This should be the last pair of speakers I will ever need. Famous last words, I know. I have been wanting to under go this project for sometime. This speaker has been regarded as one of the most advance do-it-yourself speaker projects out there. This speaker has been described to sound , in a word, "heavenly: They should be, since they are going to be 70+ inches tall and weighing in at about 250lbs a piece. I will be posting the construction process on this site, as well as the finished product. I hope some of you will be able to come over and demo these with me.

Thanks for checking it out. Shawn

 
   
Sept. 15, 2004

Well, an hour and half later, five sheets of 3/4" MDF is reduced to a stack of enclosure parts.  I guess this is where in the directions it would say "Some Assembly Required". I definitely have my work cut out for me. That was not suppose to be puny. Get, it puny?

Next step: Face layout and woofer hole routing.
   
Oct. 1, 2004

Let the routing begin!!! Tackling this project without a circle jig would be down right ridiculous, but someone spending the money for this project will no doubt already own a jig, or go out and buy one for this project.

This speaker project is by no means what you would call "difficult", but it is very labor intensive. I spent a good four hours laying the face out, and routing and flush routing the woofer holes, and that is just the fronts!!! When you factor in the ports, terminal cups, bracing holes, and more, that is a lot of routing, but the nice clean look of everything makes it all worth it.

Next step: Routing the backs and divider brace holes.
 
Oct. 11, 2004

During this project I have got to know my router and circle jig very well. Routing is the name of the game with these speakers. Here is a picture of the face and the back of the cabinets. The time consuming portion of this step would be all the flush mount routing for the drivers and ports.

Next step: Woofer dividers and outside cabinet assembly.

   
Oct. 12, 2004

Woofer Divider

More routing!!! This again was a straight forward process of routing. Once everything was laid out properly it was time to route. One thing I did that wasn't listed in the design was to put a round over on the opening of each woofer divider hole. This way the internal cabinet would have better air flow.

Next step: Outside cabinet construction.
   
Oct. 19, 2004

Face View / Rear View

Well, I decided to assemble the outside shell of the cabinet, before attempting to route out the ribbon tweeter location and add the internal 3/4" layer. My reason for this was because there just isn't enough material on the edge of the cabinet after the tweeter location is cut out. I was afraid the it would break or be just to weak to finish installation. On the internal layer, since this cabinet will be 1.5" thick, I wanted to get the outside perfectly square and joined together correctly, before adding the internal components. Some Alpha LS builders build from the inside out, but to me if something is off even a 1/16" it will totally through off the build process. This way if something needs to be trimmed, it is done on the inside.

Next step: Internal components (bracing, tweeter locating routed)
   
Oct. 24, 2004

Tweeter Cut-out/Inset

In my opinion, this step was probably the most tricky. The old rule of measure twice cut once comes into play hear, and in fact I measured about four times before hitting the switch on the router.  This is one area you don't want to screw up!!! A toll that is desperately needed for this step is an adjustable router guide. The best $12 dollars I ever spent. I just love Sears, don't you?
   

Oct. 26, 2004

A look at the 1.5" thick front baffle. The weight is really starting to pack on, and I still have three more sides to add another layer of 3/4" MDF!!!

Next step: Internal side wall layers and back baffle installation.

   

Nov. 2, 2004

Here is a look at the internal 3/4" layer of the two sides.

Next Step: Back internal and outside layer.

   

Feb. 5, 2005

Well, I have missed my deadline of Christmas for having these done, but that's what happens when you have to work for a living, right! I am back on track now. I spent the weekend doing some final sanding, about five hours worth, and these babies are ready for the finish. I have decided to go "out of the box" on this project a bit. Every pair of Alphas I have seen have been finished in some sort of wood veener. Which makes them look great, but I am looking for something different than everyone else. I have decieded to go with a base coat/clear coat automotive finish with about three coats of clear. My object is to have these things look so deep you just fall right in them. I have layed some paint before, but I decided to go with the professionals on this project. I have a client that owns an automotive restoration shop that as agreed to take on the project.

Next Step: Pick my finish color, and finish assembling.

   

Find out more on the Alpha LS here.