Designer:

Chai Hansanuwat

Project Category:

Tower Speakers

Project Level:

Intermediate

Project Time:

8-20 Hours

Project Cost:

$100-$500

Project Description:

After building a pair of Overnight Sensations and a pair of Classix IIs, I became addicted to speaker cabinet building. I loved the clarity of the OSs, but much preferred the bass from the Classix IIs. That’s when I came across Paul Carmody’s build of the Overnight Sensation floor standing speakers utilizing a TMM configuration. When Paul said “Personally, I wouldn’t feel the need to use a sub with these”, I was sold and started planning.
Since Paul already did the legwork on sizing and crossover design, I just had to design how I would make these mine. The look I went with was based on my favorite pair of earrings I made a bit back and utilized 5 different contrasting woods. And these are the results. I couldn’t be happier.

Design Goals:

A unique look.
Good clarity across the frequencies.
Enough bass to not need a standalone subwoofer.

Driver Selection:

Drivers were already selected by Paul Carmody, which consisted of 2 HiVi B4N 4″ Aluminum Round Frame Midbass and 1 Dayton Audio ND20FA-6 3/4″ Soft Dome Neodymium Tweeter in each speaker.

Enclosure Design:

Again, already mapped out by Paul Carmody, I just had to make it mine. The main structure of the cabinet is MDF. The baffle is made up of Leopardwood, Wenge, Canary Wood, Bolivian Rosewood and White Ash. The baffle was the longest part of build. Mostly designing.

Enclosure Assembly:

MDF cabinet with real hardwoods on top of MDF for the baffle. Assembled with wood glue and brad nails.

Crossover Design:

And again, the legwork had already been done. To quote Mr. Carmody, “the crossover to the Overnight Sensation TMM is a 2.5-way, which means that it’s basically a 2-way, but with an extra large inductor before the 2nd woofer to push its FR lower so it doesn’t interfere with the tweeter”

Conclusion:

The sound from these far exceeded my expectations. The bass is absolutely perfect for my needs and the room they are in. Unfortunately, I don’t currently have any measurement tools, but my ears tell me they’re really good. And I can’t take my eyes off of them.

Tips & Tricks:

As a beginner without measurement tools, I am very thankful for predesigned speakers from experts. Utilize them. The most important step in the process is to research, research research.

About the Designer:

I am a hobbyist wood crafter who loves making a variety of things, from large projects to small. My garage shop has a CNC which enables me to do so much more experimenting.

Project Parts List: