SLA's and THT, First ever cab project

[tchampag]

I ordered plans for the SLA and THT about 6 months ago with plans to eventually start building them. I found this site from someone posting their own THT build on reddit. I like building my own stuff and have my own woodshop and access to lots of walnut. So this was an easy decision after reading on this forum for a while that what was offered matched what I wanted.

I've progressed to almost finishing one SLA and have the parts ready for assembly on the second. I'm using the standard recommended drivers for the SLA from the plans. I'm finishing the wood with some tung oil that I have used for my other projects. I like the rich dark color it gives the wood.

I ordered the THT sub and amp today and hope to start on that in the next few weeks. I'll continue to update this post as I progress and have questions. Here are a few pics I have of what I have done to date. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

[Tom Smit]

Nice carpet, and blanket!





Just kidding. Looks good, and it looks like you definitely have the skills. Looking forward to your review in the review section.

BTW, welcome to the forum!

[miked]

Welcome to the forum! Your SLA looks great. I also like the look of a Tung Oil finish. Don't be shy about posting build pics, warts and all. We love that stuff here.

[tchampag]

Oh I've made plenty of mistakes. I did a lot of test cutting on extra boards with my plunge router. Then I made my first set of front baffles and they were a half inch short in width. So they are sitting on the side as test pieces to mess with. I hope to have the other SLA glued up and then finished with tung oil by the end of this weekend. Can't wait to hear them, I have some bose bookshelf speakers right now with my Denon receiver. I bought the receiver last christmas in anticipation of building these cabs.

Also I built a custom entertainment center out of the same walnut. So my SLA's will match with the rest of the decor.

[koturban]

Well done!

Entertainment unit looks great. I like clean designs.

[miked]

If you can build that gorgeous entertainmnt center, you won't have any problems with these cabs. You've probably read this already, but it is worth repeating. You cannot (should not) assemble these cabs with traditional woodworking glue like Titebond or Elmer's wood glue. You need to use PL Premium polyurethane adhesive, ESPECIALLY with subs. Any air leaks will kill performance and possibly result in a blown driver.

Being that you've already assembled the SLA, if it was put together with wood glue, you should run a bead of silicone along all interior joints and let it dry before sealing it up.

[tchampag]

I did read about that for the subs but didn't think about it for these SLA's. I did use regular wood glue on them and tightened down each joint with some kreg jig pocket screws. I'll run some silicone along the interior joints like you suggest, it for sure can only help.

[miked]

Yup, it can't hurt. A wood-glued joint may be mechanically strong and last forever, but it may not be air-tight. That's where the PL comes in. It expands as it cures and after 24 hours it's hard as a rock. PL easily fills 1/8" gaps, air-tight. We all have a love/hate relationship with PL. Soon, when you build your THT, we'll tell you "Welcome to the club"

[CoronaOperator]

I think you used the right glue for the sla's. Considering it's a natural wood finish, you wouldn't want pl to stain your masterpiece. Wood finished sla's are the one exception where caulking the inside and using wood glue for the joints would be the more attractive option.

PS nice looking cabinets, both speakers and tv stand.

[tchampag]

Well, in my excitement and also frustration of getting my SLA's done I didn't take too many pictures. But the wiring wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still trying on the fingers in the tight area inside the cabinet. After connecting the SLA's and using Audyssey to calibrate my new setup I was advised of a phase issue on one of my speakers by Audyssey. So I opened it up and sure enough I wired one of the series on the 4" woofers backwards. So I corrected that issue and reconnected and it was resolved. Overall the clarity of sound is what is the largest difference for myself, I'm not a huge audiophile and we were already using some Bose shelf speakers before the SLA's. So I didn't have an overwhelming sense of "Oh my this is so much better than before" but more subtle differences.
Here is some wiring pics before I put in the crossovers. Also I did order the crossovers built from Leland at SpeakerHardware.com, his work arrived promptly and he communicated well to make sure I was getting the product I actually needed.


Here is the completed picture, compare with the other pic above of the previous setup with Bose shelf speakers.

[tchampag]

So I dove right in to making the THT immediately after finishing the SLA's. I had ordered the recommended driver and the BASH 300w amp a few weeks earlier. I went to my local lumber shop and picked up 3 5'x5' 1/2" sheets of baltic birch. I have reached the point of mounting panel 4 over a few hours of work this weekend. I like to work slow and take my time, but I expect to finish this by next weekend.



This is a picture up to panel 3 being mounted.

[Chris_Allen]

Lovely SLA's - very classy looking.

Are you going to turn your THT into a piece of furniture? or you do you have trousers big enough to put a sub in the room!

[escapemcp]

Nice looking build Wish mine were as clean!

[tchampag]

Well the placement of the THT is still being discussed. I'm going to trial it around the room for a while until I'm confident there is nothing wrong with the build itself. Then one of the plans is to place it in the wall. Our room is on the second floor and the ceiling follows the slope of the roof until a point where the drywall drops vertically, this creates an open chase area that I could put the sub in.

The basic idea is to take off the drywall, move any wiring out of the way. Build a frame around the void that the sub will sit in, slide the sub in. Then I would probably develop some sort of removable panel so if needed I can access the sub again in the future. The place I'm thinking this will go is behind our couch with the sub facing the TV. Meaning it would be directly behind the main seating position. It might be easier to picture in your head with pictures of the room.

The wall pictured on the left is where the open chase is behind the vertical wall, I want to lay the THT on its side and hide it behind the drywall in approximately the middle of the couch/wall.

[billkatz]

Love the Lego VW bus prominently displayed - I'm also a Lego collector.