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One year on....!!

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scott_fury View Drop Down
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    Posted: 04 November 2013 at 11:10pm
It has been one year since I posted my first topic on this forum. I joined 12 months ago with the vague idea of building my own small rig. I'm one of the many newbies who ask about building a reggae sound system from scratch and on a budget. I'm posting this thread for the many newbies who still ask the same question, with the hope that it may be helpful to understand my own personal experience in building a system. With some help from this forum, a lot of time, hard work and every available bit of spare cash I have, I've managed to achieve my aim... (well... almost, as I still haven't painted them!).

I decided I wanted to build a small sound system in order to play my reggae collection properly and maybe have the odd party. No other reason. Not to hire out or compete with anyone. It just seemed like something worth doing. I'm scarily close to my 40th birthday so I can see how this could be seen as a mid-life crisis.

I did some research into old reggae sounds and what kit would have been used and came up with a plan. A 3-way system using old second-hand Fane drivers and Citronic PPX amps. I used the Fane speaker plans, choosing mainly reflex designs to sit on top of a pair of scoops. I luckily had a tax rebate to get me started but sold some extra stuff and finally bought the drivers and amps.



I also had to invest in tools, specifically a router and a circular saw which cost a couple of hundred quid on top. I have a little space for a workshop, no more than 13ft x 7ft. My first task was to build a workbench.



Now, I chose MDF for my build. I know everyone has an opinion on MDF and Plywood, but I chose MDF because of the cost, the fact I'm not planning on having it outside, or having to lug it about all the time, but mainly, it's my first build and as I'm doing this on my own without any prior knowledge (except what I get from this forum) I had no idea if the finished boxes would sound good. Consider this build as beginner's trial run. I hope to do them in ply and to a much higher standard in the future.

I got together all the plans, made a cutting list for all the boxes and went to B&Q and got them to cut everything out of 18mm MDF. The Golf was riding pretty low to ground on the way home that day.

I had two 12" Fane Crescendo 100W drivers for the mid-tops, and made a dual reflex box based a bit on what was in the Fane Loudspeaker Handbook, and also some experimenting with WinISD. I used this simple box as a way to experiment with router and understanding various jigs that I would need. The first was a perfect circle for making holes in the baffle. The second was for making 18mm rebates.



I also made a few templates which I would use on all my boxes, such as handle holes and recesses for the speakon connectors. It was a good learning curve, but I made quite a few mistakes. My main issue was with the accuracy of my measurements and making all rebates identical by using the jig setting once on all the panels. Once glued and screwed, I fitted the drivers, speakons and wadding, and tested the port lengths.


I had bought a pair of Fane Studio Bass 15" 200W drivers and decided to build a pair of reflex cabs based on the Compact 125L Fane Constructor plan. This was a bit more involved and took up more room in my already cramped workshop. Luckily spring had just begun and so some of the cutting and routing I was able to do outside on a crap B&D work bench. I had learned a lot from building the dual 12", but still made some silly errors in measuring and cutting, and could have made life easier for myself in the order of the build. Always cut handles in side panels first as it's a pain in the arse doing it when the box has already been built.



The Scoops were based on a plan posted by Mykey, specifically for use with 18" Fane 400W Studio Colossus Bass drivers. Because of the restriction of the internal dimensions and the size of a sheet of MDF I didn't use rebated joints. It is something I wanted to do, but I wasn't confident enough to give it a go. It took a lot of time to work out how I was going to cut some of the angles required for the internal panels. In order to do the ones over 45 degrees, I bought a cheap table saw off gumtree and used a jig to hold the board upright.

I was lucky that this summer has been pretty dry as both the scoops filled my entire workshop, and it became annoying to have to move one around to work on the other. Like one of those puzzles where you have to move squares around in order to make a picture. When the weather was good it gave me a good opportunity to get both out side by side and work on them together. And for my daughter to investigate why her dad had been neglecting her every weekend.

I built the scoops with one side off. This seemed easier to me, as it allowed me to easily do the bracing and wiring, etc. But I had them standing upright in my workshop due to space. I was lucky if I could get an hour every few days to further the build, so by the time it came to fitting the last side, I found the box had sagged from the weight. I had to really clamp and stretch it out in order for the side to fit square.

