DR 200 build, yep even the shameful pictures

[hilo4noff]

Eminence speakers: Wow are these nice, the delta pro feels like picking up a bowling ball with the old school monster magnet, and the kappalites, even at the 15" size have the lower weight but still amazing looking construction and quality.

I'm VERY happy to have chosen the recommended drivers for these speakers. The 8" deltapros even have a big rubber guard completely enclosing the magnet. (damage proofing) I didn't expect that! Keep in mind that I haven't bought raw speakers in 20 years.

They appear to be very well built.

Thank you Eminence!

[hilo4noff]

I might need some advice on breaking the speakers in. So, I get the whole process, my question is what position do I set my multimeter on (DC..?) and then slowly turn up the signal to the recommended break in voltage, mark that position on the volume knob and then hook up the speaker. Then return the volume back up to the mark, and verify the current across the speakers terminals while it's breaking in. Does that sound about correct?

I thought I better verify this first as I've never done anything like this before, hell I've only used my multimeter twice to fix appliances.

Thanks for the help.

[ripNdeb]

I might need some advice on breaking the speakers in. So, I get the whole process, my question is what position do I set my multimeter on (DC..?) and then slowly turn up the signal to the recommended break in voltage, mark that position on the volume knob and then hook up the speaker. Then return the volume back up to the mark, and verify the current across the speakers terminals while it's breaking in. Does that sound about correct?

I thought I better verify this first as I've never done anything like this before, hell I've only used my multimeter twice to fix appliances.

Thanks for the help.

Set the meter on AC. Run the sine wave at the recommended frequency and turn up the volume until the desired voltage (alternating current voltage) is reached. Keep the back of the driver open, or unblocked, so it 'breathes' freely. Shouldn't make more than a low hum.

[lincsoldbird]

Yes I,ve built all 6 off DR280,s with 2x 3mm ply for the horn. works well and as you have to buy it for the back it save buying any 1/4 ply

[hilo4noff]

Alright, got all the inner horn sides on, and removed the screws and filled the holes with the pl. I'm thinking that pl might be a better glue than even the epoxy I used on the hurricane nuts. One of them already came loose from being glued down to the plywood. Maybe they had a touch of manufacturing oil on them or something. I could have hit them with carb cleaner I suppose to make sure they were oil free... Something to consider

Bills idea of cutting the 1/8 inch birch to rough dimensions and then bending them up with string deserves the toast of the day. That was a cinch and just an old ball cotton string seems plenty strong. If I can remember back to boy scouts I used a slip not for the first circle then wrapped about 7 to 10 times around and then tied a couple half hitches at the end to attach the end to another wrap.

Then it's easy enough to kind of adjust the squareness of the flex by moving the strings up or down. I've got everything in the drive to soak up the heat of the sun today. It's getting down to 30 something at night now.

I left the cut pieces out there while I was working on the trailer (before bending) and they kind of tell you which way they're going to want to bend, so this time, I'm not fighting the wood, I'm convincing it of it's willingness to be part of my speakers.

[Tom Smit]

I'm not fighting the wood, I'm convincing it of it's willingness to be part of my speakers.

That made me laugh.

[hilo4noff]

The only thing more tedious than 8 hours sanding and scraping the pl off the area where the side horn braces go, would be to read about sanding and scraping the pl off that area. So to make a long story short... WOW! what a day of knuckle scraping, pl dust inhaling, hand exhausting work.

I decided to go ahead and clean up the sides of the horns (where the side braces get installed) because it might be a pain to try and do this after they are installed. So as I got each speaker cleaned up and sanded perty, I went ahead and installed the side braces as I went.

Although this was a very long Sunday, I realized along the way somewhere, that this is actually the first finish work to reach into my magic hat of shitty cuts, mixed scraps of wood and overzealous petrified adhesive seems to extract a dr 200 from the chaos. So, although long and tedious, it was a day of starting to see something wonderful taking shape.

I had cut the side braces way back when, trying to get all the pieces cut and big sheets out of the middle of my garage, so today we got to install 1 of 2 remaining stacks of cut pieces to go.

[hilo4noff]

I'm not sure why they didn't fit all pretty, maybe I didn't deduct for the 1/4" horn thickness... whatever! Any way taking pictures today helped get feeling back in my hands so I photo journalisted the procedure that worked for me.

The first picture shows how ill fitting the rough cut pieces were. So, I lined them up with the rear pieces and raised them up till the but joint looked closed at the rear of the side brace, then threw a clamp on there to hold it in place. Then took a scrap of 1/2" ply and cut a little groove in it for the pen to ride and just pushed the pen and wood block down the horn to trace it's curvature onto the rough side brace. Then jig saw out.

