Good old hot glue works great for holding down parts on a PCB's. It's whats used pretty much everywhere. To remove the hot glue you can just use isopropyl alcohol, spray some on, and the glue pops right off making repairs easy.
@@mattgraham4340 Low-temperature hot glues soften at around 180 degrees Fahrenheit. If you consider that low temperature for your electronics they make a high-temperature hot glue that melts at 375 to 450 and gets soft at around 280 but you need a hot glue gun that can get that hot. Also, I'm not trying to be a troll I'm giving good advice from someone who has worked as an electronics engineer for over 20 years and has used hot glue to hold components on PCBs on countless projects without issue. Is hot glue the end all be all, no not at all, can it fail, yes, especially over long periods of time, but it's easy to use, cheap, not corrosive or conductive, and easy to remove for repair work with no sticky residue, and can be found almost everywhere. Hope that helps and at the end of the day just use what works best for you. Thanks for all the great info to everyone who responded to my comment.
@@RetroResurrectionAI no problem, I didn't say your recommendation was bad. I have not conducted measurements with temperature probes, but most of the hot glue sticks I have used remained quite soft even at temperatures I could put my fingers in without being scalded. It may be the nature of the cheap craft glue sticks I was using, but I suspect that's what most people will have on hand. Now, I don't expect this to really be an issue for most people. I have had more scenarios where hot glue fails to adhere to certain surfaces. In my experience it doesn't bond very well to soldermask. Your mileage may vary
@@RetroResurrectionAI Yeah, I've made 30 crossovers with hot glue and had never had a 'soften issue'. If it's heating up, power loss and distortions would be noticeable before glue releases bond.
I have been woodworking for over 45 years, and working with veneer is an art all it's own. Do not feel bad. There are many, I repeat many , special tools used when working with veneer. The contact cement was the correct call, and yes the Bessey strap clamps are the way to go. I enjoy your videos and look forward to more.
You live and learn. Mistakes are part of the journey. The important thing is learning from the mistakes. Sometimes it's better to "Just do it" rather than never try in the first place.
Making a mistake leads to discovery. That discovery leads to a more refined skill set. This mistake is leading to another video which shows us how to refinish something that was in need of repair or cosmetic upgrade. 💪🏽
It's fantastic that you showed the whole project so far, warts and all. Being a successful woodworker is just basically getting good at fixing mistakes. : ) That 'covering' looks pretty nasty to deal with. If you, who have experience carpeting cabinets and veneering, etc had trouble with it, I think it must just be a bugger to apply.
Hopefully anybody who bought it can catch the video and learn from my mistakes. I pretty much did everything wrong, I should have used a different adhesive, I should have asked for some help....
@@DIYAudioGuy I think the contact cement was ok, but yeah, help would be very, well, helpful. I couldn't figure out how to make the joints from different sides go right. It's not like regular veneer where you can easily cut one side flush, and the other side then flush with that.
I recently bought the same kit but the 3.1a version with the 3 way design. Love these speakers. I almost dont need a subwoofer in my small office. I did find them somewhat bright out of the box but after the "perfectionist crossover mod" they are much more tame in the highs. Would recommend.
I commented on the shorts video also. I built the 3.1 kit from them several years ago. Absolutely the best value in DIY kits. Awesome quality , everything Included and Sounds amazing. Not sure how they manage to offer these kits so cheap but my advice to anyone who's interested is go for it you won't be disappointed!!!
Use a hair dryer to return the veneer to flat and use a marble dough roller to push out the air bubbles.You can also use a metal edging roller as it has a rounded edge on one side. You'll also find that spray adhesive from 3M will give you a more even application.
Working with stuff like that black veneer is difficult. My experience is to go slow and try to prevent the bubbles from getting laid down in the first place. Using a plastic squeegee or hand applicator helps. Keep tension on the veneer and hold it vertical while using the applicator to slowly press the leading edge into the glue and lay it down. Patience helps alot. Sometimes you can squeeze out small air pockets afterwards but it is not guaranteed. Depending on the glues and materials you are using.
This kit looks pretty awesome. Most people don’t have the time or resources to custom make the whole thing so this gives someone that wants to diy a chance at accomplishing something. Cool
Now you should build the Swan 3.1 kit and compare the two. Also bending the crossover component wires outward helps hold them in place until you can solder everything in at once while being generous with a good no-clean flux. Can clean up the residue later, but it isn't required. Hot-glue is the defacto standard for holding down crossover components, but you should only really need it on the coils. Nice work...
You don't have to thread the strap all the way through the rachet cam, just double it a few inches longer than the length you need, and it will tighten up just fine.
The two resistors in a voltage divider make a big difference. especially since the values are very different. The L-pad is a voltage divider. The value from ground to the middle of the divider is the 'level' of the output to the tweeter
Those speaker have better parts than the $2200 a pair focal Aria 906. If i made some, I'd bring them down the street to a cabinetmaker and have then put on a nice hardwood veneer. I did that with some JBL 4312's I restored. The cabinetmaker's veneer was far better than anything the factory did.
that type of veneer needs tension on it as you stick it down and a little heat also helps. What I've done before is to clamp two bits of wood on the end of the veneer to act as tension pulling it over the edge of a bench and basically rolling the box to wind it on.
I have a HiVi Swan M8a, 8" woofers in my un-orthodox 2-way speakers (according to articles in AudioXpress from 2004/5) and they are fantastic. However I find it just annoying working with MDF as the joints will always show up sooner or later so I stripped an old sofa from its green leather and glued that leather to the box with wood glue.
Hivi makes some amazing drivers for the money. There are kits costs $700-1000 and they are good enough to rival a pair of commercial speaker worth 3-4 times more.
