- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,070
- 5
- 221,139
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
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Wiring
Before I assembled the cabinet I took the time to drill a small hole through the back of the mid chamber to run the speaker wires and I bought a pack of big syringes so that I could pump the hole full of PL premium after I ran the wires to seal it up.
To connect the preamp to the power amp I made up a short interconnect cable using Mogami W2534 quad microphone cable, a Rean NYS228 1/4" Stereo Phone Plug TRS, and a Rean RC3MR right angle 3 Pole XLR. The Mogami quad cable was very annoying to work with. I only used it because I already had it on hand and I only had it on and because it was the only kind Guitar Center had when I needed to make some cables to make interconnects for my PA system. I do not recommend it. This all went fine once I got new soldering iron tips. The right angle XLR ended up being a very good idea since this amp is so deep. Of course I forget to install the TRS cover before I soldered it and so I had to unsolder, install the cover, and re-solder. I'm definitely a beginner with this soldering business
To connect the power amp to the cabinet I used 16 gauge 4 conductor cable, a Neutrik NL4FXX-W-S connector, a Neutrik NL4MPXX-UC Speakon 4 Pole Panel Mount, a Neutrik DBA-BL Blank Plate for D Cutouts, and an angled steel connector dish from Parts Express Part # 262-838. The power amp has binding post terminals and I just attached the 16/4 speaker wires directly to those. Maybe one day I'll add a Neutrik connector in there somewhere but it's fine for now.
I wired the inside of the cabinet with 14 gauge and 18 gauge speaker wire that I had lying around for the woofers and mid range respectively. The NL4MPXX-UC uses 1/4" quick connects, the Alphalite 6A mid range driver uses 3/16" quick connects, and the Kappalite 3015LF woofers use binding post terminals. I had a hard time finding 3/16" quick connects locally and didn't feel like waiting for parts to ship. I eventually found Dorman brand gold-plated quick connects at a local Advance Auto Parts store. I grabbed the 3/16" and 1/4" Dorman parts so that they'd match. I crimped on all the terminals in parallel configuration, went to run them through the cabinet, and realized that I couldn't fit the mid range wires through the access hole with the terminals crimped on! So I had to rebuild the mid range wires. After all the wires were installed I tied them off to some of the bracing as strain relief. I figured this is probably a good idea since this rig will be getting bumped and jostled.
Connectors and upper strain relief. I had to cut away part of the damping foam on the ceiling.
Lower strain relief.
While I was in there running wires I noticed that the foam wasn't staying in place. I had initially used Elmer's spray adhesive and the foam came loose so I hit it with a lot heavier dusting of 3M spray adhesive and it was still coming off. I ended up using an upholstery stapler to secure the four corners of each foam piece and that has put the issue to bed. Lesson learned: don't rely on spray adhesive. Attach the foam with staples before assembling the cabinet because it's really annoying to crawl inside of it with a stapler after assembly. Don't forget to leave space for the braces.
After that I set the speakers in place, center punched the mounting holes with a nail, drilled pilot holes, and mounted them up with #8 brass wood screws for the mid range and #10 brass wood screws for the woofers.
While I was drilling all these holes I also drilled holes and installed T-nuts for the grille but I'll cover that in another post. I hate that the area around the casters is unfinished! Hopefully no one crawls on their stomach and gazes into my 151566's ports or they'll see some ugly splotchy dye and damping foam
In regards to the mid range drivers: So far I don't regret using the Alphalite 6A over the prescribed 18sound drivers. I use quite a lot of distortion and high mids/treble in my tone and the mid range drivers don't seem to be pulling a ton of weight. Since my rig is biamped I was able to turn down the low channel and listen to just the highs: it's just all treble. I'm using a 24db/oct crossover at 800hz so I don't think that these mid ranges are getting anywhere near their 200w RMS power handling even at high volume. Time will tell but for now I'm glad I went with the Alphalites because I like things to match.
Lessons learned:
Before I assembled the cabinet I took the time to drill a small hole through the back of the mid chamber to run the speaker wires and I bought a pack of big syringes so that I could pump the hole full of PL premium after I ran the wires to seal it up.
