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The speaker kit and tools arrive

My Parts Express shipment showed up two days ago in a variety of boxes. Whoo-hoo! I'm one happy guy :) Here's a picture of the BR-1s:



To my surprise, the cabinets were already assembled, as was the grill. Nice! They came with all of the electronics, the drivers, and acoustic foam for the interior of the boxes. Everything has a solid, quality feel and look to it. The kit looks like it should take a solid afternoon of work to finish. I need to learn how to solder before I attempt creating the crossovers. I already have the stands designed for them too (picture in the previous post). I'm moving into my new apartment in a couple weeks and I'm planning on mounting the speakers on stands in my bedroom and putting the rest of the equipment on a chest of drawers. I'm putting the bulk of the project on hold for a couple weeks because I have a work project that I need to complete ASAP.

The banana jacks for the amps are actually out of stock, so those won't be in for another month or so :( Kinda bummed about that, but it actually works out with the timing of my project at work. Other parts I ordered including Helping Hands (alligator clips + magnifying glass on a stand), a wire cutter/stripper, and 50 feet of 14 gauge Sound King speaker wire (man it's good stuff!).

Speaker stand ideas

I'm going to build two sets of speaker stands. One set will be for the hi-fi system's stereo speakers, the Dayton BR-1s, and the other set will be for my home theater. I have a 5-piece surround sound set of Philips|Magnavox speakers (aka "Ghetto Blasters") that won't fit on the entertainment center I have, so I'm going to make a set. I've had trouble finding good stands, especially ones that will fit big speakers. Even the "cheap" ones are around $50. Since the center speaker will sit on top of the tv and the surrounds are wall-mountable, I just need two for the front left and front right speakers.

First up, the hi-fi speakers. I'll probably make these 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall. Here's my idea: (3D work was done in Caligari's trueSpace)



Basically, two sheets of wood, one for stabilization on the bottom and one to put the speaker stand on the top, then two 2" x 4" wooden beams for support. I liked the look of two beams better than one for the hi-fi project, makes them a bit more interesting. I thought about different finishes, and I think I'm going to do them in glossy black. Home Depot (HD) sells some great spray paint for grills/ovens that gives a nice shiny black finish without using primer.

The TV speaker stands will be a bit different. They're only going to be about 2 feet high. I already have the wood for them, too. I'm using a 4" x 4" wooden beam for the pillar and 1/2" sheets of wood for the base and stand. This was the original idea I developed:



Not too fancy, very easy to build. Spray paint and stick a few drywall screws in the top and bottom, bam, insta-stands. However, I didn't like the thickness of the base and stand. I already have a large, flat piece of wood to use for them but it isn't very thick. So the next idea I came up with was based on the same design, but added a second base and stand layer, but an inch shorter or so around the edges, on the interior of the stand, like so:



I think this looks nice, especially since the stands will look kind of squatty and the base/stand material isn't very thick. Then I started getting more ideas. I came up with one other idea I like:



Same design as above, but it adds 4 round dowels on the interior. These look neat, but I don't think they'll look very good on such short speaker stands. I will probably use this design when it comes time to make some speakers completely from scratch. Since these will be used by a tv, I'm going to paint them flat black so they don't have reflections from the tv's emitted light. I picked up some gray spray paint primer and flat black spray paint from HD the other day. I'm going to build these stands first and see how they turn out before moving on to the hi-fi system's stands. Please post some comments if you have ideas or suggestions!

The CD player arrives

And it even matches the amp! It arrived yesterday from Amazon.com. I wanted a CD player that could handle MP3 discs and ended up going with a DVD player. It's a Malata DVD-806 Progressive-Scan DVD Player. I tested it out for kicks with my business projector and it looks pretty good. It was about $44 on Amazon and had a $20 rebate, which brings it down to just $24 - super price for a CD/MP3 deck! It's very slim and matches the amp pretty well.

It's a pretty nice DVD player, actually. For video, it has composite, s-video, and component outputs. For video, it has stereo RCA, coaxial digital, and optical digital outputs. Quite an array of option for less than $25. Since it will be the main music source for the hi-fi system, I'll just be using the stereo RCA audio jacks. It's the only DVD player I've seen that has a built-in volume control. I know this because when I first hooked it up to the amp, the sound was extremely distorted. I had to turn it waaaayyy down to get a clean signal. It resets the volume level everytime you power it off, which is annoying, so I think I'll just leave it on. Here's a pic:



It plays CDs and MP3s just fine, no problems there. Aside from the volume level, I do have two complaints. One is the tray. It's plastic, for one thing. The whole unit seems to be made of metal, which is suprising for the price. It's very thin and flimsy and easy to move up and down. Also, it doesn't come out all the way. It hides about a fifth of the CD tray inside the unit, so you kind of have to slide the CD in. It's no trouble at all, just strange. A disc on the tray is easy to slide off, too...there's no real catch for it like on most trays. Seems like it would be easy to break, but kids won't be playing with it so I'm not too worried. The second complaint is the remote. Button layout stinks. Heck, the buttons stink. The menu system is a bit different (I finally figured it out when I put in on screen) and you have to press the buttons weird to make it work - kind of hard, and you have to hold them for a second longer than regular remotes. Luckily the player has the basic controls on the face of the unit (unlike a lot of other players), so this isn't too much hassle. Oh well, I can't ask for too much for $24 :)

Oh, and I neglected to mention in earlier posts that the BR-1s came back in stock and I managed to snag a pair before they went out of stock again. I also ordered speaker wire and some other useful tools. Additionally, my fianceé has an iPod Shuffle, so I ordered a minijack-to-RCA cable from PE for a couple bucks as well so we can enjoy the iPod on the system. This project is coming along nicely!