I’ve built these and the Swan 3.1’s, skipped the vinyl and used DuraTex. Not as classy but after putting a ½” radius on the 3.1’s and a ½” chamfer on these, it came out nice. I also changed out the tweeter CAP w/Audyn Caps of the same value, Dayton Audio PMPC for the mids and Dayton Audio grade resistors too. The caps and resistors cost me less than $30 delivered, well worth it in my book. Exceptional outcome in both cases.
@@DIYAudioGuy I skipped the CB's and used larger, little bit longer pieces of wood, and hot glued the parts in a linear pattern, two to a box. That allowed me to bi-wire if I wanted. I'm sure you can figure out the layout, easy enough. There are some real good options for improving these crossovers, especially the 3.1's. All in all, very good diy speakers, hard to beat at twice the price.
Silicone works fine. It's perfectly safe because of it's insulating properties. You could also use a CA glue for quick set times since CA uses a reactant hardener.
Regular RTV silicone releases acetic acid as it cures. I suspect this is what the speaker vendor was referring to when they said not to use a glue that was corrosive. To tell the truth, I've used this type of RTV on electronic devices and I've never seen it cause a problem, but I have been warned that the acid can damage electronic parts. The electronic grade RTV releases an alcohol (I don't know what kind) as it cures. For what it's worth, I like to use hot glue to fasten parts to circuit boards. No fumes to speak of and it sets up quickly.
Words of advice: Use regular wood glue on both your veneer and surface, let both dry to almost completely dry, then place the veneer and use a clothes iron on high with high steam, it activates the glue as you go and it sets almost like CA glue so you dont have to clamp or place weights while it dries
@@DIYAudioGuy havent tried it on that specific stuff but similar and works, watch your heat, whatever the lowest your iron still does steam. I bought a $10 walmart iron for in the shop just for this stuff so the wife doesnt smooth me out with her iron after i use it on glue
I've found that a hot glue gun works just fine to secure crossover components to the board. FYI one of those inductors should have been turned to sit on its edge to prevent crosstalk.
Yup, hot glue is the way to go. Go with the higher setting (if it's got one), to give a bit more "set time" for the inductors and the resistors. For the capacitors, go with the lower setting, as the higher setting may damage the surface of the capacitor.
I do not know what glue many use, but I can tell you when they do and I get it from abroad it is a black epoxy that is the devil to remove. I would use a self curing silicone. In case I change my mind later. RTV may be better but the cross linking substances may do something to any conformal coatings, so self curing would be my choice, a bit of hot glue can hold it while it cures.
I put it out on my car in the sun for 20-30 minutes. But, the second one I left it out too long, but, it only puckered on end too bad, but there was still enough to do the second speaker. That stuff is still horrible to work with.
I have purchased HiVi drivers in the past. These tend to be vanity drivers. Really cool looking but the distortion can be high, the free air resonance is high, they want large box size and the Xmax is small. There appears to be a resonance right in the center of the usable range at 1 kHz. It would be interesting to see some distortion measurements. I would recommend the Dayton drivers over these.
For the price the kit costs, I have made several iterations DIY and they sound amazing! I like Dayton drivers, however they are expensive and hard to get in Europe, but this Chinese Co. is available where I live and they have a very wide range of drivers in various price categories, with the T/S to make certain OEMs think about it.
Being a woodworker myself, that was my very first thought, to use wood veneer anyway. As for the clamping issue, using "calls"(pieces of wood to span the width of what you're trying to clamp) with light pressure to keep the pieces from collapsing on each other would help. I'm very interested in building my own after a little "sticker shock" looking for speakers. Look forward to the finished product! Thanks!
I had a Soundstream Reference component set that included a 6" midbass with a 3" voice coil. Looked like a Dynaudio knock-off to me, but was pretty good. The passive filters were also good, but the cheap tweeters were the weak link.
All it needs is a sheet of No Rez for the cabinet internal absorption. There's also a High density Cabinet paint a lot of people use in place of Veneers. Though Veneering is pretty easy. As per the resistors I'd make sure they are not Sand Cast. As they will, if I understand it, magnetize over time and cause frequency smearing. You're supposed to use an Iron and glue with the Veneer.
@@DIYAudioGuy Polyfill is ok but it isn't as affective as No Rez and many DIY and Speaker types us it with Polyfill. And I'm fairly certain those same engineers put accelerometers on the cabinets when testing with and without. A Sheet of No Rez is pretty cheap. One Sheet usually does a pair of speakers that size easily. Oh, and on applying Veneer you lay it from edge to edge in a rolling type manner and work you roller to remove bubbles the same way starting at the first edge contact to the last.Then when or if satisfied Run over it with the Iron.
This looks like a good DIY build for the price. Seems to have everything except the glue. And there is a version of the kit that is 3 way. But I do have to admit (since I own a pair the brand is no more Athena bookshelf that are surprisingly good) that there are some really good 2 way set ups out there. But I still have a heart for 3 way speakers.
One tip I can give you is when you're mounting power resistors. Always mount them above the circuit board. A 10 watt resistor can burn the board, and requires air to be able to flow around it. Any resistor 1 watt and higher should be given space by mounting it a little above the board. There is only one way to get good at mounting cloth or veneer onto a speaker box, and that's to do it over and over. That means installing it. Ripping it off and reinstalling it again and again.
I wouldn't glue any of the components. You may need to replace a component. If anything I'd use hot glue though. It should be easier to get off and is non conductive, and as far as I know it is not corrosive.
Yeap! There is a problem with the coils, because they can vibrate while the speaker is running... so it should be isolated from the PCB and, as well, glued together using melted plastic... its the fastest and durable way to put the coils on a PCB. Its the glue gun, yes, only its not glue thats shouts out, but melted plastic! :) Thanks for the video! What huge voice coils!!!!!
