I posted this over at HT and PE but some folks told me to post them here as well. Want to thank John Krutke of Zaph Audio for the design and to my buddy Stangbat for his help.....Any questions shoot away. I will post some more pics later.
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Finished ZDT3.5 including CC *Pics*
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334 Posts
Again, very beautiful work on these. And the feet that we came across on ebay don't look too shabby either. Love the CC.
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50 Posts
Yup. Still think these look great. Good Job!
I didn't write the dimensions down. Just test cut till they fit. Altho, Stangbat most likely knows these numbers. I will ask him and get back to you on that.
This is a 2 chamber design. The bottom woofer gets its own chamber. I do remember somewhere that Krutke noting that going w/a single chamber would work.
I didn't write the dimensions down. Just test cut till they fit. Altho, Stangbat most likely knows these numbers. I will ask him and get back to you on that.
This is a 2 chamber design. The bottom woofer gets its own chamber. I do remember somewhere that Krutke noting that going w/a single chamber would work.
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214 Posts
Can I ask what the approximate cost for each speaker was?
The diameters are on PE's site and they are correct. I looked at my test cuts and it appears that the woofer is 3/16" recessed. The mid is 1/8" recessed. I don't have good calipers to accurately measure, but eyeballing with a tape makes me think these are the right recesses.
One tip with the cutouts for the drivers is to do the recess cut with a 3/4" bit and adjust your circle jig to take the larger bit into account (the Jasper Jigs are marked for a 1/4" bit). This will let you get the flat area cut in one pass. Then punch through with a 1/4" bit. It does mean a bit change, but it is quicker in the long run.
Also check out blktre's threads at the HT Guide DIY forum and the PE forum. There's lots of good info there and too much to repeat here. His threads are still on the first page. I built these before they were the PE featured project using the Aura tweeter (ZDT3), and there is a thread about them on the HT Guide forum but it is buried a ways.
Edit: BTW, Here is my build.
The diameters are on PE's site and they are correct. I looked at my test cuts and it appears that the woofer is 3/16" recessed. The mid is 1/8" recessed. I don't have good calipers to accurately measure, but eyeballing with a tape makes me think these are the right recesses.
One tip with the cutouts for the drivers is to do the recess cut with a 3/4" bit and adjust your circle jig to take the larger bit into account (the Jasper Jigs are marked for a 1/4" bit). This will let you get the flat area cut in one pass. Then punch through with a 1/4" bit. It does mean a bit change, but it is quicker in the long run.
Also check out blktre's threads at the HT Guide DIY forum and the PE forum. There's lots of good info there and too much to repeat here. His threads are still on the first page. I built these before they were the PE featured project using the Aura tweeter (ZDT3), and there is a thread about them on the HT Guide forum but it is buried a ways.
Edit: BTW, Here is my build.
Stangbat and I went by Krutkes "Design Mantras" on his web page.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/mantras.html
Rattle can Rustoleum Textured Black believe it or not. The texture is very forgiving and makes a nice finish.....
Krutkes Quote from the page.......
"I finish most of my baffles with black Rustoleum texture finish. Before that I'll use sanding sealer on bare MDF, and I'll do about 5 coats of it on the edges with 1 or 2 coats on the face. Sand it all smooth before painting. Depending on how well I seal the edges, I'll likely need two coats of texture finish. Then finally I'll put a single clear coat over that for a for a bit of smoothness that makes wiping dust off easier."
Thanks Stang, id forgotten that there was some plans on the PE site.
TheEar......Thanks for the kind words......
Stangbat and I went by Krutkes "Design Mantras" on his web page.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/mantras.html
Rattle can Rustoleum Textured Black believe it or not. The texture is very forgiving and makes a nice finish.....
Krutkes Quote from the page.......
"I finish most of my baffles with black Rustoleum texture finish. Before that I'll use sanding sealer on bare MDF, and I'll do about 5 coats of it on the edges with 1 or 2 coats on the face. Sand it all smooth before painting. Depending on how well I seal the edges, I'll likely need two coats of texture finish. Then finally I'll put a single clear coat over that for a for a bit of smoothness that makes wiping dust off easier."
Thanks Stang, id forgotten that there was some plans on the PE site.
TheEar......Thanks for the kind words......
You will. Just take your time and do test cut and fits and you will do good....
Yea, im in the process of building grills now. The large headed hex baffle attachment bolts is what will be used to attach the grill using magnets......
You will. Just take your time and do test cut and fits and you will do good....
Yea, im in the process of building grills now. The large headed hex baffle attachment bolts is what will be used to attach the grill using magnets......
I like to say, I will take the time but in the end its not going to happen all my sub builds are prove that
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If I want a truely comercial finish I should just buy my boxes but I shall see.
Will you document your grills? I would love to follow that.
I like to say, I will take the time but in the end its not going to happen all my sub builds are prove that
If I want a truely comercial finish I should just buy my boxes but I shall see.
Will you document your grills? I would love to follow that.
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104 Posts
Outstanding workmanship. Just outstanding.
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I didn't document my grill construction, but here is the end result and what I used. The grills are of course removed for serious listening, but they (hopefully) help keep little fingers from messing with the drivers. The WAF for these speakers is already high, but the grill help even more.
