KIT2641's in progress...

kfr01 · « **Reply #20 on:** 7 Oct 2005, 03:52 pm »

Lookin good King!

I'll also post some pics sometime this weekend.

Kevin Haskins · « **Reply #21 on:** 7 Oct 2005, 04:48 pm »

Looks great! Not to shabby for your first veneer job.

LAL · « **Reply #22 on:** 8 Oct 2005, 04:55 pm »

Nice job. I noticed that you cut the driver holes before you veneered the cabinets. How did you cut out the veneer around the holes, particularly with the shallow depth of the inset for the tweeter? Perhaps Brian could also comment on how he does this. I have always painted the front baffle but am currently working on a cabinet which will have a veneered front and am wondering how to do this best.

LAL

Brian Bunge · « **Reply #23 on:** 8 Oct 2005, 05:10 pm »

I have a laminate trim bit that has a shalow guide that's only about 1/8" thick so it works great for trimming shallow recesses. Sometimes I also use a rabbeting bit to cut the recess after the through hole and then use the same bearing and depth to trim the veneer.

kingjamez · « **Reply #24 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 02:00 am »

Thanks for all the compliments. I can't wait to get them finished and singing. I really think this could be the best Exodus kit yet.

LAL: I had to think a long time about how to do that. I ended up getting a 1/8'' roundover bit for my dremel tool (with screw on router attachment). I had to grind off the bottom of the guide of the bit to get it shallow enough to fit in the 1/8'' deep holes. Since the veneer is only 1/42'' thick the bottom of the roundover bit at 1/42'' is a flush trim cut. It worked really well and the bit was only $7.00 at Lowe's.

Hope that helps.

-Jim

kfr01 · « **Reply #25 on:** 20 Oct 2005, 11:33 pm »

Well, as you can see from the bottom left corner of the picture, I still need to finish some crossover boxes... but the cabinets are done. For now.

The sound? Amazing. I will post a complete review after I've listened for a week or so.

The build? Overbuilt. 2 layers of 3/4" MDF all the way around, other than the top. Fiberglassed on the inside over a thick layer of shellac. Rubber-backed carpet mat lining the top chamber, the rear walls, and the floor. Large dayton audio chrome spikes. The cabinet is just about as dead as dead can be. I almost threw my back out moving the cabinets into the house.

The finish? I tried formica laminate. I was disappointed with how it chipped in a few places. (this is why my picture is small and rather zoomed out) Anyway, I'll eventually pay someone to do a really nice veneer or paint job on them. I'm too ready to listen to them and have taken one too many building-speakers-related negative points from the wife for one project.

Anyway. The sound really is astounding. I'm going to go listen now.

kingjamez · « **Reply #26 on:** 21 Oct 2005, 12:06 pm »

Very nice kfr01! Sounds like a cabnet that will survive the next world war

I too had issues with chipping. My veneer chiped/split badly on the corners, creating a lot of extra work making replacement "slivers" of wood. I think an upcut flush trim router bit may have worked better than my straight flush trim bit.

-Jim

Kevin Haskins · « **Reply #27 on:** 21 Oct 2005, 03:52 pm »

Great work! How much do those babies weight?

I'm glad your initial impression is good. I've got more time in the 2641 than I do any other speaker in terms of design work and voicing the crossover. I love mine which are being passively bi-amped with a pair of Hypex UCD modules at the moment. They are the best speaker I've owned (I might have a little bias here). The combination of an expansive soundstage, extension, tight musical bass with a lucsious midrange and delicate tasty top-end make them my favorites. Notice also as you move around the room you get very good off-axis performance. There isn't a single sweet spot.

The Hypex amps are an incredible combination with the Exodus speakers. Partially because I voice all the crossovers with them and partially because they just rock.

kingjamez · « **Reply #28 on:** 30 Oct 2005, 12:04 am »

Hey kfr01 how about that review on the 2641's? I'm eager to hear what you think. I just put the usher and WR125 in mine and am very impressed only running those 2 speakers. Of course I have no bass, but I'm saving for the Extremi and hope to be able to hand over some more cash to Kevin soon

-Jim

bald · « **Reply #29 on:** 30 Oct 2005, 03:29 am »

He's in NYC until monday night, so I wouldn't expect anything for the next few days.

bald

kfr01 · « **Reply #30 on:** 2 Nov 2005, 01:20 pm »

Life has been busy. The speakers continue to impress me, but I've just been too busy to listen as I should before writing a review. It'll be coming.

bald · « **Reply #31 on:** 4 Nov 2005, 04:30 am »

kfr01 and i are finishing the other pair of 2641s. After his experience with laminate, we've decided to go cheaper + easier:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=260-010

Question is, if we're cutting the front baffles to flush mount the driver, how thick is 10 mil? I know a mil is supposedly 1/1000 of an inch, is this stuff really only 1/100 of an inch thick? Meaning it wouldn't factor in much to the depth of the driver in a finished baffle? Came across some other 10 mil veneer that said it was 1/32" thick. I assume it was backed with something else to make it thicker?

Could someone clear this up for some beginners?

bald

Brian Bunge · « **Reply #32 on:** 4 Nov 2005, 02:58 pm »

I've been known to accidentally cut driver recesses too deep before and it's really not a big deal. All you have to do is use some weather stripping on the back side of the driver frame. It will add some thickness to the driver's flange depth and raise it up slightly while the weather stripping compresses and forms a good seal. You can buy some from PE along with your vinyl. I've used it before and it works great. You can also buy something similar, but usually thicker, from HD or Lowes.

Also, the Usher tweeters come with their own little gaskets. Of the ones I've seen, there's one already on the back of the tweeter and there's also a second one inside the box that they're shipped in so you should be good to go.