8:18 a heat gun or even blow dryer from your wife's side of the bathroom will work beautifully for these ripples. It also helps to make the vinyl wrap more pliable and manageable. Check out people who wrap cars and how they do it, Much the same with this, even though its a bunch of flat surfaces. You could even use the Auto focused techniques to help trim the wrap into detailed spots given the build calls for it.
I used hot glue for the circuit board stuff. I like the video man. DIY is always very satisfying to see the end result. Exciting. Proud feeling. Lol. Thanks for the video. Even tho you messed up the speaker. Did you happen to fix the laminate?
I wonder if you could use a piece of foam with a good glue on each side to glue the parts to the board? The other way you might get parts audibly vibrating.
That is an interesting question. I wonder how hot the components get and how foam would hold up under the heat? I have a passive low pass crossover sitting on my test bench. I bought it for a video idea that I never executed on. I did hook it up at one point to test it out, there was audible vibration.
Do you know of any 3-way speaker kits with an 8" or 10" woofer? I've helped build two diy kits with 6" mid-woofers and they sounded good but were weak in the bass. I have listened to the Swans 2.2A and the bass was also weak. I feel like today's speaker companies, especially diy kits, are trying to snow us into thinking a 6" mid will have adequate bass.
Real wood veneer probably looks better. I have used thinned satin varathane as a wipe on finish with great results . Almost looks like an oil finish, but way more durable. Instant dry time, couple coats a day.
That black veneer is a nightmare, using a solvent based glue might melt a plastic veneer. My method is wood veneer, analine wood dye, and diy wiping satin varathane. Good results for minimum labor. I Enjoy your videos many thanks for your efforts. Glad you tried soldering it is a must have skill.
Veneering is hard. There's just no way around that. Paper backed wood with contact cement is the easiest because it's flat and the glue won't bleed through. After that it gets more difficult and having very flat material is very important.
@@DIYAudioGuy in the absence of an industrial grade veneering press, I think the next step, especially if you're going to work with raw wood. Veneer is a vacuum press system. You can set one up for under $500 if you have an air compressor already and it goes generally very excellent results for most types of veneer except for some of the really challenging ones like curly maple. I've tried and failed at cold press so many times that I think it can only work for very small projects like jewelry box lids. Contact cement will work with heavily processed wood like dyed veneer but give it lots of time to fully dry before finishing and some finishes will dissolve the contact cement
I stumbled upon this while looking to build a 2.1 soundbar for my old Jeep. There aren't many audio amp boards made specifically for 12V, 10 amps. I'm still looking. I saw the part 2, the veneer finish was great, better than wrap. I didn't get a better look at the black amp circuit board, TPA 3116?
You're going to want amplifier with a little more power for a sound bar in a jeep. Most standard 4-channel car amplifiers will do the trick. Bridge to the rear channel for the subwoofer, they will even have a crossover.
No, but it would not make financial sense to do that unless you have the parts and material lying around. Most entry-level speakers go that route and you can buy them for less than the materials (wood, glue, paint...) will cost you to build the enclosure.
As a milliuon other people have noted. Plain old hot glue from a glue gun works just fine dude. If you need any proof, check out some of the prebuilt desktop PC's Gamers Nexus has reviewed in the past where they hot glue a ton of the connectors in place to prevent the end user from modifying or as they say, prevent them from coming loose in transit...
If you would of have had a heat gun you could of used it to stretch the vinyl on the box so it would be more playable to put on and get it straightened out a little more it may have been possible to fix it. it's basically it's a big sticker like wall paper I've even used a iron to help put it on but I don't suggest its hard because you have to have some things between it and can't see under it. I burnt my self couldn't see 🔥🤪👌👍✌️💯🎶🍻
Absolutely, heat gun would have been helpful. Hopefully HiVi will send out their three-way kit and I can have a chance to practice again. I would love the chance to redeem myself.
Sweet.!! What a kit indeed. A word to the wise on future builds. From what I saw, it looked to me that you mounted the 10watt resistors directly to/against the board. That's a no-no for any heat producing/dissipating components and components overall with any type of mass like capacitors. Small resistors will be fine without, just mount them 1/8" off the board. Over time they could scorch the board or even burn through when/if the component fails. Its best to use neutral cure silicone rubber. Preferably alcohol cured. Dow Corning has extensive data available. Also, this type of adhesive will retain elasticity against vibration causing bad or cold solder joint cracking/failure. Most pro amp techs use this method. Hot glue will work but usually comes undone in a year or so. It has less adhesion and vibration resistance too. Most Chinese/Asian/Overseas amp/crossovers use it or fast dry glues because it is cheaper, easier, and faster on the production line. As long as it out lasts the warranty they are cool with it.
Can you rebuild or replace a blown voice coil on a rockford fosgate p3 12 shallow "2 ohm" dvc ? I just bought them a week ago and accidentally blown a voice coil in one of them because of wiring 2 of them incorrectly and i think it went to 0.5 ohm so its started rattling bad after 20 minutes of installation smh... totally my fault for not doing my research but am willing to pay someone to fix it. The other p3 12 shallow is good and my skar rp 1200 is also good luckily lol
What you looking for is a recone kit. I think it will be hard to find one for a shallow sub. Paying somebody to recone a sub often cost more than just replacing it.
