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Completed Pictures of Tempests, stands and UXL-18 on post 53.
Piano Black Fusion 8 MTM
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I didn’t glue the front pieces together again, it creates a double seam on the top which is annoying, I try to put all my seams on the bottom, back and on the inside front piece now.
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I’ve stopped trying to cut pieces perfectly and fit them together, I find it is IMPOSSIBLE to get them to line up perfect, so I cut them with overhang and flush trim. I would have flush trimmed this box if I knew at the time that I had a flush trim bit that came in my MLCS router bit set… haha
This box was definitely better than the first sub box I ever built, I used wood screws and had to drill and fill probably 100 holes… I use a brad nailer now.
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I made a big mistake using wood filler, it sucks. I also sanded it with too high of a grit sandpaper (220 grit) and did not use a sanding block. Now I use a drywall block that takes a half sheet to sand, and I sand filler at 80 grit so it actually goes flat. The way I sanded this box basically rounded everything over and polished it instead of actually making it straight. I also suspect that the wood filler absorbs moisture from the wood and from the primer which caused seams to show through this past winter.
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Painted with a brush and Zinsser bin primer sealer (shellac base). I kept sanding through the primer hitting the high spots from the wood filler. I probably put too many coats of primer on trying to make it perfect. I'm going to paint my speaker stands with Zinsser, but I will spray it this time and I used Bondo, so I will see if the seam problem is Zinsser’s fault or the wood filler’s. I used 220 grit to sand, it worked well, left it pretty smooth but took enough paint off.
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3 coats of Rustoleom black lacquer from a spray can. I have no idea why I painted the bottom of the speaker piano black, I should have just did one coat of random black paint and left it. It caused a lot of problems now that I think about it, because I kept rotating the speaker so I was painting it horizontally. So paint would get chipped off if I turned it over before it was fully dry, and I always put too thick of paint so it dripped sometimes when I turned it.
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Made a grill with square dowels and L brackets to hold it together and double as the magnet connection. I don’t think I would do a grill like this again, it doesn’t hold as strong as I would like. It’s never fallen off, but I can just touch it and shift it. It also looks kind of weird on a roundover. I was going to make grills for my tempests, but I think I will leave them bare this time, as there is no room on the Tempest’s baffles for a grill, and it’s already rounded over so a grill wouldn’t look right. I'm going to embed magnets just in case, for the future.
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It gets dusty a lot. It takes like 3 seconds to dust with a microfibre cloth though.
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Picture from the front, the flash made it really blue for some reason.
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You can see the seam showing through, again picture is blue from the flash. There are seams on the top, and both sides that appeared in the winter when it was super dry. Now that it's summer and humid they have mostly gone away, though you can see them if you look really close. Hopefully the urethane paint and Bondo I am using on my tempests and UXL will not do this. I don't think it will. I was going to try to fix the seams, but after thinking about it for a while I would have to sand the entire speaker flat ( because I didn't do it properly originally) and then would have to completely re-paint it. I will do it at some point, but I'm busy this summer with the Tempests and UXL and only have exactly enough paint for them. When I build another UXL in the future I'll fix this speaker.
I didn't brace the Fusion 8 MTM and I just put a single Walmart pillow on the inside for stuffing. I used a double baffle even though it didn't need it, so I think it's fine without bracing. I also think I didn't use the gasket tape, but the parts fit in so tight they are definitely sealed, no air comes out other than through the ports. I won't be able to get the drivers or waveguide out without severely damaging the box. I just mounted the crossover on cardboard and glued it in the box, I like using cardboard as I can build a complete crossover in about 10 minutes total.
I wet sanded the paint in between with 400 grit. I finished it with 800 grit, 1000 grit, 1500 grit, Meguiar's polishing compound (with D/A polisher) and then Mother's caranuba wax (with microfibre cloth).
Piano Black UXL-18 in Sealed 4 cu. ft box
I bought the 4 cu. ft flat pack this time to try them out.
