DIY Speaker Cabinets

Thanks for the advice fellas.

I'm going to look into refurbishing and also some of the pre-built cabinets.

Matt

Have you considered veneering the speakers you have? It's not so hard, especially with the flexible veneers available. If your cabinets are not broken, but just dinged, you can use filler to make them smooth again, and use contact cement to attach new veneer. Remove the drivers and everything else you can first. I use the Stanley knife blades to do the trimming around the eges and holes. Take your time and remember that the sanding must be gentle because the wood is thin. You can get some pretty exotic wood, or just match the furniture in your listening room.

Hi Ed (Eldartford),

With all due respect, there is SOME possibility that a change from the original cabinet specifications 'might' have positive effects but it is far more likely that changes will result in less than optimum performance for the drivers and xover employed (assuming the original designers did design the cabinet properly) - it would be a hit and miss adventure. If the original cabinet was not designed correctly then Matt will need to completely redesign the speaker system using the existing drivers and xover. I did not get the impression that is what he had in mind.

Best Regards,

Barry

Barry...With returns of the respect...loudspeaker enclosures are not the perfect result of "inteligent design" but rather represent subjective goals of the designer. Most obviously there is a range of opinion regarding the best Q value. Variation of stuffing density will offset enclosure volume changes. Extra wall bracing/damping is always helpful. And most, if not all, commercial products are compromised to some extent by cost and other marketing considerations.

Hi Ed,

Thank you for your reply. I don't necessarily disagree with any of your points. I'm asserting that the average audiophile will need to basically redesign the speaker system if they are altering the original specs of the cabinet. If they just guess at which dimensions or construction parameters to change the results will be hit and miss at best.

Best,

Barry