On what glue or spray adhesive or contact cement thay all are OK to use, they just have different lengths of time before you have to place them in place and to adjust. Precut everything to length and width before adding the adhesive. Use a soft plastic spreader to help applying the vinyl or plastic veneer to reduce bubbling and creasing the covering. In vinyls a pin, heat gun and a wallpaper seem roller come in handy to remove bubbles and creases. But the biggest thing is to do a dry run on how you are going to do the wrap and use painter's tape to help you see how it is going to fit in both the dry run and when it comes to the applying the wrap for the finishing touches. Oh and a couple of tips. Plastic vinyl and contact cement is roll it up to make it look more like a roll of wide sticky tape. It makes it easier to apply and put some tension on it as you lay down the vinyl. On openings heat up the vinyl to stretch it before cutting out the excess so that you can apply the vinyl to the inside edge of the speaker hole. Never start in the centre of a panel, always start at one edge and finish at that edge if you are doing a one piece wrap. But you can always cut the vinyl to fit each panel and have the seams / join on the edges. But apart from that you did a very good job in trying to fit the vinyl, it was a pity it did not work.
I'm not too worried about it, I've already got the hardwood veneer on it and it looks 10 times better. Can't wait to get it finished and upload the video!
Could you reccomend me any small subwoofer with built in power amplifier that fits under the seat or in the spare wheel recess and has good sound? I've got an audi a4 avant b9 2017 with a built in woofer in the spare wheel recess and the sound on lower basses is just terrible.
It is very hard to get decent bass in a small enclosure, so I recommend that you go big. Something like this: howl.me/ciCkhAyMcFY That one will need an external amp, which is a good thing since you will not have an amp taking up airspace in the enclosure. It will be much more efficient. I recommend this amp: howl.me/ciCkjYhl8CE You will also need an amp power kit and a way to integrate with the factory radio.
@@DIYAudioGuy thanks for the respond. I had a big one in my recent cars but as i said i need something small so my trunk has the full space. I dont need the big boom in my car just a good sound with a bit of a boom^^ soundquality over loudness
Damn, I thought I did a horrible job on the "veneer". I too should have asked my wife for help. But, we determined that it would probably take a year of working in a factory to get it down. Horrible stuff. I tried to clamp, just clamps, my first try on the box. That was almost a total disaster. Using painters tape is way better. I have done a lot of woodworking, thinking that I can clamp this. HA HA. The 45 degree joints does not work with regular clamping.
Please forgive my ignorance . . . but why buy a kit? I can see purchasing the components and then building your own enclosures. But why a kit that has no options? All it is doing is putting more money in the company's pocket. They are saving money on the assembly process. Maybe I am missing something. I just cannot see ANY advantages to this. Other than just enjoying the process of tinkering.
Good old hot glue works great for holding down parts on a PCB's. It's whats used pretty much everywhere. To remove the hot glue you can just use isopropyl alcohol, spray some on, and the glue pops right off making repairs easy.
@@administratorperson3272 Hot glue melts at 250 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit if your crossover is getting that hot you got other issues...
If you've got money to burn and are worried about softening (I agree most hot glue softens at a low temperature) try Dow 832 it's a non corrosive RTV
@@mattgraham4340 Low-temperature hot glues soften at around 180 degrees Fahrenheit. If you consider that low temperature for your electronics they make a high-temperature hot glue that melts at 375 to 450 and gets soft at around 280 but you need a hot glue gun that can get that hot. Also, I'm not trying to be a troll I'm giving good advice from someone who has worked as an electronics engineer for over 20 years and has used hot glue to hold components on PCBs on countless projects without issue. Is hot glue the end all be all, no not at all, can it fail, yes, especially over long periods of time, but it's easy to use, cheap, not corrosive or conductive, and easy to remove for repair work with no sticky residue, and can be found almost everywhere. Hope that helps and at the end of the day just use what works best for you. Thanks for all the great info to everyone who responded to my comment.
@@RetroResurrectionAI no problem, I didn't say your recommendation was bad. I have not conducted measurements with temperature probes, but most of the hot glue sticks I have used remained quite soft even at temperatures I could put my fingers in without being scalded. It may be the nature of the cheap craft glue sticks I was using, but I suspect that's what most people will have on hand. Now, I don't expect this to really be an issue for most people. I have had more scenarios where hot glue fails to adhere to certain surfaces. In my experience it doesn't bond very well to soldermask. Your mileage may vary
@@RetroResurrectionAI Yeah, I've made 30 crossovers with hot glue and had never had a 'soften issue'. If it's heating up, power loss and distortions would be noticeable before glue releases bond.
I have been woodworking for over 45 years, and working with veneer is an art all it's own. Do not feel bad. There are many, I repeat many , special tools used when working with veneer. The contact cement was the correct call, and yes the Bessey strap clamps are the way to go. I enjoy your videos and look forward to more.
This was a learning opportunity.
@@DIYAudioGuy 46 years , and I am still learning.
I use hot glue to hold crossover components to the board. Made many, no issues.
I usually go with hot glue.
You live and learn. Mistakes are part of the journey. The important thing is learning from the mistakes. Sometimes it's better to "Just do it" rather than never try in the first place.
That is what I thought.
Making a mistake leads to discovery. That discovery leads to a more refined skill set.
This mistake is leading to another video which shows us how to refinish something that was in need of repair or cosmetic upgrade. 💪🏽
Well said!
It's fantastic that you showed the whole project so far, warts and all. Being a successful woodworker is just basically getting good at fixing mistakes. : ) That 'covering' looks pretty nasty to deal with. If you, who have experience carpeting cabinets and veneering, etc had trouble with it, I think it must just be a bugger to apply.
Hopefully anybody who bought it can catch the video and learn from my mistakes.
I pretty much did everything wrong, I should have used a different adhesive, I should have asked for some help....
@@DIYAudioGuy I think the contact cement was ok, but yeah, help would be very, well, helpful. I couldn't figure out how to make the joints from different sides go right. It's not like regular veneer where you can easily cut one side flush, and the other side then flush with that.
i love that you are honest about the pcb stuff so genuine
Thanks.
I recently bought the same kit but the 3.1a version with the 3 way design. Love these speakers. I almost dont need a subwoofer in my small office.
