# The $10 Specials



## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

I've been into car audio forever, but lately have been spending alot of time reading up at DIYAudio.com and figured I'd have a go at my own Hi-Fi loudspeakers.








I got these drivers off the net for $10NZD including postage. Apparently they're out of a Samsung TV, and apart from that I know nothing else about them. The magnets on the mids are pretty heafty and the highs have some bipolar resistors attached. I had no t/s parameters for them but decided to try some quarter wave t-line enclosures. For $10, what is there to lose right?
The enclosures measure 850mm x 185mm x 220mm split evenly in the middle.On to the pics...
































Making the front trim panel








Put a 1/2" round over on the sides








Then used some leftovers from some sub rings to make the bases.








With the drivers, terminals, 1/2 a leftover sheet of MDF and some scraps, I figure they owe me around $30 all up and around 8 hours build time.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

As they sit now
































How do they sound? Pretty damn good! Nice clean highs, good mid bass with a nice amount of sub bass. I'm stoaked for my first effort with no equations!
Now I've got to build some grilles and decide how to finish them.
Thanks for looking!


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## yotacoma (Aug 22, 2009)

wow for 10 bucks cant beat that. looks really good too!


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Cool! Do you have the plans for that box? I've got a few drivers laying around I'd like to make a box for just like that. Again, nice job.


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## kkreit01 (Aug 27, 2009)

That looks excellent. How do they sound? Was it worth your effort? Either way, you now have nice cabinets for future tests.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

CulinaryGod said:


> Cool! Do you have the plans for that box? I've got a few drivers laying around I'd like to make a box for just like that. Again, nice job.


Na man, I just made them up as I went along. I'll draw something up for you though if you can wait a couple of days.



kkreit01 said:


> That looks excellent. How do they sound? Was it worth your effort? Either way, you now have nice cabinets for future tests.


Thanks man. Worth the effort? HELL YES! For a totally ad-lib design with no calculations, they sound amazing! I'm running them of my old Toshiba home cinema system for now and the sound range and detail is far superior than the satelite speakers that came with it. I'm going to play round with some sound dampening in them to see if I can get them to sound any better, but if that doesn't do anything I can still honestly say I'm wrapped with how they sound now.
A little birdie told me I'm getting a vintage Pioneer amp for X-mas, so really looking forward to trying some vinyl through these babies!


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## drocpsu (May 3, 2005)

nice looking enclosure! That's a sweet deal at $10. I wish I had the woodworking skills and tools to be able to just throw something together like that just to experiment with.


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## linguist (Jun 29, 2009)

nice !!


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## hempy (Oct 3, 2007)

Very nice! What's the size of the roundover radius on the front edges?


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## blamus (Mar 9, 2009)

I dont understand how you can build a ported box for drivers without any specs, let a lone modelling a transmission line..... Maybe you got lucky? Or am I missing something? Are TL designs THAT forgiving? 

More over Do you have a crossover? If not, surely they can't sound right unless magic is involved....I mean, I know most cheap commercial speakers simply use a cap on the tweeter adnrun the woofer fullrange, and millions of people use them without complaining, but thats not exactly ideal is it?


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

hempy said:


> Very nice! What's the size of the roundover radius on the front edges?


I think I said 1/2" in my first post, but just checked and it's a 3/8" radius.



blamus said:


> I dont understand how you can build a ported box for drivers without any specs, let a lone modelling a transmission line..... *Maybe you got lucky?* Or am I missing something? Are TL designs THAT forgiving?
> More over Do you have a crossover? If not, surely they can't sound right unless magic is involved....I mean, I know most cheap commercial speakers simply use a cap on the tweeter adnrun the woofer fullrange, and millions of people use them without complaining, but thats not exactly ideal is it?


I think that's about it man, I just got lucky! They sure wouldn't compare next to some properly designed cabinets with some Fostex's or Morel's, but compared to the satelites that came with the HT system, they sound 100% better.


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## Ga foo 88 (Dec 18, 2005)

The pictures look great. If you spend more then $10 on your next project and still want a tl, try a taper and place the driver about 25% from the start of the tl.


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## 2500hd (Aug 22, 2009)

Sick budget tubes, bra! Nice work 


Ga foo 88 said:


> The pictures look great. If you spend more then $10 on your next project and still want a tl, try a taper and place the driver about 25% from the start of the tl.


I like budget/easy tapers with the woofer around 30-40% of the length from the throat with some polyfill just pass the speaker. Usually smoothens out most of those crazy harmonics...


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Ga foo 88 said:


> The pictures look great. If you spend more then $10 on your next project and still want a tl, try a taper and place the driver about 25% from the start of the tl.





2500hd said:


> Sick budget tubes, bra! Nice work
> 
> I like budget/easy tapers with the woofer around 30-40% of the length from the throat with some polyfill just pass the speaker. Usually smoothens out most of those crazy harmonics...


Thanks guys. I'll definatly be trying some more TL's. Once the xmas craziness is over, I'll start looking for some decent full-range drivers to build some BIB's for. I missed out on an auction for some 12" Audio Nirvana drivers the other day. They only went for $215NZD, but it was a bit more than I can spare right now  Probably a good thing really, as the cabinets would be massive!

