Building my first set of GR-Research Speakers

Taifun · « **on:** 3 Apr 2006, 09:56 pm »

Hi all,

I have started building the cabinets for a pair of A/V 3's in anticipation of ordering the kit on the 15th. I plan on building out a whole 5.1/7.1 system over time. I decided on these based on comments from owners, sampling a pair of A/V 2's from a friend and ultimately the great feedback from Danny's support.

I have a few questions:

1- Where to place the crossover in the A/V 3?

I am trying to plan for this before I progress to far along the construction. So far I plan on keeping the front baffle off until the kit comes.

2- Sonicap upgrade? If the sound that noticeable?

I can always order the parts a re-build the crossovers later I suppose...

3- A/V 1RS or A/V 3S?

So the question is wether to go dispersed sound over direct.

Thanks all in advance!

danm · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Apr 2006, 12:18 am »

Quote from: Taifun

Hi all,

I have started building the cabinets for a pair of A/V 3's in anticipation of ordering the kit on the 15th. I plan on building out a whole 5.1/7.1 system over time. I decided on these based on comments from owners, sampling a pair of A/V 2's from a friend and ultimately the great feedback from Danny's support.

I have a few questions:

1- Where to place the crossover in the A/V 3?

I am trying to plan for this before I progress to far along the construction. So far I plan on keeping the fr ...

Let's see, I glued the crossovers to the braces near the woofers.

I haven't heard any of the AV series without Sonicaps, so no help there

might as well just get them though, instead of always wonding if they could sound better and then the hassle of re0soldering parts of the crossover.

What do you place more of a priority on? I see an SACD reference in your sig so I'm guessing you would value music reproduction over movies. I use an older set of Dynaudio DIY's as rear and they sound fine for movies and great for music. I'd go AV/3S.

FireBri · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Apr 2006, 12:34 am »

Depends on the set-up of the rears. I just got a 5. set-up and chose the A/V1rs for my surrounds since my listening will be done from a couch against the rear wall.

bhobba · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Apr 2006, 12:59 am »

Quote from: Taifun

2- Sonicap upgrade? If the sound that noticeable?

That depends on your training/experience. If I recall correctly Danny did some studies on the effects of capacitors. Initially people could not hear differences but after discussions/listening the small differences became noticeable and eventually could be easily picked by people. I suspect it is a lot like studies of high bit rate compression. Study after study has shown you can not reliably tell the difference between it and the original. However along comes a guy who knows exactly what to look for and he can tell the difference blind quite readily. For example the guy who wrote Monkey Audio lossless compression got sick and tied of the claims lossy compression can be totally transparent and was able to consistently ABX the difference blind on recordings he new well. Not only that but such people can train others in what to look for to the point that compressed recordings that were once enjoyable because the compression could not be picked were now unlistenable because they homed in on the artifacts they had been trained to detect.

So IMHO unless you are a died in the wool audiophile or heading in that direction then it may be of little value. If you are then best to get it. If unsure get them anyway since it is not that expensive.

Thanks
Bill

Taifun · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Apr 2006, 01:34 am »

Thanks for the replies guys!

While I am not "trained" to hear differences in audio gear I do notice a difference. I'm just not sure what the terms are for what I am hearing. I'm learning... I consider myself an "audiophile" in that I love music and sound. I am picky however in what I like so I will take the advice you guys have given me and go for the Sonicaps.

I loved the sound of the A/V 2's I heard and I plan on a pair of those for my 2 channel setup in the future.

My current setup is with the couch against the wall and the surrounds to the left and right of the couch up high on the wall.

I watch alot of movies I would say its 70/30 movies/music.

The "Now Playing" didn't work right for the SACD listed LOL.

bhobba · « **Reply #5 on:** 4 Apr 2006, 01:47 am »

Quote from: Taifun

While I am not "trained" to hear differences in audio gear I do notice a difference. I'm just not sure what the terms are for what I am hearing.

I usally use cranky Franky as a test becasue it is vocals and we are exposed to that everyday. And secondly I have heard him on megabuick equipment and can relate to that. Once heard on Quad electostatics what Sinatra is supposed to sound like is never fogotten.

Quote from: Taifun

I'm learning... I consider myself an "audiophile" in that I love music and sound. I am picky however in what I like so I will take the advice you guys have given me and go for the Sonicaps.

If this is a hobby that you want to delve into and expand on as time goes by that is probably the best choice.

Thanks
Bill

Blaine_M · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 05:47 pm »

I built a pair of AV-3 speakers recently. I put the crossover components on each brace. When you order your electronics Danny will include a wiring diagram that shows this, I put the tweeter components on the top and the rest on the bottom brace. I also did the sonicap upgrade, if you are spending the time to build them, you might as well do that upgrade.

