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My Zaph 2.5MMTMM build

post #1 of 21
5/22/12 at 4:51pm
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A couple pics to get opinions... on anything I am doing or should be doing.
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post #2 of 21
5/22/12 at 4:56pm
Nice! I really like the look of the mmtmm design.
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post #3 of 21
5/22/12 at 5:56pm
Looking good! I'm quite surprised more DIYers didn't
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post #4 of 21
5/22/12 at 9:55pm
More clamps, less glue
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post #5 of 21
5/23/12 at 5:25am
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LB thanks for the tip.
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post #6 of 21
5/23/12 at 8:41am
good stuff. what's your finishing plan? paint, veneer, etc...?

i don't remember the details of that variant. is that two ports in a single chamber or will that be two different chambers?
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post #7 of 21
5/27/12 at 8:08pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowpolyjoe View Post

good stuff. what's your finishing plan? paint, veneer, etc...?

i don't remember the details of that variant. is that two ports in a single chamber or will that be two different chambers?

i am going to paint it two tone... dark red baffle and black cabinet.

it is a single cabinet with 2 ports
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post #8 of 21
5/30/12 at 5:46pm
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Some more pics....

they came out pretty good considering ... I am doing it.
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post #9 of 21
6/4/12 at 5:49am
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got some more work done this weekend.

Rounded over the rear baffle and did a 45 degree chamfer on the front.
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post #10 of 21
6/4/12 at 6:03am
Looking good. I did the MTM center channel of Zaphs ZAW1408 and was very impressed with the driver.
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post #11 of 21
6/4/12 at 7:25am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jinjuku View Post

Looking good. I did the MTM center channel of Zaphs ZAW1408 and was very impressed with the driver.

What stood out to you ? I am going to build a center with those drivers as well.
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post #12 of 21
6/4/12 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fschris View Post

What stood out to you ? I am going to build a center with those drivers as well.

Under critical listening the ZA14W08 was of a more revealing/higher resolving speaker than the ZDT3.5 center channel.

As an example in the Tomb scene in LOTR were Gandalf is flipping the pages in the book there simply is a more crisp note to it and the debris falling off the page onto to the floor more defined.

Now that center channel didn't have the raw output of the ZDT3.5's...
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post #13 of 21
6/6/12 at 1:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jinjuku View Post


Under critical listening the ZA14W08 was of a more revealing/higher resolving speaker than the ZDT3.5 center channel.


As an example in the Tomb scene in LOTR were Gandalf is flipping the pages in the book there simply is a more crisp note to it and the debris falling off the page onto to the floor more defined.


Now that center channel didn't have the raw output of the ZDT3.5's...

Thanks for the info. I will pairing these with a Emotiva XPA-3 so I look foward to it. I am currently using some tiny Energy speakers from the Take5.1 Line up. The zaph should blow this away!
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post #14 of 21
12/29/12 at 8:08am
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I did get these done and I thought i would throw a picture up for people to see....

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post #15 of 21
12/29/12 at 8:10am
Thread Starter 
Some more pics



Some perspective on size with 52 inch plasma. Its time to build a new center!

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post #16 of 21
12/29/12 at 8:26am
Well done!!
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post #17 of 21
12/29/12 at 9:44am
Very nice! How'd you get the mirror finish?
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post #18 of 21
12/29/12 at 12:38pm
Ok, those are SHARP looking speakers.
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post #19 of 21
12/29/12 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
i used rustoleum professional spray enamel. they are shiny but I actually used the semi gloss. I could not imagine how glossy they would be using the full gloss. also you really need to hide every imperfection of the surface you are applying this too. i learned the hard way and i probably spent way to long trying to get them to look half way decent. i painted them in my garage and i hung plastic from the ceiling to make myself a little spray booth. it is very messy and the fumes are bad as well. it does come out nice once you get the hang of it. i am even going to re do my subs that i built... with that spray.
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post #20 of 21
12/29/12 at 2:33pm
Looks good, I like the contrasting baffle color! I've always thought that most commercial speakers either look incredibly bland to blend in with every home, or try to "stand out" and look ridiculous. One of my favorite parts of DIY is getting to build things to my own taste, regardless of how "marketable" it would be. So good job - they really fit with the room, while still having some pop.

I've built a few of Zaph's designs and always found them very well thought out. I don't think he's ever designed a bad speaker (at least, he hasn't PUBLISHED a bad speaker). I'm just starting the ZA5 based center channel myself, and looking forward to getting it going with my ZDT3.5 powered mains.

Do you have any acoustic impressions for us? How are they sounding compared to your last speakers?

As for painting, now that you've gotten used to the most important aspect (prep, prep, prep) you should consider getting into sprayed automotive-style urethane paints. An Astro LVLP spray gun can be run on a moderately sized air compressor, and the range of primers and single-stage urethanes available for spraying is incredible. For the same amount of prep time you can get a really impressive finish.

-Sam
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post #21 of 21
12/29/12 at 6:58pm
Thread Starter 
thanks sam. i will very much look into a spray system in the future. as far as previous speakers. i was using the energy take 5.1 classic system! so you can see I made a huge step up. they sound 1000% better. I can also tell they sound better than anything i have heard in best buy of course! i love this DIY stuff. The performance, value and pride knowing I built something is well worth it. I enjoy Movies and music. I even just listen to these without my sub sometimes in a pure 2 channel set up. They sound nice and smooth.

Funny you mention the ZDT3.5 as I believe that will be my next build. So I also need to build a center and I thought why not just build the ZD3 "C" to match the future build ! I figure I could maybe move these TT's to surround duty after the ZDT3.5's are built. Do you have any pics of your 3.5's?
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