Three way ScanSpeak kit is done (Pictures included)

jono2channel · « **on:** 17 Feb 2008, 04:19 am »

Tineo veneer, rounded sides, sounds great. I would love to post some pictures, but I am not that sharp. Can anyone help?

Gordy · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 04:25 am »

A couple of ways to go about it are described here... http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=40968.0

jono2channel · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 05:55 am »

I hope this works. The kit sounds a lot different than my B&W 603S3s ever did. I am still tweeking. I am totally impressed with the sound, but it feels like I need to get used to the huge change. I want to see if this picture posted, so more later....if anyone is interested.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 06:30 am »

Gorgeous !!!!
The cabs look extremely well made, and finished! Where did you buy the veneer?

jono2channel · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 06:42 am »

I bought the raw veneer off of ebay from a place called Rosebud Veneer in the U.S. The shop at the school where I work just bought a vacuum press. It was a real learning curve, but it turned out pretty good.

Rocket · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 09:23 am »

Hi,

Really nice looking cabinets. Have you done a lot of woodworking or are you a quick learner?

Regards

Rod

JohnR · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 09:28 am »

Very nice work

Tweaker · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 09:54 am »

Stunning!

Gordy · « **Reply #8 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 12:55 pm »

Love that grain!

ecramer · « **Reply #9 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 02:14 pm »

Very Nice - How do you like the sound?

jono2channel · « **Reply #10 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 03:52 pm »

Thank you for the compliments. In fact, I am not an experienced wood worker. I just am a bit obbsessive about audio, so I took on a project that I thought that I could handle at the beginning (I do have some tools, and I am interested in woodworking, but I am really a beginner.) and I took it slow from there. I have been picking away at this since the middle of August. The sound....

Last night I finally sealed up the mid enclosure just before I hit the sack. There was a small hole in the bottom of it where I had threaded in the hook-up wire. For this reason, I feel like I shouldn't say too much. There was some changes that I noticed after that. I will say, however, that I am kind of in shock. I have B&W 603S3's, and I enjoy them. Rick assured me that he could do a lot better. I believed him, but I wasn't ready for what a big, well designed 3-way could do. The 10 inch Revelator woofer sounds tight and detailed, and I am given the impression that there are no low frequencies that these things can't play. The sound seems to have no limits down low.

As for the tweeter, Rick takes every opportunity to say good things about the SS6600 around here, and after listening to it for a week I have to agree. The AirCirc is amazing. There seems to be no end to detail without emphasis on sibilance, and I certainly have never become fatigued.

While trying to do my "homework" on Rick, before I spent my money, a guy named Jim Holtz said to me that the faster I spent my money, the sooner I would have a fantastic set of speakers. I don't even know if he would remember our emails. He was right. I'm glad I did. THanks for the advice, Jim. I love the speakers, Rick.

AvFan · « **Reply #11 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 04:12 pm »

Those sure are nice looking speakers. I'm curious how you built the curved sides. Do you have any photos taken during the cabinet construction?

Midnite Mick · « **Reply #12 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 05:16 pm »

Yeah, those cabinets are stunning. I wonder how people do the curved cabinet thing myself.

Congrats,
Mike

Wayner · « **Reply #13 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 07:09 pm »

Those speakers look top notch! I could have spent 5 years on the cabinets and it would have looked like Homer Simpson's Bar-B-Q pit. Nice job matching up the woodgrain of the veneers, too.

Wayner

jholtz · « **Reply #14 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 07:27 pm »

Quote from: jono2channel on 17 Feb 2008, 03:52 pm

Thank you for the compliments. In fact, I am not an experienced wood worker. I just am a bit obbsessive about audio, so I took on a project that I thought that I could handle at the beginning (I do have some tools, and I am interested in woodworking, but I am really a beginner.) and I took it slow from there. I have been picking away at this since the middle of August. The sound....