The amp arrives

It's here at last! My vintage Dynaco integrated amp arrived the other day. It's much smaller than a full-sized deck. The front face is beautiful, brushed aluminum with neat knobs and switches. Here's my new baby:



Beautiful, isn't she? :) I've decided to first restore her and then mod her. I popped the cover off and sprayed the dust bunnies out with a can of compressed air. The inside could use some more work, namely cleaning off the actual electronics and giving the whole chassis a good polishing. There were some scratches on the cover, which were remedied by a black Sharpie marker ;)

I did have some trouble getting the knobs off. I've only managed to get two off, using a small Allen wrench. The rest were stuck in there or had their heads stripped. My solution? Use a left-handed drill to get them out and buy new ones. I ordered the drill bit from McMaster and I'm going to let some Liquid Wrench sit in the holes overnight to facilitate removal. It's a stupid design to use screws that small because they'll have a tough time coming out later in their life. It's even worse on new components - everything is designed (and priced) to be thrown away now. My Sherwood 5.1 receiver cost $77 new and I don't think I could fix a single part on it if it broke. Oh well, that's why I have a vintage amp :)

As for mods, I'm going to replace the old speaker wire connectors (screws) with new banana jacks. This will make it easy to move (quick disconnects) and such. I may or may not replace the RCA jacks. I do have a cleaning kit coming which has deoxidizer, conditioner, etc., (Parts Express [PE] Part Number 341-246) so I'll see how good of a job that does before making a decision. The first thing I'm doing when I get the kit is cleaning the potentiometers (pots), since just about all the knobs are scratchy when moved. I may also replace all the wiring inside with new stuff later in it's life, and possibly some resistors and caps. I'm not too familiar with actual electronics at the moment, so I got a book called Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul Scherz that runs through electronics theory and parts and such.

I also got a 30-watt soldering iron from Radio Shack a few weeks ago to practice soldering. It was about $8, much cheaper than I expected. I also got a blank component board, a 100-pack of resistors, and some silver solder with resin core to practice with. Here are a few links if you'd like to learn yourself:

Basic Soldering Guide:
http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm

Basic Soldering Guide Photo Gallery:
http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderpix.htm

How to Solder:
http://www.aaroncake.net/electronics/solder.htm

Soldering Guide:
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/solder.htm

The Hi-Fi Project

I'm going to make a post at the beginning of every project that explains what it's all about. So here it is:

The Hi-Fi Project

This is my first serious diy project. My goal is to make an awesome entry-level audiophile stereo system using a CD player as a source. The basic system consists of an integrated amplifier, a CD player, and a pair of 2-way speakers. Other parts include an equipment stand for the CD player, the amp, and the CDs, wiring with banana plugs, and speaker stands.

I decided on a vintage amp, both because of the quality and my budget. I don't want to spend over $300 on the core system. With the help of a knowledgable friend, I chose a Dynaco SCA-80Q integrated amplifier on ebay. I snagged it in very good condition for about $100. This amp provides 40 watts per channel of quality power. It's actually a 4-channel amp, but I doubt I'll ever use more than two as this is just a basic audio system.

The other amp I was looking at was the Marantz 1060. I fell in love with the brushed aluminum face, polished wooden box (available on some models), and knob layout, but the SCA-80Q is apparently a better amp. Since this particular project is more focused on my own diy education and sound quality, I decided to go with the Dynaco (which still looks nice, but I prefer the look of the 1060). I will probably get a 1060 in the future, once I get the hang of building and finishing my own speakers.

I chose the shielded Dayton BR-1s, again with the help of my friend. The BR-1s run about $150 a kit and includes all the necessary parts for a pair of 2-way speakers, aside from a few basic tools. I originally didn't want a kit; I wanted to build everything from scratch. However, not having much experience with building electronics, crossover design, woodwork (cabinets, at least), speaker design, and so on, and having heard about the high quality of this kit, I decided to go with it. It's out of stock for the rest of the month, which I'm bummed about, but that gives me time to get my amp in, play with it, and maybe build or at least design a stand for the components and the speakers.