To connect the preamp to the power amp I made up a short interconnect cable using Mogami W2534 quad microphone cable, a Rean NYS228 1/4" Stereo Phone Plug TRS, and a Rean RC3MR right angle 3 Pole XLR. The Mogami quad cable was very annoying to work with. I only used it because I already had it on hand and I only had it on and because it was the only kind Guitar Center had when I needed to make some cables to make interconnects for my PA system. I do not recommend it. This all went fine once I got new soldering iron tips. The right angle XLR ended up being a very good idea since this amp is so deep. Of course I forget to install the TRS cover before I soldered it and so I had to unsolder, install the cover, and re-solder. I'm definitely a beginner with this soldering business
To connect the power amp to the cabinet I used 16 gauge 4 conductor cable, a Neutrik NL4FXX-W-S connector, a Neutrik NL4MPXX-UC Speakon 4 Pole Panel Mount, a Neutrik DBA-BL Blank Plate for D Cutouts, and an angled steel connector dish from Parts Express Part # 262-838. The power amp has binding post terminals and I just attached the 16/4 speaker wires directly to those. Maybe one day I'll add a Neutrik connector in there somewhere but it's fine for now.
I wired the inside of the cabinet with 14 gauge and 18 gauge speaker wire that I had lying around for the woofers and mid range respectively. The NL4MPXX-UC uses 1/4" quick connects, the Alphalite 6A mid range driver uses 3/16" quick connects, and the Kappalite 3015LF woofers use binding post terminals. I had a hard time finding 3/16" quick connects locally and didn't feel like waiting for parts to ship. I eventually found Dorman brand gold-plated quick connects at a local Advance Auto Parts store. I grabbed the 3/16" and 1/4" Dorman parts so that they'd match. I crimped on all the terminals in parallel configuration, went to run them through the cabinet, and realized that I couldn't fit the mid range wires through the access hole with the terminals crimped on! So I had to rebuild the mid range wires. After all the wires were installed I tied them off to some of the bracing as strain relief. I figured this is probably a good idea since this rig will be getting bumped and jostled.
Connectors and upper strain relief. I had to cut away part of the damping foam on the ceiling.
Lower strain relief.
While I was in there running wires I noticed that the foam wasn't staying in place. I had initially used Elmer's spray adhesive and the foam came loose so I hit it with a lot heavier dusting of 3M spray adhesive and it was still coming off. I ended up using an upholstery stapler to secure the four corners of each foam piece and that has put the issue to bed. Lesson learned: don't rely on spray adhesive. Attach the foam with staples before assembling the cabinet because it's really annoying to crawl inside of it with a stapler after assembly. Don't forget to leave space for the braces.
After that I set the speakers in place, center punched the mounting holes with a nail, drilled pilot holes, and mounted them up with #8 brass wood screws for the mid range and #10 brass wood screws for the woofers.
While I was drilling all these holes I also drilled holes and installed T-nuts for the grille but I'll cover that in another post. I hate that the area around the casters is unfinished! Hopefully no one crawls on their stomach and gazes into my 151566's ports or they'll see some ugly splotchy dye and damping foam
In regards to the mid range drivers: So far I don't regret using the Alphalite 6A over the prescribed 18sound drivers. I use quite a lot of distortion and high mids/treble in my tone and the mid range drivers don't seem to be pulling a ton of weight. Since my rig is biamped I was able to turn down the low channel and listen to just the highs: it's just all treble. I'm using a 24db/oct crossover at 800hz so I don't think that these mid ranges are getting anywhere near their 200w RMS power handling even at high volume. Time will tell but for now I'm glad I went with the Alphalites because I like things to match.
Lessons learned:
- Remember to drill an access hole for the mid range box before assembling the cabinet. Use a syringe to pump it full of PL premium to seal it after wiring.
- Don't forget to install connector parts before soldering!
- Don't rely on spray adhesive to secure damping foam. Use staples before assembling. Don't forget to leave space for the bracing.
Last edited:
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,070
- 5
- 221,139
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
More suggestions…
Don't waste your effort on quad cable (especially for short line level)
Use the correct adhesive for the foam, something like water based contact cement liberally applied and allowed to set as the manufacturer recommends. There are other materials too, like Barge brand cement, commercial fabric glues, etc. Super 77 will work, but you need to use 2 or 3 liberal spray coats.
