Box material is cabinet grade 3/4" void-free birch ply from Home depot. Had to sift through a bunch of garbage pieces on the top to find one worthy of stain. The front panel was covered with real birch veneer to hide the plywood edges while I mitred the other joints so I wouldn't have to veneer the top and sides. plus, 45-degree mitre joints are stronger!
All "full-range" speakers have to compromise something in order to produce the full spectrum of sound from a single driver. These 6" drivers are slightly larger than my previous 4" models. They need about 100 hrs of music before they come into their sound...but with about 10 hrs they are already starting to warm up. Tons of bass compared to my old speakers. They'll play down to 40Hz and trick your ears into thinking there is a subwoofer. They also get loud without showing signs of stress. Center imaging isn't quite as good as the old speakers and the highs could use a slight boost but that should change as they break in. Overall, they are much more dynamic and i'm really enjoying them thus far. I keep adding more polyfill to the cabinets to dial down the bass. Once I get it right, there should be a seemless blend between mids and bass.
Currently i'm powering them with a 100w receiver from the 90's. The speakers only have an 87db sensitivity compared to the old ones that were 93db. That means with the same power they will play about half as loud. I used to set the volume at about 10:00. Now I need it at 12:00. My 2.5 watt tube amp probably won't be enough to get them moving. I have a 10 watt chip amp that I need to try. Next on my list is a new receiver so i will have to do some research. i want something high quality...but at a reasonable price.
Some assembly photos (Oleg helped me the first day)...
The mitred sides were placed in a row on flat ground then taped together. Then I flipped them on their side to add glue. It's a trick for woodworkers that don't have special clamps required for gluing all 4 sides at the same time.
The grills stick on with magnets. The ones on the face of the cabinet are hidden behind the wood veneer so they look great with or without grills.
After the first day, Oleg and I brought them up to do some listening. They are about 20% larger than my previous speakers.
There is quite a bit of work not shown that brings them to their final stage. Tons of work with the router to recess the drivers for a flush mount (looks good, and also improves sound). Several coats of stain, poly, and wax, etc. I should have photographed everything, but then it would have taken forever!
