For quite a long time I have been looking out for options to connect to my Shanling MC30 - 3 watt tube all in one (including an excellent FM radio !). I have this set in a separate AV room. I have been using them with my Jamo Concert 803 bookshelves for sometime now until Soundsgreat turned up and suggested to move the Jamos out to the main living room - a great decision indeed. Which meant I had to move in the Monitor Audio RX6s which were too much for my small room. Hence I had to take a call - which I did - to move to the FH3 based solution.
As a first step I had to make space and hence the RX6s sadly had to go... These were indeed fine speakers and I am so happy that they have found a new home.
Considering that I had a low power tube amp I chose the Mark Audio Alpair 7p with the paper cone as the SPLs were slightly higher as against the 7.3s. On the flip side there are really very few FHs with the newer 7ps. I am still unsure if the 87.5 db of the 7p is sufficient for my tubes...
The Build planning :
Speakers - were sourced from abroad.
FH cabinet - I wanted to use Plywood as this is what is considered best in the DIYforum for the FH.. Unfortunately in the Indian context I have found that even waterproof boards tend to warp a bit when subjected to variations in temperature... I have seen this even in my greenply boards based cupboard doors which are closest to the window. Hence against my will I chose the MDF board. I decided on a 17 mm board thickness as adequate - on actual measurement it worked out to 16.6 mm. Hence had to redo the drawings to suit these dimensions taking care that the internal geometry remained unchanged. To ensure experimentation (speaker changes, damping loading variations I decided on a top removable design - using a rubber gasket for sealing)
For the cutting I decided to go the cheapest but most precise way - so no CNC cutting but machine cutting of larger pieces and then all cutting, contouring, routing and drilling by yours truely..was economical (CNC ~ 250 Rs / sft while machine cutting Rs.250 for the entire cutting)
Tools and adhesives :
Table saw, jig saw, angle grinder with sand paper disk, router and drilling machine, plastic heat gun, Fevicol SH, SR 998. NO nails/screws - good filter masks (a must)
Since I did not have F clamps I thought on a simpler clamping setup - two flat scrap wood pieces held by long bolts (the kind they use for false roofing). Can be seen in the photos.
The build :
Sourcing the material was material was the easier part. Since all the wood work was to be done by me it took me a better part of 2 complete weekends to reach to a stage as seen in the photo.
Started with the side panels - straight cuts and jigsaw cuts for the curved contour. the curve itself was made using a template tracing the radius - my son helped out here !
The 140 mm straight panels were next cut to the lengths and ends finished to suit the 5 deg incline.
One panel was kept unstuck until I had placed all the damping pads in position.
For the speaker hole I had to improvise with my router by building a jig - can be seen in one of the photos. The hole and the countersink for the speaker ring came out really well. Had to do a bit of sanding and fine tweeking to get it precisely right.
Sourcing the felt pad was tricky - its available in large industrial stores (Rs.1000+ / kg) but I felt it was too dense... scouting around it occurred to me that a good thick cotton carpet could do the trick. The corner carpet sale shop with seconds carpets selling by the Kg helped as I could choose from a variety of carpets on sale there).
The wooden panels were held together with the clamping setup and i double lined the joints with fevicol mixed with MDF dust. After some rounds of sanding and cleaning I could put in the speaker connectors and fit the speakers.
To hold the damping material below the speakers I attached a thin plastic net (the kind used to hold vegetables in super markets) by hotglueing to the sides.
The damping filling was using Recron from a pillow - weighted out 30 g for front and 40 for the rear filling for each speaker.
Status :
The setup is under drying and the speakers are running in.
It does feel so nice to hear them after all the hard work (ah my sore back...).
Incredibly I could not sleep properly until the project was finished and the setup running..dunno if it was the back pain or the excitement .....hmm perhaps both...
Its amazing to hear the lows coming out of such a small speaker. I simply cannot see the diaphrams move ! (anyhow I am running at low volumes during running in so...). Everything seems so refined and clear...
