DR200 (x4) Build Thread

[LelandCrooks]

Take a pic of the adjustable hats in those please. I didn't think they would fit in a 200.

Nice, btw.

[David Carter]

Take a pic of the adjustable hats in those please. I didn't think they would fit in a 200.

They fit--barely. But I'm definitely not able to move them back far enogh to line up with the cab's COG. I also wonder how much the response is affected by the significant amount of internal volume they occupy inside the chamber. I'll try to get pics today or tomorrow.

[Scott Brochu]

Well done

You must be relieved they're done?
Although something you put your heart and soul into, you must be sad at the same time.
That's how I felt when I got my Wedges done. I got to do another project first but I wanna get started on my 200's. That will get my attention for at least a few months considering it is my first DR build.

[David Carter]

Well done

You must be relieved they're done?

Thanks, but it's a little premature yet. I have not installed the arrays yet. They were just sitting in place for the picture. I also haven't installed the drivers, installed the hurricane nuts for the access covers, installed the top hats (just did the routing of the access covers), etc. I also decided to take off the plastic corners and send them back to Leland in exchange for the smaller version.

So, I'm getting much closer, but given how my schedule looks this week, I'm probably still a week or so away from tying a bow around them!

Then, after I finish them, I've got to figure out how/where to do some RTA-ing of the whole rig. Been reading up on it and asking question, but I've never done it before.

[David Carter]

Made a little more progress...

Decided to pull off the plastic corners and get the smaller version from Leland, so I filled the screw holes and sanded down the boxes again...



Rolled on a second coat of Duratex and installed corners (corners were not on yet in these pics)...





Installed the adjustable top hats into the bottom access covers of two of the cabs...

[Scott Brochu]

David, forgive me if you mentioned this but what is the recess that sits where the butt checks are. Right behind the access door?

[David Carter]

David, forgive me if you mentioned this but what is the recess that sits where the butt checks are. Right behind the access door?

Actually, I didn't mention it. I was kinda waiting to see if anyone would ask.

My plan is to build some wooden supports to sit in between the top and bottom cabs to eliminate the splay angle when stacking them atop my speaker stands (inspired by the pics in this thread). The recessed area on the top and bottom of the cabs is for the support to sit in so that it won't slide. I'm also going to attach the supports with thumbscrews to the cabs, but I figured the recess would allow for quick and easy positioning and would take some of the stress off the thumbscrews. I haven't made the supports yet, so I hope it works as well in real life as it does in my mind...

[LelandCrooks]

As light as 200's are it probably doesn't matter, but doesn't the in the access panel make them front heavy? With 250's I install them directly under the baffle.

[David Carter]

As light as 200's are it probably doesn't matter, but doesn't the in the access panel make them front heavy?

I'll find out pretty soon. If it doesn't work out, I'll just have to cut new access covers and figure out something else.

With 250's I install them directly under the baffle.

I shifted it as far back as I could without taking a significant chunk out of the bottom of the baffle. As you know these things are a lot bulkier than a standard tophat. On my DR250's I had them in the bottom access cover, and it worked out OK, but those were neo drivers. These DR200's have the Delta Pro 8B's which feel like they significantly outweigh the 2510.

I got a couple of pics this morning with the tophat/access covers installed to give a better idea of how much space they take up inside the cab, but I've gotta run to work right now, so I'll post them later.

[David Carter]

I got a couple of pics this morning with the tophat/access covers installed to give a better idea of how much space they take up inside the cab, but I've gotta run to work right now, so I'll post them later.

[David Carter]

I installed my Delta Pro 8B drivers in the DR200's last night and bolted them down. I tightened them a bit at a time going around to opposing corners until they were nice and snug. I noticed after I had tightened them down that the corners of the square frames (which have no gasket material under them) had bent down as I tightened down the drivers. In the pic below, but you can see the gasket under the frame in the middle, but at the corners, the metal frame is within a hair's width of touching the wood spacer.

I hooked each box up to my amp, ran a 30Hz tone through each one and listened around the edges of the driver for air leaks and didn't hear any.

Do I need to be concerned about the bent frames?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Do I need to be concerned about the bent frames?

I bet if you look at them again now the gasket will have compressed more and they're not bent so much.

[Scott Brochu]

[quote="David Carter [/quote]
Sorry David I don't think these are going to work Speakers are mounted upside down.

[David Carter]

Sorry David I don't think these are going to work Speakers are mounted upside down.

You laugh, but I'm so obsessive about some things, that this actually bothered me when I saw it! But since the filters are mounted to the top access cover (not shown it the pic), I wanted to mount the driver with the tabs on top which forced me into "upside down" mode.

[DaveK]

With 250's I install them directly under the baffle.

I shifted it as far back as I could without taking a significant chunk out of the bottom of the baffle. As you know these things are a lot bulkier than a standard tophat. On my DR250's I had them in the bottom access cover, and it worked out OK, but those were neo drivers. These DR200's have the Delta Pro 8B's which feel like they significantly outweigh the 2510.

I think you're going to end up back heavy with the hats where you have them. My DR200 tophats go right through the baffle. I marked the balance point with the driver and array installed, then drilled at that spot. I used a hole saw to make a shaft through the baffle for the tophat.

I don't have access covers in my DR200s, but the tophat would overlap the bottom cover if I did.