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Message started by franksmith on 01/25/06 at 23:10:58

Title: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/25/06 at 23:10:58

I'm actualy finishing the veneer with a friend.

I expect to do the holes friday, sand them and apply the gel urethane and oil to fishish the surface during the week-end.

About the back port, I'm curious to know if there is a reason for the square hole instead of a round one ?

My room is pretty big (25' X 15') and I will probably always use the port since I read that it's recommanded for large room.

What about a round port having the same surface of the square one ?

I will post pictures of them as soon as I can install them in my living room :)

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Mike W on 01/27/06 at 15:01:33

Cool...looking forward to the pic's!!!

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 01/29/06 at 00:45:25

I think the back port is the shape it is to facilitate you´re hand fitting through to make tweaks ??? I for one would not have wanted a round hole for putting in the foam for the alternate tuning tweak :)

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/29/06 at 02:52:11

I choosed a round port.

the foam in the button as been installed in the assembling process actualy.

I made all the holes today, started to sand the veneer. Tomorow I will round the edges, continue the sanding to 400 and apply my first layer of eurethane gel.

The cabinets are made of 3/4 baltic birch, the veneer is 2.5mm thick solide african mahogany (acajou) and an insert of 2.5mm thick teck wood in the center.

I plan to use a marble or granit top plate and will forget about the round shape for the front grill as I never use the one on my other speakers.

Here are some pictures of the process, I'll take some other tomorow.






Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 01/29/06 at 03:11:57

are the passive recesses deep enough ??? But lookling nice all the same. A teck streak   :) Will be interesting to see the color pop out when you apply the finish.

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/29/06 at 04:04:47

They are recessed by 2.5mm but i can go deeper if it's necessary. I would had like them to be flush mounted so we don't see the baltic birch.

Is there a use to make them deeper ?

So far they are very mat because of the dust but I hope the color will be nice.

I don't want them to be gloss but more satin so I chossed a gel finish applied by hand.


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Zygi on 01/29/06 at 04:37:17

Franksmith,

  Looks nice so far, I love the idea of the strip of teak up the middle. There going to be sharp.

  The big reason for the depth of the rabbet for the passive has  more to do with shipping (deep enough to be recessed) than sonics. It was also an idea that it could self center itself in the hole.

    Shoot some more pics when you have them done.

          BobZ

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 01/29/06 at 14:08:22

Yeh Zygi knows his HDT´s :) I was mainly thinking that they look nicer with the foam of the surrounds recessed level / or just below the surface of the speaker, just a matter of taste ::) but like Zygi point´s out shipping them about will be less traumatic. Nice job

p.s Love youre old s´ moded c´s Zygi, giving them a cosmetic over-haul :)

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/29/06 at 22:44:11

Hi,

I finished the sanding, rounded the corners and applied the first layer of gel coating.

Here some pictures :




Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 01/29/06 at 23:47:34

The color looks fabulous (reads, same as mine :))I would have used the veneer thats on the back on the front though ,but that´s just me  :)??? But those corners are a bit sharp for their intended purpose of minimizing baffle edge reflections  ???

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/30/06 at 00:23:46

The veneer is the same on the back than the front it's just that I bough 3 X 8 foot of the same tree.

2.5mm veneer are very hard to find and since I had 2 parts with similar pateren I used them on the back but the motifs are really nice.


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 01/30/06 at 00:52:53

Ah ok I thought you had the same as mine, all came from the same tree also wide enough to cover the whole side. It would have been bugging to have one speaker looking very different from the other. :)

p.s have you found the marble/granit fro the top? that sounds like a great idea. Wish I had thought of that before I piano black lackered the tops ;D (thats 15 coats polished with waterpaper to a sheen :() Black granite would very nice

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by teepeeworks on 01/30/06 at 03:23:22

Looks like these are being built at an IA shop.

Boy, if I knew then what I know now I would have been building a pair of Imperials in shop and damaging something.  :)

Take care,

Corey

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by change_out on 01/30/06 at 04:21:49

Howdy Franksmith,

Your HDT's are lookin good! I just noticed your equipment and must say you have a great set up to compliment the HDT's. I once had the Joule pre - what a honey - keep up the posts and let us know when you get them singing.

Tim

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/30/06 at 04:40:41

Hi,

The joule is my baby, the system is buid arround :)

I just received a new cartridge for the TT (denon dl-103) and this will force me to build a new mc phono stage soon. Next project.

I builded the speakers at job place, in a R&D laboratory ;D

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/30/06 at 04:45:15

RAP : I didn't had the time to look for the top plate so I will use some temporaty baltic birsh.

I will call some place tomorow to see how much it would cost me.

The other solution is solid 1" mahogany wood (around 60$ for the twos)

60$ more or less... just the veneer cost me around 300$ :)


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 01/30/06 at 10:43:44


franksmith wrote on 01/30/06 at 04:45:15:
RAP : I didn't had the time to look for the top plate so I will use some temporaty baltic birsh.

I will call some place tomorow to see how much it would cost me.

The other solution is solid 1" mahogany wood (around 60$ for the twos)

60$ more or less... just the veneer cost me around 300$ :)


Now that mahogany would look nice ;D I´d go over 1" if you can(sorry want).I built a 1" first but a 1 1/4" looked much better, more solid.

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/30/06 at 19:02:41

I found a piece of solid mahogany 15" 1/2 wide, 1.25" thick by 84" long. premium quality.

But my question is, will it keep it's form once planed and sanded or it will twist in a couple of months.

