BillFitzmaurice.info

I didn't get much done last night. My 16 year old son had a drumming gig for school that I wanted to watch instead. Sorry, proud dad moment When I got home, I installed a few of the chamber braces on the second cab before I had to call it quits for the evening. I'm hoping to get some more done tonight

shawn_g wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 5:47 am

Joman116 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2026 7:40 pm
That's helpful information. I realize now that the plan images did show some scrap pieces for alignment. I suppose the challenge is to get the very first panel perpendicular..

If you follow the plans closely, I'm sure it'll come together just fine! Bill's designs are all pretty forgiving and yes it does make it easier if everything is square and perpendicular, but small mistakes are easily correctable even after the PL has dried.

Thanks. I suppose my greatest fear is not being able to recover from a mistake.. Ie cutting a panel too short, installing with pl, and then some huge gap, hah. I guess that's why you test fit before!

shawn_g wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 5:52 am I didn't get much done last night. My 16 year old son had a drumming gig for school that I wanted to watch instead. Sorry, proud dad moment

But, of course!

Joman116 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 12:26 pmThanks. I suppose my greatest fear is not being able to recover from a mistake.. Ie cutting a panel too short, installing with pl, and then some huge gap, hah. I guess that's why you test fit before!

Fear not. Go, boldly, forward. And, yes dry fit.

Tom Smit wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 9:24 pm But, of course!

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I cut out the rear cover and installed all remaining braces tonight.
The next phase will be sanding, patching screw holes, roundover the edges, and duratex

Both cabs are technically usable, but I learned my lesson in the past about putting unfinished cabs in my living room

I plan to get all of the screw holes patched this weekend and will hopefully get some duratex laid down.

Good progress.

shawn_g wrote: ↑Wed Mar 11, 2026 5:52 am I didn't get much done last night. My 16 year old son had a drumming gig for school that I wanted to watch instead. Sorry, proud dad moment
PXL_20260310_233727236.jpg

Heck ya! Our 13 year old has been taking drum lessons now for 4 years and we're lucky enough that our middle school has a separate Jazz group, so he gets to play the full kit for that.

The THTLP pair is looking great!
I had been thinking about one of these. Giving me the itch to go make some saw dust

Tom Smit wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2026 9:16 pm Good progress.

Thanks, Tom!

J_Dunavin wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 7:53 am Heck ya! Our 13 year old has been taking drum lessons now for 4 years and we're lucky enough that our middle school has a separate Jazz group, so he gets to play the full kit for that.

The THTLP pair is looking great!
I had been thinking about one of these. Giving me the itch to go make some saw dust

It's so cool to see your own kids develop musical skills!

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I got a bunch of work done over the weekend. All of the screw holes are patched, I installed the jackplate on both cabs, everything is sanded, etc... I fired each one up to check for leaks. At 40v they sound promising in my wide open basement in the middle of the room, but obviously need boundary loading to really come to life (as expected). It was still enough to wake my teenage sons up at 10:30am on Saturday morning with a 22hz test tone
I got the first coat of duratex rolled on. I'll do a few more coats tonight and let them dry overnight. Hopefully I'll be ready to put them in their final home tomorrow

shawn_g wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2026 6:06 am

Tom Smit wrote: ↑Fri Mar 13, 2026 9:16 pm Good progress.

Thanks, Tom!

J_Dunavin wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2026 7:53 am Heck ya! Our 13 year old has been taking drum lessons now for 4 years and we're lucky enough that our middle school has a separate Jazz group, so he gets to play the full kit for that.

The THTLP pair is looking great!
I had been thinking about one of these. Giving me the itch to go make some saw dust

It's so cool to see your kids develop musical skills!

--------------------

I got a bunch of work done over the weekend. All of the screw holes are patched, I installed the jackplate on both cabs, everything is sanded, etc... I fired each one up to check for leaks. At 40v they sound promising in my wide open basement in the middle of the room, but obviously need boundary loading to really come to life (as expected). It was still enough to wake my teenage sons up at 10:30am on Saturday morning with a 22hz test tone

PXL_20260314_234019041.PORTRAIT.jpg

I got the first coat of duratex rolled on. I'll do a few more coats tonight and let them dry overnight. Hopefully I'll be ready to put them in their final home tomorrow

PXL_20260315_222607797.PORTRAIT.jpg

PXL_20260315_232812789.PORTRAIT.jpg

PXL_20260315_233113745.PORTRAIT.jpg

Wow you are making Crazy Fast progress! What did you use to fill in the holes?

Joman116 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2026 7:52 am Wow you are making Crazy Fast progress! What did you use to fill in the holes?

I used drywall joint compound. I wouldn't recommend it for situations where the cabs get moved around alot, but I've used it on my other home builds and it's fine and really easy to work with.

I've used bondo auto body filler on the subs that get used and abused. It's definitely better for durability, but it's not quite as easy to work with.

shawn_g wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2026 8:58 am

Joman116 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2026 7:52 am Wow you are making Crazy Fast progress! What did you use to fill in the holes?

I used drywall joint compound. I wouldn't recommend it for situations where the cabs get moved around alot, but I've used it on my other home builds and it's fine and really easy to work with.

I've used bondo auto body filler on the subs that get used and abused. It's definitely better for durability, but it's not quite as easy to work with.

I use the Bondo in a tube....no mixing. Just squirt it out, level with a putty knife.....maybe do a second round if it settles a little, then sand and go.

Bruce Weldy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2026 10:32 am I use the Bondo in a tube....no mixing. Just squirt it out, level with a putty knife.....maybe do a second round if it settles a little, then sand and go.

Oh nice. I'll have to try that next time. I've always used the stuff you have to mix and it's a hassle to deal with.

Both are finally done! My wife asked to take this pic of me by it. She helped me carry it up from the basement to the main floor, but decided to wait on my teenage boys to get home to help carry it and the second one the rest of the way to the 2nd floor
They pretty much dwarf the max width T39's (that are for sale by the way! viewtopic.php?t=26897) I waited to put the drivers in till I got upstairs to make them easier to carry For now, they're both tucked in behind the TV with the mouths facing each other for a bit of coupling. Yes, I realize that there should be more space for proper placement and I wish I had another foot or two of space on the sides to push them out further. Once I got them in place, I regretted not building the front firing mouth version, but that ship has sailed. I plan on turning them with the mouth firing into the corners tonight to see what that sounds like.
I got them somewhat flat to do some testing with my miniDSP and a dayton measurement mic. Max output wise, they sound very similar to the T39's I had back there before, but with around 7-8hz lower extension. They're still dropping off a little quicker than I'd like below 30hz, but I'll play around with EQ more tonight. It's probably the placement, but they're too big to go anywhere else. I wondered if 15" drivers could help muscle out a few more db in that 20-30hz range, but I'll stick with the 12's for now. Regardless, it still sounds good where they currently are from the listening position and there are no major nulls/voids from 30-80hz, so I can't complain.

I played some movies. The race scene at the beginning of Ready Player One was especially impressive and made me smile hearing things I hadn't heard before. I put on some music and realized that my EQ needs some work. It's going to be hard to beat the T39's for music, but I think they'll sound similar after tuning.

Eventually my ears started to hurt from listening to stuff too loudly (yeah I know) and I called it quits for the night. The time where I put my head near the mouths during a loud movie scene probably wasn't the best idea

I'll get into it after work and try to get it dialed in more, but overall I'm happy and think they'll sound great after more tuning.

In that situation placing the mouths close together may not work as well as separating them, so experiment. 15s won't get more extension, only more output via more Vd, and I seriously doubt that more output is required.