Curved SLA

[MTB goat]

Oh man, wiring this thing took WAAAHHHHAAAAYYYY longer than I thought it would.

I have learned that:

1. I thought I knew how to solder but actually I suck at it.
2. I am going blind as I age and need to get stronger eyeglasses
3. if you try to solder a big chunk of wires to a delicate tweeter terminal bad things start melting
4. my wife does not like it when I turn the kitchen table into a speaker project table.

anyhow, after 4 hours of tedious soldering and driver mounting, it seems I did it right. I tested it out in the garage on low power receiver and it made sound. I can't imagine doing several SLAs and/or 9 drivers. ugh.

Special thanks to Leland at http://www.speakerhardware.com/ he went out of his way to get me what I need and the crossovers look great. this would have taken me another entire day if I had to make the crossovers myself.

[LelandCrooks]

You're welcome. Yea wiring a crapload of drivers is not fun. But I love the smell of solder in the morning

[MTB goat]

OK! all done. finished (for now) I just hit it with some spray can simi-gloss black for now. I had thoughts of finishing it with some bar-top clear 2 part epoxy for a high gloss durable finsih, but any flaws in the paint go without notice since the room is usually dim / dark anyhow. it turned out better than expected. so far is toddler proof (my goal) and sounds good (more below). big and heavy so my kid can't pull it off the entertainment center and gets the TV tuner box up higher where she can't reach the buttons.

I have not done Audyssey EQ on it yet, so these are just plug and play listening impressions: it is much more sensitive than the small B&W center I had. It immediately sounded louder and clearer when listening to 7.1 music playback. I was immediately happy with the sound. However, one concern I have is that later when listening to Monsters Inc. on Blue ray, the dialog sounded "tinny" at times. Hard to explain, but my wife also noticed it. Not sure if this a break-in type of thing or if I did something wrong soldering. but it definitely didn't sound right. It was only when watching that one movie at a little high volume level. I'm still looking forward to other movies and checking results. AND I still need to set it up with EQ. So maybe this concern is unwarranted. I will check back in later with an update...

some pics. I painted the baffle area grey because I like the industrial look and thought it showed off all the drivers.

[ripNdeb]

Man, everything looks great. Makes me want to change my mind about my next build (more T39s). good job!

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

You want to find a way to get your L/R spread further apart. As close as they are you're not able to hear the width of the sound stage as you should. You'd like to have them spread at least 2/3 the distance to the LP.

[MTB goat]

I hear you Bill, I would love to do that. but I just got this weird octagon shape room. been thinking of some wall mounts and even possibly making some SLAs or TLAHs

The TV is on a nice big adjustable wall mount. I may try to get something similar for the mains. anyone know a source for heafty wall mount brackets for large speakers?

Man, everything looks great. Makes me want to change my mind about my next build (more T39s). good job!

Thanks I appreciate the compliment. this was my first attempt at making a "nice" speaker cab

[howiez]

anyone know a source for heafty wall mount brackets for large speakers?

I'm guessing those weigh more than 66lbs: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/50-10890

but if you can stomach a mod, insert a pole mount socket: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/555-13210

and a bracket, 110lbs each i think,

fancy adjustable: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/555-18320

straight: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/35-5465

Anyway NICE build, can't wait to start and SLA myself, still working on my THT, SLA is next.

[Tom Smit]

I really like this picture.....quite striking.
http://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/downl ... &mode=view

[TXATC]

Howdy MTB goat!

Wanted to ask how the MD was to work with on this project and how well has it held up? Was the finishing a pain or fairly easy?

[MTB goat]

I have to say working with MDF went better than I thought it would. it does leave large amounts of undesirable fine dust over EVRYTHING, but it is easy to cut, glue and sand. I did not use any fasteners on this build, only glue and clamps. I used only some rattle can primer and spray paint for a finish. and, I may just be happy with that as any imperfections or runs in the finish go unnoticed where the speaker is located.

I have been playing around lately with "bar-top" type clear two part epoxy. and I was planning on using that on top of the rattle can for a durable gloss, but at this point I don't think I will because you really don't see much of the speaker in its current location.

listening impressions are better now. I think any concerns I had previously were due to a break in period and a very strange vocal track while watching Monsters Inc

I sure wish I had a dedicated "room" and could really turn it up for some listening pleasure. having a 1 year old in the family room kinda puts a choke on things.

[TXATC]

Thanks for the update! I can understand about the little one. With a 4 and 2 yr old myself I've been there. It got better though, now they want to hear the Throne Room scene from ANH at ludicrous volume! Just hafta finish my speakers so they can be properly entertained!

Again thanks for your input and definitely a nice build!