Upgrading With Two Stereo Integrity HST12's

22434 Views 75 Replies 9 Participants Last post by ndyvidual, Aug 18, 2019

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · Apr 2, 2016 (Edited)

This is a continuation of my modest build that you can read about over here.

I chose these drivers because of their compact size requirements, expected impact and relative cost. I have an odd shaped room and wanted more output to work with than not enough, so I bought two.

So here's the overview:

Sealed 1.13cu.ft enclosure with a single brace around the magnet
Inner enclosure: (2) 12.5 x 12.5, (2) 14 x 14, (2) 12.5 x 14 (all in inches)
Birch inner, MDF outer layers, 3/4" thick each
Speakon connectors

If you're in this section of the forum, you most likely know how to build these things so I'll include specific pictures I think are useful to people. Once I sketched out the design, I started cutting stuff. To get the cutout for the driver, I used my circle jig in a slightly different manner than intended. Knowing I needed 282mm (11 1/8") opening, I determined which hole setting would give me that diameter using a screw as the center point. For me, the 11 3/8" setting gave me the perfect outline. 0

I then cut more stuff:nerd2:

I wanted the mounting holes away from the thin parts of the baffle, but needed them in a specific angle so I can reproduce it. I measured the arc length between two mounting holes of the frame and then marked its midpoint. I then marked the midpoint on my 12.5"square baffled and lined them up. I clamped the baffle to the driver using clamps and then ran a drywall screw to give me a definite location to open up for the threaded inserts. And done!

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ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #41 · Apr 12, 2016

I plan to experiment with how much metal I want to place on the underside of the grill to change the force needed to hold the grill on.

My duo will be on carpet so I can make up a few solutions to keep it from moving without disturbing the paint.

At least this is my 'plan'...

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #42 · Apr 13, 2016 (Edited)

Thinking ahead, I need to get my color choice determined. I'm looking at the following options:

Blue Scuro (Lamborghini)

House of Kolor Purple

Ferrari Orange

This is going in a great room (that's the room type name, not that it's an awesome room! haha). Reference post #1 for the floor/wall/curtain combination in that image's background. My floor choices for future homes will either have very light or dark wood flooring.

What do you all think? Any others I should consider?

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Electrodynamic

· #43 · Apr 22, 2016

ndyvidual said:
Thinking ahead, I need to get my color choice determined. I'm looking at the following options:

Blue Scuro (Lamborghini)

House of Kolor Purple

Ferrari Orange

This is going in a great room (that's the room type name, not that it's an awesome room! haha). Reference post #1 for the floor/wall/curtain combination in that image's background. My floor choices for future homes will either have very light or dark wood flooring.

What do you all think? Any others I should consider?

Nice build so far.

For colors of the enclosures I say Ferrari Orange to compliment the dark red print on the curtains and tan floor. And that color would look really good with the black HST-12's.

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #44 · Apr 23, 2016

Making progress with the finish. I put my first layer of filler on last night.

This morning, I spent 30min sanding them both down and will follow it up with a second skin coat to level everything out. I'm getting things as flat as possible so my primer surfacer doesn't need to work so hard. I'm using 80 grit 6" 3M discs at this point.

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ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #45 · Apr 23, 2016

Areas to address are marked and will apply the second layer...

So far, this is what I've been using for prep:

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ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #46 · Apr 23, 2016

Second coat applied. Now I wait and sand later. After this, I can apply my polyester primer surfacer.

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ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #47 · Apr 27, 2016

I found a few more small flaws that I could take care of with filler, so another small batch was made and applied.

Thinking ahead, I'll need to build two posts that will hold the enclosures in the air so I can shoot them both on all sides [at the same time]. Some leftover lumber I have should be fine for this.

Thinking further ahead for paint, I've learned that single stage is my most favorable option. And I'm liking the low gloss flat paint options too.

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #48 · May 4, 2016

Nick (Electrodynamic): If I orient my enclosures so that the driver is facing up, will this introduce any negative long term effects to the suspension?

RTS100x5

· #49 · May 4, 2016

ndyvidual said:
Nick (Electrodynamic): If I orient my enclosures so that the driver is facing up, will this introduce any negative long term effects to the suspension?

No but the cat might get an unexpected ride....:heehee:

PassingInterest

· #50 · May 5, 2016

Looking good!

Reactions: 1

Electrodynamic

· #51 · May 8, 2016

ndyvidual said:
Nick (Electrodynamic): If I orient my enclosures so that the driver is facing up, will this introduce any negative long term effects to the suspension?

