a misnomer coined by the guy I worked for. 

In essence, the junction where two pieces join is not flush but rather has a groove or some detail that conceals any misalignment. My thought was to mimic this, but on a smaller and more refined look.

In this case, I cut a 3/32" roundover on all edges before assembling. It's my interpretation of the look without the sloppiness that's inherent in inexpensive furniture. As it turns out, it was a little difficult because glue squeezeout had to be eliminated so it didn't foul the joint..   Here's a couple of close-up photos that might explain better.

[mresseguie]

Peter,

I see it (the joinery technique you used) now. That adds a beautiful an elegant touch to already beautiful cabinets. The closeup photos remind me of a teak credenza my parents bought in 1978, and kept until they passed a few years ago. The credenza now graces our master bedroom.

I imagine the cabinets took more effort and attention to detail than slapping MDF panels together followed by a veneer cover glued on.

Very nice effect!.

Did you discuss your cabinet materials choice in another thread earlier? I don't follow every post by every OP, so I miss lots of discussions.

[Peter J]

I had some combo core Hickory leftovers and thought it might look good with raw MDF. Design study and CNC programing was my aim here, it's a fairly complex design with the removable back. It would be easier to veneer in a more conventional way for sure.

I am shooting video of all the processes and hope to make a fast-paced, idea to finished product, no talking vid. Gobs of editing which I'm pretty slow at.

[Peter J]

More fun today. It's a stencil, not a decal. Photo taken while still kinda wet.

[JCarney]

Nice! That looks very cool and super clean. Well done. Nice build you got going, looking forward to the final product and listening impressions.

JCarney

[Peter J]

Getting things fitted up. I still have to build crossovers and waiting for polyester batting for transmission line and will put some damping on cabinet walls. Mistakenly thought I could walk in fabric shop and buy the batting...nope.

[JCarney]

Hi Peter. You just left us hangin' man. 

JCarney

[mresseguie]

Hi Peter. You just left us hangin' man. 

JCarney

How can we possibly enjoy our end of Spring/beginning of Summer with no follow up? I've got a different 2.5-way kit sitting in my garage waiting for me to get inspired to start gluing. I need an update before I can tackle my project. Pretty please....

Michael

[Peter J]

Oops, didn't realize I started something here. I'm assuming y'all are wanting a what-do-they-sound-like report.
I built these for a couple of reasons. First, I love the form factor. Diminutive towers are just sexy looking to me. Second, the 2.5 way design is interesting. Also, mass loaded transmission line is a curious thing. I was hoping to be wowed but wasn't. Maybe my bar is too high after X-Oticas and dual OB subs.

Briefly: They do produce a lot of bass for 4" drivers, but tend to be bass forward, particularly with the forward-facing port. Mid-range is lacking some presence, I assume because tweeter isn't, or can't be, crossed lower, but I'm no designer. Meniscus did send additional caps to adjust high frequencies, but I never messed with them. My neighbor took one look and said "I want them", so I sold them to him. Don't get me wrong, they don't sound bad, but a bit recessed on top and boxy after open baffle.

I designed the cabinets with the back-of-mind notion of producing a flat pack, should they prove to be magical. For now, that's off the table. Juice not worth the squeeze, IMHO. That, and I'm in the midst of recovering from a lighting strike that took a bunch of my network out and cooked some components in my design computer. 100s of gigs of data out of my reach at the moment. It's a kind of miserable thing.

Does that get y'all what you were looking for?

[mresseguie]

  Good news that you were able to sell them - especially considering how their sound didn't live up to expectations.
Sucks about the lightning strike.
Loss of equipment and or data is frustrating as hell. I hope you're able to recover the data.

I've got a CSS Audio Criton 2TD-X Tower Kit sitting in my garage waiting for me to find some free time. I'm trying to decide how to finish the MDF cabinets.

[JCarney]

Ahhhhh, closure.  Too bad it did not work as well as hoped, but very good you were able to pass them along quickly. Mother Nature can be mean sometimes.

Thanks for the update,
JCarney

[Tyson]

Oops, didn't realize I started something here. I'm assuming y'all are wanting a what-do-they-sound-like report.
I built these for a couple of reasons. First, I love the form factor. Diminutive towers are just sexy looking to me. Second, the 2.5 way design is interesting. Also, mass loaded transmission line is a curious thing. I was hoping to be wowed but wasn't. Maybe my bar is too high after X-Oticas and dual OB subs.

Briefly: They do produce a lot of bass for 4" drivers, but tend to be bass forward, particularly with the forward-facing port. Mid-range is lacking some presence, I assume because tweeter isn't, or can't be, crossed lower, but I'm no designer. Meniscus did send additional caps to adjust high frequencies, but I never messed with them. My neighbor took one look and said "I want them", so I sold them to him. Don't get me wrong, they don't sound bad, but a bit recessed on top and boxy after open baffle.

I designed the cabinets with the back-of-mind notion of producing a flat pack, should they prove to be magical. For now, that's off the table. Juice not worth the squeeze, IMHO. That, and I'm in the midst of recovering from a lighting strike that took a bunch of my network out and cooked some components in my design computer. 100s of gigs of data out of my reach at the moment. It's a kind of miserable thing.

Does that get y'all what you were looking for?

Yep, the bolded part is correct.  I've heard a ton of speakers (and kits) and Danny's designs are among the very best out there.  From a pure sound quality standpoint they are really hard to beat, especially for the $$.