I did find them somewhat bright out of the box but after the "perfectionist crossover mod" they are much more tame in the highs. Would recommend.
👍
Care to share where one can learn about cross over mods?
I commented on the shorts video also. I built the 3.1 kit from them several years ago. Absolutely the best value in DIY kits. Awesome quality , everything Included and Sounds amazing. Not sure how they manage to offer these kits so cheap but my advice to anyone who's interested is go for it you won't be disappointed!!!
I wonder how long the Black Friday / Cyber Monday pricing will last.
Use a hair dryer to return the veneer to flat and use a marble dough roller to push out the air bubbles.You can also use a metal edging roller as it has a rounded edge on one side. You'll also find that spray adhesive from 3M will give you a more even application.
Working with stuff like that black veneer is difficult.
My experience is to go slow and try to prevent the bubbles from getting laid down in the first place.
Using a plastic squeegee or hand applicator helps.
Keep tension on the veneer and hold it vertical while using the applicator to slowly press the leading edge into the glue and lay it down.
Patience helps alot.
Sometimes you can squeeze out small air pockets afterwards but it is not guaranteed. Depending on the glues and materials you are using.
This kit looks pretty awesome. Most people don’t have the time or resources to custom make the whole thing so this gives someone that wants to diy a chance at accomplishing something. Cool
I am a big advocate of kits for that reason.
Now you should build the Swan 3.1 kit and compare the two.
Also bending the crossover component wires outward helps hold them in place until you can solder everything in at once while being generous with a good no-clean flux. Can clean up the residue later, but it isn't required. Hot-glue is the defacto standard for holding down crossover components, but you should only really need it on the coils.
Nice work...
You don't have to thread the strap all the way through the rachet cam, just double it a few inches longer than the length you need, and it will tighten up just fine.
The two resistors in a voltage divider make a big difference. especially since the values are very different. The L-pad is a voltage divider. The value from ground to the middle of the divider is the 'level' of the output to the tweeter
I have a pair of Swan M3A powered speakers and I absolutely love them. They are beautiful too. This looks like a nice kit.
I've heard nothing but good things about them.
Those speaker have better parts than the $2200 a pair focal Aria 906. If i made some, I'd bring them down the street to a cabinetmaker and have then put on a nice hardwood veneer. I did that with some JBL 4312's I restored. The cabinetmaker's veneer was far better than anything the factory did.
that type of veneer needs tension on it as you stick it down and a little heat also helps.
What I've done before is to clamp two bits of wood on the end of the veneer to act as tension pulling it over the edge of a bench and basically rolling the box to wind it on.
Clever.
I totally want this kit. It looks just as good if not better than another bookshelf kit that was really famous a few years ago because of z-reviews.
It is a great kit.
I have a HiVi Swan M8a, 8" woofers in my un-orthodox 2-way speakers (according to articles in AudioXpress from 2004/5) and they are fantastic. However I find it just annoying working with MDF as the joints will always show up sooner or later so I stripped an old sofa from its green leather and glued that leather to the box with wood glue.
Cool!
Hivi makes some amazing drivers for the money. There are kits costs $700-1000 and they are good enough to rival a pair of commercial speaker worth 3-4 times more.
I’ve built these and the Swan 3.1’s, skipped the vinyl and used DuraTex. Not as classy but after putting a ½” radius on the 3.1’s and a ½” chamfer on these, it came out nice. I also changed out the tweeter CAP w/Audyn Caps of the same value, Dayton Audio PMPC for the mids and Dayton Audio grade resistors too. The caps and resistors cost me less than $30 delivered, well worth it in my book. Exceptional outcome in both cases.
In part two I messed something up when I was connecting to the circuit board. I've not had time to troubleshoot them yet.
@@DIYAudioGuy I skipped the CB's and used larger, little bit longer pieces of wood, and hot glued the parts in a linear pattern, two to a box. That allowed me to bi-wire if I wanted. I'm sure you can figure out the layout, easy enough. There are some real good options for improving these crossovers, especially the 3.1's. All in all, very good diy speakers, hard to beat at twice the price.
Silicone works fine. It's perfectly safe because of it's insulating properties. You could also use a CA glue for quick set times since CA uses a reactant hardener.
Regular RTV silicone releases acetic acid as it cures. I suspect this is what the speaker vendor was referring to when they said not to use a glue that was corrosive. To tell the truth, I've used this type of RTV on electronic devices and I've never seen it cause a problem, but I have been warned that the acid can damage electronic parts. The electronic grade RTV releases an alcohol (I don't know what kind) as it cures. For what it's worth, I like to use hot glue to fasten parts to circuit boards. No fumes to speak of and it sets up quickly.
I'd love the 3 way version!
Words of advice:
Use regular wood glue on both your veneer and surface, let both dry to almost completely dry, then place the veneer and use a clothes iron on high with high steam, it activates the glue as you go and it sets almost like CA glue so you dont have to clamp or place weights while it dries
Will that work with this plastic (I guess it is vinyl?) stuff as well?
@@DIYAudioGuy havent tried it on that specific stuff but similar and works, watch your heat, whatever the lowest your iron still does steam. I bought a $10 walmart iron for in the shop just for this stuff so the wife doesnt smooth me out with her iron after i use it on glue
Great video, you've convinced me to never buy a speaker kit.
I was on the fence, now I know for sure.
Speaker building is not for everybody.
I've found that a hot glue gun works just fine to secure crossover components to the board. FYI one of those inductors should have been turned to sit on its edge to prevent crosstalk.
Yup, hot glue is the way to go. Go with the higher setting (if it's got one), to give a bit more "set time" for the inductors and the resistors. For the capacitors, go with the lower setting, as the higher setting may damage the surface of the capacitor.
