So I read Duke's thread about the DIY coffeehouse practice 110 cabs at least a year ago and I've been wanting to experiment. I really wanted a pair of 12's and a single 10 cab. Astronomic and will33 turned me on to the Dayton pa line of speakers and informed me they perform well in small boxes. I had fully intended to build cabs for them, but thought what the heck. Everything is a gamble at this point on speakers I've never heard. I'll go the duke route just to see if I even like the speakers before taking the trouble to build cabs around them. Well, I hate rat fur and decided to strip the carpet. Rat fur removal is not for the weary. The majority of it pulled off and big sheets, but what was left looked like a mangy dog. I tried sanding it off, but I didn't know that stuff is made of plastic and it just melted. At this point I was ready to get my tractor and destroy the boxes. Then I thought, if it's going to melt, why not use a blowtorch. I torched all the remaining fur and proceeded to sand forever before routing the input dishes, priming and painting with 4x deck paint on a textured roller. I followed dukes instructions almost to a tee except I went with the Dayton speakers. Since everything about this is super cheap, I'm calling them the rn110 & rn112 (rn=red neck). It was a pretty cool project and neat to get my feet wet at speakers, but I'm really pleased with the results. The rn110 is a little bright so I turn the treble down with it. I played it with my peavey minimax and ehx 44 magnum. I played the rn112s with the minimax and the minimega. They sound fairly flat and I gave them a slight mid boost which has been my tone lately. I used to be a scooped guy, so I tried that too and was pleased with the results. Yesterday I took it easy on them and only auditioned them for a little while. Today I gave them some juice to see how they would really perform. They held up remarkably well considering their price and I'm using heavy hitting amps (minus the 44 magnum ha ha). I can report more on tone later after they've broken in more. I had considered building ply boxes for them, but I don't really see what I could gain by that other than shaving a couple lbs. The mdf was a concern, but they seem very solid and I pretty much have them water proof at this point. If something happens to the boxes, which I don't foresee, I will build ply ones because my rat fur removal days are done. If I had know what a headache that was, I would have built ply boxes to start with. The best part is my boys got to watch and help and learn a lot about tools and what they do. They had never seen me solder or use the blowtorch. They also say the new cabs sound better than my other ones, but I'm sure they just like them cause they helped. I doubt duke, astrosonic, or will33 want to be associated with the rn cabs, but I blame y'all! Ha ha! Really, thanks for all that y'all do and making this redneck happy. The 12" grills are still on back order, but should be here soon.
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