I've got a few hours listening on these '$10 Specials' now, and they still continue to suprise me, considering what they are. I've got Ben Harper's Live at the Hollywood Bowl playing through them now and it sounds great!
They don't like metal so much, but everything else I've thrown at them, blues, rock, dub, techno, they just eat up. Paul Simon's Graceland sounds awesome through them!


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

it's not uncommon to let a woofer naturally roll-off and cap the tweet, in fact some purists SWEAR by it


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Got a bit more done on these.
Got some mounting hardware for the drivers. 4mm cap screws and t-nuts.








I wanted to veneer the entire enclosure, but the veneer didn't want to cooperate with the round-over on the edges so I had to come up with a plan b. I'm thinking plan b might actually look better than the original plan! I'm going to paint them gloss black with a flush veneer insert on the front.

Routered out the front for the insert.








The grillz...













:laugh:
But seriously, here they are. I ran the 3/8" round-over on them, primed and painted them satin black. The grill cloth is a bark brown.
















Threw them on to give you an idea. 








I've primed and filled the nail holes on the enclosures. Just got to sand, re-prime, do the black, add the veneer, clear the lot and they're done! Gonna bust ass and try and get them wrapped up tomorrow.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Wow! That is amazing! Making me rethink about a design using some cheapo Audax set I got off Madisound a few months ago.


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## customtronic (Jul 7, 2007)

Good looking cabinets you built there. I just started playing with some home speakers projects myself.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Well I didn't get them finished today. I figured I may aswell take my time rather than rushing them and risking any sink backs or other screw ups in the paint.
I did get another coat of filler primer on an sanded and the final coat of primer. These things are SMOOOTH!
The 23rd is my last day of work for the year, so fingers crossed, I should get them finished xmas eve.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Wow! That is amazing!


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## Brian10962001 (Jul 11, 2009)

This thread made me smile, you my friend are an inspiration!


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## TeamLorett (Dec 25, 2009)

Very nice for your first job. I always wanted to design my own home cabinets but have not had the time with my other projects. I have a set of Premier Acoustic towers and subs which sound excellent so I really have not had the need. The PA-8 towers only lack in lower bass reproduction which was the way they were intended to be. Its okay though as the subs make up for but I still would like to build my own some day. Seeing your design has given me a idea for a modification to a design I came up with about 2 years ago.Your design looks great and will fool a lot of people into thinking they are some high end brand that they never heard of because they were out of their price range! Hope to see them painted soon.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Thanks for all the props guys! Here's the last of the pics...yes, they're finally finsihed!
Painted black with the veneer (before clear).








After clearing the veneer and a cut & polish over the entire cabinets.








































Safely in their new home.








It's been a fun little project and I'm more than happy with the results, both visually and audibly.
Once I've got a couple of 4 wheeled projects out of the way, I'll start looknig for some quality drivers to build some more cabinets for.


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## dvflyer (May 11, 2007)

I'm totally depressed that you put that together from scratch and it came out that good.

I'm mean, I'm happy for YOU, but it just makes anything I've actually TRIED to do look so much worse now.


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## TeamLorett (Dec 25, 2009)

Looks great! Appears the clear laid nice and flat too! Great job and you are inspiring me to start the set I planned to build be keep putting off. Well, maybe after I finish my 4 wheeled project that I am under deadline for. Enjoy them as you deserve it!


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## DonH (Jun 25, 2009)

awesome job


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## yellowcard (Mar 8, 2007)

Those look awsome!


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## R/T Pimp (Jan 7, 2010)

Very nice, isn't it crazy the way we spend our free time.


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## mblouir (Jan 2, 2010)

That's awesome! Nice job. Gives me some ideas...


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## rimshot (May 17, 2005)

the things I would do for a free weekend and a garage....... AMAZING WORK MAN


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## fallbrookchris (Feb 13, 2009)

Thanks for making all the cabinets I have painted look like crap! Because of you I locked all my firearms in the safe and had someone else hold onto the key because you have made me so depressed that I can't trust myself!...LOL x2

they look awesome, black shows every single flaw and from the pictures it looks like there aren't any

Questions-how many coats of primer did you use? what did you use to fill the area of the wood that was rounded over as well as the ruff part of the end pieces that are exposed? how many coats of paint? did you wet sand in between coats? how many coats of clear did you do and how did you apply it HVLP gun, rattle cans etc. How did you cut and polish the clear; wet sand followed by buffing compound?

I ask because I have never been able to get the cabinets I have painted to come out better than okay, I have used my HVLP gun and rattle cans but still have a hard time getting really good results but then I haven't always been able to invest a lot of time either which may be my biggest problem


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## Ţĥıπģ₣ıѕђ (Dec 10, 2009)

I would pay for a set of those... They just look SOOOOOO good.


