DanG's 1015 Sterling Duets

[Darrel Hawthorne]

And so it begins ........






To be continued.....

Darrel

[dweekie]

Ahhh, took me a little while figuring out why it was shaped like that So does that mean the 10" Sterlings are officially released now?

[Darrel Hawthorne]

Ahhh, took me a little while figuring out why it was shaped like that So does that mean the 10" Sterlings are officially released now?

Hey Dweekie,
We are planning on an official release in a couple weeks or so and that will coincide with the completion of this build.
This will eventually become a production speaker but started out as a custom request from Dan G.
I liked it immediately and have since elaborated somewhat on the original concept to include a couple "special" details to be explained as we go.
Easier to show than describe with words alone.

Should be a nice little speaker that will be right at home in many domestic situations. I don't know how it reads in the pictures but it is compact at about 38" tall and 20" wide on the bottom and about 7" wide up top.

Cheers,
Darrel

[ALF]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
OK - you have my attention! When's the next instalment?
ALF

[Darrel Hawthorne]

Hey Guys,
Ok, Here is where it gets a little tricky...

The fronts of these speakers are to be covered in black acoustic cloth.
Dan had also requested a rear acoustic cloth cover that ideally could be easily removed. He also stressed that it should look continuous and reflective of the overall smooth flowing aesthetic found in the rest of his design.

We came up with an idea to do a simple wrap that goes around internal forms and terminates close to the front edges of the baffle.

In order to have something there to attach to I needed to make small side sections ( Rails) that Diana could later cover with Velcro . The idea being to start on one edge and sort of stretch the fabric around forms and finally attach on the opposite side.
The rub with doing this is the curved shape and the very small amount of internal space remaining after we make mounting plates, to actually fit these side rails onto.
These rails needed to be strong, stiff and sufficiently wide enough to attach fabric to but they could not be very thick .

I came up with the idea of using 1/4" thick Baltic Birch that can natural bend to follow the baffles outer curves without making the usual saw kerfs like I would if using a thicker piece.

1/4" X 1" tall is plenty for attaching velcro and fabric to and is actually as it turn out very stiff as I have done it.

The procedure that makes all this possible is a curved dado recess for the wood rails to seat into.

I plowed a dado approximately 1/4" deep and 1/4" wide, exactly following the outside contours of the baffles edge.....
Easy Peasy


I then flooded this area with glue and forced the 1/4" side rails into place.
Once fully in place I ran staples from the outside through this insertion horizontally...

Here are a few shots of these side rails and insertion depth as seen from the end.












To be continued.....

Darrel

[Bob in St. Louis]

Boy it sure is fun watching other people spend their money.
And the really fun part, is when the builder talks about how difficult the build is going.......
That means Dan's wallet is getting thinner everytime sawdust is created.
Everytime Darrel scratches his head it costs Dan another $5.

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. Please don't hurt me.

Darrel, those are looking very good. I can't wait for the next installment of photos. They way you show and describe the build process for all to see (including the end user/customer) is a real treat. That's raising the bar for ALL other speaker manufacturers. That's a level of customer service that's unheard of.
You continue to set and break benchmarks for what's expected in this industry.
Carry on Sir.

Bob

[Darrel Hawthorne]

Hey Bob,
Thanks for the compliments , much appreciated!!

There is some risk involved with photo documenting a brand new build procedure in real time as I think this stuff up.
I would suggest anyone following one of these builds to wait until it's done before getting too excited.....If I screw up I fully intend to post that as well, sort of fun doing this without a net

Cheers,
Darrel

[Darrel Hawthorne]

It requires a lot of force to fully seat these side rails into their recesses.
A heavy duty bar clamp work well for this




It is important to insure that these rails are in all the way and I use the adjustable square to verify.


Once I am confident that they have bottomed into the recess, I staple across horizontally to lock that section. I then move down several inches and repeat the above until the entire rail is locked in place.



And finally, I trim off excess on both ends.



Number two went a lot faster and was easier than the first.