The finished product on my ZDT3s:
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What I used for the sides and cross braces:
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On the right is the cross brace material, it is 1/2" x 3/4" actual dimensions. The round is not a quarter round, I don't know what the correct name is. It is 7/16" x 11/16". The triangular corner pieces (seen below) are just 1/2" thick pine that I cut to size. Recess the cross and triangular corner braces a little bit so that when the fabric stretches across the grill you don't get the braces pushing up on the fabric. All wood for the frame is glued together with Tightbond wood glue.
The grills are held in place against the baffle mounting bolts with the neodymium magnets PE sells, P/N 329-045 . I drilled holes for them and sunk them, then placed the green felt over the magnets to avoid scuffing the bolt heads. You'll need to glue the magnets in place as they will pull out of the wood. They are strong suckers.
I spray painted the frame black so that the wood wouldn't show through the cloth. The cloth is held in place with hot melt glue. I ran a bead of glue and then pressed the fabric to the glue. Blktre suggested that upholstery adhesive may work well. The hardest part is the corners. You need to cut the fabric so that it rounds the corner with no seams or bunching, and you have to cut and trim it on the back so that it doesn't bunch up.
The back:
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Trust me, from the front they look very nice. The back could look a little better and isn't up to my normal anal retentive obsession with detail.
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I didn't document my grill construction, but here is the end result and what I used. The grills are of course removed for serious listening, but they (hopefully) help keep little fingers from messing with the drivers. The WAF for these speakers is already high, but the grill help even more.
The finished product on my ZDT3s:
What I used for the sides and cross braces:
On the right is the cross brace material, it is 1/2" x 3/4" actual dimensions. The round is not a quarter round, I don't know what the correct name is. It is 7/16" x 11/16". The triangular corner pieces (seen below) are just 1/2" thick pine that I cut to size. Recess the cross and triangular corner braces a little bit so that when the fabric stretches across the grill you don't get the braces pushing up on the fabric. All wood for the frame is glued together with Tightbond wood glue.
The grills are held in place against the baffle mounting bolts with the neodymium magnets PE sells, P/N 329-045 . I drilled holes for them and sunk them, then placed the green felt over the magnets to avoid scuffing the bolt heads. You'll need to glue the magnets in place as they will pull out of the wood. They are strong suckers.
I spray painted the frame black so that the wood wouldn't show through the cloth. The cloth is held in place with hot melt glue. I ran a bead of glue and then pressed the fabric to the glue. Blktre suggested that upholstery adhesive may work well. The hardest part is the corners. You need to cut the fabric so that it rounds the corner with no seams or bunching, and you have to cut and trim it on the back so that it doesn't bunch up.
The back:
Trust me, from the front they look very nice. The back could look a little better and isn't up to my normal anal retentive obsession with detail.
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5,151 Posts
Absolutely beautiful speaker! I would dearly love to built a pair myself, and have actually been looking for a design like this for a while. Unless I'm mistaken those are Dayton Reference woofers.
BUT, and this is a big BUT, I don't like the rear ports. I recently purchase some rear ported JBL's. I've got them about 10" from the back wall, and at that distance, they sound terrible. So, I plugged the ports with some foam which improved them noticeably. But what is the point of having the ports if the average person has to plug them?
I've been told that rear ported speakers need to be Minimum 0.5 meters (19" to 20") from the back wall, and Minimum 1.0 meter (39" to 40") from the side walls to allow the ports to 'unload' with no interference with the front.
That's fine if you have a living room the size of an auditorium, but for a more average living room/media room, speaker encroaching 20" into the living space is not very practical.
In the above example, the lower 0.5-way section could be ported in the front, but the upper 3-way section doesn't have enough room on the front to do so. I guess other than having no room on the front, I can't think of any reason why I would rear port a speaker system. More likely, I would adjust the cabinet dimensions to make room on the front.
So, enough of my whining.
I do have a question, on the drawings, it seems to show a section 8.3" up from the bottom. Is that a lower chamber, or is that section at 8.3" simply a brace?
If it's a lower chamber, that would mean the cabinet could be a few inches shorter? Yes? No?
Still, all-in-all that looks like one sweet speaker.
Steve/bluewizard
BUT, and this is a big BUT, I don't like the rear ports. I recently purchase some rear ported JBL's. I've got them about 10" from the back wall, and at that distance, they sound terrible. So, I plugged the ports with some foam which improved them noticeably. But what is the point of having the ports if the average person has to plug them?
I've been told that rear ported speakers need to be Minimum 0.5 meters (19" to 20") from the back wall, and Minimum 1.0 meter (39" to 40") from the side walls to allow the ports to 'unload' with no interference with the front.
That's fine if you have a living room the size of an auditorium, but for a more average living room/media room, speaker encroaching 20" into the living space is not very practical.
In the above example, the lower 0.5-way section could be ported in the front, but the upper 3-way section doesn't have enough room on the front to do so. I guess other than having no room on the front, I can't think of any reason why I would rear port a speaker system. More likely, I would adjust the cabinet dimensions to make room on the front.
So, enough of my whining.
I do have a question, on the drawings, it seems to show a section 8.3" up from the bottom. Is that a lower chamber, or is that section at 8.3" simply a brace?
If it's a lower chamber, that would mean the cabinet could be a few inches shorter? Yes? No?
Still, all-in-all that looks like one sweet speaker.
Steve/bluewizard
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