Dear All, it has been quite sometime since I actively participated in the forum. This was due to my extensive travel and job committment. I apologize.
When I found some time during the past few weeks, I wanted to put my Fostex FE103e full rangers to better use. Originally, few years back, I got these drivers from Singapore and first installed them in a cheapo Sewage pipe design. Then, I spent a little more money and installed them in a Zigma Hornett design by engaging a carpenter. Ziggi was sounding nice, but the body and bass was kind off missing. In the due course, I acquired some tools like Black&Decker Drill, Jigsaw, Dewalt Orbital Sander and thought of giving this a make over in a new cabinet on my own. I browsed through various forums and concluded that Buschhorn Mk II would suit it better and quite comfortable to make. I was still missing a Circulaw saw to rip the plywood. So, I recently bought a Hitachi Circular saw for Rs. 4600 (capital expense for long term DIY) and the tool set was somehow sufficient. I started it off last week. I hope this post gives some ideas to people who want to do something similar and will give me some ideas to improve.
8'x4' 12mm Plywood - Rs. 1500
For the front baffle, I had a 18mm lacquer polished rubberwood table top which I wanted to use
Fevicol, screws etc., etc.,
First time cutting using a circular saw. Based on youtube, I made a jig to cut straight using a circular saw. Very easy Jig and great results.
I used an online software to plan the cuts without wastage and marked all the lines.
I cut the pieces one by one - Lots of dust and my family did not like it :lol:
Checked everything and Sanded a few to make them perfect.
Assembled just using Fevicol and put some heavy weight overnight. Next day it was strong
Stuffed the Compression chamber using the synthetic fibre (got from pillow)
Fill sand in those cavities which are not part of the line
I wanted to just screw the other side and test - But, with all the sand, i decided against it, because, any modifications, I can only do in the compression chamber as i have fixed the line anyway.
I gave all the necessary curvatures in the line as required
Applied enough General Purpose Silicon Sealant on the trims and placed the other side - Within few minutes, I could not shake it, It stucks !!
Then drilled holes carefully to flush mount screws and screwed the box (only one side though)
Ok now, I was contemplating between veneering and painting - Again, I thought of achieving a gloss black finish and bough a spray can of black and clear
Puttied, sanded, and applied a black stain to make it easy for the paint
Sanded some more and sprayed it black, sanded, second coat and then clear
BUT, the imperfections are there - I think I did not do a good job here
Overall it looks good, but on close look, it is evident (I may scrap the paint out and veneer it later)
Then I solder the wires to the terminals and driver and started testing by just placing the driver in the baflle and removed/added and played around with the stuffing in the CC. At one point, I thought, it was the best sounding.
Good bass, great mids (as usual) and nice highs.
Then screwed the driver to the baflle, cleaned up the cabinet, positioned it 8 feet apart, slightly towed in
RESULT -
Excellent imaging - dead centre and nice vertical image (taller than Zigma) as well (Most of my collection, Including the great song from Alaigal Oiyvathilai by Ilayaraja - old recording, but still ,great)
The mid is absolutely fantastic - Tested with Jenifer Warnes (The Hunter), my female Audiophile voices, Katie Melua and Mark Knoplfer (Get Lucky, Kill to get Crimson)
Highs - I did not find anything wrong, but I think I am unable to judge this correctly
Bass - They were much much better and it is really going down due to the cabinet and the positioning (the back horn is close to the wall) - I played few classical LPs (concerts), Hunter (way down deep) and few more - They were not loose, but nicely defined. I played a nice tamil movie song from Thanga Meengal - Aanandha Yaazhai and it has some few passes which has good bass in it and it came out well.
But, still I added my Mordaunt Short Sub and crossed it at 100Hz which adds a little more weight - but the speaker itself is enough for my taste and my room
One thing which was a concern - Some times, the mids were a little loud (I think it is called "shout" and I wanted to take the risk of taming the cone. I used diluted Fevicol glue (thinned with water) and applied two coasts in 6 hour intervals and I am sure it has made some trick. It is much better now
The above is my review with my very limited knowledge and I am sure, some of our more experienced members can add quality inputs as and when there is an opportunity to hear them.
To me, since I had the driver (it costed me around Rs. 6000 3 years back) and my current spend of Rs. 2000, I think I have a great sounding speaker to my tastes. DIY is tough, but pays off
and satisfaction too
I drive this using my NAD 355BEE and Cambridge Audio 340C CD player. I will test this using my Lepai T amp soon which I think will sound good too.
I did not take much pictures of the build, but I will be happy to answer any questions.
Here is the photo of my setup
TITBITS of my other DIY in the same room
Projector screen - 6'x4' 6mm plywood, puttied, black border painted, painted white using Asian Paints emulsion BASE - 10 coats, used 1 1/2 inch spacers, mounted on the wall - approx 72" diagonal
Projector - Benq - wanted to put this good use - made a small solid stand, placed it on the floor between the sofas, a 10 metre HDMI cable run from the AVR to projector, connected my Tatasky HD and my DVD player - The results are extremely satisfactory while watching HD movies, sports and DVD/BRRIP movies (I watched Shooter recently, great) - My family is happy watching Mahabarath in HD and some HD channels are really really great - So, all in all, got a good large screen and put the projector to good use.
