SLA Center

[MissileCrisis]

Hi so since building my TLAH I've been planning my SLA center build. Now it has begun and I'm going to give a brief overview of what modifications I've made and why.

First: I am using 5.25 inch drivers that match my TLAH. I bought 30 of them (a while back) to get a deal on them (best buy I ever made) so I have lots left over from my TLAH build, and they happen to have the right specs since it matches the goldwood more or less and was 1/3 the cost.

Second: I modified the height to match the width of my TLAH (9 inches outer width, 8 inch internal).

The depth is 15 inches (like Bill's are) and the width of each driver facet has been adjusted to 6.5" roughly ending up with a 39.5 inch cabinet width.
The tweeters are front mounted and the woofers are rear mounted, recessed beautifully. The edges on the faces of the SLA look exceptionally accurate and will make for an easy glue joint.
For the record, this project gave my dad the opportunity to invest in a quality cross-cut jig for his table saw (previous one wobbled an unacceptable amount considering the precision required in making the baffle).

Now to the pictures:

I trimmed the edges after this picture but the other picture turned out to be a blurry mess so here is the baffle standing on top of the table saw (not glued yet)

Looking absolutely flush there I might say

[iamlowsound]

Hi so since building my TLAH I've been planning my SLA center build. Now it has begun and I'm going to give a brief overview of what modifications I've made and why.

First: I am using 5.25 inch drivers that match my TLAH. I bought 30 of them (a while back) to get a deal on them (best buy I ever made) so I have lots left over from my TLAH build, and they happen to have the right specs since it matches the goldwood more or less and was 1/3 the cost.

Second: I modified the height to match the width of my TLAH (9 inches outer width, 8 inch internal).

The depth is 15 inches (like Bill's are) and the width of each driver facet has been adjusted to 6.5" roughly ending up with a 39.5 inch cabinet width.
The tweeters are front mounted and the woofers are rear mounted, recessed beautifully. The edges on the faces of the SLA look exceptionally accurate and will make for an easy glue joint.
For the record, this project gave my dad the opportunity to invest in a quality cross-cut jig for his table saw (previous one wobbled an unacceptable amount considering the precision required in making the baffle).

Now to the pictures:

20130816_221313.jpg

20130816_203354.jpg

I trimmed the edges after this picture but the other picture turned out to be a blurry mess so here is the baffle standing on top of the table saw (not glued yet)

20130816_220321.jpg

Looking absolutely flush there I might say

20130816_221400.jpg

Nice looking table saw you have there. Build is looking good too.

lowsound

[MissileCrisis]

Nice looking table saw you have there. Build is looking good too.

Thanks man! You should see the fancy cross-cut jig my dad got . I really like the look of these drivers rear mounted (anything beats front mounted from a wiring and looks standpoint).

[miked]

Man, that's a lotta holes to cut. Looking great so far! This is the mutha of all center channels. Can you say "Sound pressure?" What will you power it with?

[MissileCrisis]

It's not that big, only as big as my TLAH except those have 9 tweeters each so a little harder than this thing. It will be powered by my Denon 1713 avr.
Now that I have practice routing out the holes it isn't that bad at all , did them in 1 night.

[MissileCrisis]

Finished glueing the baffle, most of the rest will have to wait until supplies come in.

Jig made for the baffle, includes cutouts to avoid glue sticking to the jig.

[miked]

NICE! Love the close up shots. You can never have too many clamps. Why do you need a "jig for the baffle?" To glue up the individual panels at an angle? (Just guessing...don't own the plans.)

[Michael Murphy]

Nice work MC, set up time seemed pretty fast, are you using PL. I use gorilla glue, same expanding as PL but set up time is fast in this Caribbean climate.

[MissileCrisis]

Nice work MC, set up time seemed pretty fast, are you using PL. I use gorilla glue, same expanding as PL but set up time is fast in this Caribbean climate.

I was using standard wood glue, some premium brand. This particular joint is very easy to see so I worked hard to make sure there weren't any glue lines on the front. That also answers why I made the jig, this had to be absolutely flush and clamped in place as to avoid any tiny gaps -> air leaks. Set up time for the glue was about 40 minutes (until it was hard enough to handle and glue the next piece).

[67baja]

Ah, yes. That brings back memories.

[67baja]

And then the finished product:

[miked]

And then the finished product:

WOW! That's gorgeous. Bet it pins you back in your seat from 20 feet away.

[MissileCrisis]

And then the finished product:

You just love showing those off . By any chance did you get me P.M?

[67baja]

Hell yeah, I do! They aren't perfect, but pretty good if I do say so myself. Now that I have built a few other crossovers, I think I need to revisit the crossovers in this center and the tlahs and see if I can improve them. I did get the PM and am contemplating - I'm getting a strong urge to build some DRs. Will pm you back.

[MissileCrisis]

I'm curious as to what you are using for your crossover. I'm partial to 3rd order butterworth's and both my TLAH and center use a 4 KHz crossover.