Don't use brass hardware, it will strip out and in some cases break off.
Don't waste your effort on quad cable (especially for short line level)
Use the correct adhesive for the foam, something like water based contact cement liberally applied and allowed to set as the manufacturer recommends. There are other materials too, like Barge brand cement, commercial fabric glues, etc. Super 77 will work, but you need to use 2 or 3 liberal spray coats.
Don't use brass hardware, it will strip out and in some cases break off.
I'm particularly worried about the wood screws for the handles. I used 1/2" screws so they wouldn't poke through but I think I'm going to replace them with #8-32 machine screws and secure them with nylock nuts and fender washers on the inside. I did that with the rack case because it's titanically heavy and I knew I'd want to carry it by one handle like a brief case and I had zero confidence in ten #8x1/2" long wood screws to hold.
I'll talk more about the hardware in a separate post when I finish the grille.
Thank you for all your advice. I really appreciate it. It's almost done!
Finishing Touches
The last finishing touches are the foam handles, grab bar, feet, casters, corner guards, and grille.
Foam
The damping foam kept falling off so I went back in and secured every piece with two staples in the corners.
Handles
The handles are Penn Elcom spring-loaded steel handles. I like these because they take up minial space inside, they feel solid, and they look unobtrusive. I used brass wood screws to secure them. In the future I might replace these with thru bolts with washers and nuts on the inside of the cabinet.
Grab Bar
The grab bar on the back is a black steel affair from Home Depot. I think it's intended for showers to prevent slips and falls. It works fine. It was kind of a pain to hold it in place while drilling the mounting holes. I ended up putting taping over the mounting area to avoid scratching the finish, hanging the bar in place with tape, center punching the mounting holes, removing the tape, and mounting the bar. It is very convenient for moving the cabinet but I think it will make it harder to make a cover later.
Feet and Casters
The feet are 1" tall Penn Elcom rubber affairs with embedded steel washers. The casters are Penn Elcom "3" Heavy Duty Flush Caster" that I ordered from Speaker Hardware but they specify what Penn Elcom part number. Long story short the casters are more than 1" tall so the cabinet was tilted forward. To correct this I 3D printed two little spacers to raise the feet up about 1/4" and that took care of it. I didn't want to rely on a small wood screw but I knew that if I thru-bolted the feet the heads of the screws would be visible from the front of the cabinet. As a compromise I used #10-24 black oxide button head cap screws and black spray painted fender washers. They're nearly invisible and much more secure than wood screws. I used nylock nuts insde the recess on the feet. The casters have many openings and air gaps in their construction and around the mounting surfaces. I'm not sure if it's important or not but everything else called for gasket tape so I taped up the gaps in the formed steel with Gorilla tape and caulked around the mounting surfaces with PL premium before securing them with wood screws. I used brass wood screws on the back and black steel screws on the bottom. One of the casters ended up higher/lower than the other and the cabinet wobbles. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll level it out. For now it is what it is.
Corner Guards
In keeping with the shiny brass motif I ended up using Gertsner brass corner guards. I tried some Rockler pieces and while they were cheaper and definitely more robust they only come in three leg versions and I needed quite a few two leg guards to all the areas with openings i.e. the front and back of the rack case and the front of the cabinet. I tried cutting the Rockler corners and curling the ends over to grab around the inside corner of the cabinet and case but it was a lot of work with the dremel and they didn't have the shine that I wanted. If the Gerstner ones get torn off I'll try the Rockler approach again. To modify the Rockler guards I 3D printed a jig which mimiced the shape of the cabinet corners but which I could cut and hammer on without wrecking the actual cabinet.
