[Dan Mc]

My recession buster kits from madisound came in last week. This will be my first attempt at DIY speakers. I've read that the baffle-step correction is pretty minimal on these, so I'm going to try them in-wall and see how they sound. I'll be using these for an ultra-budget home theater in the kid's game room. The front 3 will be behind a DIY acoustically transparent screen, so I'm not too worried about aesthetics. I mainly just want to keep them up and away from any flying toys or rogue light saber swings.


Here's my plan. The baffle will be the only thing exposed, and will be the same dimensions as the plan call for (7"X13"). The box will extend down further into the stud bay of the wall to make up for the volume lost by the narrow depth. The baffle will overhang the rest of the box by a 1/4" all around, so it should just slide in to install. The box inside the wall will be about 3.5" deep, and 25.5" long. Basically the box will look like a periscope:

Attachment 148138


I had some 1/2" MDF laying around, and I want to maximize the internal volume, so I'm using that for the boxes. The baffles will be 3/4". Got started on the boxes today, here's what I've got so far:

Attachment 148139

 

[Krawdad]

Cool. Looks like a fun build.

 

[soundemon]

Keep us posted!

 

[Dan Mc]

Got the baffles done today. Here's my improvised circle "jig" for the rabbets and speaker holes:

Pretty simple, and worked like a charm. I drilled a hole a little larger than my router bit in a piece of scrap plywood and attached it to my router. I set the bit to the proper depth and measured from the outside of the bit to the desired radius and put in a nail. Then I just snipped off the nail head. The nail fit into a hole of the same size drilled into the speaker's center point on the baffle. For a new radius, I just removed the nail, measured, and put in a new one.


I had to drill two holes for the tweeter terminals, they hang off each side like wings. Then I rounded over the sides at the router table:

Next I'll glue on and paint the baffles, then it's time to start soldering.

 

[Dan Mc]

Ok, I've been working on these off and on and have them finished, just haven't had anytime to post.


I got the seams caulked and the baffles glued on. I had some help painting.

I measured out a bunch of wire and soldered all the wires onto the crossovers, then installed them. I also installed the binding posts, just had to countersink a bit on both sides for them to fit.

Then I installed the drivers.

After a quick check to make sure everything was hooked up right, I was ready to seal up the bottom sections of the boxes. I used some leftover wainscoting I had. It's kind of like a masonite (hardboard) type of material, about an 1/8" thick. I just used caulk and finish nails so I could remove that section if I had to.

Hopefully this weekend I can get up in the attic to run the speaker wires and get these installed. I hooked two of them up to test them out, I'm pretty happy, they don't blow the doors off, but for the price they sound very nice. Everything I used for these I had on hand already (mdf, glue, screws, etc). The only things I bought were the kits and some $0.40 binding posts. So I'm happy about that too. It was a really easy first build. Will definitely have to look into my options for a budget sub to match these.

 

[deewan]

They look great. Good job!

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

What are you going to use to cover the drivers/baffle once they're in the wall? I'm really interested in seeing these installed.

 

[tsloms]

That's great that you're getting your kids to help out with your project. It's a fun time for them to start in DIY as well.

 

[Jim Hef]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Mc /forum/post/16852908


...so it should just slide in to install....

I think you'll find that you're going into the drywall installation business when you try to "slide" that into the stud bays!

 

[spl_nut]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Hef /forum/post/16922409


I think you'll find that you're going into the drywall installation business when you try to "slide" that into the stud bays!

Angle of attack! He won't be an installer, but a patch guy.


Seriously, good work... And I hope it all works out well and sounds good

 

[Jim Hef]

Think about that "angle of attack"! Even if the cavity part is 3", that extra 1/2" isn't going to allow the box to angle down into the stud bay for that length. The rear of the stud bay would need to be open for that to happen. Cut the drywall nicely with a utility knife along the center of the studs on each side for the dimension of the entire speaker. Slide the speaker in, secure the box, and then replace the lower portion of the drywall. Tape and spackle that cut line.

 

[Dan Mc]

Well they are installed, but as noted there will be some sheetrock patching in my near future. I started by cutting a hole that was slightly smaller than the baffle.

Attachment 149372


This hole wasn't nearly long enough to get the speakers in with the shallow depth of the wall. I decided to enlarge the length of the hole above the speaker and then "drop in" the speaker so that the sheetrock that the speaker was resting on wouldn't need to be patched. I wish that I would have seen the tip about using a utility knife, that would of made things a lot cleaner, but I did ok with a jigsaw and straightedge.

Attachment 149373


The final opening was only slightly smaller than the height of the box (by about 2") so I could angle them in.

Attachment 149374


Then the speakers were dropped in.

Attachment 149375


Now I just need to permanently patch/paint the removed sheetrock above the speaker.

Attachment 149376

 

[Dan Mc]



Quote:
What are you going to use to cover the drivers/baffle once they're in the wall? I'm really interested in seeing these installed.

I'll probably make a simple frame that will fit over the baffle and wrap it with speaker cloth. I'll probably use velcro to attach it to the top and bottom.

 

[Dan Mc]



Quote:
That's great that you're getting your kids to help out

They always love to help paint, I just can't seem to get them interested in sanding. My 5 yo son had fun last night helping me fish wires into the attic too, his small hands came in pretty useful.

 

[ridecolby]

Wow those look great. Nice work. How do they sound? I may just try this in the new house.

 

[Jim Hef]

Yes, they do look good, and a job well done...well, almost done!