The curve section was a real head scratcher, and after running through several options, I opted for making it out of four pieces, instead of using one curved piece. Got my calculator out and revised my Pythagora's theorem and devised a way using one piece to start with, at a 45 degree angle, which would also allow me to cut out the rear corner, in order to fit castor wheels (something else I should have considered right at the start!)

I'm still not finished as the scoops need some bracing around the mouth, and they all need filling and painting (can't decide on the look of them yet), but for a first attempt I feel pretty proud of what I have achieved. I know there are lots of things that could have been better, but it was more about the journey than the end result..... (but having tested them, the end result is f*ckin' awesome. Had them in the back garden and the missus came running out saying the whole house was shaking. I was well pleased!).



I took it out for a mate's birthday and ran it off two PPX's and an Ultradrive Pro until 6 in the morning with no issues.

All in all it's cost me £600 for the drivers, amps and LMS. Over £120 for the MDF. £250 on tools. But I've also spent a few hundred quid on glue, screws, connectors, grills, tee-nuts and bolts, and all the other little bits that arrived every week in jiffy bags. I spent £60 on a reel of cable and £20 on the speakon connectors. It also took every bit of spare time I had, squeezing an hour when my daughter had a morning nap, half an hour before bed at night, a day here or there on the weekend when the missus would let me. Without her being up for it too, it never would have happened.

It may not be the loudest, biggest or most professionally built rig, it's definitely the second best thing I've ever created. And on the rare chance I get to play my vinyl on it, it gives me an untold amount of pleasure.

Cheers.



Edited by scott_fury - 04 November 2013 at 11:16pm
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Artical Kulcha View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Artical Kulcha Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 12:03am
Superb Job there man, a least you had the balls to have a go and imho yu done a great job and enjoyed it according to yu post Big smile..well done!

one thing tho i know them fanes can play high but not a proppa top-end a nice bullet tweeter box loaded with some fane HF250's would finish of your stack nicely......

keep the pics comimg as you progress in painting ect...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bitSmasher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 12:40am
Great story! Just need a nice tweeter box, then a good colour scheme painted
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jammin75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 1:15am
Clap
feel the vibes !!!   "Who Feels it Knows it"            Strong like Lion              
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote guitarplayerjoe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 1:27am
That's brilliant, nice work man!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mini-mad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 3:28am
Its wen shes says the words... daddy made that. Thats wen you feel the proudest, thats recognition from one of the two most important people in your life. Thats the tear jerker. Thats wen you knkw youv done a good job.

and a pat on the back from me. Good work fella
If it sounds like a gorilla is trying to escape, turn it down.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote colinmono Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 9:39am
Great work! Really enjoyed reading that, hope you have many hours of fun with your rig.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GEB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:07am
Fantastic job dude, go and enjoy it now. Well done. Hug
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote scott_fury Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:23am
Thanks for all the replies. This forum's been a massive help. If I couldn't find the info by searching, there was always one or two kind folk willing to show me the error of my ways. Thanks specifically to Mykey for the scoop plans, Lev for the drivers, mooreb for the PPX's and rffrecords for the advice on the 15" box build.

If I had the chance to do it again I'd probably do loads different, but I can't quantify the enjoyment I got from physically making the boxes and the satisfaction from hearing them play heavy bass lines! Just wish the house was big enough to have them in our living room...

Next up... A killer paint scheme.... And a row of bullet tweeters!

Edited by scott_fury - 05 November 2013 at 10:26am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote scott_fury Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:30am
Oh yeah... And my daughter loves it. She gets excited at the sight of a 45, one of her favourite's being Roots With Quality by Third World.


Edited by scott_fury - 25 January 2014 at 11:17am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote burningbush Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 10:56am
Well done, looks great, nice drivers and amps.  You will need a high frequency horn of some sort, those 12" will only go so high before beaming.  So a 2" or 1.4" exit comp on a large format wave guide and a row of bullets - lovely.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote soundforyou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2013 at 11:04am
Well Done ....Great Thread,Good Looking system ...Look forward to seeing it finished   Clap
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