I bought a pair of kits for the Pi Theater Seven, and am glad to announce that the cabinets are coming along nicely! I've chosen Baltic Birch and got some real nice pieces and think I can stain/varnish them and have them look pretty good. I did send you some plans, that in theory would work pretty well, but just couldn't STAND the idea that my speakers were going to look like all the other kits out there (always wanting to tweak, or customize things)! So, I worked a long time on plans to have the speaker have a CURVED front, with a grill at the top covering the horn. It's not unlike a Cord grill, if you've seen that classic car! It curves with about a 1 inch rise over the 24 inches, and the front corners have about a 3 or so inch radius to them. There are 3 brace assemblies, one about every 12 inches, connecting, and stiffening the front and back panels. The front, having a curve (2 laminated 3/8 in panels molded over the curved stiffening frames) will have much more strength than the flat panel (ever try to squeeze an egg)? and not be prone to vibrations. I'm wondering about the port size and depth. You said you were including ports with the kits, but mine didn't have them, so I was wondering the area of the port and the depth. I may as well just make one from the Baltic Birch I have, if I can get the exact dimensions etc.. I tried to make the internal cubic area match with the standard boxes as much as possible, and think I'm pretty close. I've read that there's a fairly lenient window of size allowed, and a few cubic inches over/under isn't critical, so I don't think there'll be a problem. As I said, it'll be darned close! I've used biscuits with Titebond II throughout in the construction, so it'll hold together pretty well. I think. They are a bit more work, but most of it was in the drawing stage, and they are going together well. I'll keep you posted! Just let me know about the port situation, if you can!

Hard at work

Ed

The reason ports weren't included in your kits is that they aren't cylindrical, and are instead made of wood. I include material for cylindrical ports except for speakers that don't need ducts and those that have rectangular ports, which are made entirely of wood stock. Just make'em out of the same wood material you've used to build the cabinets. Make sure the inside dimensions are 4.25" wide x 2.5" tall and 3.25" deep. You're right that the cabinet volume can change by a few cubic inches and there is no way you could tell, but the port size is more critical. It's smaller, so there's less tolerance.