No - as long as you don't set anything on them. No cat rides, haha. :wink2:

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #52 · May 9, 2016

Electrodynamic said:
No - as long as you don't set anything on them. No cat rides, haha. :wink2:

Thanks guys. I no longer have cats so my little ground pounders should be safe0

The reason I ask is that I want to experiment with direction [in addition to placement] once I reach the tuning phase.

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #53 · May 9, 2016

I began the finishing stage this weekend. I turned my garage into a paint booth using auto body overspray sheeting and duct tape.

Using scrap wood, I built two stands so I can shoot all sides of both enclosures simultaneously.

With a quart of surfacer applied, they'll sit overnight. I'll switch to 3M 360 grit purple discs for sanding duties.

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Electrodynamic

· #54 · May 21, 2016

Any update on this yet? I keep checking back to see painted enclosures.

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #55 · May 24, 2016

Electrodynamic said:
Any update on this yet? I keep checking back to see painted enclosures.

I had some recent travel that pulled me away for a few weeks, but now I'm back. Before I left, I found some filled screw holes weren't perfect so I drilled them to the metal head [like a tooth in a root canal], filled them with filler and sanded them smooth.

Tonight I laid another layer of surfacer. Will sand up from 320 to 800 grit tomorrow to prepare for paint.

Finally I have my color selected also! I chose a single stage, slightly dark orange. I'm using BASF Limco line since it's easy to apply and very economical. The color is close to this...

.

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ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #56 · May 25, 2016

More progress was made today. I achieved an acceptable finish at 320 grit and proceeded to move up to 600 grit...

Dusty I know, but it's very smooth. After that, I moved to 800 grit.

Not very interesting pictures, I know....but I'm moving forward to paint! So speaking of that, here's the tech sheet for the paint I mentioned earlier. A mix of color, hardener and reducer makes a winning combination.

After applying four coats tonight, I'll let it sit for the next two days to dry. So far, it's fantastic looking and meets my expectations. The re-work effort at the primer stage really paid off.

While the paint is curing, I'll get the internal wiring ready and install the gaskets on the underside of the basket lip.

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ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #57 · May 26, 2016

I'm slowly nearing completion.

Tonight I've soldered cables onto the Speakon connector, pre-drilled and finally mounted the jack. I'm using 8ga cable internally.

I also machine compounded, polished and sealed the finish. I used Menzerna and Sonax products and a Porter Cable polisher.

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ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #58 · May 26, 2016 (Edited)

I used 8ga KnuKonceptz blue power cable to connect the voice coils in series. I used Sound King 8ga red and black power cable to connect the driver to the Neutrik connector. To avoid any possibility of having any vibrations due to the cable hitting the inner walls, I wrapped each cable with BMW OEM fabric wire loom wrap. The filling will also surround the cables so I should have no tapping issues.

To avoid the series cable from making any noise, I left no slack in its length and also hot glued it to two contact points on the basket. All cables are soldered on their ends to make for a solid surface to insert into the spring loaded connectors. I do wish the drivers had binding posts so i could use banana plugs.

Going through all the threads on the forum, I never saw anyone explain how they actually installed these heavy drivers in their enclosures. So here's my intended approach:

Step #1: Suspend the driver over the opening [using a 3/4" board protected with microfiber clothes], connect the cables and rotate it so that the mounting holes line up with the ones in the baffle.
Step #2: With nitride gloves on, lift the driver slightly while someone else slides the board out.
Step #3: Proceed to crush the tips of all ten digits while lowering the driver to line up.

I deliberately did not recess the basket edge because I think it would make it VERY hard to pry the driver back out in case I need to remove it later. Here you can also see the speaker gasket installed to the underside of the driver. I didn't want anything sticking on my newly painted surface.

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Action_Jackson

· #59 · May 26, 2016

Nice work on the boxes! I've seen many people use zip ties, looped through the mounting holes, as makeshift handles to set the woofers into place.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ndyvidual

Discussion Starter · #60 · May 27, 2016

Action_Jackson said:
Nice work on the boxes! I've seen many people use zip ties, looped through the mounting holes, as makeshift handles to set the woofers into place.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was thinking about doing that actually, but feared one breaking and scratching my finish. I didn't want to risk such a 'mission critical task' to Harbor Freight zip ties. I actually, just lowered with muscle and to get my last few digits from underneath it, I used a interior pry tool wrapped in that same fabric tape I mentioned above for providing leverage to tip the frame a bit. It all came together with zero problems. I credit that to a thorough test fit & alignment of holes very early in the project...it pays to plan ahead!

lddude:

Will work on the second one over the weekend.

Still not sure what direction I want to go (if any) with the grill. I have MDF frames made to match the baffle, but that's really it. Still coming up short with grill examples for such a sub with huge surrounds and Xmax.

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