[dtsdig]

Happy new year, fellas! My holiday break was spent wrapping up this "soundbar" build I had been working on for the den system in my brother's house. I actually built the MDF cabinet itself over 2 years ago when it was originally destined to be built as a mantle piece for his last house. Thankfully, I never finished it since he ended up moving not long after I started it. Double thankfully, the component stand that sits under the wall mounted 65" TV in his new house allowed me to keep the basic box as-is dimensionally. I worked hard to have this wrapped up before spending new years at their house so last week was quite a push.
The basic box had no woofer holes or anything cut into it. I've had the 3 Volt-8 kits and crossovers in boxes for 2 years. Luckily, I was able to locate everything after searching for a bit. haha.
I brought home one of the doors from his TV stand on one of the visits to his house this past year so that I would have something to match the finish of the speaker to. I selected a roll of paper backed Maple veneer from my local Woodcraft for the build. It seemed to match his TV stand's grain pattern pretty well.
Let's cut some holes!

Next, I had to figure out how the port holes should be laid out. I texted the two options to my brother and let him choose. On the last soundbar like this I did for a friend in 2016, I had the ports for the two outside woofers stacked like this:

My brother decided he wanted them all in a line, and so it was!

 

[dtsdig]

Continued cutting some port holes....

Grabbed some spray paint to quickly blackout the woofer holes. I later realized this was an unnecessary step since I ended up adding so many coats of stain, but that's ok. The box is also filled, sanded and ready for veneer here.

The veneering process went smoothly without any drama. It did take a while to pick out the grain patterns for each side because of the way the Woodcraft veneer was laid out. By the way, dimensions for this box are 11" tall x 12" deep x 58" wide with 3 individual equal size compartments for each Volt kit.

Putting an end piece on:

Veneer all done:

Next I had to make a jig to route out the recess for the Speakon. One thing I discovered from the first soundbar is that Neutrik makes an 8-pole unit which is perfect for this application. I am using 6 poles for this 3 channel setup. So clean and easy!
This is actually like the 3rd or 4th jig I've made for this process but I was never happy with any of the previous versions. I finally nailed it with this one. I just use my palm router and a 1/4" spiral bit bit and it creates a perfect square recess for Speakons!

Making test cuts:

The setup:

Results:

 

[dtsdig]

Another shot of the back after the Speakon hole was done:

Here's that Speakon all wired up.

Here's a pic of the door from his TV stand and a scrap of veneer with one coat of General Finishes Java gel stain on it. I thought that looked pretty close so I went with it.

And here's how it went! Sides done.

I skipped ahead a bit without taking more photos, unfortunately. Here is the finish after several coats of stain and General Finishes Arm-R-Seal which I have used several times now and highly recommend.
His TV stand has that distressed type of look so I did my best to match it.

 

[Mahuzz13]

Following along, looking forward to hear your thought on the sound.

I am assuming each driver is in it’s own cabinet?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jpmst3]

Wow! I really like this implementation! A beefed up soundbar could really come in handy for some.

Nice original build and execution!

 

[dtsdig]

Let's finish this up!

Crossovers soldered in and installed:

All done and installed in my brother's house! Turned out awesome and he was completely thrilled!

8-Pole Speakon with a custom cable made up for it.

My brother was one happy camper and I'm glad one of the several builds I am doing for him is complete. I installed a pretty basic Denon receiver for this setup and it sounds amazing. I am not sure if he is going to ask for surrounds in that room yet since it is basically only used for his 12 year old son to game and watch movies in, but we'll see. Unfortunately, there is no sub in that room at the moment so bass is lacking. When I complete his dual Ultimax 18" setup for his livingroom, the little 12" Klipsch sub that's up there will be moving downstairs to join the Volt soundbar.
Aside from the fancy finish, this was a really easy build that would be a major step up for a lot of people with smaller livingroom systems. I've said it before, but I really think the Volt-8s are the sweet spot among the DIYSG coaxes. Enjoy!

 

[jpmst3]

Damn! That looks great! Kudos! Saaaweeeet!

BTW, just in case you want to push it back further, there are some nice right angle Speakons out there.

 

[ghart999]

Sensational!!!

 

[dtsdig]

Damn! That looks great! Kudos! Saaaweeeet!

BTW, just in case you want to push it back further, there are some nice right angle Speakons out there.

Thanks!
For his setup there was no need to push it back further and having it where it is discourages anything else from being set on the table . Also, right angle cases are only available for 2 and 4 pole Speakons. The 8 pole body is a good bit larger.

 

[subacabra]

Super awesome! What's he powering it with?

 

[golden78]

looks gorgeous and matches well

 

[dtsdig]

Super awesome! What's he powering it with?

Just an entry level Denon avr. These don't need much to get to crazytown.

 

[joebuddyguy]

Awesome job man, you hit this one out of the park! I really like the work on the speakon recess...looks really professional! Arm-r-seal for the win; love that stuff.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

 

[dtsdig]

Awesome job man, you hit this one out of the park! I really like the work on the speakon recess...looks really professional! Arm-r-seal for the win; love that stuff.

Thanks, man! Now I am turning my attention back to my Concentric-8 build.

 

[Mahuzz13]

I know you have the speaker hooked up to the Denon avr but can you confirm that you have it hooked up to the LCR outs on the amp. Seems to me I should know this but I’m just trying to understand how this is getting it’s power.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dtsdig]

I know you have the speaker hooked up to the Denon avr but can you confirm that you have it hooked up to the LCR outs on the amp. Seems to me I should know this but I’m just trying to understand how this is getting it’s power.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, this is using the LCR channels of the AVR. Right now, it is a 3.0 system, soon to be 3.1 once we add a sub.

 

[Mahuzz13]

Thanks I figured but just wanted to confirm.
Amazing looking speaker thanks for coming up with this design quite inspiring.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[blister64]

Nice man. I really "dig" your build. Always do an excellent job with veneer work. I've never done veneer, more of a paint or bedliner guy, but you make me want to change that haha

 

[Trimlock]

This looks great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lovnblack]

Hi Dtsdig, I sent you a pm a few days ago. Could you read my message?

Thanx in advance