stevie

That's odd - they accepted and confirmed my order for a can. Mind you, £2.99 delivered sounds ridiculously cheap.

You didn't mention how light it is. It really is.

If you have the normal Tuffcab, the black finish will be quite shiny and many not be a great look. It will depend on the grille you're using, of course, but the one I'm sending you is quite open. I found a dark grey plastic primer in an aerosol from Euro Car Parts, which costs £2.99 delivered. Look for the product code OPT.DGPP300A on their website or try here: <https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-accessories/car-maintenance-accessories/paints-and-primers/primers/?OPT.DGPP300A&0&cc5_143> I'm going to order some myself because I'm painting my cab dark grey and it should look good without a top coat. It should also provide a good surface for overpainting with the matt black paint you already have, Pete. I'll add this to the Parts List when I get a minute.

Anyway, I'd advise funkle to take all the time he needs. Take it slowly. There's no rush. Do a dry assembly first to see how everything fits together. The panels will only fit one way but you do need to assemble in the right order. So follow the instructions on page 20 of the thread when you glue it together. I'll be available by pm to answer any questions.

I'm pleased I chose someone who knows how to work under pressure. 🙂 I've revised the crossover and am building it now. So it will probably be early next week before I can send it on. I'm still working on the screws. It's a lot more complicated than I thought. I've ordered some samples so that I can direct everyone to the right (and cheapest) suppliers. On the matter of painting the port tube.... I carried out an experiment using a typical blackboard paint (needed two coats), black car spray paint (cellulose), and the normal black Tuffcab paint. They all go on and cover the white. I expect they will stay on but you can remove them easily by scratching with a fingernail. So, the adhesion isn't as good as a specialist plastic paint. You can buy a small jar of Humbrol plastic enamel, which is supposed to work on PVC, for about £1.80 from your local model shop. That could be worth a try.

Progress. This is the first cab to come off the CNC machine and it looks fine to me - thanks to Chimike's sterling drawing work. That's also the metal grille wot I made. Grilles are still a work in progress as I'm exploring more avenues thanks to some bright ideas from Luke. It's going off tomorrow to Pete aka funkle. Unless he finds any serious shortcomings (unlikely), I'll be ordering the first batch next week.

Video cameras don't normally tell you much, but the mids are really crisp here. Note definition is good. The midrange driver's really showing its worth.

I've just charged two of my 9V batteries and they measure 10.1V. They're Uniross ones, but a type they don't make any more. I've just stuck an EBL in the charger and will report when it's charged. Because they last a long time, they also take a long time to charge.

My EBLs also last noticeably longer than the normal Ni-Mhi ones. Did you measure the 8.4V?

I've had half a dozen 9v rechargeables on the go for several years and haven't had a failure yet. They're all decent brands, i.e. made in Japan and not China. [Actually, scratch that. Some of them are made in China, but you need a magnifying glass to find that out.]

I used the parameters published by BMS. I have one of these drivers (which is why I know how good they are) but it's a 4-ohm version. I measured the TS parameters and they were reasonably close to the BMS figures. If you check that what you have is similar to what's in the BMS spec sheet and you should be all right. Your WinISD results look fine to me. Another thing worth mentioning, because not many people are aware of it, is that the low frequencies from a large, rear-ported cab don't develop fully until you're well in front of the cab, say 10 to 12 feet. So try listening from that distance and you'll hear the lows from the port becoming louder.

Even a small leak can make a difference. They can happen if there's no foam gasket around the driver or, in a combo, if the hole that the wires pass through to the amp isn't sealed. It's not that easy to see, but the wadding is probably OK. If there's some at the side of the ports (out of view in the photo) you could remove it. You don't want anything close to the end of the port. To extend the ports, wrap some thick cardboard round the plastic ports and tape it to give you the desired total length. If it works, you'll have to find a more permanent solution using something like Evostik and gaffer tape to make sure the cardboard doesn't vibrate in use.

I modelled the Ashdown and EV cabs based on their interior volumes and don't think there's much to be gained from going to a bigger cab. The extra volume will give you an extra 1dB at 50Hz and 40Hz, assuming the same tuning frequency. So that others can do the comparison, the Ashdown is 68 litres gross with two 100 dia. x 150mm ports (tuned to around 51Hz). You'd get more or less the same result by lowering the tuning frequency of the Ashdown cab, that is, extending the length of the ports to 180mm. Also, check very carefully for leaks, as they can cripple the low-end response. Make sure everything is gasketed and completely sealed and make sure there is no wadding within six inches of the port.

No, the screws in the parts list are fine. I only listed t-nuts and 30mm machine screws in the parts list and they are perfectly all right for the main chassis. If you want to use t-nuts on the horn, however, the hex heads won't look great. So you can either use black wood screws (without any t-nuts) or pan headed machine screws and t-nuts. The lengths I suggested above are nominal and 30mm (or even 40mm) is OK.

Sorry Pete - that's what you get for being first out of the blocks. 🙂 I'll try to sort the screw situation out as soon as I can and include the recommended types in the parts list. I imagine it's a bit confusing at the moment. To compensate for your mis-purchases, I'll send you some screws for the feet and handle when I send your kit off (shouldn't be too long now) , as I have some spares. If you need any more M5 t-nuts, I also have spares and can send you some of those too. Black screws are a pain to source in small quantities. As a temporary measure, you can use normal chrome-plated screws from B&Q etc. and just paint them with car touch-up or whatever you have once they're screwed in. They look all right behind a baffle.