NHT Speaker Clone Project: VR-3 - Page 3

Well, I'm pleased to say that my center channel is 100% done. The tweeter was not hard to install, it went pretty easy. As long as you don't put too much pressure on it with the final screw, it should be just fine.

The hardest part of the final assemble is actually the main crossover. The 2 screws behind the inner chamber are pretty hard to get. A stubby screw driver won't fit.

I ended up using a small socket driver. I put a 1/4" socket in it, then a quick attach phillips head tip fit in the end of the socket. That allowed me to get back in there, but it's tight.

My recommendation is to use a hex head, or some other type of screw on those 2 besides a flat head or philips head.....that way a plain socket will work pretty easy.

My luck.....I didn't have any (#6)- 3/4" hex heads available....so I had to rough it!



I'll go into more details on the wiring later, I'm going to finish up one of the mains right now. Photos to come.

Alright, this photo isn't the best but I just wanted to show you guys how nice this is coming along. Obviously, the enclosure is BLACK, not the brownish/gold color that my camera rendered! My kitchen has different types of lights and it's nearly impossible to get good photos.

Regardless.....I can't believe I'm almost done and that I built something this nice, especially being my first speaker build.

I'll get better photos tomorrow showing the accurate colors if I can . This is one of the mains, of course. I don't have pictures of the center channel yet, and I still need to finish up the other main speaker.

Check it out so far!

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm very pleased with the look right now. The extra thick coat of Rustoleum really made them look better than I thought.

Drew, I did try to adjust the white balance a bit. The problem is that I forgot to turn off one set of lights. Right above the speaker are halogen lights, and to the left are incandescents that were switched out with those newer flourescent bulbs. So I'll have to try to do a manual white balance like you mentioned........or take the photos outside!

Before I forget, I wanted to give a thanks to Mr. PassingInterest. He mailed me a tube of thermal paste for free that I couldn't seem to find at Lowes/Home Depot. I thought that was pretty nice, and certainly allowed me to get them done over the weekend. It was needed between the tweeter and the heatsink. I really appreciated it.


I got some better photos today.

Front view:





Side view: I got lucky, no seams or lines!





Back view: Looks like I need to do some dusting already.....





And a closeup of the roundover area:

And here's the finished center channel. I think you can see a hint of blue in these photos. What do you think?





Here's why there's a little blue color. I painted them blue prior to the hammered look so some of it came through like I was hoping. I could have had more blue show if I didn't put it on so thick.

I hope this photos shows the small amount of blue: Some areas had more blue than others I think.

Thanks Penngray. I took my time on each step, I think that's why they came out so well. Plus the Rustoleum paint went better than I had hoped.

I only hooked up the center channel so far because the other main speaker needs to get fully finished this evening.

The center channel get's extremely loud and that's with just my Denon 987. I only listened for a few minutes but the first thing I noticed was that the voices sounded awesome. It smokes my Polk center channel (Csi-4 I think). I'm hoping to get the mains hooked up tonight, but I don't have any stands just yet.

Well, I finally got time away from work to get some photos of these in place. I built some speaker stands that could hold their weight, which is over 50lbs each. I'll need to start a thread on those because they turned out pretty nice and were cheap and sturdy too. I may change the top platform a bit, but they are still nice.

Okay, now I'm not 100% sure I have these set up exactly right just yet. The manual for the Evolution speakers says to put the tweeter towards the inside of the room, but I think Jack said they should go towards the outside wall.

But what I can say is that these VR-3 speakers beat the crap out of my Polk rti-8's. Much louder and cleaner too. I have no worries about hurting them with the current power they're getting from my Denon 987, which I think is 110 watts, but that's an 8 Ohm rating, these are 6 Ohm speakers. I may eventually get an Emotiva amp.

I know they sound cleaner because I was listening to a song, and realized that what I thought the lyrics were for part of it was WRONG! I felt a bit stupid at that point, but oh well. I'm very pleased with the outcome and of course my upgrade sickness has been cured for this room. I have to hide all the wires and build a stand for the center channel though.






A closer shot: (I'm thinking about making the top platform on the stand square versus round)

Thanks guys, I'm glad I got most of it finished before I got too busy at work.

HornsKeith, I have them crossed over at the same place I had my Polks at, which I believe is 90hz. I'm sure that will change. I still need to fine tune the whole thing, which will make them sound even better. And I will go ahead and change the top platform on the speaker stands.



So what do you gusy think about the tweeter placement? Should I change the left and right mains so that the tweeters are facing out? I'm sure there's a difference, but by the time I get everything moved and set back up, I won't really be able to "remember" how it sounded the other way.