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It went together really easily with glue and brad nails. I did it in the wrong order though and had to squeeze the front in. My only complaint with the flat packs is that the bottom is a seamless piece, I like the bottom and back pieces to have all the seams, to minimize the seams on the top and sides that are visible. The bottom is like this so that the bracing all has grooves it sits in.
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Rounded over edges and filled seams with Bondo.
![]()
Painted bottom with one coat of Zinsser and one coat of black spraypaint, not painting the bottom with the expensive automotive paint as it will not be seen.
I'm using these for the finish:
Transtar euro classic black 2 part primer 7374/7357
Transtar jet black base coat 9504/6714-F
Transtar Kwik finish clear 6574/6877
Big thanks to N8DOGG for all the painting advice.
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Made a paint booth in my garage for about $15.00
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Flush mounted the speakon, not flush mounting a speakon ever again as it was really hard and I don't think it would even be noticeable if it's not flush mounted as it's on the back and has a speakon cable plugged into it... I definitely love the speakon connectors though they are so quick, secure and easy to use.
I picked up an organic filter mask and a HVLP spray gun to paint with.
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3 coats of primer, 220 grit sanded. Went through the bondo on the roundover slightly, I didn't sand the bondo flat enough at that point I guess. The paint was quite thick so it sprayed very slow. It left it quite textured. It is way easier spraying paint with an HVLP than spray cans though. No shaking the can constantly and it's easier to go slow and even.
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3 more coats of primer, haven't sanded it yet. Keeping it inside for 2 months to make sure the seams don't show through. I don't think they will.
![]()
Just this single 18" sealed driven by one half of a NU-4 6000 is quite nice in a large open room (open to the entire house), it can shake the walls on the opposite side of the house and knocks objects off shelves 40 feet away from it. I haven't EQ'd it or stuffed it so it is a bit boomy around 50-70 hz. I am definitely looking forward to hearing this in the 10' x 16' x 8' room it's going in and with some low-end EQ.
Will put the topcoat and clear coat on at the same time as the Tempests. Haven't decided if I want to wax it yet. I'm using mostly Meguiar's products and a Meguiar's D/A polisher drill attachment. I have rubbing compound (and pad) and polishing compound (and pad) and wetsand paper from 400 to 1500 grit.
Piano Black Fusion 8 MTM
I didn’t glue the front pieces together again, it creates a double seam on the top which is annoying, I try to put all my seams on the bottom, back and on the inside front piece now.
I’ve stopped trying to cut pieces perfectly and fit them together, I find it is IMPOSSIBLE to get them to line up perfect, so I cut them with overhang and flush trim. I would have flush trimmed this box if I knew at the time that I had a flush trim bit that came in my MLCS router bit set… haha
This box was definitely better than the first sub box I ever built, I used wood screws and had to drill and fill probably 100 holes… I use a brad nailer now.
I made a big mistake using wood filler, it sucks. I also sanded it with too high of a grit sandpaper (220 grit) and did not use a sanding block. Now I use a drywall block that takes a half sheet to sand, and I sand filler at 80 grit so it actually goes flat. The way I sanded this box basically rounded everything over and polished it instead of actually making it straight. I also suspect that the wood filler absorbs moisture from the wood and from the primer which caused seams to show through this past winter.
Painted with a brush and Zinsser bin primer sealer (shellac base). I kept sanding through the primer hitting the high spots from the wood filler. I probably put too many coats of primer on trying to make it perfect. I'm going to paint my speaker stands with Zinsser, but I will spray it this time and I used Bondo, so I will see if the seam problem is Zinsser’s fault or the wood filler’s. I used 220 grit to sand, it worked well, left it pretty smooth but took enough paint off.
3 coats of Rustoleom black lacquer from a spray can. I have no idea why I painted the bottom of the speaker piano black, I should have just did one coat of random black paint and left it. It caused a lot of problems now that I think about it, because I kept rotating the speaker so I was painting it horizontally. So paint would get chipped off if I turned it over before it was fully dry, and I always put too thick of paint so it dripped sometimes when I turned it.
