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Home Stereo MTM Speakers
- Two Dayton RS180S 7" Woofers, One Dayton RS28AS-4 Tweeter per speaker
- Using "Dr.K's MTM" design from the Parts Express Project Showcase
Stage 1 - Apr 2007 - Cutting the speaker holes/recesses in the front baffle.
These MTM (Midrange, Tweeter, Midrange) speakers are for my home entertainment center. This is the initial stage where I cut the baffles that the drivers will mount into. The pics show use of a router w/ jasper circle jig, a 1/4" straight cutting bit, and a 1/2" rabbet bit for the recess cut. The router is hooked up to a shop vac for sawdust collection.
I found that holes should be cut very slightly larger than stated, as the drivers will not drop right in. I had to do some fairly signififcant sanding before the drivers would fit. In my cutout template, I would increase the diameter of all the holes by 0.125" to make driver installation much easier. It would leave a very small gap, but it will save some hours of sanding.
Stage 1 - Hole Template
http://www.mikebarr.net/images/mtm_speaker_cut_layout.gif
Stage 1 - Picture Gallery
http://www.mikebarr.net/pictures/projects/home_mtm/index.htm
Stage 2 - Sep 2007 - Early crossover construction, mounting drivers in front baffle.
The crossover components have been hot-glued in place on a 1/4" poplar backing, next will be to solder the components togther and connect cables for the input terminals and drivers. When mounting the caps I laid down a strip of hot glue, then rolled the caps back and forth about 45 degrees in either direction, to coat up the sides a bit before the glue set, to make extra sure they didn't go anywhere.
The drivers had speaker cable soldered to their terminals, then heatshrink, and then screwed down into the completed baffles. I also cut out ears so the tweeter terminals would clear, drilled pilot holes, and applied gasket tape before they all went in.
Stage 2 - Picture Gallery
http://www.mikebarr.net/pictures/projects/home_mtm_2/index.htm
Stage 3 - Jan 2008 - Wrapping up crossover and cabinet construction. Added ports to enclosures.
Soldered all of the connections on the crossovers, and attached most of the needed wires that will go to the drivers and the inputs. Wood tabletop pics are before solder, just gathering leads and routing, bending, crimping. Carpet pics are after solder, with speaker cables attached. The cabinets received their port tubes after I routed out holes, a recess, and added gasketing tape. The pics show use of the jasper circle jig, a 1/4" straight cutting bit, and a 1/2" rabbet bit, as used with the speaker baffle cuts.
Stage 3 - Picture Gallery #1 - Crossovers
http://www.mikebarr.net/pictures/projects/home_mtm_3/index1.html
Stage 3 - Picture Gallery #2 - Enclosures
http://www.mikebarr.net/pictures/projects/home_mtm_3/index2.html
Stage 4 - Feb 2008 - Final assembly
Crossovers are done -- added the few more wires needed to hook everything up, and soldered on the terminal rings. Added some hot glue to certain wires and components, since I don't want anything moving around or buzzing later. Measured, cut, and installed the sound mat material. Measured, secured and cut the port tube. Installed the finished crossovers -- attached the backing to the center cabinet brace with hot glue. Screwed down the terminal xover wires. Soldered and applied heatshrink to all of the driver connections, then gathered and cable tied.
Stage 4 - Picture Gallery
http://www.mikebarr.net/pictures/projects/home_mtm_4/index.html
Stage 5 - Finished!
I nicked the driver baffle finish in a few places, but no one will ever know -- except for you, lucky reader. ;)
Now I'll have to get around to moving my desk so the right speaker will have somewhere proper to sit, make some nice cables for them, and buy some new speaker stands. The current stands are pretty flimsy when they have ~50lbs sitting on top of each. They sound awesome. I need to get my Real Time Analyser hooked up so I can measure their final frequency response.
Stage 5 - Picture Gallery
http://www.mikebarr.net/pictures/projects/home_mtm_5/index.html
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