Hi Troels,

After many, many hours, I finally have finished my Illuminator 5 speakers, and I have to say they came out very nice and sound fantastic so far, although they are not really broken in yet.

The baffles are 1.25” MDF, sealed, painted with flat black, then with satin polyurethane (the 12MU baffle was routed out on the back to allow the driver to breathe).  The bass cabinet is constructed of 25mm baltic birch, and the remaining cabinets are 15mm BB with 25mm BB rear panels, all finished with satin poly.  Depth dimensions were adjusted to ensure correct internal volume, but front baffle dimensions were all preserved as designed.  All of the accent pieces are solid cherry finished only with poly.  I am lucky to have an 18” bandsaw so I was able to make the 18W side accent pieces from 2” cherry cut on an 8 degree angle down the middle, yielding left and right pieces for one speaker.  I also modified the tweeter cabinets a bit to allow the cherry accent pieces as shown.  The upper cabinets are all sitting on 1/4” Sorbothane isolator pads, and I plan to add wedges under them as needed to dial them in.  I have not yet made the crossover cover or dressed up the wires, but couldn’t wait to listen to them.

They have a wonderful, clear, balanced sound (keeping them away from walls and corners), and plenty of natural, powerful bass.  I’m very impressed as well with the 12MU upper mid driver and Be tweeter - very clean!  They match up very well with the Illuminator center I previously built.

I want to thank you for an excellent design and all your helpful guidance throughout this build.  This is the best speaker I’ve owned, especially since I built it myself!

Thanks,
Tom
USA