DIY Speakers

[Scitesh]

14 hours ago, LudwigVonSneider said:

I imagine the very poorly made enclosure has a big impact on that too.

This is the second audio related video in a week that I have a serious issues with.

Yes, the idea here is "can someone with little to no woodworking experience build..." BUT, no-one with half a brain could possibly build anything like that.

Nothing lines up and there are visible gaps.

I  would get an F  in wood  work class if I was to submit it..linus I  have a problem with your content when a17 year old with random  hands tools can build better enclosure

 

12 hours ago, Force.Sensitive.Squirrel said:

You are 100% right on this, which is why our final conclusion was that buying the prebuilt enclosures was worth it. I don't know if in the end it was my bad woodworking that made it sound a little off though, if I had to put money on it I would say it was my bad wiring job.  

Doesn't that defeat the point of DIY??  isn't it try to build the best stuff YOU  can

 

[corrado33]

I was really confused. The enclosures looked GOOD, but then after they painted them they looked awful... Did they bondo the front or something? What's up with all the wrinkles? Paint runs? I mean just look at the first 5 seconds of the video. What's up with all the crap along the edges and corners of the right speaker? Surely that's not wood.

 

Unsanded filler perhaps to try to hide the screws? I'd rather see the screws than whatever that was. Black hides no sins unfortunately. 

 

In all honesty I think they did... OK, for people who don't know anything about speaker enclosures. The main complaint I have is that USUALLY enclosures are built to very specific measurements to work perfectly with the speakers that are in them. When I used to build car subwoofer enclosures, each speaker was supposed to be put in a speaker box that was so many cubic feet. (That number was always listed on its specification sheet.) Not only that, but the shape of the box and the presence or absence of ports (holes) would change the sound dramatically. I didn't get any of that sort of planning from the video. Maybe they did it? Who knows. I know the polyfill is supposed to make the box seem bigger than it is (we used to stuff it into small boxes that were really supposed to be bigger.)

 

I think I could probably build a decent enclosure now-a-day, and I really thought that with a table saw they would have had pieces that fit together... beter. The hardest part about projects like this is getting the cuts to be straight (if you don't have a table saw.)

[spwath]

Hold on.... why not use glue?

You need to use wood glue, not screws... it is essential to get a proper seal in the cabinet.

Cabinet design and construction is very very important.

 

And what is that dampening?
Don't just stuff it with nylon fiber. Attatch foam to the walls, and place the CORRECT amount of nylon fiber in it.

[corrado33]

1 minute ago, spwath said:

Hold on.... why not use glue?

You need to use wood glue, not screws... it is essential to get a proper seal in the cabinet.

Cabinet design and construction is very very important.

I thought I saw them using glue as well as screws? Did I make that up in my head?

 

Also, I bet they learned really quickly that MDF likes to split with wood screws. hahaha

[spwath]

Just now, corrado33 said:

I thought I saw them using glue as well as screws? Did I make that up in my head?

 

Also, I bet they learned really quickly that MDF likes to split with wood screws. hahaha

I guess they did, its hard to tell. They didn't say they did. But also I updated my post, they did other things wrong, like the dampening.

And The screws are not necisary.

[corrado33]

1 minute ago, spwath said:

I guess they did, its hard to tell. They didn't say they did. But also I updated my post, they did other things wrong, like the dampening.

And The screws are not necisary.

Yeah, I agree. I bet if they had an enclosure builder (a real one) look at it they could make it sound quite a bit better. I forgot that there is a CORRECT amount of polyfill. 

 

And yes, the screws aren't necessary, but unless you're a woodworking shop, you're not going to have the large clamps necessary to build a box (of that size) in one shot. Screws made it easier. 

 

As for sealing it... well, there was a massive open port in the back (according to the plans and one or two shots where it's visible.) I'm sure the holes didn't HELP, but this isn't a sealed enclosure, they probably won't get whistling with that sort of big port in it. I'm actually surprised the port was that BIG with such small speakers. 

[spwath]

7 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Yeah, I agree. I bet if they had an enclosure builder (a real one) look at it they could make it sound quite a bit better. I forgot that there is a CORRECT amount of polyfill. 

 

And yes, the screws aren't necessary, but unless you're a woodworking shop, you're not going to have the large clamps necessary to build a box (of that size) in one shot. Screws made it easier. 

 

As for sealing it... well, there was a massive open port in the back (according to the plans and one or two shots where it's visible.) I'm sure the holes didn't HELP, but this isn't a sealed enclosure, they probably won't get whistling with that sort of big port in it. I'm actually surprised the port was that BIG with such small speakers.  I

or if they just did a little research and care.

 

I guess because it's a ported enclosure, sealing isn't as essential.

 

port looks big, but hopefully they did research on that to get it right. They did a design they found, so hopefully the guy who made it knew what he was doing

[Scheer]

 

If anyone at LMG reads this, please tell whomever is using the tablesaw not to crosscut using the fence like they are above. Its probably the most common way people get hurt using a tablesaw as the piece will bind against the fence and kick back right into your stomach. Using a push stick that far from the blade only makes it worse, you are just skewing the board into the side of the blade.

 

 

Crosscut sleds are easy to make and if you plan on using the tablesaw much at all they will come in very handy.

 

 

[pinkyandthebrain]

19 hours ago, Force.Sensitive.Squirrel said:

Thanks! You're my new favorite commenter. Happy New Year!

happy new year

[Undertow_]

So they look awful, don't sound up to par, and are still more expensive than many prebuilt bookshelves that can offer even greater fidelity...

 

But seriously, you guys could have tried to make them look half decent.

[DeathsArrow]

On 1/1/2017 at 10:50 PM, bob345 said:

from my experience, "break in" is largely a myth. I have build plenty of speakers and have not noticed any kind of noticeable difference between new drivers and drivers that have been used for quite some time. Its one of those things that get perpetuated by the snobby side of audiophiles.

Break in being called a myth is actually the myth. There's been scientific testing done that proves that there is a speaker break in period. It maybe 15 minutes for some speakers and a few hours for others, but there is a break in period. Speakers are made up of flexible materials that do change with use. The average person can't tell the difference anyways so it's mostly a moot point.