I will now focus on the driver mounting plates and the additional top and bottom forms needed to hold the cloth in place.

Darrel

[Darrel Hawthorne]

I have been using these seperate mounting plate for a couple of years now and I soon discovered just how important alignment was going to be.

Because each mounting plate needed to fit the baffle exactly, I came up with this procedure of using the mounting plates as drilling guides or templates for the actual baffle.
I start by superimposing these plates directly onto the baffles and making sure they are perfectly in place.
I use shims and careful measurements to locate them so that they are not touching the sides or each other.

Each plate has a center hole which will become the axle hole later for the Jasper jig circle cutting fixture.
I drill through this axial hole and also the baffle below to form the baffle cutout axle hole simultaneously.
I sometime put a pin in this to help keep everything referenced off this one hole.

I then drill the four corner holes which will locate the embedded "T" nuts in the baffle and bolt holes in the mounting plates.

Here is a picture of the baffle with these mounting plates serving template/ drilling guide duty to locate all the holes.




Tomorrow, I will use these pilot holes to make the baffle cutouts, driver mounting plate cutouts, "T" nut holes and bolt holes.



Please stay tuned.....

Cheers,
Darrel

[ALF]

Man! I wanted a next instalment, and you certainly didn't disappoint!
The easily removable back cloth interests me a lot, so I was getting pretty excited ... that is until I got to this bit -

The procedure that makes all this possible is a curved dado recess for the wood rails to seat into.

... then my mind started to glaze over ... wow! - that is so beyond the likes of me I can tell you - my woodworking skills are a bit more akin to whittling
This is going to be a great build ... keep them pics coming ... (I have only 2 more days of computer ... then I face more than a week of intense electronic withdrawal)
Cheers
ALF

[Darrel Hawthorne]

Hey Alf,

In the next couple days I should pretty much finish my part on this main baffle and turn things over to Diana for upholstery.

While that is going on I will be painting some sub assemblies and figuring out the sand filled umbilical chase as well as the sand filled sub base assemble that will provide a 5-7 degree tilt back.


On the very top there is to be a shelf that is purpose built to hold an
Mirage OMD-5 speaker, The Sterling 10" coaxial as well as this Mirage can either one be used with the 15" Augie.
Dan wanted the option of using either full range speaker and designed this structure to make this all possible. I am adding just a few of my own ideas mainly for vibration control and aesthetics.

By the time you have a computer back up and running, Dan should be listening to these and have some feed back on the design for us...

Cheers,
Darrel

[DanG]

I can't tell you how exciting this is! That I could sit around and doodle some ideas on paper, then make a little concept drawing and send it to Darrel and have such a wealth of ideas and execution from Mr. Hawthorne is incredible. From our first correspondence Darrel was full of great ideas and improvements to my concept. Now to see this coming to fruition in such a masterful way! I'm so amazed at this level of expertise.

So I had a couple of Polk LSi15 speakers the system in our den that eventually got moved to our office/studio to make a cozy movie watching area. After hearing the SI's at the Lone Star Audio Fest (thanks Brad) I knew I wanted to join the club.

Here's a Visio drawing of what I thought they might look like in the den. (I'm still working on my wife... I even made foamboard cutouts to see how she liked them )



Here's the Polks in real life, now future home of the SSI's.



And here's the Mirage omni speaker that goes on top. Of course this could also be a lava lamp or incense holder.......



What a treat to see the delivery room photos from Darrel. I actually get to see these being born!!

DanG

[Darrel Hawthorne]

Hey Dan,
Thanks!
Our Pleasure....

Enjoy,

Darrel

[ALF]

Of course this could also be a lava lamp or incense holder.......

I never got into lava lamps when they were first in vogue ... but as I get older, they don't seem as naff to me as they used to ...
I have an incense holder on a shelf behind my right side speaker ... old habits never die ...I guess I'm just an old time country preachin' hippy at heart
Great design Dan .... I can hardly wait to read your impressions of the sound (s).
ALF

[Darrel Hawthorne]

In keeping with tradition.........






Darrel