Mr K Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Hi guys just want to share my recent build the Troels Ekta 7741 I’ve basically stuck to the plans as best I can and all dimensions are the same. As any of you know it’s impossible to get the 20mm Baltic birch ply here in Aus. So my approach has been to use 15mm BB and laminate a 5mm solid wood over that to bring it up to the 20mm required. To do this I purchased 200 x 25mm Blackwood boards which I hand selected for consistent grain and machined them to get nine panels from each board 60 x 5 mm and took note of their orientation so as to laminate them back together to give a centre butterfly join done the centre of each speaker side panel. Panels were machined as normal not glued together yet just a test run until I'm satisfied with the fit. I used 18mm BB for the bracing. More to follow Cheers Mark 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Boxes were glued together and for this I used Titebond III for all else I have used Titebond original. The Baffle was made of solid Blackwood but I selected a very heavy dense board for the purpose. The tweeter section was rebated into the box and the mid/ woofer section goes in front of the box. Rebates for the drivers And the rear relief for the drivers More to follow Cheers Mark 8 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 Time to make the support legs, for this I've used heavy duty cabinet adjusters and an Aluminium bar 40mm x 25mm and drilled and tapped to accommodate the threads . Top section of the baffle glued in and I've sealed the wood with epoxy to prevent any staining from the glue when I glue on the lower baffle, this makes clean up much easier. The felt also glued in at this stage. Cheers Mark 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 This is the way the legs fit across the bottom of the speakers, a skirt was added to fill in the spaces. And now that all wood work is finished it's on with the grain fill process for this I'm using epoxy resin, it's a slow process painting on with a small brush and heavy sanding back to a flat surface. Usually three coats one at a time. This is then final sanded flat and there should be no imperfections at this stage, this makes the perfect stable base for the spraying of the final finish. These are the pics of the final coat of epoxy this will set for a week before the final sand. So now just the sand up and onto the spraying. Cheers Mark 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioGeek Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 The build looks beautiful! Congrats on your project. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pebbles Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Yes, excellent looking boxes. Looking forward to the next stages. All the best 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRS Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Nice work!!! I considered this a little while back but exchange rates and shipping got a little to rich for me unfortunately. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Thanks for the comments gents, I can see the why there is caution when the $ figure is presented with kit price, exchange rate, and duties all add up. This did take me quite a while and trying to decide which of his speaker designs would best suit my purpose and room. In my case the building of the speaker boxes was never a problem it's just time . So the way I see it is I'm getting a very well deigned with top quality components pair of speakers at what I think is a bargain price. Cheers Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Speakers all finished, the crossovers were all wired as on Troels website . Finish was flat wet sanded after numerous sprayed coats of two pack poly and finally polished to a mirror finish. These speakers have now been in my system for a few weeks, Amp used is Exposure 2010S2D, the main source is my old faithful OPPO 95 for both Flac files and CD's . They also operate as the speakers for TV and radio . Very happy with the result and have achieved what I was aiming for, My room size for these is approx. 9m x 5m. Happy to answer any questions Cheers Mark 14 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikizee Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Beautiful! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Type 1 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Nice work, “M”!! I enjoyed seeing your alternative to Birch plywood. Im in the Plywood game, and as the bulk of good Birch used to come from Russia…… Ive just made some speaker boxes from Hoop pine ply…( that looks like what you’ve used.. native to Northern NSW and Qld)… I think Hoop sounds a bit mellow and restrained, but the solid Blackwood faces should brighten it up a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 20 minutes ago, Type 1 said: Nice work, “M”!! I enjoyed seeing your alternative to Birch plywood. Im in the Plywood game, and as the bulk of good Birch used to come from Russia…… Ive just made some speaker boxes from Hoop pine ply…( that looks like what you’ve used.. native to Northern NSW and Qld)… I think Hoop sounds a bit mellow and restrained, but the solid Blackwood faces should brighten it up a bit! Hi Type 1, Thanks for the kind comments. I am very familiar with Plywood myself and these are Baltic Birch not Hoop Pine as you have suggested, just want to make that clear. Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Type 1 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 All good, Mark! I suspect that Birch sounds a bit better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bammo Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 These are beautiful- I’d be proud - nice work!! Any commercial reference speakers you’d benchmark them against? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrasaw Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 That is beautiful work @Mr K. Just beautiful. I agree with every other compliment which you have received. If I had even a few of your considerable DIY skills, I would have been tempted to try one of Troel's designs. His speaker and crossover designs seem to attract positive comments no matter which type they are - boxed, O/B etc. That is a nice room size which you have as well. Thank you for posting your work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sootshe Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Beautiful, beautiful work...you should be very proud of these. I appreciate the countless hours that would have gone into these. Well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Thanks for all the kind words gents, I don't have a broad knowledge of lots of speakers, prior to these, I had a pair of Osborn EOS reference speakers in this room (which I still own and very happy with) for several years. So I wanted to update the system and the felt that the best value for money was the speakers. The Osborn's are very nice in this room. The Ekta 7741 has certainly delivered with great detail, dynamics and especialy with the bottom end extention. Cheers Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bammo Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Thanks for that comparison mate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfforever Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Beautiful build ........ very clean and wonderful to see gorgeous natural timbers in use ..... well done, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwilistener Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Really nice build. I like the way you did the outrigger feet, visually very tidy. I have the same problem here in NZ. If I could get 20mm Birch Ply I would need a mortgage, therefore I use 18mm mdf overlayed with 5mm thick real wood skin. Its way better wearing then standard veneer and a lot more forgiving to knocks and bumps as well. Having built many speakers over the years I'm firmly convinced that dollar for dollar I can built speakers 3 to 5 times the quality & cost of what I could buy from a retailer. The problem is I get itchy after a while and think I could do even better ... its a slippery slope 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfforever Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 and to follow on Mr K ........ it has been a delight to follow such a craftsmen's build , but you leave us suspended as to the final outcome of so much endeavour .......... ....... you gotta tell us , how do they sound ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwilistener Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 On 30/01/2024 at 10:13 PM, Mr K said: Speakers all finished, the crossovers were all wired as on Troels website . Finish was flat wet sanded after numerous sprayed coats of two pack poly and finally polished to a mirror finish. These speakers have now been in my system for a few weeks, Amp used is Exposure 2010S2D, the main source is my old faithful OPPO 95 for both Flac files and CD's . They also operate as the speakers for TV and radio . Very happy with the result and have achieved what I was aiming for, My room size for these is approx. 9m x 5m. Happy to answer any questions Cheers Mark Oh I do like me some shiney boxes Nicely done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THOMO Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 Great job.Some pricey drivers there! What finish did you use?Gloss level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr K Posted April 7 Author Share Posted April 7 9 hours ago, THOMO said: Great job.Some pricey drivers there! What finish did you use?Gloss level? Hi Thomo, The finish is a combination of a good base and top coats. The base is epoxy used to fill the grain, seal and provide a stable base, epoxy used here was West 105 base with 207 hardener three coats applied and sanded in between each. The top coats are Mirotone polyurathane PU 5555 full gloss with the apropriate hardener and thinners and sprayed about eight coats sanding flat between coats. About a week later once cured a final sand from 1200 to 2500 wet and dry sand and buffed to a mirror finish using Farecla G3 and a final wax. Speakers are sounding wonderful, one of the best things I've done for my system. Now I'm just wondering where I go Amp wise for the next upgrade. Cheers Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THOMO Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 Thanks for the information.I use West Systems epoxy all the time as a glue and filler but never thought to use it as a sealer/undercoat .I tend to use Sherwin Williams 2 pack lacquer as a finish but should give the 2 pack poly a go.Been using water based lacquer more lately which is much nicer to use but looks a bit opaque on darker timber. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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