Shelves for my HIFI - I had a wooden shelf 3' tall which I did not like - So, cut that exactly into 2 pieces and added a Kadappa Slate shelf as well using my threaded rods - rock solid (need to paint it black as it has blemishes and dis-coloration)
Made speaker stands for my Mission BS - simple DIY work and filled it with sand - god, it is heavy and what a difference it makes in the bass section of that speaker - amazing (could not add this photo as it exceeds 5 images)
Thanks for viewing
Swami
When I found some time during the past few weeks, I wanted to put my Fostex FE103e full rangers to better use. Originally, few years back, I got these drivers from Singapore and first installed them in a cheapo Sewage pipe design. Then, I spent a little more money and installed them in a Zigma Hornett design by engaging a carpenter. Ziggi was sounding nice, but the body and bass was kind off missing. In the due course, I acquired some tools like Black&Decker Drill, Jigsaw, Dewalt Orbital Sander and thought of giving this a make over in a new cabinet on my own. I browsed through various forums and concluded that Buschhorn Mk II would suit it better and quite comfortable to make. I was still missing a Circulaw saw to rip the plywood. So, I recently bought a Hitachi Circular saw for Rs. 4600 (capital expense for long term DIY) and the tool set was somehow sufficient. I started it off last week. I hope this post gives some ideas to people who want to do something similar and will give me some ideas to improve.
8'x4' 12mm Plywood - Rs. 1500
For the front baffle, I had a 18mm lacquer polished rubberwood table top which I wanted to use
Fevicol, screws etc., etc.,
First time cutting using a circular saw. Based on youtube, I made a jig to cut straight using a circular saw. Very easy Jig and great results.
I used an online software to plan the cuts without wastage and marked all the lines.
I cut the pieces one by one - Lots of dust and my family did not like it :lol:
Checked everything and Sanded a few to make them perfect.
Assembled just using Fevicol and put some heavy weight overnight. Next day it was strong
Stuffed the Compression chamber using the synthetic fibre (got from pillow)
Fill sand in those cavities which are not part of the line
I wanted to just screw the other side and test - But, with all the sand, i decided against it, because, any modifications, I can only do in the compression chamber as i have fixed the line anyway.
I gave all the necessary curvatures in the line as required
Applied enough General Purpose Silicon Sealant on the trims and placed the other side - Within few minutes, I could not shake it, It stucks !!
Then drilled holes carefully to flush mount screws and screwed the box (only one side though)
Ok now, I was contemplating between veneering and painting - Again, I thought of achieving a gloss black finish and bough a spray can of black and clear
Puttied, sanded, and applied a black stain to make it easy for the paint
Sanded some more and sprayed it black, sanded, second coat and then clear
BUT, the imperfections are there - I think I did not do a good job here
Overall it looks good, but on close look, it is evident (I may scrap the paint out and veneer it later)
Then I solder the wires to the terminals and driver and started testing by just placing the driver in the baflle and removed/added and played around with the stuffing in the CC. At one point, I thought, it was the best sounding.
Good bass, great mids (as usual) and nice highs.
Then screwed the driver to the baflle, cleaned up the cabinet, positioned it 8 feet apart, slightly towed in
RESULT -
Excellent imaging - dead centre and nice vertical image (taller than Zigma) as well (Most of my collection, Including the great song from Alaigal Oiyvathilai by Ilayaraja - old recording, but still ,great)
The mid is absolutely fantastic - Tested with Jenifer Warnes (The Hunter), my female Audiophile voices, Katie Melua and Mark Knoplfer (Get Lucky, Kill to get Crimson)
Highs - I did not find anything wrong, but I think I am unable to judge this correctly
Bass - They were much much better and it is really going down due to the cabinet and the positioning (the back horn is close to the wall) - I played few classical LPs (concerts), Hunter (way down deep) and few more - They were not loose, but nicely defined. I played a nice tamil movie song from Thanga Meengal - Aanandha Yaazhai and it has some few passes which has good bass in it and it came out well.
But, still I added my Mordaunt Short Sub and crossed it at 100Hz which adds a little more weight - but the speaker itself is enough for my taste and my room
One thing which was a concern - Some times, the mids were a little loud (I think it is called "shout" and I wanted to take the risk of taming the cone. I used diluted Fevicol glue (thinned with water) and applied two coasts in 6 hour intervals and I am sure it has made some trick. It is much better now
The above is my review with my very limited knowledge and I am sure, some of our more experienced members can add quality inputs as and when there is an opportunity to hear them.
To me, since I had the driver (it costed me around Rs. 6000 3 years back) and my current spend of Rs. 2000, I think I have a great sounding speaker to my tastes. DIY is tough, but pays off
and satisfaction tooI drive this using my NAD 355BEE and Cambridge Audio 340C CD player. I will test this using my Lepai T amp soon which I think will sound good too.
I did not take much pictures of the build, but I will be happy to answer any questions.
Here is the photo of my setup
TITBITS of my other DIY in the same room
Projector screen - 6'x4' 6mm plywood, puttied, black border painted, painted white using Asian Paints emulsion BASE - 10 coats, used 1 1/2 inch spacers, mounted on the wall - approx 72" diagonal
Projector - Benq - wanted to put this good use - made a small solid stand, placed it on the floor between the sofas, a 10 metre HDMI cable run from the AVR to projector, connected my Tatasky HD and my DVD player - The results are extremely satisfactory while watching HD movies, sports and DVD/BRRIP movies (I watched Shooter recently, great) - My family is happy watching Mahabarath in HD and some HD channels are really really great - So, all in all, got a good large screen and put the projector to good use.
Shelves for my HIFI - I had a wooden shelf 3' tall which I did not like - So, cut that exactly into 2 pieces and added a Kadappa Slate shelf as well using my threaded rods - rock solid (need to paint it black as it has blemishes and dis-coloration)
Made speaker stands for my Mission BS - simple DIY work and filled it with sand - god, it is heavy and what a difference it makes in the bass section of that speaker - amazing (could not add this photo as it exceeds 5 images)
Thanks for viewing
Swami
