Posted by FredT [ 24.175.124.32 ] on February 15, 2006 at 11:00:41:
I hope Wayne doesn't mind my using the Pie name for this speaker, but it uses the basic Studio One Pi kit in a tower configuration that's easy to build without using a table saw, a router, or any other expensive tools that most people don't own. You can build this speaker using a carpenter's square, a hand saw, a drill, and a screwdriver. A couple of 24" clamps help, but if you have an assistant to hold some panels in place you can get by without them.
Now here's the secret to EZ: Many lumber sources stock 12" wide (they're really 11-1/4") mdf boards in 8' or 16' lengths. Mine stocks 16' lengths that they will cut to a managable length for you to carry. So every panel in this speaker is already cut to the EXACT WIDTH you will need to build the speakers! You only have to cut the correct lengths, which includes eight panels cut to 36", four panels cut to 12-3/4", plus a number of braces cut to about 1-1/2". The finished speaker is 11-14" wide by 12-1/2" deep; not exactly the golden ratio, but in spite of the close dimensions it will still sound MUCH better than anyhing you could get at Best Buy for $500. It's 95dB sensitive, and tube-friendly, and you can build a pair for about $200 total!
I'm sitting at the computer listening to the EZ Towers playing for the first time with my Bottlehead Paramours driving them, and I like what I hear. A quick check with a test CD and Radio Shcack sound meter indicates flat in-rooom response down to 40hz. No they don't have the authority of the 3 Pi Theaters or the treble resolution of the ribbons in my line arrays, but if somebody told me these were the only speakers I could listen to for the rest of my life I wouldn't be at all unhappy.
The link below includes step-by-step directions for building the enclosures. It's too detailed for casual reading, but that's intentional to provide all the information a novice will need to do this. So if you have been wanting to try one of those flea power SET amps, but you don't have suitably efficient speakers or the tools to build a pair from a kit, here's your opportunity.
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