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 01/30/06 at 20:39:17

If it has been properly dried (kiln-dried )it should keep nicely. Also something to consider is how the veins are oriented. Is this a cut length-wise from the center ? If you look at the end you don´t want to see a lot of angle in the veins running through the plank but mahogany is very resistant to warping :) hence it´s wide use in fine furniture.

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/31/06 at 01:54:29

Thanks for the help, it's suppose to be premium quality but I will go see this by myself.

I called for granit or marble and it's arround 200$ for the marble and 260$ for the granit.

Pretty expensive.

With the 84" long mahogany I can make 2 top plate but also two buttom plate. It would be really nice I think.

Tonigh I applied a second layer of gel coating after a little sanding of the first layer. It look even greater now.

Not sure if I will use 3-4 layer and after that I will apply some oil (probably parafin or baby oil).


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Chris K on 01/31/06 at 02:23:34

I have a piece of 45" x 36" 3/4" thick red brass plate! I'll cut you out a pair in the dimensions you want but you round off and polish it yourself.
$265/pair plus shipping! It is a deep golden color.
I bought the plate for just this purpose. The finshed weight would be around 42-45 lbs.  ;D The mass/damping to the cabinet would be an asset IMHO. But it would look cool to have polished plate on top too! :D

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Chris K on 01/31/06 at 04:10:55

BTW My idea would also include laminating a piece of appropriatly contoured 1/8" or 1/4" thick black "Sintra". It is a sign making plastic sheet that is available at any local sign shop and is inexpensive and easy to cut and sand. Glued to the bottom of the brass top plate with a thin coat of urethane based adhesive any ringing tendencies of the brass would be soundly, silenced. ;D

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 01/31/06 at 19:25:19

Thanks for the offer Chris but I would prefer finished granit for mass loading, concidering the price.




Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Chris K on 02/01/06 at 00:39:19


franksmith wrote on 01/31/06 at 19:25:19:
Thanks for the offer Chris but I would prefer finished granit for mass loading, concidering the price.


Well I understand what you mean  Frank, but I priced 3/4" Brass plate new and it turns out to be only available as naval (red) brass and it is in the neighborhood of $7-$9/pound. At 90 lbs. for (2) pieces 13.5"x13.5" if you can even find it that thick on the used market I got it for under $3/pound. It took me over a year to find a single piece on EBay that would yield two pieces big enough for HDT top plates. No salvage yard around here has ever seen a piece this big. Turns out I got a piece big enough to get 3 sets of HDT top plate out and leftovers for feet "pucks" or other decorative trim. The piece I have would have cost $3K + or - a few hundred if it was new. It aint gold (well it is) but it seems like it when you spend hard cash for it. I will likely have to hear the MkII to see if I want to do a build of it with the brass top plate and polished brass tube quarter round corner capping (1" radii). This is a serious back burner project considering what I have coming up.

PS granite is not nearly as heavy is it?

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 02/01/06 at 08:13:18

If shipping weren´t an issue, I´d buy that slab of copper of you Chris :) what happened to youre hdt´s? :(

Here is a link to respective material weight´s http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra2.html

That Brass is about 4 times heavier than granit for same volum

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 02/04/06 at 19:27:28

Here they are ready to go home with me tonight.

I still have works to do like top plates, a base, hiding the wood in the ports ...

But this will give you an idea


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 02/04/06 at 23:12:11

Here they are ...

Finaly at home with temporary top plate (flat black birsch ply)



Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Chris K on 02/05/06 at 00:17:00

So how do they sound to you?

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 02/05/06 at 15:37:05

Have you dopped the cones at all?

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 02/05/06 at 17:02:38

I will give comment on the sound soon, I want to  live with them for somes times before.

For now I really like them, I'm listening to the music instead of focusing on the caracteristics which is a very good hint of their qualities.

The cones are like them when ordered from decware, they are suppose to be coated but I don't have clues that they are.

Like discussed before, decware can't gel wax them anymore because of the new cone material or something like this. I'm not sure that the gel waxing was the major factor of the alternative tuning having heard the original ones.

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Rap on 02/05/06 at 17:15:32

Good time ahead ;D congratulations.

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 02/05/06 at 19:32:49

I really need a new camera :(


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by teepeeworks on 02/05/06 at 23:24:24

Hooray!  :D

Those look really good. I like the dark stain on speakers. Good stuff Frank!

Take care,

Corey


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by franksmith on 02/07/06 at 16:56:47

A friend, who know wood way more that me, corrected me about the mahogany on my speakers. It's not the african mahogany but the "swietenia mahagany".

For the sound, they please me in every aspect so far. I think they seriously need more than a couple of watts to be authoritative and seem to like a good 20watts and more of amplification. Specialy for opera or loud classical passages.

At home with some positioning the completly diseaper and you forget very easily about them. The mids doesn't make me regret my electrostatics.

A friend as builded the mkII version and seem to be disapointed. I will be able to listen to them soon but he want to go back to the mkI and do the alternate tuning. He describe me the sound to be too polite (slow bass) and less vivid than the fostex driver. Tendency of the current market probably but it's not the sound he seem to be looking for, same for me.

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by teepeeworks on 02/07/06 at 21:12:59

Frank,

What amplifier is your friend using for the MKII?

Take care,

Corey

Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by gexter on 02/07/06 at 22:44:13

nice work franksmith.


Title: Re: My HDT are almost ready
Post by Daze on 02/09/06 at 02:49:54

I've built the Mk2s. I am using a Croft preamp and DoubleDarling amp (1626 triodes). On mine, the midrange is somewhat recessed and sometimes things seem a little slow...

I do have a pair of 206 (stock) and I should put them in nesxt week-end... More to come.

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