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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> FRX2 Mock Up
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Message started by TubeNube on 04/08/16 at 08:36:04

Title: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by TubeNube on 04/08/16 at 08:36:04

Well, it's been a long time since I did any woodwork to close tolerances, but it's pretty cool getting back into it again. Helps to have good tools. Oh, and good weather, too, since I don't have an inside space to work in. So here are pics of the first step. (Note that I still have the silver screws that stick out like sore thumbs. Black ones on order). Sides are temporary, but good enough for the breakin.

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by TubeNube on 04/08/16 at 08:37:39

Back.

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by TubeNube on 04/08/16 at 08:40:16

Ready for hookup.

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by Donnie on 04/08/16 at 10:54:50

Nice, your work looks way better than mine!

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by Palomino on 04/08/16 at 15:40:21

Very nice.  I am pretty sure I am going to do another pair of OBs for a second system and like the doubleup MDF idea for vibration control (even though I hate working with MDF).

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by Lin on 04/08/16 at 21:06:30

Baltic Birch

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by Palomino on 04/09/16 at 01:14:32

That is my material of choice and current OB baffle wood.  I guess I could double it up.

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by Donnie on 04/09/16 at 01:40:29

Doubled up MDF is HEAVY! And it drinks a lot of primer.

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by TubeNube on 04/09/16 at 08:46:55

Thanks for the kind words, guys. It will be interesting to me to see whether I feel the need for a separate sub to augment the low end. I'm not a big basshead, so we'll see. I guess I could always hook up just the Augie in one of the Hawthorne Audios, but a 15" woofer seems like overkill. We'll see after the breakin. I've never had any experience priming/painting MDF, so it sounds like I'm in for a treat if I decide to finish these. Any suggestions on filling voids/seams in MDF? Caulk? Epoxy? Something that sands well? I like the Baltic Birch idea, but I'm guessing that it's spendy.

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by Donnie on 04/09/16 at 13:08:42

TubeNube,
I'm sealing up the end grain with drywall joint compound and then sanding it back. That is the trick way of doing it from what I read.
I'm thinking that something flexible would be the best way to fill voids and seams, maybe painters caulk?
But then again, I'm not a woodworker. Now if you wanted to make speakers out of metal, I'm your man!

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by TubeNube on 04/10/16 at 07:27:03

Thanks, Donnie, I'll give that a shot. And making the baffles out of metal? I'd love to make them out of black aluminum, but I don't think that would be in my budget. I haven't looked up prices, but I'm guessing that 1" - 1.5" sheet aluminum, or even 3/4" would be crazy expensive. And I'd have to have it made for me, as I don't have the tools (other than drills) to work in metal. Would be REALLY cool, though.

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by TubeNube on 05/18/16 at 07:19:37

I've been meaning to write this update for a while, now, to give you my review of my new FRX2 drivers. I broke them in with my First Watt F3 JFET @ 15W into 8 Ohms. I listened at about 100 hours, and it sounded really good. Really pure vocals, great midrange. Then I switched to a 10W 300B amp that I bought from a local (Puget Sound) company, and the sound got better, but I still needed more on the low end. So I hooked up the 15" woofers in the Hawthorne Audio Rainiers that you see in the background of the picture. That filled out the low end, but I still couldn't get it to integrate top to bottom like I wanted. Then I remembered about the switch on the back of the drivers - and this is the carefully considered, highly professional part of this audio review - HOLY SHIT!! or as the guy in the movie "Cocoon" said, "If this is foreplay, I'm a dead man!". The vocals REALLY came through, especially the ones that were recorded well, like the early Elvis Sun Studios recordings, or Chris Issac's cds, or Pink Martini's "Hey Eugene" cd. And I'm finding that WAY more music sounds good with these drivers than I thought from Steve's description on the website. I do agree with his characterization that these are not "party speakers", and they may not be my first choice for some of the harder rock that I listen to, but I think that Steve might be underselling them. I don't know how many of these drivers that he is selling, but however many it is, it's not as many as it should be. I think that if more people heard how good these sound, and how many types of music they excel at, Steve wouldn't be able to make enough of them. They are dangerously close to what I call the Holy Grail of speakers - that is, I feel like I'm getting all the information that I need from the recordings at low to moderate levels, without the feeling that it would be so much better if only I turned it up just a little more. (It is true that this only applies to music that was well-recorded from the start, but I feel that if it's on the recording, these things will give it to me. In spades). What could make it better? Well, I think that the only limitation that I have now is in what I call command, what most people would call headroom. There's a fullness or weight to the sound that a few extra watts provide that low-watt amps just can't match. Which brings me to the upcoming monoblocks. I'll be following their development with interest. I think that these drivers with that amplification will be world beaters. And if I can't swing those, I'll be talking to Steve about a Junior with balanced inputs. In any case, I just want to say thanks again to Steve, for giving me another step up the ladder to audio nirvana.

Randy

Title: Re: FRX2 Mock Up
Post by maddog07 on 05/18/16 at 20:46:12

+1 on Baltic Birch... I've had nothing but good sonic results with it, for boxes and OB's.

Oh... and on the MDF sponge topic - yep... try sanding sealer first and then primer

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