SBA-761, built by Joel, Sweden

Copyright 2020 © Troels Gravesen

Hello Troels,
 
I have now completed the build of the SBA-761 during my holiday leave this summer. I have not counted the work hours but I suspect it took twice as long as I anticipated - which simply means double the fun. Firstly I would like to compliment you and Jantzen Audio for great service and fast replies during my build process and purchase. The kit arrived quickly and was very well packaged and protected. I also picked up some good quality 20,5 mm Russian Birch Plywood from a distributor here in Sweden which I found after quite some research and phone calls (if anyone in Sweden reads this and wants to know where I got it from, feel free to give them my email).
 
Me and my father, who's been working with carpentry as a hobby his whole life, started the build process in the first week of July and it took about a month to get it all finished. I borrowed my parents basement where I had access to all of the tools needed, without it this would be impossible. The drawing and measurements from the kit were quite clear and easy to understand so it all went along smoothly. We decided to put the crossover down at the bottom along the down firing port - with the components facing the back of the speaker for easy access. At the bottom, in front of the crossover, we created a small hatch which is insulated with basic strips of window insulation. A frame around the inside of the hatch was then routed to about 2mm depth to compensate for the height of the compressed insulation when screwed in place. The three extra pieces of plywood to hold the screws for the hatch took up less than 0,3 litres or 1% of less volume in each speaker so we decided not to compensate for this. Please see the attached pictures.
 
Lastly I sanded the birch veneer and applied two coats of white pigmented hard wax oil to brighten up the wood finish a bit. At first I wanted to paint the front of the speakers white but the plywood edges looked so unique when sanded smooth that I decided to keep it. 
 
And the sound? Well, as you described it - simply marvellous. The naturalness and dynamics even straight after test-assembly with zero burn-in was astonishing and it just keeps getting better now that everything is finished. I listen to a wide variety of music ranging from acoustic soft music to the grittiest metal out there along with some EDM and classical music in-between and everything works, depending on the recording quality of course. I really wanted a dynamic, easy to drive speaker with a natural sound and spending this amount of money and building hours without hearing it first is of course a great risk. But I had faith in your design and listening impressions and I couldn't be more happy with the end result.
 
Feel free to post this in the builders section of your website.
 
Thanks!
 
Joel, Sweden.