Made a grill with square dowels and L brackets to hold it together and double as the magnet connection. I don’t think I would do a grill like this again, it doesn’t hold as strong as I would like. It’s never fallen off, but I can just touch it and shift it. It also looks kind of weird on a roundover. I was going to make grills for my tempests, but I think I will leave them bare this time, as there is no room on the Tempest’s baffles for a grill, and it’s already rounded over so a grill wouldn’t look right. I'm going to embed magnets just in case, for the future.
It gets dusty a lot. It takes like 3 seconds to dust with a microfibre cloth though.
Picture from the front, the flash made it really blue for some reason.
You can see the seam showing through, again picture is blue from the flash. There are seams on the top, and both sides that appeared in the winter when it was super dry. Now that it's summer and humid they have mostly gone away, though you can see them if you look really close. Hopefully the urethane paint and Bondo I am using on my tempests and UXL will not do this. I don't think it will. I was going to try to fix the seams, but after thinking about it for a while I would have to sand the entire speaker flat ( because I didn't do it properly originally) and then would have to completely re-paint it. I will do it at some point, but I'm busy this summer with the Tempests and UXL and only have exactly enough paint for them. When I build another UXL in the future I'll fix this speaker.
I didn't brace the Fusion 8 MTM and I just put a single Walmart pillow on the inside for stuffing. I used a double baffle even though it didn't need it, so I think it's fine without bracing. I also think I didn't use the gasket tape, but the parts fit in so tight they are definitely sealed, no air comes out other than through the ports. I won't be able to get the drivers or waveguide out without severely damaging the box. I just mounted the crossover on cardboard and glued it in the box, I like using cardboard as I can build a complete crossover in about 10 minutes total.
I wet sanded the paint in between with 400 grit. I finished it with 800 grit, 1000 grit, 1500 grit, Meguiar's polishing compound (with D/A polisher) and then Mother's caranuba wax (with microfibre cloth).
Piano Black UXL-18 in Sealed 4 cu. ft box
I bought the 4 cu. ft flat pack this time to try them out.
It went together really easily with glue and brad nails. I did it in the wrong order though and had to squeeze the front in. My only complaint with the flat packs is that the bottom is a seamless piece, I like the bottom and back pieces to have all the seams, to minimize the seams on the top and sides that are visible. The bottom is like this so that the bracing all has grooves it sits in.
Rounded over edges and filled seams with Bondo.
Painted bottom with one coat of Zinsser and one coat of black spraypaint, not painting the bottom with the expensive automotive paint as it will not be seen.
I'm using these for the finish:
Transtar euro classic black 2 part primer 7374/7357
Transtar jet black base coat 9504/6714-F
Transtar Kwik finish clear 6574/6877
Big thanks to N8DOGG for all the painting advice.
Made a paint booth in my garage for about $15.00
Flush mounted the speakon, not flush mounting a speakon ever again as it was really hard and I don't think it would even be noticeable if it's not flush mounted as it's on the back and has a speakon cable plugged into it... I definitely love the speakon connectors though they are so quick, secure and easy to use.
I picked up an organic filter mask and a HVLP spray gun to paint with.
3 coats of primer, 220 grit sanded. Went through the bondo on the roundover slightly, I didn't sand the bondo flat enough at that point I guess. The paint was quite thick so it sprayed very slow. It left it quite textured. It is way easier spraying paint with an HVLP than spray cans though. No shaking the can constantly and it's easier to go slow and even.
3 more coats of primer, haven't sanded it yet. Keeping it inside for 2 months to make sure the seams don't show through. I don't think they will.
Just this single 18" sealed driven by one half of a NU-4 6000 is quite nice in a large open room (open to the entire house), it can shake the walls on the opposite side of the house and knocks objects off shelves 40 feet away from it. I haven't EQ'd it or stuffed it so it is a bit boomy around 50-70 hz. I am definitely looking forward to hearing this in the 10' x 16' x 8' room it's going in and with some low-end EQ.
Will put the topcoat and clear coat on at the same time as the Tempests. Haven't decided if I want to wax it yet. I'm using mostly Meguiar's products and a Meguiar's D/A polisher drill attachment. I have rubbing compound (and pad) and polishing compound (and pad) and wetsand paper from 400 to 1500 grit.
