F-100,
"-It's amazing what a man can build with a cheap circular saw and a $2 blade.-"
Thanks a lot! But really, I'm no builder.
I grew up around a shop-like garage, but really never did anything like is ever. That's the point I wanted to make.
If you've got the time and space, it's not terribly hard. It helps to have some saw horses to cut on. I used milk crates on the garage floor!! My back ended up killing me! hehe
"-BTW, if you don't mind telling us how much cost for the entire project (not including your hard labor and tools)."
Mostly the cost was Danny's kit, ~$100 for sonicap upgrade, plus ~$200 for 4 sheets of blackhole 5 (yikes! But it is good stuff).
Then there's the $120 for 5 sheets of MDF (I have a 'map' I made of how to cut it all up that worked well for me w/ little scrap), $13 for Titebond2 wood glue, fat floor spikes and binding posts from Parts Express ( =Danny rec. top quality but costly binding posts, but I went w/ the 091-1245 from Pt. Exp. I'm a cheapskate I guess).
Veneer was $200 (maple, birch and oak are the cheapest at the local place), already had the polycoat and black base plate paint from doing the subs in the same finish.
I got lost along the way adding it all up, but I think about $2,500 or $2,600-ish.
I did have to buy a $30 circ. saw, $50 circle jigs, $30 router, $25 roundover set, got some free straight bits from a neighbor and library (why does a library have router bits???) and the $2 saw blade. Already had the drill and my wife's 'Do it Herself' toolkit w/ screwdriver, torx bits, etc... hehe
Overall I just call it well under $3K, and I've got tools and better skills now to do other stuff sometime. I'm going to do a equipt. shelf next, so I can have a row of equip. on the floor (on glass) and another row above it.
drphoto,
"I was just going to get the Diluceo, but your thread has encouraged me to pursue this, as I always wanted a line source anyway."
GREAT!
I know YOU'll take pics too!
No doubt those Diluceo's are killer for what they are -awesome Eton cones, true ribbon tweeter, and technically flatter response than the Alphas, but then there's the laundry list of Alpha benefits.
I'd like a 'dead flat' speaker, but really it's just a slight tonal character diff., and there are far more advantages in lower distortion, eff. power handling, dynamics, bass loading, bass range, etc...
What do you use now? What are some of the best speakers you've heard? You can PM me if you want or whatever.
If you have someone build the cabinets fully it'll be a breeze for you. It was very easy to solder the x-over and the drivers. I soldered the drivers in my HT room so I didn't have to move a finished speaker around (plus it was 107 outside, so I was done working in the garage)!
"-I can't believe you cut the wood with a circular saw. I can't even cross cut a damn 2x4 straight."
Cutting MDF is easier I think. I didn't freehand it that's for sure. I measured everything very carefully (then measured it again!), then clamped down a 4' long ruler butting up against the edge of the saw's flat edge. You just have to find out how far the ruler has to be from the measured line so that the blade cuts right on the line.
All this is is an upside-down table saw. Same thing really, and as table saw accurate if you set yourself up right.
Remember the saw blade makes like an 1/8" fat cut, and your measured lines should be sharp pencil thin, so cut TO the line not down the middle of it, or inside it making the cut piece too narrow.
And once you cut the first piece... uh... say a 'side piece', then you can use that MDF edge (the outside edge from the factory cut sheet) as a perfect straight edge to guide the circ. saw w/ the rest of the cuts, eventually you'll have a scrap piece that you can save for always having an 8 foot straight edge!
You can use an uncut sheet of MDF to cut that first (easier to handle) piece. Then you don't need to clamp down a ruler that's shorter than the cuts you want.
I thought this up halfway through, and wish I would've done it from the start.
"Will probably have a cabinet shop do the cuts on a table saw, then do the assembly and routing myself."
Assembly and routing are the much harder part IMO -though not hard or anything. I cut that stack of all the MDF (in my first pic) over a few days over a month ago. It was so fast it hurt to see it all sitting there for a month not being able to afford the kit -and expected to have it sit there for maybe up to 6 months even. Things just worked out now.
Set the blade to cut just a hair deeper than each 3/4" MDF sheet, and using that cheapo $2 fine tooth blade, it just zips right through like butter.
Then you can say 'you built them' 100%. That's extra cool for sure! hehe
I built my sonotube end caps w/ a $15 jig saw and cut the circles by hand and filed them smooth. Now THAT was HARD -and stoopid! hehe