That’s not how the manufacturer designed the board so it’s obviously not an issue.
That is typically how it is done, but the instructions show it flat side down.
Hot melt doesn’t seem to last with vibrations, and of course here in Arizona heat kills.
Superglue & baking soda heat resistant instant drying extremely strong.
I do not know what glue many use, but I can tell you when they do and I get it from abroad it is a black epoxy that is the devil to remove. I would use a self curing silicone. In case I change my mind later. RTV may be better but the cross linking substances may do something to any conformal coatings, so self curing would be my choice, a bit of hot glue can hold it while it cures.
Always wanted to build one of these kits but im not interested in building my own crossover. Wish they did one with prebuilt crossovers.
It is not all that hard. And you can learn something about crossovers. You do need a decent soldering iron. Try it.
If it's vinyl veneer ( looks like it ) hair dryer or heat gun at a distance will help flatten out those creases.
Absolutely, will try that next time.
I put it out on my car in the sun for 20-30 minutes. But, the second one I left it out too long, but, it only puckered on end too bad, but there was still enough to do the second speaker. That stuff is still horrible to work with.
I have purchased HiVi drivers in the past. These tend to be vanity drivers. Really cool looking but the distortion can be high, the free air resonance is high, they want large box size and the Xmax is small. There appears to be a resonance right in the center of the usable range at 1 kHz. It would be interesting to see some distortion measurements. I would recommend the Dayton drivers over these.
For the price the kit costs, I have made several iterations DIY and they sound amazing! I like Dayton drivers, however they are expensive and hard to get in Europe, but this Chinese Co. is available where I live and they have a very wide range of drivers in various price categories, with the T/S to make certain OEMs think about it.
You can purchase this kit for less than the cost of purchasing the tweeters and mids form parts express.
Being a woodworker myself, that was my very first thought, to use wood veneer anyway. As for the clamping issue, using "calls"(pieces of wood to span the width of what you're trying to clamp) with light pressure to keep the pieces from collapsing on each other would help. I'm very interested in building my own after a little "sticker shock" looking for speakers. Look forward to the finished product! Thanks!
I think you're right, some calls would have helped quite a bit. I really need to get in the habit of using them.
"cauls"
@@mikel5582 Thanks buddy, wasn't sure about the spelling!
I had a Soundstream Reference component set that included a 6" midbass with a 3" voice coil. Looked like a Dynaudio knock-off to me, but was pretty good. The passive filters were also good, but the cheap tweeters were the weak link.
Tweeters matter.
All it needs is a sheet of No Rez for the cabinet internal absorption. There's also a High density Cabinet paint a lot of people use in place of Veneers. Though Veneering is pretty easy. As per the resistors I'd make sure they are not Sand Cast. As they will, if I understand it, magnetize over time and cause frequency smearing. You're supposed to use an Iron and glue with the Veneer.
The kit came with some polyfill.
@@DIYAudioGuy Polyfill is ok but it isn't as affective as No Rez and many DIY and Speaker types us it with Polyfill. And I'm fairly certain those same engineers put accelerometers on the cabinets when testing with and without. A Sheet of No Rez is pretty cheap. One Sheet usually does a pair of speakers that size easily. Oh, and on applying Veneer you lay it from edge to edge in a rolling type manner and work you roller to remove bubbles the same way starting at the first edge contact to the last.Then when or if satisfied Run over it with the Iron.
I was just wondering how these sound.. Stoked to see the reveal, but I know it'll take some time to break in properly
I am stoked as well. With a little bit of luck I'll get everything hooked up tomorrow evening and the video will be out next weekend.
This looks like a good DIY build for the price. Seems to have everything except the glue. And there is a version of the kit that is 3 way. But I do have to admit (since I own a pair the brand is no more Athena bookshelf that are surprisingly good) that there are some really good 2 way set ups out there. But I still have a heart for 3 way speakers.
One tip I can give you is when you're mounting power resistors. Always mount them above the circuit board. A 10 watt resistor can burn the board, and requires air to be able to flow around it. Any resistor 1 watt and higher should be given space by mounting it a little above the board. There is only one way to get good at mounting cloth or veneer onto a speaker box, and that's to do it over and over. That means installing it. Ripping it off and reinstalling it again and again.
i think a hair dryer or heat gun will help with the vinyl when applying it.
I wouldn't glue any of the components. You may need to replace a component. If anything I'd use hot glue though. It should be easier to get off and is non conductive, and as far as I know it is not corrosive.
Nice cob job .so you can break out the good stuff. Good one.
Yeap! There is a problem with the coils, because they can vibrate while the speaker is running... so it should be isolated from the PCB and, as well, glued together using melted plastic... its the fastest and durable way to put the coils on a PCB. Its the glue gun, yes, only its not glue thats shouts out, but melted plastic! :)
Thanks for the video!
What huge voice coils!!!!!
Thanks for your comment.
Great Content Justin! And yeah, contact cement gives you one shot and one shot only
It is unforgiving, but I know that it will hold!
8:18 a heat gun or even blow dryer from your wife's side of the bathroom will work beautifully for these ripples. It also helps to make the vinyl wrap more pliable and manageable. Check out people who wrap cars and how they do it, Much the same with this, even though its a bunch of flat surfaces. You could even use the Auto focused techniques to help trim the wrap into detailed spots given the build calls for it.
Absolutely.
Very cool diy. Use moc resistors. And the terminal looks like steel with gold. Use "Messing" terminals Greetings from germany.
Cool, thanks
@@DIYAudioGuy and btw 215€ only for the midwoofer .in germany. For one.