Grille
I think the grille came out very nice. I followed the idea from my previous post where I described a stick frame with stand-offs to create a 1/4" air gap all the way around. I almost missed an interference with the woofer flange at the bottom of the baffle. The flange is close to the edge and the frame hit it and wouldn't sit flat on the stand-offs. The proper way to fix this would be with a router but I had already assembled and flued the frame so instead I skimmed the interefering area back and forth over my table saw blade incerementally until I had the clearance I needed. The grille is secured to the baffle with six long brass machine screws, T-nuts on the back side of the baffle, and finish washers. To do this I first built the grille frame, drilled the holes in the centers of the stand-offs, placed the grille over the baffle, center punched the hole locations, drilled the holes in the baffle, installed the T-nuts inside by pressing them in by hand and then just tightening down a screw to seat the barbs, then installed the fabric. To install the fabric I laid it out flat on the (clean) floor and started by sinking a lot of staples in one corner then moving to an opposite corner, stretching the fabric taught, and sinking a bunch of staples on that corner. Then I put a lot of staples in between starting in the middle and then placing staples halfway in between the previous two staples I put in until the staples were basically touching. I did this thinking that it would help prevent the fabric from bunching up and it seems to have worked. I put all the staples in the back side of the grille so they're not visible from the front at all. The stand-off idea worked nicely here because the staples and fabric don't interfere with the mounting surface at all. The mounting holes lined up perfectly and the T-nuts make everything very secure and I don't have to worry about removing and reinstalling the grille multiple times like I would with wood screws. The fabric is Guilford of Maine Duvaltex acoustic fabric in Tide Pool color.
The stand-off idea seems to have worked. The grille definitely vibrates near the woofers when I play at volume but it doesn't seem to be trapping any air, creating noises, or stretching the fabric. I think it looks kind of cool.
Future Plans
Some future plans include:
Overall this project has been a blast. The cabinet sounds amazing and looks even better. I learned a lot along the way - planning, finishing, system design, amps, crossovers, circuits, damping, manufacturing, and many other topics. I don't know if I'd ever apply this type of finish to a cabinet again because it was very labor intensive but by God does it look good. The amp is too heavy, the entire rig is bonkers overpowered, and I'm definitely going to get sick of moving it but I don't think I'll ever regret building it.
This summer I'll have ten years of industry experience in mechanical engineering under my belt. I've obviously learned a lot over the years but one of the most important lessons I've learned is don't reinvent the wheel. Projects almost always have better outcomes when they build on pre-existing work rather than build from the ground up. I'm always tempted to go big and do wild things. I get an idea in my head and I feel like I have to try it or I'll never stop thinking about it. Over the years as I've calmed down and experienced failures I've learned to slow down and place more value on lessons from the past. One of the most important ways to do that is to listen to people with more experience.
To that end I'd like to give a special thanks to agedhorse, Wasnex, donaldR, 12bass, 6thplanet, and everyone else who commented and offered guidance along the way. This was a big job and I think I would have wasted a lot more time and probably made some expensive mistakes if it wasn't for your guidance.
I hope that this log can help someone in the future on their fEARful build! If you have any questions or want any more info feel free comment or DM me! If anyone wants to hear it I'm currently recording an album and I'll be reamping bass through this cabinet. I'll come back and post a link when it's done.
The last finishing touches are the foam handles, grab bar, feet, casters, corner guards, and grille.
Foam
The damping foam kept falling off so I went back in and secured every piece with two staples in the corners.
Handles
The handles are Penn Elcom spring-loaded steel handles. I like these because they take up minial space inside, they feel solid, and they look unobtrusive. I used brass wood screws to secure them. In the future I might replace these with thru bolts with washers and nuts on the inside of the cabinet.
Grab Bar
The grab bar on the back is a black steel affair from Home Depot. I think it's intended for showers to prevent slips and falls. It works fine. It was kind of a pain to hold it in place while drilling the mounting holes. I ended up putting taping over the mounting area to avoid scratching the finish, hanging the bar in place with tape, center punching the mounting holes, removing the tape, and mounting the bar. It is very convenient for moving the cabinet but I think it will make it harder to make a cover later.
