Zaph SR-71 speaker build

Tim D.

I recently completed building the Zaph Audio SR71 speakers using a stacked laminated plywood design. The laminated design I modeled after gmed's build on the HTGuide Forum. Basically I started with two 1/2" thick 5x5 sheets of baltic birch plywood, cut them down to lots of strips which I then glued on top of each other to form the side and back panels of the speakers. Each side consists of 31 pieces of the wood glued together. The tops, bottoms, and baffle are simply face pieces of the same birch plywood. I also built matching stands using the same wood. This is my first attempt at building anything, and I am so happy with how they came out, and even more happy with how they sound. For 2-channel music, I prefer them over my Rocket RS850s because they throw a deeper sound stage and more realistic reproduction of female vocals. Enough talking though, here are the pictures from the build.

The wood after it had been cut down






After the layers were all glued together. You can see I cut 45s on the back edge of each side piece so the rear piece will slide in
http://www.timdennisphotography.com/ht/04.jpg

I routed out a groove on each side for the baffle to eventually fit in




Cutting the holes for the base ports on the back




I used a Jasper circle jig on my plunge router to cut all the circles


Fitting in the front baffle


The baffle is 1" thick - gluing the two pieces together


Cutting the driver holes








The back with a recessed space for the binding plate


Gluing the back into the box


Dry fitting the front and sanding down


Putting in the bass ports and dampening material. I used the Sonic Barrier material sold by Parts Express.




Soldering the wires to the crossover boards


Installing the crossovers




I used Dayton binding plates and posts


Gluing in the front baffles


For the finish, I used Wipe-On Poly and ended up applying 8 coats, sanding inbetween coats with 320 grit.






Drivers installed








Like I said the stands were built much the same way with the same wood and finish. The columns are filled with sand and each stand weighs in at 30 pounds. Each speaker ended up being 25 pounds.




After the speakers were finished, I did a couple of other projects to complete out the listening room. Built a small FleXy Table audio rack, and some room treatments for the walls (thanks to bigred for posting his acoustic panel build). For the electronics, went with an Onix SP3 and Onix CD-3. MAC CuQ speaker cables, Audioquest Sidewinder ICs, Zu Birth power cable on the amp, and Signal Cable Digital Reference on the CD player. Here are pictures of the completed room.

concealer404

And now for the important part?

How do they sound? They look GREAT.

Face

Nice job!

Tim D.

Thanks, they sound wonderful! I only have my Onix Rockets to compare them to, but immediately I noticed much more depth in the sound stage...more three dimensional. The Rockets do a great job of instrument separation linearly, but these improved on the front to back placement of the sounds. Vocals also sound very spacious and I notice a lot more of the room resonance from the recording. I was expecting them to be lacking on the low end, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they have nice tight controlled bass, and in my listening room, sound plenty big on the low end. I had actually originally planned on building a sub to go with them, but decided to save my money for the time being because they just don't need it. Considering my total cost with the stands was on only $550 and they are outperforming a $2k retail speaker, I couldn't be happier.

halo71

Tim those look great! How much you got just in the drivers and XO's if I may ask? And that wipe on poly works really great! I have used it on a few projects lately. Any reason for using BB ply over regular cabinet grade? Maybe the BB is more void free I guess? I have a ton of cab grade ply laying round in my shop. This would make a great project. I love the look of the stacked ply layers, reminds me of zebra wood.

TouchOfEvil

nice work.

MillerLiteScott

Very nice. Great job. Great work. Great result. Awesome documentation.

Scott

Tim D.