FireBri · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 06:14 pm »

What did you use to join your MDF pieces together? I was planning on countersunk screws and wood glue, but I've heard the screws can split MDF.

Brian Bunge · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 07:02 pm »

If possible, just use wood glue and clamps. I use a brad nailer a lot of the time just because it allows me to finish assembly much quicker. I quit using screws in MDF years ago. Too much damn trouble.

Danny Richie · « **Reply #9 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 10:23 pm »

Blaine, that looks great, and with the new room treatment and all I bet it sounds great too.

Loftprojection · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Apr 2006, 01:34 am »

Quote from: Blaine_M

I built a pair of AV-3 speakers recently. I put the crossover components on each brace. When you order your electronics Danny will include a wiring diagram that shows this, I put the tweeter components on the top and the rest on the bottom brace. I also did the sonicap upgrade, if you are spending the time to build them, you might as well do that upgrade.

awesome Blaine, love that finish on your kit...

Did you spend a lot of $$$ for all those room treatment pieces? Any reference to share?

Curly Woods · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Apr 2006, 01:45 am »

Quote from: FireBri

What did you use to join your MDF pieces together? I was planning on countersunk screws and wood glue, but I've heard the screws can split MDF.

You should predrill all of your holes if you are going to screw and glue. There are screws that are specifically made for MDF, but these still need to be predrilled first.

Blaine_M · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 04:39 pm »

When I built mine I used finish nails, glue, and clamps. If you get the right size finish nail it is nice to use that to help hold things together enough to allow you to get the clamps on. Room treatments were fairly cheap. The wall pannels are 3/4 inch soundboard with a 1x2 frame around the back with a couple braces in the middle, then they have a batting material over them with fabric covering that. The traps are 15 inch pieces of MDF on top and bottom with 1/2 x 1/2 inch wire fabric wrapped around that and with 4 2x2's between the two on the inside for support and for something to staple to. Then I wraped them with batting, then with fabric. Stuffed with fiberglass insulation.

Taifun · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Apr 2006, 04:21 pm »

Well I have the first cabinet done. All that is needed is to order the kits so I can put the front baffle on. I started in on the second cabinet and should be done by Friday so I'll order the kits then.

I used glue but predrilled and used drywall screws to "clamp" everything together. Once the glue dried I removed the screws and filled in the holes.

I was intending on painting these in gloss black (trying for piano) but due to alot of advice found from a google search on "paino black finish DIY" I've opted for a flat black.

Blaine,

Awesome looking speaker... love the room treatments. My wife now wants similar.

Blaine_M · « **Reply #14 on:** 14 Apr 2006, 01:19 pm »

My wife wants me to take them down! She hates them.

Taifun · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 Apr 2006, 05:08 pm »

I finished up the cabinets and they are ready for me to order the kits. Now I am looking at the plans for the A/V 3S. The PDF from the website says the braces can be provisioned to be 3/4 MDF instead of 1/2 MDF. Do I need to drill out additional material?

Normally I would have ordered the kits and expect more info, but the wife has put off my purchasing for another week or 2. Any help or info would be much appreciated.

The odd thing about doing it this way is it forces me to take my time on the cabinet building and do it right. Otherwise I would be trying to shortcut to get them up and running for a listen ASAP!

Danny Richie · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Apr 2006, 05:16 pm »

Quote

Do I need to drill out additional material?

Nope, you're fine. Just put the center of the brace in the same place as the center of the brace on the 1/2" thick brace shown in the .pdf file.

Taifun · « **Reply #17 on:** 18 Apr 2006, 05:28 pm »

Thanks Danny!

I'll be giving you a call soon to place an order for a few kits.

Additionally I'll ask more about this question when I call, but...

I plan on the A/V 1RS for rears, however the room may end up with a soffet moulding for lighting. Can the A/V 1RS's work with this and should I mount them 16" below the bottom of the moulding?

Loftprojection · « **Reply #18 on:** 19 Apr 2006, 02:03 am »

Quote from: Taifun

I used glue but predrilled and used drywall screws to "clamp" everything together. Once the glue dried I removed the screws and filled in the holes.

Why did you remove the screws after? I started mine and was planning to leave the screws in and fill above them. Could it split the MDF or what?

Taifun · « **Reply #19 on:** 19 Apr 2006, 02:57 am »

I only used them to clamp the peices until the glue dried. I removed them so I can round the corners. They weren't counter sunk so I only need to fill a small hole per screw.