Last summer, I was bogged down in the tedious job of getting our backyard prepped to have a patio poured and pergola built. It was the last of the 'big' projects for the house and it took far, far longer than I had anticipated. While working on that project, I was daydreaming about 'fun' projects that I'd like to do once it was finished. Something that would satisfy my creative energies (yes, I actually have some from time to time) and be challenging for me.
Initially, I saw a video clip of the 'Anarchy' woofer while I was browsing some of the online DIY forums for home audio equipment. It looked interesting - at six and half to seven inches in diameter, it was on the smaller side but it was claimed to have 12mm of xmax. That's quite a bit of excursion for such a small speaker, meaning it would move a lot more air than a typical driver of it's size. Hmm - this looks like it might make an interesting little subwoofer... perhaps I could make something up for our wagon? I went to the website that distributed this little gem and it looked like they were having a blowout sale, as the man running that small business was deciding to close up shop. I snagged a couple of them for less than $50 each to hang onto for when it was time to get a project going.
Well... after getting them and doing some more research, making a little sub just didn't seem challenging enough. I really wanted to build something more substantial. I had built some bookshelf speakers almost 15 years ago which I still have and enjoy, but I wanted something with a bit more oomph. After searching some more on the many online forums that discuss DIY audio, I came across a 'small' floor standing design that sounded interesting. The designer had dubbed them the 'Ansonica' which is a type of white, Italian wine grape (he names many of his designs after wine related terms). The design had received high praise, so I decided that I was going to build a pair. Fortunately, another online outfit that's really dedicated to DIY audio enthusiasts decided to take up the torch and resume production of the Anarchy woofer (as I would need a total of four to complete the project).
Since my father has quite an extensive woodworking shop, I wanted to try and make something that was as close to furniture quality as my amateur skills would allow me to do. I also wanted to use some real hardwood, rather than painting them black like I had with my bookshelf units in the past. On my friend Troy's suggestion, I went down to Mayan Hardwood (great service!) in Oxnard to check out their selection of lumber for the project. I decided on using 3/4" Baltic Birch for the cabinet and a jointed front baffle using Padauk and Black Walnut. I thought that the combination would blend well with our other furniture and the padauk would really 'pop' in contrast with the walnut.
After ordering all the parts I would need, I had a longer wait for the woofers than I had anticipated. Since they were being manufactured overseas, it ended up taking a few months for them to be completed and delivered stateside. I received them at the end of November (I had ordered them at the end of July!) so I was finally able to get things started.
I decided to make a few changes to the cabinet from the original design, based on my own skill set and the positioning in our living room. I made the cabinets 36" tall so that the tweeter would be level with my ear when sitting in the chairs in our living room, hopefully yielding the best imaging. The front baffle would be tilted back 10 degrees (per the design) to allow for the tweeters to be 'time aligned' with the woofers.
After many weekends of working on them, I finally completed the pair. They sound really spectacular - very detailed and clear, with the ability to pump out some powerful bass. If you enjoy music and are interested in trying to build a pair of your own speakers, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at how they'll turn out. Cheers!
For those interested, the full album can be viewed here.