Next re-clamp the newly matching curved side brace back on to horn to get some marks for the outside edge of the side brace to line up with the top and bottom of cabinet. By laying a strait edge across the top and bottom of the speakers and then mark on side brace, front and back.

Connect those lines and cut off on little saw sled.

Then RECHECK finished piece, in place again with the strait edge to see if gremlins switched speakers or something while your back was turned. Couldn't have been bozo cut, must have been gremlins or sneaky wife.

[hilo4noff]

More pictures of the scribing and trimming. Then what worked for me was to go ahead and trace the side brace in place on the speaker horn after checking for distance from ceiling of speaker. Then remove, add pl, replace, add cauls on rear, then shoot a couple of 18 guage pins through the side brace into the horn, just to keep that end from skating around.

Then check for square or perpendicular to horn.

Right before that I added a scrap of wood attached to the top and bottom pieces and over the front end of the side brace so when I got it all squared up, I put a pin in it to through the scrap piece to keep it so.

Then repeat on other side and clamp both together for curing. Not too bad overall and they are looking good.

8 to 9 hours today sanding and installing the side braces. This just may be the longest woodworking day I've done so far.

I also have a new respect for Jesus, as he was a carpenter B.pl.

[LelandCrooks]

The side braces are never fun. No matter how many you've built.

[hilo4noff]

Let's see, I got all the 1/8" applied to the butt shape. The key to that was one at a time making sure that when wrapped all the way around to the outside surface it was still centered on the speaker. The first one I didn't verify that first and was off center by about a 1/4". No matter, that little oops will be covered under the side piece. If you were to go 16.5 by 17.5 rough cutouts it would never be an issue.

On the 5 by 5 piece of 1/8" baltic birch, I got 3 by 3 pieces out of it with about an 8 inch strip left over from both sides. So if one did want to go a touch bigger, you'd still have plenty without having to buy more.

On the trimming of those pieces, I used the small bastard saw (jig saw) still with the metal cutting blade in it to trim off what I could with that one because I could get really close to keep an eye on steering the blade. It seemed that it wanted to travel up out of the pl bead. Keeping it in the pl bead was close enough without gouging down into the top or bottom. And that left a couple of minutes of sanding with the orbital and 60 grit. For the center, where the jig saw couldn't get to, my cordless sawzall with a long blade did the trick. (once again though with the finer tooth metal blade) That beast take 2 hands to operate, that's why I went with the smaller guy for all that I could.

Now it's time to make a decision on the sides... I want the handles and cleaner look the full sides provide. What's that going to add... a couple more pounds or so? I've also got an idea about a super simple like elevator dowel part in each side that would be held taut by like a thick rubber band and could be thumb activated from inside the handles to lock at one click to raise the rear up for stacking. I'll have to sketch it out to see how I can do it. IT also can't rattle around when not engaged. My other thought was the wedge block by pl-ing in some of those rare earth magnets that are in the child safety cabinet latches, then add a couple of electrical box knock out slugs glued into the wedges... maybe just a 1/16" of an inch recess in the cab bottom would keep it located... Any ideas are welcome.

Thinking ahead to the finish, I want to use the black rubber stuff suggested, I can't think of the name off hand, but would a sanding sealer be appropriate to use on the arraco plywood, before the rubberized stuff? To avoid the grain coming through? Or am i going to have to bondo the whole exterior? Once again, thanks for the help and your experience.

Oh, damn! Those t-48's are flying together compared to the slow process of the dr's all this time.

[Grey Owl]

I really admire your patience and cheerful determination to see this through.
The end result, although painful on your journet through, will I'm sure make you deliriously happy.
Cheeers

[LelandCrooks]

Duratex. No primer needed. It does not hurt to paint the cab black first, just saves some product. But I just apply a very thin coat for a primer, and don't worry about grain on it. Then put on a couple of finish coats. One to hide the grain, the last for whatever texture I want the cab to be.

[Tom Smit]

Duratex. No primer needed. It does not hurt to paint the cab black first, just saves some product. But I just apply a very thin coat for a primer, and don't worry about grain on it. Then put on a couple of finish coats. One to hide the grain, the last for whatever texture I want the cab to be.

OP, are you using PL Premium? If so, paint the joints first to cover the PL before applying the Duratex.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The side braces are never fun. No matter how many you've built.

They're fun when they're done.