Negatron ii HT

[NBPK402]

Carpenter almost has one speaker skinned...he said he hopes to have the 2nd one done Saturday, and then start spraying the Varnish Poly, sand, and respray more poly. He said the hardest part has been figuring out how to get the access door Mesquite skin just right...plan is for him to deliver with 3 workers to assist moving these bad boys. They might be close to 400lbs each!

 

[ddude003]

Some is good... More is better... And too much... Is just right...

 

[NBPK402]

A preview of one of the speakers that is ready for sanding and that poly spray...

 

[ddude003]

Wow... Just wow... Beautiful in the raw... It is going to be a stunner with a nice sanding and finish...

 

[NBPK402]

Wow... Just wow... Beautiful in the raw... It is going to be a stunner with a nice sanding and finish...

I am going to try them out with the mouth facing the floor...my carpenter is going to make 2 1" spacers to raise the speaker 2". We are doing that because we will still be using a grill to stop critters from getting into the horn.. this will mean the horn will be 3' high x 5' wide x 2' deep. The k402 will be mounted just like it usually is in most setups. It will have a Mesquite frame 3xtending the sides to the sides of the bass unit. It will also have a stand that will allow the horn to be angled toward the mlp. The frame, and stands will be a while before they are done. I am also looking at painting the horns to match the metal in the rack and make new woofer mounts out of Mesquite, and possibly Mesquite magnet covers.

 

[NBPK402]

I went to the Carpenter today, and the first sanding has been completed...no he is using Mesquite homemade putty to fix any imperfections. Friday the poly coating should start. Coats are 8 hours apart and after additional sanding of the previous coatings.

 

[ddude003]

It looks like it is all coming together... Another beautiful piece of audio art created by you and your carpenter...

 

[NBPK402]

It looks like it is all coming together... Another beautiful piece of audio art created by you and your carpenter...

This is a different carpenter than the one that did my orignal rack and speaker cabinets...my old carpenter died in a motorcycle accident. The rack and speakers are the biggest projects I have built with him...very glad that I found him!

 

[NBPK402]

Today I spent the morning with the carpenter to come up with a nice way to install the speaker grill. We thought about using magnets, but decided to use the same stainless steel wood screws we are using for plugs for the hockey feet when they are moved to a different panel (the speakers have 4-6 hockey puck locations on every side except the top...this is so they can ne installed in different positions without having to mod). We came up with a grill frame that is made of 1/2" Mesquite and there are 2 of them for each speaker. We are sandwiching the grill cloth between the 2 layers. The grill cloth will be stretched and then the frame inserted under the grill cloth, then a small bead of glue will be applied, and then the upper Mesquite frame will be attached to the lower one with recessed stainless steel screws. The screw will extend past the frame and into the sub cabinet.

 

[NBPK402]

This is a test of the color on one speaker.

 

[NBPK402]

1st coat of clear is d

one...tomorrow will be sanding, more clear, finish the grill frames, and then finish the bottom.

 

[ddude003]

 

[NBPK402]

This is the look I am trying for as far as color.... I am also planning on this color for my woofer mounts on the MEHs and also for some woofer caps, since the MEHs will be OB.

 

[ddude003]

It looks like you are pretty much there... A few coats of clear and a little sanding gets that soft look... And a final bit of bees wax... Looks like you could reach right into it... Beautiful bit of art...

 

[NBPK402]

Today I went to the carpenter and we came up with a cleaner, stronger way to make the grills. We are making the grills out of 3/4"Baltic Birch plywood with 4 1" countersunk magnets. They will be countersunk into the speaker cabinet and then painted to match the speaker mouth. The Birch grill frame will also have the same magnets recessed, but glued (not necessary due to the magnets pulling, but we will see if we should glue or leave free) instead. Then the whole grill frame will be painted flat black, then the black grill cloth wrapped.

 

[NBPK402]

In the most recent picture...you can see the access doors are not flush.. Rather than trimming the backside , we decided to just put a 45 degree angle all the way around the access panel door. I was worried that if we cut away from the backside of the access door and take the chance that it might open up more possibl leaks (by not accounting properly for the compressed value of the weather stripping). Behind the access door...we put 2 rows of weather stripping, with a little gap inbetween for the access screws to go. The access screws are not drilled all the way through to prevent leaks, too.

 

[NBPK402]

I talked it over with my wife, and she is ok with rotaing the room 90 degrees to the right. This will allow me to put the r20s on their sides and then put the k402s on top of them...levaing the center of my horn at about 37". This is close to perfect alignment. Our TV will be in front of or fireplace (which has never been used and has a 6" deep acoustic absorber inside it) this will give us a 19' deep room that is 40' wide. The left channel will be in the same basic location our current right channel is, and the right channel speakers will be just to the right of our aquarium. Our equipment rack will be on what will be the back wall.

 

[NBPK402]

Sneak peak of a mod I am doing to the rack before it is finished...I am placing a rubber washer, aluminum spacer, and then another rubber washer to give a little more style to the rack, and also allow me to run wiring in the space. I am also going to try 2 runs of LED lighting...1 in the front, an 1 in the rear.

 

[NBPK402]

I went and got a look at the speakers today and was told they should be delivered tomorrow. You can see one magnetic grill in p.ace. The good news is my wife likes the more open looking room...since I rotated it 90degrees to the right. I just need to get a steel tv stand made to will have the bottom of the feet on the tv 16" high. We are doing this since we have a acoustic panel in the fireplace and my wife just wants the mantle to be visible (she would prefer the whole fireplace unobstructed, but I showed her that by doing this and relocating my k402MEH (surrounds)...that it opens up the glass doors to the back yard.

 

[ddude003]

Wow... Those are so beautiful...

 

[NBPK402]

Thanks! Next is the cabinet and woofer mounts for the MEH woofers. I should have both done sometime in September.

 

[NBPK402]

Speaker arrived this afternoon...I am not sure if I want to run them laying down, as it spreads the room out a lot. I am thinking of running the upright and firing the subs to the sides and putting the k402 horns on top and angling the downward toward the mlp. I already had 1cat laying on the grill and I do not want it to start sagging.

 

[ddude003]

Those turned out very nice @NBPK402... I bet they sound wonderful... And everybody has issues with their catsorbers... I keep a can of compressed air handy just for catsorber adjustments...

 

[NBPK402]

Those turned out very nice @NBPK402... I bet they sound wonderful... And everybody has issues with their catsorbers... I keep a can of compressed air handy just for catsorber adjustments...

I use a water spray bottle. In general our cats leave my stuff alone and fo not damage anything I could have my friend make me some diffuser panels to install on the cover of the grills...

 

[NBPK402]

Update: I set the subs upright (temporary until I get the horns ready to go on top of them), and did a quick setup. I set them up the best I can with an aquarium next to the tv...I hooked them up to the p2500s amps through the xilica xp4080 crossover. I set them up as 3 way speakers, so I can utilize the settings via the Athena preamp in stereo. I set my crossover @60hz, and then went into my old settings for what is now my upper bass and bypassed all setting from 60hz down. I then used the Marantz to match my levels (level are adjusted in the Xilica using the test tone in the Marantz).

I know I need to run REW again, but I am waiting until my bare k402 horns have been modified for OB, and the new frame and woofer pads are done...plus I have some new compression drivers coming.

Listening: I have noticed increased clarity and level in the low bass and also more warmth in the vocals. I still have not lost ant clarity so far in my listening...if anything I am hearing thing I do not recall hearing before. Bass is nice and tight and effortless. I noticed on one track at 31hz the music was only 10db down from the 60hz, when in the past it was 20db down. Now in the past my Xilica would be pegging the clipping indicators on bass notes, but now it is just flashing the 1st green indicator (at the same spll or higher). I knew I was pushing the 2 15" Celestion woofer and now I can see a sub (used as just a low bass in a 3 way) was def a good idea.

I should have my new wood amp cases, compression drivers, wiring, AV Cabinet, and TV stand sometime this month