New Finalist Build... and some questions.

[cdh]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to speaker building. I've built a pair of PE BR-1's in the past, but that's it. I have a bit more experience with woodworking, but I can't claim anything past hobbyist. The BR-1's turned out okay, but I'm hoping to step up my workmanship for this build.

I've already read over a few great Finalist build threads, so a lot of my questions have been answered. I'm down to a couple questions that I haven't seen addressed anywhere else:

• I prefer the look of simple binding posts to a terminal cup... however, I see that most people are mounting the near/far switch inside the terminal cup. Would it work to instead mount the switch through the mid tube? The potential problems I see are loss of tube rigidity or the obstruction in the tube of the switch itself, but both of these seem pretty minor (especially in light of the mid wires that already need to escape the tube). I like the idea of mounting the switch here as it would be mostly invisible, but still easily accessed when plugging or unplugging the tube.
• I'd like to add mounting holes on the bottom of the speaker to attach them to speaker stands (which I'll also build...). In the threads I've looked through, I never really see people do this. Is there a reason? My plan was to double the bottom of the speaker and then install T-nuts or similar in the bottom layer, if that makes sense. I'm interested in this mounting solution because I anticipate moving the speakers between a "listening position" and a "we also have to live here" position and moving the whole thing as a single assembly seems simpler/safer.

Thanks in advance for reading. And thanks to everyone that has answered questions in other threads. Were it not for that, those questions would be here too!

-cdh

[Jim Holtz]

This is an easy one. Yes to both questions. However, I'd suggest that you increase the height of the cabinet 3/4" if you're doubling the bottom plate so the volume remains the same.

We like build pictures.

Jim

[Wolf]

Both of your questions and you proposed solutions are viable.
Have fun!
Wolf

[kentonsj]

I prefer the binding posts over the terminal cup too. I made a custom mid tunnel on my CNC router and recessed the switch. Here's some pics. I think your ideas will work fine.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/atzn5c180z8x ... 87uMa?dl=0

[Jim Holtz]

I prefer the binding posts over the terminal cup too. I made a custom mid tunnel on my CNC router and recessed the switch. Here's some pics. I think your ideas will work fine.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/atzn5c180z8x ... 87uMa?dl=0

Sweet! Did they meet your expectations?

Jim

[cdh]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm hoping to start making dust this weekend... if the garage cools down a bit.

Those were some cool pictures, by the way. Looks like a nice build; thanks for sharing.

[cdh]

I made some progress over the last week and now I have more questions.

In the crossover kit from Meniscus, it looks like there are different plans with disagreeing values for one of the mid resistors. In the plan on Jim's site, it looks like the mid uses a 2.4Ohm and a 3.3Ohm resistor. On the Meniscus plan (though not on the sticky crossover sheet), it shows 2x 3.3Ohm. Also, it looks like the kit came with 2x 3.3 Ohm instead of 1x 2.4 and 1x 3.3. Is this intentional? I was under the expectation that +/-10% isn't much to worry about, but this is more like 40% so I was worried.

Thanks!

Since you slogged through all that, here's some pics of my cuts thus far:

[Jim Holtz]

I made some progress over the last week and now I have more questions.

In the crossover kit from Meniscus, it looks like there are different plans with disagreeing values for one of the mid resistors. In the plan on Jim's site, it looks like the mid uses a 2.4Ohm and a 3.3Ohm resistor. On the Meniscus plan (though not on the sticky crossover sheet), it shows 2x 3.3Ohm. Also, it looks like the kit came with 2x 3.3 Ohm instead of 1x 2.4 and 1x 3.3. Is this intentional? I was under the expectation that +/-10% isn't much to worry about, but this is more like 40% so I was worried.

The cuts look very good!

Here are the positions, quantities and values of the resistors you should have to complete two Finalist crossovers;

Tweeter circuit:
(2) 3.9 ohm (R3011)
(2) 1.5 ohm (R3031)

Mids circuit:
(2) 2.4 ohm (2021)
(2) 3.3 ohm (R2051)

Switch:
(2) 2.2 ohm (R0011)

If you are going to drive the Finalists hard, consider substituting Zisters of the same value for the mid circuit and paralleling a 3.9 & 5.1 value (equal to 2.2 ohm) for the switch circuit.

If your values don't match, call Meniscus and they'll help you out.

HTH

Jim