Hi Mr Gravesen,
I hope you are well? I’m in my fourth
week of COVID and still napping throughout the day. I managed to get
the 7751’s up and running through my illness.
I guess you could say that I might have enjoyed it more if I were in
good health? It was a lot of work and a lot of waiting… which I did
mostly while sleeping.
I noticed that this isn't the most
popular kit, so I took lots of photos through my journey. Unfortunately
we only have 18mm BB here and it turns out that the quality is really
bad once you get below the veneer. Lots of crappy wood stuffed in
between, so the effect I was looking to emulate your version didn't
quite happen. The very thin veneer caused significant ripping which I
spent much time trying to cover-up in the final product.
I really enjoyed the crossover build
and appreciated your diagrams and photos for assistance, it’s been too
long for me to enjoy the satisfaction of that burning lead smell and a
perfect shiny solder joint, I loved it.
The Cabs came together slowly but
surely (with patience) and most was done indoors in the comfort of
heating. I thank my wife for her understanding. I messed up a few
things but ended up being able to sand my way out of most small issues.
The “arts and crafts” period was a
little tedious as I was very sick, the bitumen/felt I think I should
have outsourced to my daughter, she would have loved it. The cat also
spent many days fighting with, and yet sleeping on the pile of felt.
I did the feet as you suggested with
the epoxy and it was a great success, thank you, an awesome result.
I wired up the crossovers next, which
was on the kitchen table. Our cleaners came the next day and were
worried that I was making bombs due to the large red caps and the
twisted wires like they see in the movies. Funny.
I screwed in the crossovers, glued the
front panel and headed to the garage for the messy part. Sanding away
my excessive glue then High oil poly finished with a matte spray poly
which turned out looking pretty good (not my favourite part of the
build).
After that, I had to do all of the
wiring together which was incredibly satisfying after the weeks of work.
I took my time and enjoyed it. Mounting the drivers was an almost sad
experience because I was ending the project and I marked it with a Beer
to toast.
Before I go on about what happens
next, I just want to say thank you Troels for providing me with a great
and challenging project. My Dad passed away a couple of months ago and
I really needed this to help me work through my grief. He was the one
who gifted me the mechanical and technical ability which has seen me
through my career, and I thought about him through the project.
To preface the next description, I’m
not an audiophile, just a guy who loves music and had recently gotten
back into vinyl. I was looking for a project to introduce my 17 yo son
into the real world of sound and get him away from his headphones.
My reaction to the speakers:
I listened for about 6 hours on the
first night and was somewhat confused yet very impressed. I guess I
wasn't prepared for how brutally honest these speakers would be, so in
the first few hours I was reaching for the EQ (which I don't have) and
had to come to the conclusion that some of the recordings were just
simply badly produced. I went through this process of being either blown
away and the hairs standing up on my neck, or being underwhelmed by the
poor production of the recording. FYI this is all through TIDAL ultra
high quality streaming. In that instant I guess I became a production
snob.
Am I correct to react this way?
I guess you're right... Quite a few
recordings are badly produced and leaves a lot to be desired. Making a
speaker that plays all kinds of music of all origins and processing
practises is pretty impossible.
Thank you again, My son and I are now
about to hook up the vinyl and see what that sounds like. I’m
interested to see if it’s a little warmer and fills the room in a
different way across the same tracks.
Thank you again Troels, I owe you a
debt.










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