Feet and Casters
The feet are 1" tall Penn Elcom rubber affairs with embedded steel washers. The casters are Penn Elcom "3" Heavy Duty Flush Caster" that I ordered from Speaker Hardware but they specify what Penn Elcom part number. Long story short the casters are more than 1" tall so the cabinet was tilted forward. To correct this I 3D printed two little spacers to raise the feet up about 1/4" and that took care of it. I didn't want to rely on a small wood screw but I knew that if I thru-bolted the feet the heads of the screws would be visible from the front of the cabinet. As a compromise I used #10-24 black oxide button head cap screws and black spray painted fender washers. They're nearly invisible and much more secure than wood screws. I used nylock nuts insde the recess on the feet. The casters have many openings and air gaps in their construction and around the mounting surfaces. I'm not sure if it's important or not but everything else called for gasket tape so I taped up the gaps in the formed steel with Gorilla tape and caulked around the mounting surfaces with PL premium before securing them with wood screws. I used brass wood screws on the back and black steel screws on the bottom. One of the casters ended up higher/lower than the other and the cabinet wobbles. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll level it out. For now it is what it is.
Corner Guards
In keeping with the shiny brass motif I ended up using Gertsner brass corner guards. I tried some Rockler pieces and while they were cheaper and definitely more robust they only come in three leg versions and I needed quite a few two leg guards to all the areas with openings i.e. the front and back of the rack case and the front of the cabinet. I tried cutting the Rockler corners and curling the ends over to grab around the inside corner of the cabinet and case but it was a lot of work with the dremel and they didn't have the shine that I wanted. If the Gerstner ones get torn off I'll try the Rockler approach again. To modify the Rockler guards I 3D printed a jig which mimiced the shape of the cabinet corners but which I could cut and hammer on without wrecking the actual cabinet.
Grille
I think the grille came out very nice. I followed the idea from my previous post where I described a stick frame with stand-offs to create a 1/4" air gap all the way around. I almost missed an interference with the woofer flange at the bottom of the baffle. The flange is close to the edge and the frame hit it and wouldn't sit flat on the stand-offs. The proper way to fix this would be with a router but I had already assembled and flued the frame so instead I skimmed the interefering area back and forth over my table saw blade incerementally until I had the clearance I needed. The grille is secured to the baffle with six long brass machine screws, T-nuts on the back side of the baffle, and finish washers. To do this I first built the grille frame, drilled the holes in the centers of the stand-offs, placed the grille over the baffle, center punched the hole locations, drilled the holes in the baffle, installed the T-nuts inside by pressing them in by hand and then just tightening down a screw to seat the barbs, then installed the fabric. To install the fabric I laid it out flat on the (clean) floor and started by sinking a lot of staples in one corner then moving to an opposite corner, stretching the fabric taught, and sinking a bunch of staples on that corner. Then I put a lot of staples in between starting in the middle and then placing staples halfway in between the previous two staples I put in until the staples were basically touching. I did this thinking that it would help prevent the fabric from bunching up and it seems to have worked. I put all the staples in the back side of the grille so they're not visible from the front at all. The stand-off idea worked nicely here because the staples and fabric don't interfere with the mounting surface at all. The mounting holes lined up perfectly and the T-nuts make everything very secure and I don't have to worry about removing and reinstalling the grille multiple times like I would with wood screws. The fabric is Guilford of Maine Duvaltex acoustic fabric in Tide Pool color.
The stand-off idea seems to have worked. The grille definitely vibrates near the woofers when I play at volume but it doesn't seem to be trapping any air, creating noises, or stretching the fabric. I think it looks kind of cool.
Future Plans
Some future plans include:
- Power - I've already ditched the power conditioner and will be installing some type of power strip or receptable to run all the devices.
- Loudspeaker management - I've been struggling to find an elegant way to implement crossover filtering, low frequency filtering for over-excursion protection, and power limiting. I'm considering adding a loudspeaker managemen rack unit to take care of all this. I've got my eye on a used dbx DriveRack PA+ for sale locally.
- Class D amp - I've got my eye on the Carvin 1U class D amps.
- Matching pedalboard case.
- Matching custom bass. I've got my eye on a 5 string headless multiscale kit from Combine Custom guitars. I think I'd enjoy shouting ITS OPTIMAL when people inevitably shame me for playing a 5 string headless multiscale bass
Overall this project has been a blast. The cabinet sounds amazing and looks even better. I learned a lot along the way - planning, finishing, system design, amps, crossovers, circuits, damping, manufacturing, and many other topics. I don't know if I'd ever apply this type of finish to a cabinet again because it was very labor intensive but by God does it look good. The amp is too heavy, the entire rig is bonkers overpowered, and I'm definitely going to get sick of moving it but I don't think I'll ever regret building it.
