| 3Pi front soundstage build [message #95184] |
Fri, 04 February 2022 12:41  |
JakeAlmighty
Messages: 3
Registered: February 2022
Location: Canada
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Esquire |
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Hey all,
Recently began building the cabinets for my 3Pi speakers while I wait for Wayne to get the upgraded B&C drivers back in stock.
I have attached some pics of where I've gotten to so far.
My main question is - is the current bracing I have in place sufficient? or should I also be placing a brace in the lower part of the cabinet. The pine I've placed towards the rear (for attaching the inset back panel onto) is sufficiently pre-loaded to act as bracing between the side panels, and from top to bottom. But the only bracing from front to back is the main brace to hang insulation on between the woofer and the compression driver.
Just wanted to check on this before I got going on sanding/finishing, and the insulation and gaskets. The back panels have been custom fit to each box so it is *tight*, but I allowed for speaker gasket to go round the perimeter and across the middle. Planning on sealing the rest of the interior perimeters with a silicone bead just in case.
thank you!
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| Re: 3Pi front soundstage build [message #96345 is a reply to message #95184] |
Wed, 08 February 2023 14:30  |
JakeAlmighty
Messages: 3
Registered: February 2022
Location: Canada
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Esquire |
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hey all,
Finally back to finishing these things - got delayed in the spring as the basement flooded (including the theater) and then had a long drawn out fight with insurance over how much money they had to send us. All good now! Going to put the new floors/bottom 2ft of drywall etc in in a few months once the 2023 spring melt is done. (see if it floods again or not)
Speaker cabinets are finished sanding, painted black etc. re: the comments above I did recess the woofer but not the waveguide, this makes them line up nicely visually. (aka they stick out of the front baffle roughly the same amount) Luckily it sounds like the impact on the vertical alignment is minimal so should be ok.
couple questions that probably don't even matter but figured I'd ask before assembling the internals -
- I have screws on hand that should work for mounting the woofer - they're just very short to not penetrate through the reduced thickness of the recessed area of the baffle - #10 panhead 1/2" long. It seems somewhat ridiculous mounting a heavy driver with such tiny screws, will this be sufficient? Or should I instead reinforce the baffle on the interior with another layer of MDF and can then use longer screws.
- Where is the circuit board (and resistor, off board I suppose) typically mounted? Does it matter if they are on the exposed interior side of the cabinet vs under the insulation on the other side or bottom?
- the insulation I have on hand is R14 rockwool - it's fairly thick. 2" if I recall? Is this fine or should I go buy a thinner R11 or R13 as per the recommendation? (or cut down the rockwool somewhat)
- "official" speaker gasket tape/foam is surprisingly elusive in Canada - I have tons of random weather sealing, sill gasket, etc options on hand that might work though, does it matter if the foam is open cell vs closed cell?
thanks guys!
Looking forward to hearing these things in action *very* soon. Finished pics to come.
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| Re: 3Pi front soundstage build [message #96357 is a reply to message #96349] |
Fri, 10 February 2023 15:27 |
JakeAlmighty
Messages: 3
Registered: February 2022
Location: Canada
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Esquire |
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Hey Wayne, thanks for all the info.
I will reinforce the baffle cutout, I'll sleep better without the woofer hanging there off a 1/4" of mdf.
Online search seemed to indicate that the main difference rockwool vs fibreglass for speaker applications is that the rockwool is quite a bit denser - likely blocks air/soundwaves more than expected in the design. In your opinion would you expect that to be neutral or a negative overall? (I don't have a proper near-field mic to build it and test it properly unfortunately)
I don't mind going and buying fibreglass if you think using the rockwool is a bad idea. It would be R12 pink fibreglass at 3.5" thick.
cheers,
Jake
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