Last night I finally sealed up the mid enclosure just before I hit the sack. There was a small hole in the bottom of it where I had threaded in the hook-up wire. For this reason, I feel like I shouldn't say too much. There was some changes that I noticed after that. I will say, however, that I am kind of in shock. I have B&W 603S3's, and I enjoy them. Rick assured me that he could do a lot better. I believed him, but I wasn't ready for what a big, well designed 3-way could do. The 10 inch Revelator woofer sounds tight and detailed, and I am given the impression that there are no low frequencies that these things can't play. The sound seems to have no limits down low.

As for the tweeter, Rick takes every opportunity to say good things about the SS6600 around here, and after listening to it for a week I have to agree. The AirCirc is amazing. There seems to be no end to detail without emphasis on sibilance, and I certainly have never become fatigued.

While trying to do my "homework" on Rick, before I spent my money, a guy named Jim Holtz said to me that the faster I spent my money, the sooner I would have a fantastic set of speakers. I don't even know if he would remember our emails. He was right. I'm glad I did. THanks for the advice, Jim. I love the speakers, Rick.

Thanks for the kind words. As you found out, it's easy to recommend Selah Audio speakers with confidence. Rick is an exceptional designer that takes great pride in his work and it shows.

I'm very pleased that you're happy with the new speakers. I'm also extremely envious of your cabinet building skills. Thay look awesome!

Happy listening!

Jim

jono2channel · « **Reply #15 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 10:18 pm »

I am flattered by the interest in this project. Jealous of others no more, I am thrilled to be able to contribute. Curved cabinets can be made in a few different ways....I started with a cabinet framework

Tops, bottoms and braces were dadoed into the front and rear baffles

And then I kerf/curf? cut the 1/2 inch mdf and put two layers over the framework. The entire cabinet is 1 inch or better. 120lbs each in finished form.

A word to those who think they can't. I am a high school music teacher with no wood working experience. Every project that you can think up can be divided up into a series of little problems. If you make each problem small enough....Anyone can do it.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #16 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 10:36 pm »

"it turned out pretty good" he says - you should be arrested for gross understatementism!

That is glorious veneer, and now that you shared the innards too, I have to say (as a guy that has built a fair number of speakers for a DIY'er) that your work is delightful.

I am very very impressed, and LOVE the end product.

Sonny · « **Reply #17 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 10:40 pm »

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

AvFan · « **Reply #18 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 11:15 pm »

Thanks for the photos of the cabinet construction. Kerfing is a time-honored way of bending wood and it looks like it worked well for you. Looks like the kerfs are about 3/8" deep and about 1" apart? Did you know the angle to bevel the front and rear baffles before assembly? And finally, (the woodworker in me is coming out) how did you trim the two 1/2" side pieces flush with the front and rear baffle? Typically I use a trim bit in a router but since the side is curved that becomes difficult at best. Thanks, and again, your speakers look great!

jono2channel · « **Reply #19 on:** 17 Feb 2008, 11:31 pm »

You nailed it. The kerfs are about 3/8 deep and approx 1 inch apart. I did not know the angle to bevel the front and rear baffle before assembly, so I took my little plastic angle measure and guessed as best I could. I tried to cut the bevel so it blended into the curve as well as a straight cut can blend with a curved brace. I did this before I glued it all up.

On the trimming end of things, I wish that I had come up with some easy/efficient way to do that. All four sides of each side panel needed to be trimmed, because the only way to get a perfect fit on a notquitesquare cabinet (shhh! don't tell anyone

) was to overlap on all sides. I used a hand plane. One of the little ones. It was $25 at homedepot. Worked great. Top and bottom, front and back all got trimmed. Include a little filler here and there, and the veneer did the rest.

They are far from flawless. Every step of the way I pictured a perfect execution of whatever step I was about to take. In reality, I always fell a little short of perfection. The veneer was actually a royal pain. In the end all of the little things that bug me about them are invisible from the listening seat and in the photos

It was really fun, a great learning opportunity, and I will definitely do it again one day when I have a bigger living room. aa