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## mdelrosi (Jun 25, 2005)

Great job!
Wanna go nuts? Head over here HTGuide Forum - Mission Possible DIY
or here diyAudio


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Wow, thanks for the props fellas!



fallbrookchris said:


> Thanks for making all the cabinets I have painted look like crap! Because of you I locked all my firearms in the safe and had someone else hold onto the key because you have made me so depressed that I can't trust myself!...LOL x2
> 
> they look awesome, black shows every single flaw and from the pictures it looks like there aren't any
> 
> ...


Haha, take it easy there man! :laugh:

Not sure what you mean by filling the wood areas? I filled the nail holes and any slight gaps with regular body filler. Probably should have used proper wood putty, but ohwell.
Once I routered out the area for the veneer, I taped it off to do the paint.

I didn't wet sand any stage at all. As you probably know, MDF and water do not go well together! All the paint was done with a HVLP gun.

I did 2 heavy coats of filler primer, followed by 320 sanding disk on the DA.
One more heavy coat of filler, 400 on DA, final prime, then 600 on DA.

The black is Autothane 1k Black (single stage). I did 3 coats, lighting sanding with 800 on the DA between each coat.

I then taped off the black and laid the veneer. Once the glue had dried overnight, I laid 4 coats of Autothane 1k Clear on the veneer, again with a light sand between each coat.

Once all that had dried, another light sand until there was no raised edge between the clear and the black, and then buffed with polishing compound 
& woolen pad on a 7" grinder at low speed.

The paint process took just as long, if not longer than to actually build them, but I reckon it was all worth it! 

Slight update: the sound quality still continues to amaze me for some cheap ass drivers. I still havn't played with dampening yet, but recently got some Wharfedale 5" drivers and tweeters for a bloody good price. One 5" needs reconing, and I'll need to make some mods to the cabinets to get the tweeters to fit, but looking forward to how they sound with upgraded drivers. I'll also add a proper 2-way crossover. Been thinking about having a go at building my own, but will probably go with a pre-fab to start with.


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## Dryseals (Sep 7, 2008)

You paint cars don't ya mate.

I've used the automotive paints for speakers for a long time, mainly because I did a lot car painting. And the choice of colors is there to match what ever you want. Plus the added benefit that you don't have to wait days on end for it to dry. Costs a bit more, but time is money.

For speakers, I like the Transtar 6051 for the primer, builds fast, dries quick and so far I haven't had any problem with adhesion for final coats.

Oh, nice build on the speakers, just be careful, it's addicting............


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## jasondplacetobe (Jun 15, 2009)

awsome job iam inspired to mess around myself now. i needed another hobby


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## laxcat73 (May 19, 2010)

Absolutely incredible. Amazing woodwork and I'm very happy they sound good for you.

This is the truest form of DIY


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

So I finally got round to upgrading these. Added some simple 2-way crossovers and upgraded the drivers with Response CW2192 5" woofers and Wharfedale 0316H tweeters.
The woofers only needed minor work to fit, but the tweeters were abit of a *****!

























And keeping with the whole budget idea, I decided to make a sub to fill in the bottom end. I've been doing some reading up on transmission line theory, so decided to put some of it into practice.
This is a folded transmission line, tuned to 45Hz. The line is just over 6' long and has an area of 35sq".
3/4" MDF all cut out








Layout marked out








Made up these jigs for maximum clamping pressure when doing the 45's
















Tried a new type of glue on this project, and I have to say it's freakin awesome! It's a Polyurethane wood glue with a foming action. Totally seals the joint and is mega strong once cured! The only down side is curing time is a little longer. Clamping time is a minimum of 3 hours.
















Line all assembled


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

First side going on with a bit of extra weight to assist the clamps 








One side on and wiring hot glued in place








Last piece of the puzzle going on








Rockford RFP-408 8" driver cost me the huge outlay of $6! 








Filling the nail holes and a couple of 'lapses of concentration' with duraglass








I still need to get some binding posts, sand the box and throw on some texture coat, but hope to have it all wrapped up in the next few days.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

I freakin LOVE gorilla grip. Till I get it on my hands or clothes.


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## blamus (Mar 9, 2009)

is that a tapped horn? what did you use to design it?


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## laxcat73 (May 19, 2010)

that's amazing. you are one hell of a woodworker. and designer.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

blamus said:


> is that a tapped horn? what did you use to design it?


No, it's a folded 1/4 wave transmission line (well I'm pretty sure that's the correct name, I'm very much a noob on the whole subject). I used an algorithm I found while browsing the net.

All done 8) 
















Texture coated and painted. Looks glossy in the pics, but it's actually satin black. 
Did the same on the outer ring of the sub to freshen it up

















It's only running passive off my ****ty Toshiba H/T, but damn it sounds good!
Not a ton of output, but it's a **** load loader than the Toshiba sub, and sooo much smoother. The sub starts and stops on a dime and gets pretty damn low for a ****ty old 8! :up:


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## Hipnotic4 (Oct 21, 2005)

laxcat73 said:


> that's amazing. you are one hell of a woodworker. and designer.


worrd:surprised:


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## moog (Apr 29, 2008)

Very impressive work, makes me want to build something now.


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