My goal is to have this project done by the second week of May. The project tasks include:

-test the amp and learn how to use it
-decide on a source - portable CD player or DVD deck with MP3 capability
-build or buy an equipment stand
-order and build the speakers
-build a pair of speaker stands

The banana plugs arrive

My banana plugs just arrived the other day. I'm excited! I'm building my first real hi-fi system using a Dynaco SCA-80Q stereo amp, portable CD player, and a pair of shielded Dayton BR-1 speakers. The Daytons will be my first kit; I've mostly used Logitech computer speakers in the past for my computer and home theater systems. I want to get into the do-it-yourself (DIY) aspect of audio equipment and figured a kit was the easiest way to do it. My goal with this project is to make a basic stereo system with a CD player. I'm still deciding on on the CD player. I want an MP3-capable player, but I really only want a single-disc system. I did some research and narrowed it down to either a portable CD player or a DVD player with MP3 capability. The DVD player would match the deck-style look of the system much more, but that's another $70 added to the cost of the project. Alternatively, I can get a Y-splitter to run the portable from for $5 and use my portable CD player and save a bunch of money. I want to build my own rack and speaker stands, so I'm going to wait on that decision until I get the amp in to see how it looks in person (got it off ebay).

I found some great banana plugs on ebay from a company called GLS Audio. Apparently, the GLS plugs are WBT clones, according to Audioholics. A WBT plug can cost about twice as much as the GLS knock-off ($6 vs $3), which may not seem like a huge price difference, but if you're connecting a 5.1 set with 4 bananas per speaker, you'll need 20 plugs, which comes out to either $60 or $120. Bigger difference now, eh? I've heard that the GLS bananas have a problem with weak screws, so don't screw them in too tightly if you pick some up. My kit came with an extra pair of screws, so I may give it a try just to see. Here's a picture of the box and parts:



Very beautiful! I really like how they look. I've only used RCA plugs or bare speaker wire in the past, so this will be my first diy audio cable set. The speakers I'm building accept bananas, but the old Dynaco integrated amp doesn't, so I'll just be using 4 plugs this time around. If you've never used bananas before, they're pretty nice because they let you unplug the speaker wire from your system easily and hook them back up quickly. If you upgrade a lot, rearrange your furniture often, or take your speakers out to parties, they're great to have.

The GLS bananas have a few nice features that make them worth looking at. First of all, the look gorgeous. I'm a big fan of having nice-looking equipment and these fit the bill. Second, they're easily to use. It's just a banana plug (obviously) - stick it in the speaker and you're done! No more messing around with loose wires in the speaker cable and trying to fit it in. Third, no soldering required - cut the shielding off the speaker wire, put it in, screw the screws down, tighten the cap, and you're ready to go! There are two actual screws that go on the shaft of the gold part of the plug to hold the speaker wire in. The gray part of the plug is actually a seperate piece that screws on like a flashlight head. Here's a pic:



Fourth, they're color-coded by stickers (black and red). This is really nice, especially if the speaker wire you're using isn't marked and you need to run it 50 feet. Fifth, they're not just banana plugs, they're locking banana plugs. As you tighten the gray piece onto the gold part, the tip of the plug itself expands. To install, you leave the gray piece a bit loose, put it into the binding post on the back of the speaker, then tighten the gray piece, which makes the plug expand. This causes it to lock into the binding post, which is great if you want to move your speakers around without having the plugs pop out. This isn't an essential feature, but hey, as long as you're paying $3 a plug anyway, you might as well get nice ones.

My only complaint would have to be the stickers. As I was messing with one of the plugs, the sticker started to rub off. I ended up taking it completely off because it didn't want to stay back on. If the colors were, say, anondized on the plug and the brand name was embossed in gold, that would have been a lot nicer, but eh, they're just generic plugs and you won't see them too much anyway. So, if you want fashionable budget banana plugs with a locking feature, I'd say these are the way to go!

Oh yeah, I should make a note that I'm very wordy. I just wrote a giant post about speaker plugs. This blog is definately more along the lines of "thoughts from my head" than concise technical writing, lol.

I'm probably a 50-50 person when it comes to form and function. The "thing" needs to work, but I like having it look nice, too. I've found most things have a kind of happy medium that you can reach and then play around from there. For example, you can buy really nice speakers for under $200. Are they going to sound as good as $1,000 speakers? No, but they're probably 90% as good. I'm not a huge quality freak - I can get by with just about anything that sounds decent. Even my $20 Boston Acoustics computer speakers sound great to me. For me, audio bliss is a system that both sounds good and looks nice. The banana plugs I chose to use for this project were mostly chosen based on looks. All banana plugs are going to do the job equally well, but I liked how these look the best. Not that you'll ever really see the plugs, but it adds a bit of a professional touch to your system.

You can purchase locking GLS banana plugs in sets of 2, 8, 10, 20, 24, 28, 40, and 48 from Orange County Speaker. Alternatively, they have an eBay store under the username speakerrepair.com. Here's a direct link to an 8-pack on their website, which is enough for a pair of speakers and amp. I'll probably get a 50' roll of 14 gauge speaker wire by Sound King from Parts Express to go with the plugs. I think the wire will look pretty good with the plugs.

Intro

Howdy and welcome to my blog! My name is Dave and I am an art and electronics enthusiast. I created this blog to keep a visual log of my projects in the areas of 2D/3D graphics, audio/video, and computers. I'll give a short description of each project complete with pictures and throw in links as necessary. Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, and share information. Thanks for visiting and enjoy your stay!