Its too premature to comment further on the sound until the speakers run in and perhaps some damping optimisation done....
Hope this helps other forum members go the DIY way...
As a first step I had to make space and hence the RX6s sadly had to go... These were indeed fine speakers and I am so happy that they have found a new home.
Considering that I had a low power tube amp I chose the Mark Audio Alpair 7p with the paper cone as the SPLs were slightly higher as against the 7.3s. On the flip side there are really very few FHs with the newer 7ps. I am still unsure if the 87.5 db of the 7p is sufficient for my tubes...
The Build planning :
Speakers - were sourced from abroad.
FH cabinet - I wanted to use Plywood as this is what is considered best in the DIYforum for the FH.. Unfortunately in the Indian context I have found that even waterproof boards tend to warp a bit when subjected to variations in temperature... I have seen this even in my greenply boards based cupboard doors which are closest to the window. Hence against my will I chose the MDF board. I decided on a 17 mm board thickness as adequate - on actual measurement it worked out to 16.6 mm. Hence had to redo the drawings to suit these dimensions taking care that the internal geometry remained unchanged. To ensure experimentation (speaker changes, damping loading variations I decided on a top removable design - using a rubber gasket for sealing)
For the cutting I decided to go the cheapest but most precise way - so no CNC cutting but machine cutting of larger pieces and then all cutting, contouring, routing and drilling by yours truely..was economical (CNC ~ 250 Rs / sft while machine cutting Rs.250 for the entire cutting)
Tools and adhesives :
Table saw, jig saw, angle grinder with sand paper disk, router and drilling machine, plastic heat gun, Fevicol SH, SR 998. NO nails/screws - good filter masks (a must)
Since I did not have F clamps I thought on a simpler clamping setup - two flat scrap wood pieces held by long bolts (the kind they use for false roofing). Can be seen in the photos.
The build :
Sourcing the material was material was the easier part. Since all the wood work was to be done by me it took me a better part of 2 complete weekends to reach to a stage as seen in the photo.
Started with the side panels - straight cuts and jigsaw cuts for the curved contour. the curve itself was made using a template tracing the radius - my son helped out here !
The 140 mm straight panels were next cut to the lengths and ends finished to suit the 5 deg incline.
One panel was kept unstuck until I had placed all the damping pads in position.
For the speaker hole I had to improvise with my router by building a jig - can be seen in one of the photos. The hole and the countersink for the speaker ring came out really well. Had to do a bit of sanding and fine tweeking to get it precisely right.
Sourcing the felt pad was tricky - its available in large industrial stores (Rs.1000+ / kg) but I felt it was too dense... scouting around it occurred to me that a good thick cotton carpet could do the trick. The corner carpet sale shop with seconds carpets selling by the Kg helped as I could choose from a variety of carpets on sale there).
The wooden panels were held together with the clamping setup and i double lined the joints with fevicol mixed with MDF dust. After some rounds of sanding and cleaning I could put in the speaker connectors and fit the speakers.
To hold the damping material below the speakers I attached a thin plastic net (the kind used to hold vegetables in super markets) by hotglueing to the sides.
The damping filling was using Recron from a pillow - weighted out 30 g for front and 40 for the rear filling for each speaker.
Status :
The setup is under drying and the speakers are running in.
It does feel so nice to hear them after all the hard work (ah my sore back...).
Incredibly I could not sleep properly until the project was finished and the setup running..dunno if it was the back pain or the excitement .....hmm perhaps both...
Its amazing to hear the lows coming out of such a small speaker. I simply cannot see the diaphrams move ! (anyhow I am running at low volumes during running in so...). Everything seems so refined and clear...
Its too premature to comment further on the sound until the speakers run in and perhaps some damping optimisation done....
Hope this helps other forum members go the DIY way...
which made my labor a lot easier.