I used hot glue for the circuit board stuff. I like the video man. DIY is always very satisfying to see the end result. Exciting. Proud feeling. Lol. Thanks for the video. Even tho you messed up the speaker. Did you happen to fix the laminate?
th-cam.com/video/dBdgNHcuAEY/w-d-xo.html
I wonder if you could use a piece of foam with a good glue on each side to glue the parts to the board? The other way you might get parts audibly vibrating.
That is an interesting question. I wonder how hot the components get and how foam would hold up under the heat?
I have a passive low pass crossover sitting on my test bench. I bought it for a video idea that I never executed on. I did hook it up at one point to test it out, there was audible vibration.
Do you know of any 3-way speaker kits with an 8" or 10" woofer? I've helped build two diy kits with 6" mid-woofers and they sounded good but were weak in the bass. I have listened to the Swans 2.2A and the bass was also weak. I feel like today's speaker companies, especially diy kits, are trying to snow us into thinking a 6" mid will have adequate bass.
Great video, as for glue- Hot Glue Gun, easy and cheap.
Spray glue should be fine for that vinyl veneer, I think.
Seeing the results though, for you the best finish might have been to go with roll-on Duratex 🙂
I think I should have gone with spray glue. This weldwood grabbed way to hard, no room for mistakes.
Duratex is hard to mess up.
Real wood veneer probably looks better. I have used thinned satin varathane as a wipe on finish with great results . Almost looks like an oil finish, but way more durable. Instant dry time, couple coats a day.
I tried a few test finishes with some scrap veneer.
That black veneer is a nightmare, using a solvent based glue might melt a plastic veneer. My method is wood veneer, analine wood dye, and diy wiping satin varathane. Good results for minimum labor. I Enjoy your videos many thanks for your efforts. Glad you tried soldering it is a must have skill.
Veneering is hard. There's just no way around that. Paper backed wood with contact cement is the easiest because it's flat and the glue won't bleed through. After that it gets more difficult and having very flat material is very important.
Yes, that always seems to work better for me.
@@DIYAudioGuy in the absence of an industrial grade veneering press, I think the next step, especially if you're going to work with raw wood. Veneer is a vacuum press system. You can set one up for under $500 if you have an air compressor already and it goes generally very excellent results for most types of veneer except for some of the really challenging ones like curly maple. I've tried and failed at cold press so many times that I think it can only work for very small projects like jewelry box lids. Contact cement will work with heavily processed wood like dyed veneer but give it lots of time to fully dry before finishing and some finishes will dissolve the contact cement
I stumbled upon this while looking to build a 2.1 soundbar for my old Jeep. There aren't many audio amp boards made specifically for 12V, 10 amps. I'm still looking.
I saw the part 2, the veneer finish was great, better than wrap. I didn't get a better look at the black amp circuit board, TPA 3116?
You're going to want amplifier with a little more power for a sound bar in a jeep. Most standard 4-channel car amplifiers will do the trick. Bridge to the rear channel for the subwoofer, they will even have a crossover.
Id skip it this one & consider G.R. research if youre gonna go that route,at least there more informative & have backup as well if needed!
The cabinets look pretty lightweight. You agree? Some of the panels looked like Masonite, 1/4 inch?
Nope, it's all 3/4". This thing is solid as a rock.
@@DIYAudioGuy Sorry, you’re right, my eyes deceived me! Tx
I use "Goop" as glue for crossover parts.
I probably would have tried spray adhesive for the veneer or just not used it lol
I think you are right.
Do you have any builds where you run the woofer full range and a cap on the tweeter? A basic two way for the budget minded.
No, but it would not make financial sense to do that unless you have the parts and material lying around. Most entry-level speakers go that route and you can buy them for less than the materials (wood, glue, paint...) will cost you to build the enclosure.
As a milliuon other people have noted. Plain old hot glue from a glue gun works just fine dude. If you need any proof, check out some of the prebuilt desktop PC's Gamers Nexus has reviewed in the past where they hot glue a ton of the connectors in place to prevent the end user from modifying or as they say, prevent them from coming loose in transit...
That is what I usually use.
@@DIYAudioGuy Sometimes the simplest answer is the best!
Spray adhesive, soft squeegee, roller
You tried more than I would have. I would have grabbed some bedliner or exohyde and went to town.
The mahogany is going to look a lot better.
when was the last CRT TV made ? .. so why shielded speakers these days ?
That is a darn good point.
Use a heat gun and a straight edge to shape and get the wrinkles out.
If you would of have had a heat gun you could of used it to stretch the vinyl on the box so it would be more playable to put on and get it straightened out a little more it may have been possible to fix it. it's basically it's a big sticker like wall paper I've even used a iron to help put it on but I don't suggest its hard because you have to have some things between it and can't see under it. I burnt my self couldn't see 🔥🤪👌👍✌️💯🎶🍻
Absolutely, heat gun would have been helpful.
Hopefully HiVi will send out their three-way kit and I can have a chance to practice again. I would love the chance to redeem myself.
Wow cool kit
I am just bummed that I screwed it up. Hopefully I will have it up and running this week.
i thought you werent supposed to have those windings in the same direction?
You are correct, I'll have to go back and look at the instructions.
Sweet.!! What a kit indeed. A word to the wise on future builds. From what I saw, it looked to me that you mounted the 10watt resistors directly to/against the board. That's a no-no for any heat producing/dissipating components and components overall with any type of mass like capacitors. Small resistors will be fine without, just mount them 1/8" off the board. Over time they could scorch the board or even burn through when/if the component fails. Its best to use neutral cure silicone rubber. Preferably alcohol cured. Dow Corning has extensive data available. Also, this type of adhesive will retain elasticity against vibration causing bad or cold solder joint cracking/failure. Most pro amp techs use this method. Hot glue will work but usually comes undone in a year or so. It has less adhesion and vibration resistance too. Most Chinese/Asian/Overseas amp/crossovers use it or fast dry glues because it is cheaper, easier, and faster on the production line. As long as it out lasts the warranty they are cool with it.