This summer I'll have ten years of industry experience in mechanical engineering under my belt. I've obviously learned a lot over the years but one of the most important lessons I've learned is don't reinvent the wheel. Projects almost always have better outcomes when they build on pre-existing work rather than build from the ground up. I'm always tempted to go big and do wild things. I get an idea in my head and I feel like I have to try it or I'll never stop thinking about it. Over the years as I've calmed down and experienced failures I've learned to slow down and place more value on lessons from the past. One of the most important ways to do that is to listen to people with more experience.
To that end I'd like to give a special thanks to agedhorse, Wasnex, donaldR, 12bass, 6thplanet, and everyone else who commented and offered guidance along the way. This was a big job and I think I would have wasted a lot more time and probably made some expensive mistakes if it wasn't for your guidance.
I hope that this log can help someone in the future on their fEARful build! If you have any questions or want any more info feel free comment or DM me! If anyone wants to hear it I'm currently recording an album and I'll be reamping bass through this cabinet. I'll come back and post a link when it's done.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,070
- 5
- 221,139
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Be sure to put a couple of staples in the middle of the foam too.
But you already said the clearance holes need to be larger for the Alphas. Won't that be a problem with the 18 Sounds?
Mesa 800D with rack ears and you can dump the Crown and the SansAmp. Weight problem solved.
IIRC the mounting holes are the same. I had to spread the holes further apart center-to-center to account for the round flanges on the alphas compared to the square flanges on the 18 sounds so the 18 sounds should still fit. That being said I've been enjoying the Alphas and I really don't think they'll be a problem. I don't think they see very much power. They're high passed at 800hz with 4th order filters with RMS limiting.
I recently recorded this cabinet and one cool aspect of the biamped configuration that I hadn't really thought about is that I was able to mic each speaker independently and record them one at a time with the other speaker's channel turned down to eliminate bleed. This worked out very nicely and probably saved me from some phase issues.
I used a Beta 52 on the low side and a Beta 57 on the high side. I recorded in a booth I made with 5.5" thick rockwool set into custom-built frames. I used a reamp process and used all our actual pedals, preamp, and power amp that we'll be using live. I'm really happy with the sound.
I used a Beta 52 on the low side and a Beta 57 on the high side. I recorded in a booth I made with 5.5" thick rockwool set into custom-built frames. I used a reamp process and used all our actual pedals, preamp, and power amp that we'll be using live. I'm really happy with the sound.
Crown Macro-Tech, eh? Those have a remarkable ability of finding your toes, shins, knees, and lower back. Pretty sure I broke a little toe with one many many years ago.
I don't recommend the DriveRack for that... If you decide to buy one, get it with a liberal return policy, so you can send it back. It has too much personality of its own that gets in the way of the midrange "meat" of a bass amp.
I always liked those ART power bars. They don't condition anything - but there's no point in trashing it if it gives you all the outlets you need.
They are essentially a power bar with some metering... nice solid plugs on them, not vague like some of the other stuff out there. They are reliable, though. I've seen some in service for many years in what some would call "abusive" club environments.
I don't recommend the DriveRack for that... If you decide to buy one, get it with a liberal return policy, so you can send it back. It has too much personality of its own that gets in the way of the midrange "meat" of a bass amp.
I always liked those ART power bars. They don't condition anything - but there's no point in trashing it if it gives you all the outlets you need.
They are essentially a power bar with some metering... nice solid plugs on them, not vague like some of the other stuff out there. They are reliable, though. I've seen some in service for many years in what some would call "abusive" club environments.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,070
- 5
- 221,139
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
I haven't found any real world issues (or personality) with the Driveracks, I had about a dozen of the 260's, I think I have a couple or maybe three left.
The macro tech is ungodly heavy but for proof of concept testing it's great.
If the rig goes to gigs swap it for a light power amp.
Problem solved!
If the rig goes to gigs swap it for a light power amp.
Problem solved!
