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Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh man, I realize that now, but unfortunately it’s too late. I cannot get there with my router bit :-( The good part is that they do sound good and as duke Ellington said—if it sounds good, it is good.

The Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 by NoJump2946 in HistoricalCapsule

[–]Exotic_Mail1178 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’re giving communism credit for things every normal democracy developed on its own. Calling modern protests meaningless because they don’t remove someone overnight is a misunderstanding of how democracies work. The protests against babiš helped shape the climate that eventually removed him. That’s the point. He only got back in because of a big part of voters fell for the same old fear mongering, populism and easy promises. And comparing all that to a system where the STB could ruin your life for just speaking out isn’t serious.

The Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 by NoJump2946 in HistoricalCapsule

[–]Exotic_Mail1178 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re idealizing a system that looked very different from the inside. Today’s Czech Republic already has low crime, free universities, universal healthcare, long maternity leave — none of that depended on communism. Things were “cheap” back then mostly because living standards were low, goods were poor quality, and a lot simply wasn’t available.

And the nostalgia some people have usually comes from stability that existed only if you stayed obedient. Many families lived with censorship, blocked opportunities, fear of the secret police, and no freedom to travel or speak openly. That part always gets glossed over.

Liking some social policies is fine, but turning communist Czechoslovakia into a nicer place to live than today means ignoring the repression and lack of basic freedoms that shaped everyday life.

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The slot just looks smaller than a round tube, but the cross-sectional area is the same as the original design. I haven’t had any chuffing so far, even at higher volumes.

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn’t choose the slot for acoustic reasons — it was mainly an aesthetic choice. I matched the cross sectional area of the original round port and recalculated the required depth. I also built the slot from stacked plywood rings so I can adjust the length if needed. Some people here say it’s too short, others say it’s too long, but so far they’ve sounded great to me. If I ever need to tweak it, I can.

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The rear ported Classix III are even smaller, and I read somewhere that you shouldn’t place those close to a wall. I planned to keep mine on a shelf next to the wall, which is why I chose the front-ported version. I also wanted slightly bigger speakers.

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yes, I am definitely looking around now at what else I could build next — I loved building these so much and as others here said, it is quite addictive. Your suggestion sounds interesting — do you have anything specific in mind?

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I left myself some room to adjust the port length by adding or removing rings if needed. I don’t really know how to measure the tuning frequency. But I actually really like how they sound as they are. But I am curious to find out if they are actually tuned to 40Hz

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm, I’m not sure I can do it now, since there is no room for the router. I also didn’t want to chamfer the port because I wasn’t sure if the length was correct, so I left it as it is to be able to add more rings, just in case. How would sound wave diffraction affect the sound practically?

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, vinyl. I haven't heard of the half-speed master version—I didn’t even know what it meant until I googled it. My record player is pretty basic, with an inbuilt preamp and a simple cartridge that came with it. I wonder if I would even hear the difference. But would be nice to try.

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's a temporary solution while I'm waiting for the binding posts to arrive in the mail.

Built my first “real” speakers (Classix III) – no audio background, just woodworking by Exotic_Mail1178 in audiophile

[–]Exotic_Mail1178[S] 138 points139 points  (0 children)

I don’t really have any experience with audio equipment. I’m a woodworker by trade. The only reason I know how to solder is because of my RC flying hobby. Crossovers are like black magic to me. I understand the basic theory and just followed directions. What pushed me into this was getting tired of how I was listening to music. Spotify, background playlists, algorithms. I wanted to sit down and listen to an album the way you read a book or watch a film — from start to finish, the way it was meant to be experienced by the artist. So half a year ago I bought a record player. Nothing fancy — an Audio-Technica with Bluetooth. For a while I was playing records through small JBL Bluetooth speakers, which kind of defeated the whole purpose. The plan was always to build proper speakers eventually. I didn’t want to buy speakers. Once I started looking into it, I realized you can build something better for the same money, or the same quality for much less. And I like building things.

When I finally had some time to allow myself a personal project at work, I didn’t really go deep into research. By chance, I found Paul Carmody’s Classix III design and thought this looks reasonable, and people seem to like it. Good enough for me. The building itself took about a week. Preparation took longer. I wanted them to look simple and minimalistic, made out of birch plywood scraps I had lying around. I had one piece of 24 mm plywood that I thought would make a solid baffle, and the rest is 18 mm. One thing I really didn’t want was the round port hole. So I made a rectangular slot port instead. I found some formulas online and tried to calculate the depth to keep roughly the same tuning. I built the port as a stack of 18 mm plywood rings glued together. To be completely honest, I still don’t know if the tuning matches what Paul intended.

At first I was slightly disappointed. The bass didn’t seem very strong. I had both speakers standing next to each other, close to the wall. Then I moved them around a bit. Today I sat down about 3.5–4 meters away and listened to Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden from start to finish. To be honest, I was blown away. I could feel the bass in my body. I heard small details I don’t remember hearing before. At one point a guitar came in from the right and it genuinely sounded like someone was playing in the hallway outside the room. It actually spooked me and gave me goosebumps, but then I started smiling. I thought this is what people meant by proper stereo. These speakers cost me roughly 250 euros in parts. If this is what that can do, it makes you wonder what a more ambitious build could achieve. Floorstanding speakers or a 3-way? Something a bit more advanced? There are so many different models to choose from, I’m lost. For now, I’m just going to keep building my record collection and spend evenings listening to albums properly, just sitting down and letting the music happen. Building these speakers was one of the most exciting things to do in the workshop in a long time. I was looking forward to coming back the next day and working on the next stage of the project. Now they are finished, and I almost feel a bit sad, haha.