The adhesive I used is supposed to be a neutral cure silicon.
Um it's so long because it's a ratchet strap usually used to strap stuff down to a truck or trailer.
Yep, they just threw some plastic corner clamps in the box with.
Most likely the resistor location will matter.
spray glue would work well, contact cement is unforgiving, once it's there, it's there
Yep, I learned that the hard way.
I need ideas for a pre fab box for 2 10s. I already have my tens. They are Kicker CompVX's
I would go with one of these:
howl.me/ciANhcUJ2gp
lddy.no/1e0bo
On something like this for glue I would just use 3M double sided tape industrial grade
You have to use heatgun
Dow corning 3145 or alternate.
A simple vinyl squeegee would've helped to apply the veneer
Good tip!
Hot Snot is all you need.😅
Can you rebuild or replace a blown voice coil on a rockford fosgate p3 12 shallow "2 ohm" dvc ? I just bought them a week ago and accidentally blown a voice coil in one of them because of wiring 2 of them incorrectly and i think it went to 0.5 ohm so its started rattling bad after 20 minutes of installation smh... totally my fault for not doing my research but am willing to pay someone to fix it. The other p3 12 shallow is good and my skar rp 1200 is also good luckily lol
What you looking for is a recone kit. I think it will be hard to find one for a shallow sub. Paying somebody to recone a sub often cost more than just replacing it.
@@DIYAudioGuy o wow.. i knew it was going to cost a bit just not as much as a new one . Thanks for the info
how does it sound?
Those self winding straps are pretty heavy and bulky.
What's the track name in the back ground
On what glue or spray adhesive or contact cement thay all are OK to use, they just have different lengths of time before you have to place them in place and to adjust.
Precut everything to length and width before adding the adhesive.
Use a soft plastic spreader to help applying the vinyl or plastic veneer to reduce bubbling and creasing the covering.
In vinyls a pin, heat gun and a wallpaper seem roller come in handy to remove bubbles and creases.
But the biggest thing is to do a dry run on how you are going to do the wrap and use painter's tape to help you see how it is going to fit in both the dry run and when it comes to the applying the wrap for the finishing touches.
Oh and a couple of tips.
Plastic vinyl and contact cement is roll it up to make it look more like a roll of wide sticky tape.
It makes it easier to apply and put some tension on it as you lay down the vinyl.
On openings heat up the vinyl to stretch it before cutting out the excess so that you can apply the vinyl to the inside edge of the speaker hole.
Never start in the centre of a panel, always start at one edge and finish at that edge if you are doing a one piece wrap.
But you can always cut the vinyl to fit each panel and have the seams / join on the edges.
But apart from that you did a very good job in trying to fit the vinyl, it was a pity it did not work.
I'm not too worried about it, I've already got the hardwood veneer on it and it looks 10 times better. Can't wait to get it finished and upload the video!
Could you reccomend me any small subwoofer with built in power amplifier that fits under the seat or in the spare wheel recess and has good sound? I've got an audi a4 avant b9 2017 with a built in woofer in the spare wheel recess and the sound on lower basses is just terrible.
It is very hard to get decent bass in a small enclosure, so I recommend that you go big. Something like this: howl.me/ciCkhAyMcFY That one will need an external amp, which is a good thing since you will not have an amp taking up airspace in the enclosure. It will be much more efficient. I recommend this amp: howl.me/ciCkjYhl8CE
You will also need an amp power kit and a way to integrate with the factory radio.
@@DIYAudioGuy thanks for the respond. I had a big one in my recent cars but as i said i need something small so my trunk has the full space. I dont need the big boom in my car just a good sound with a bit of a boom^^ soundquality over loudness
2X that price in Canada, a solid pass. I'll stick with the MB42X G2
So, how did they sound?
I will post a video when I get them finished.
FYI, It is on cyber monday right now for 180 bucks!!
That's a darn good price.
3 inch voice coil on a 6 inch mid means what?
It is unusually large. Most 6" speakers have a 1"coil. Larger coils will handle more power and provide better cone control.
0:00 that's what she said...
sound preview?
I just use hot glue on PCBs, works fine.
That seems to be the most popular choice.
You didn't mention how the speakers sound
I need to finish them first! Keep an eye out for the video, hope to drop it next weekend.
I was bummed that their so expensive
Some heat on that veneer would probably help
just checked the price...... $360.00!!!!! inflation SUCKS!
Still cheaper than buying the individual parts.
Damn, I thought I did a horrible job on the "veneer". I too should have asked my wife for help. But, we determined that it would probably take a year of working in a factory to get it down. Horrible stuff.
I tried to clamp, just clamps, my first try on the box. That was almost a total disaster. Using painters tape is way better. I have done a lot of woodworking, thinking that I can clamp this. HA HA. The 45 degree joints does not work with regular clamping.
It was a challenge.
Kit is not available!
Is it sold out? Wow.
@@DIYAudioGuy please next time, give a link for buyers in Europe too.
P. S. 500 is to much cost!
How to order?
Check the link in the video description.
Does anyone know the watts of the mid woofer
I think it is 60 -- but that seems conservative to me.
@@DIYAudioGuy thank you
hot glue
I use a hot glue gun for stuff like crossovers.
That has worked well for me in the past.
Please forgive my ignorance . . . but why buy a kit?
I can see purchasing the components and then building your own enclosures. But why a kit that has no options? All it is doing is putting more money in the company's pocket. They are saving money on the assembly process. Maybe I am missing something. I just cannot see ANY advantages to this. Other than just enjoying the process of tinkering.
The fun of tinkering.
In this case you can purchase the kit for less than the cost of buying the components.