Zu Cube Clone

Zu Cube Clone


Designer:
Park

Project Category:
Bookshelf Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I had purchased a pair of B stock Zu Cubes from Sean at Zu Audio awhile back. I like them, but thought I could improve on the sound quality and still use similar parts. My littlest son also need a set of speakers for a 3116 chip amp too.

Design Goals:
Clone the Zu Cube in dimensions, parts, and clean up the response curve. I got help from an owner of a speaker manufacturer from Texas (curves and xo).

Driver Selection:
Eminence Beta 10 CX 10 Inch Coax driver 290-502
Eminence ASD 1001 1 Inch HF Horn Driver 290-525

Enclosure Design:
Straight copy of the 10.5 inch cubed box, 3/4 inch left over material, coated with Dura Tech black, and loaded with damping material.

Enclosure Assembly:
Super simple, cut all the squares the same dimensions, outside dimension are 10.5 inch cubed.

Crossover Design:
The current Zu XO consists of a single inline cap to roll off the tweeter. This is 1.0 uf cap. A true xo can even out the frequency response significantly.

Conclusion:
I had a good time making these with my middle schooler. These are good book shelf speakers and need some lower end help or a subwoofer, but if you can get the parts for a reasonable price, they are much cheaper than 1K.

About the Designer:
I like to fix things and make them better, but not always cost effective… 🙂

Parts Used:

Eminence Beta-10CX 10″ Coaxial Driver
Eminence ASD1001 1″ HF Titanium Horn Driver 1-3/8″-18 TPI
Acry-Tech DuraTex Ultra Deep Tint Base 1 Gallon Roller Grade Speaker Cabinet Coating
Acousta-Stuf Polyfill Speaker Cabinet Sound Damping Material 1 lb. Bag
Parts Express Speaker Terminal Cup 3-5/8″ x 3-1/8″ Satin Nickel Banana Binding Post

4 Comments

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  1. 3
    Michael

    Thank you for posting this. I’m intrigued by Zu Audio speakers and by coaxial designs in general. Can you provide more information about your crossover design? And I’m curious about how you think they sound compared to the original Zu cubes. Thanks again!

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