neander speakers?

[Matt Lau]

Hey neander guys,

I've recently gotten into building speakers for fun (Overnight sensations and later Jeff Bagsby Quarks).
It's pretty amazing how much nicer homemade speakers can be over the store bought stuff!

While I plan to do most of the machining in my workshop, I want to do the joinery and fettling with mostly hand tools.
I hope to use solid wood or applyply (not the MDF stuff, ick!).

Do you have neander approaches to building smalling speakerboxes?

-Matt

[Sam Stephens]

You may already know this, but speakers are generally not made from real wood, b/c real wood colors the sound (which is why it's used for the instruments instead). MDF is acoustically dead which is why it's so commonly used. At least for the music aficionados, this point is hugely important. A bit off topic, but if you want to think about some really cool speakers -check out the stuff from Siegfried Linkwitz

[Bill Houghton]

From the title, I thought maybe you meant this type of speaker: http://www.itishifi.com/search/label/MAD

But, of course, the true Neander speaker is you and your neighbors on the porch, pickin' and singin'.

[Rick Malakoff]

Bill, thanks for the Laff!

[Rollie Kelly]

I have built Paul's ONS but, have never heard Jeff's Quarks. How are they and what drivers do they use?
Thanks,
Rollie

[William Fretwell]

I believe many years ago Linn Kan's were made with thin real wood sides. They were a small speaker based on a BBC design to reproduce the human voice. The small speakers were mounted on stands right next to a wall and had/have a following.
The best mount is in a wall in an anechoic chamber which removes all reverberation and can never be achieved at home. Instead we use thick non reverb MDF glued and splined in shapes to reduce reverb and stuffed with acoustic material. A base vent hole creates the illusion of a larger box and lets the speaker work more easily. We stick veneer on to hide the MDF.
Good luck with the project, go with a stiff very heavy base that is on spikes into the floor material.

[Lee Schierer]

These neander speakers are easy to build 367469 :D


Sorry it's been a long day.

[Matt Lau]

I have built Paul's ONS but, have never heard Jeff's Quarks. How are they and what drivers do they use?
Thanks,
Rollie

The Quarks have less low end, but much more microdetails, better imaging, and a nice sense of "air between the strings."
I'm not an audiophile, but I find my "piano test" and "air between the strings" (that feeling you get in a live string performance) to be a pretty good indicator of enjoyment.
However, there is no real bass. Pair with a subwoofer. Paul Carmody's Voxel sub is what I'm building to pair with this.

I think they use the Fountek FE83 woofers, which can be substituted with Fountek FE85 woofers.
Everything aside from the stock woofer can be bought at parts express, but I recommend the Quarks kit at DIYsoundgroup.

I wrapped mine in wenge veneer and french polished in Kusmi Shellac.
The contrast between the silver-colored woofer and shellaced wenge is pretty elegant, and has very high WAF.

I didn't know until I'm looking at my next build, but the $53 for the kit (per speaker) is pretty amazingly inexpensive for what you get.

[Matt Lau]

I was just curious about the possibility of doing a full neander, solid wood speaker with no compromises.

A few years back, I saw a video of a Japanese master craftsman making an airtight cabinet using just chisels and handsaws.
It was designed for the wood to expand/contract together.
It was phenomenally elegant, and will likely outlast me.

I couldn't find the actual video, but this is similar (it might be an apprentice or younger craftswoman): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug_1KJDsPwk&list=PLVsC31eRH3xchXpU58-4D3rwix240j-VD

[steven c newman]

I know a fellow also named Matt, from Maine......He uses a Bluetooth set up with two speakers. Has been raiding old "Boom Boxes" for their speakers. Surface mounts onto a solid wood box, that also house the amp.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Rockler (http://www.rockler.com/rockler-bluetooth-speaker-kit) are now selling a cute Bluetooth speaker designed to built into a wooden enclosure of sorts. I know this is not Hi-fidelity quality but it looks like a good project to get kids involved with especially as they are able to use the end product.

367978

[Matt Lau]

There's actually a fairly hi-fidelity, relatively inexpensive, easily made speaker like that:

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/speaker-project-gallery/59839-minions-iii-and-minions-ii

I'm hoping to make some using some walnut that I'll be resawing as a possible "awesome patient" prize.
However, I'm not sure how to do a hidden box/dovetail joint.
I'll be rewatching Stan's sashimono video a few times.