Gary,

I bought the drivers and pre-assembled crossovers (except for soldering the wires) as a kit from Madisound and paid $320 for that part. The BB plywood has the much smaller plys compared to the cabinet grade stuff I could get at Lowes, and as you said, doesn't have the voids you find in regular birch ply. If you look closely, I used 3/4" birch ply for the base of the stand. I actually liked the way the top surface of it took the poly better than the BB, as it came out much darker, but the plys of it would have been much too wide for the sides of the speakers and it did have a lot of serious voids that I had to fill in with wood filler.

dorokusai

I'm not loving the aesthetics but the workmanship and build is A+. I've heard a handful of Madisound kits in varying arrays and they've always sounded pretty good. Thanks for posting the project.

ALL212

Most very cool!

zingo

Those speakers look great and the build process looks bulletproof. Great job!

mopar paul

Man, Tim, those look great. I love the laminated process & though it takes a while, it looks awesome. Nice setup for sure!

nooshinjohn

Top notch workmanship! Those look like they sound as good as the look.

adam2434

Those cabinets look bomb-proof. Are they as dead/inert as they look?

Nice work.

zingo

Most importantly, when can you make me a pair?

Tim D.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the comments. Yes, they definitely sound as good as they look, and I am enjoying them way more than I thought I would. Adam, the cabinets are very solid. I did notice a big improvement as far as vibrations you could feel on the speaker when it was playing once I had them on the dedicated stands . At first, while I was still making the stands, I had them set up on some smaller Best Buy stands, and they were definetly not as stable as they are now.

Jake, I wish I could efficiently reproduce these for you, but I'm afraid this might be a one time thing for me . You should try some yourself...just takes some patience and a couple of tools. I am testament that you don't need any prior skills. I have never done any woodworking before this and didn't even know how a router worked until I bought one off Craigslist for this project. So there's nothing stopping you!

zingo

Tim D. wrote: »

Jake, I wish I could efficiently reproduce these for you, but I'm afraid this might be a one time thing for me . You should try some yourself...just takes some patience and a couple of tools. I am testament that you don't need any prior skills. I have never done any woodworking before this and didn't even know how a router worked until I bought one off Craigslist for this project. So there's nothing stopping you!

Now that's inspirational! Great job on the project and I look forward to seeing your next project.

iskandam

Wow first rate craftsmanship on the cabinet!

GTB

Awesome!

Thanks for the time taken to create a very impressive post. The pictures and explanations were crystal clear!

After reading this I'm starting to get the bug to do something myself......

Greg

jonlereux

Nice job!! I am looking at making my first pair of DIY's. I have always wondered about the value of DIY and what they would sound like. Actually looking at a Usher DIY for my first project.

Are you happy with the sound? Would you try it again?

Ricardo

Very cool. First project? Awesome. You should be proud.

steveinaz

Great job Tim! I bet those sound fantastic.

gmed

Hi Tim, they look great. I had to sign up just to comment on your build. They look awesome. I gotta say, you have given me an idea for building a set of speakers.

it is truly an honor to have my speaker modeled, but I really like your design. more cost effective and just as beautiful.

ledhed

The matching stands add so much to the look, they are beautiful.

Not a bad price either :cool:

setzer808

Excellent build! Have to agree the matching stands really are the icing on the cake.

radiometrics

Hi Tim,

I am new to this form and stumbled upon your SR-71's. Gorgeous ! I've been ready to purchase the kit for some time although finances have kept me from moving forward thus far.

I was given these Dynaudio Respons from the 1970's or 80's (not sure). They sound amazing but too large for my living situation. No one can tell me how much they're worth or locate any info online. Anyway, do you know where I could find such info? I would prefer to sell them to someone who respects classics so I can in turn buy the SR-71 kit... Or should I harvest the speakers and build a new, slimmer tower set?

Thanks in advance for any information you could provide!!

Best,

Andy

doug76

Tim, they look awesome pardner. Job well done!

dorokusai

I LOVE the speakers but the matching stands are a bit much aesthetically. Not that it means anything but overall they are truly unique and very nice to look at. I'd really like to hear them. Have you plotted anything on them?

halo71

Tim D.
Last Activity:
01-22-2012 03:37


Just sayin'.......