Building a custom Theile Using EV's Plans

[trickyrick]

Here is the thing. The EV cabinet has a lot of cleats that I find totaly overkill. Mesa cabs don't use the cleat system other than to attach the back of the cab and the speaker baffle. I have been building furniture and cabs for many years and have never seen this over engineered small cab structure.

Has anyone built one without all of the cleats? I understand a cabinet is tuned, would deleting a good portion of those cleats effect the sound reproduction?

I have a wide body MK IV which as most of you know is a few inches wider then the standard Theiel cab. I am building a matching cab to my widebody which is 22 1/2" but I am also instaling a false wall inside the cab to keep the dimensions like a standard Theile. In doing so I think it will also balance the cab weight wise, it should compensate for the wood from the ports. Make sense? So, the original question still remains are all of the cleats needed? As always, thank you much.

 

[Restless Rocks]

As long as you precisely maintain the internal air volume and the exact port demensions you can build it in any shape or fashion you like. As Boogie does without the cleats use plywood that will not resonate.

 

[trickyrick]

Cool. My intention is to use 13ply void free baltic birch. I use the 1/2" version for drawer sides in cabinetry. I am dovetailing the joints for structural strength on the cab itself, and I am going to sink the baffle in a dado with a stop joint at the port cleats.

I also noticed that the ev plans have the port cleats recessed back 3/4" as to allow a port cap that further tunes the cab to a lower resonance to be fitted over the center port hole. I assume this is done to allow a grill to be properly fitted. I intend on brining the cleats out flush with the baffle since I don't intend on covering the ports. I beleive this is what mesa does as well.

One more thing if you don't mind. On the ev plans, it says that a deadening material should be placed strategically ( I am not certain where by memory ) inside of the cab, again, Mesa cabs are empty correct?

I know I can easily achieve 1.3CF using the dummy wall dadoed into the opposite side of the cab, I also want to use the removable back ( Sealed with weather stripping ) It might be interesting to further tune the cab to my preferences using something like pillow cotton, getting into the back would be so much easier then pulling the speaker each time.

I am most likely going to start this project next week. I found the same leather like covering on e-bay, or Parts Express ( Great web site by the way ) The only thing I wish I had was some Jute grill cloth and those sweet leather corner protectors boogie uses. I will settle for cloth and black metal.

I am thinking of taking photos throughout the project and posting them on here if people are interested. I am thinking I can do it in a day now that the kids are back to school. Yes, no kids means loud volumes.

 

[dancullinane]

Please post your results. I would like to make a matching one of Hardwood. Would that cause too much resonance and make it sound bad?

 

[lento]

I am most likely going to start this project next week. I found the same leather like covering on e-bay, or Parts Express ( Great web site by the way ) The only thing I wish I had was some Jute grill cloth and those sweet leather corner protectors boogie uses. I will settle for cloth and black metal

Also here for the grille cloth/vinyl covering and more

http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech10.html

Great idea for a Widebody Thiele !

 

[trickyrick]

Great feedback guy's, thanks. Great web sites too. I tried doing a search for the jute grill cloth but didn't get any hits. I am glad I posted here for the help. It's a bit pricey, but what the heck, I want it to look good too.

I thought that the baltic birch was a bit overkill also, I can get 5x5 sheets for $54. I happen to have some cabinet grade 13 ply maple on hand that I am going to use instead. That will allow me to get the jute cloth without too much guilt.

There are several EVM12's on ebay right now, I hope to get a good deal on one of them. I won't cut the baffle hole until I actually have the speaker so I can make certain of the required measurment. I am thinking about starting this thing tomorrow night, Opening day of the NFL on the TV while I am building this sounds like a good combonation. I will keep everone posted with pic's and results. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Where did you get the plans? Link? Thanks.

 

[Boogafunk]

plans:
http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Builders Plans/

it's the tl806 that you want, but if you're into lifting wieghts and losing your hearing build the 806Q.

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Thanks.

 

[phyrexia]

Wow, there's a plan for a 15L 4x15 box...

 

[CudBucket]

How 'bout MDF? Would an MDF enclosure affect a Thiele cab?

 

[Boogafunk]

mdf is a good material for install and car audio, but its weight and lack of durabillity make it imo unsuitable for most gear that gets transported much.

 

[CudBucket]

mdf is a good material for install and car audio, but its weight and lack of durabillity make it imo unsuitable for most gear that gets transported much.

I can see that. In my case though, it'd never leave the house so I was wondering if MDF would affect the tone or performance. I've built cabs before and am looking for my next project. I'm hoping to build 2 Thieles.

These are the 2x12 cabs I've built.

 

[Boogafunk]

hey cud, those look quite nice. i have never built a thiele out of mdf, but i imagine it wouldn't affect the sound much if at all. from a strictly accoustic standpoint mdf is great. it's lack of resonance is excellent for enclosures, especially subwoofers (even better when it's 1 1/2" thick). it is also very easy to work with. it cuts and sands like butter. however the down side is, it is quite heavy and very suceptable moisture and physical damage. i would hate to see you waste all that effort just to save maby $30 in lumber for a pair of thieles. i believe you will thank me in the long run for saying so.

btw what's the skinny on your cabs? please don't tell me they're mdf i'll cry. what speakers and tuning?

 

[RR]

Nice enclosures CudBucket (and Boogafunk your theile enclosure too).

I remember before you tolex-ed them, you showed your dovetail joints.

CudBucket:

MFD is heavy, brittle, not durable and not great for transporting and on the road use. AND it dulls carbide bits and blades quickly.

But performance is excellent, well I know for playback studio monitors, hi fi or home theater use.

I'm glad we are on the same page here because I read about some say how acoustic inferior MFD material is and then when you asks them their experience on building speaker enclosures and its NILL.

 

[CudBucket]

btw what's the skinny on your cabs? please don't tell me they're mdf i'll cry. what speakers and tuning?

Haha, no they're not MDF. I used Baltic Birch. I've got Hellatone 60Ls in them right now. As for the tuning, I couldn't tell you, to be honest. I started by copping the Mesa 2x12 recto outer dimensions. And then the experimentation started. I've tried polyfill, currently I have nothing in them. I decided to add two ports later on. They're about 2 1/4" and the only thing I did was shorten them from the original 6" to about 2 1/8". My baffles are screwed in so I can re-cut if necessary. I like them very much now. I like them on the floor as opposed to how I normally have them set up:

 

[Ken j]

As far as your dummy wall I think that it would be necessary to fill the void in the unused area with something (like foam) to prevent a bass boom from the cab.

I believe Vibroworld is still not selling/shipping. Look here: http://www.vibroworld.com/

 

[Boogafunk]

wow i guess you kinda lucked out on the ports. i might crunch the numbers later if i get a chance and let you know what your cab is tuned to. (it would only be a rough estimate as i would be going off just the info in this thread, but i'm sure i could get pretty close) it might give you a suggestion of something small that could be changed to make them sound better. any source for thiele parameters on the hellatone's?