# Zaph ZA5 Curved Build



## stevemac00 (Jan 9, 2013)

I have a small home with just a corner for stereo and television. I built Fried Transmission Line speakers in my youth and now that I'm retired wanted to build an "entertainment cabinet" and speakers again. I have about a 42" corner and that's all I can allocate for space.

I got some good suggestions from various sites (madisound, diyaudio, avsforum and hometheatershack). Somebody from diyaudio said to build a corner subwoofer to utilize wasted corner space behind the television.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43333&stc=1&d=1375377378
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43334&stc=1&d=1375377378

The sub is attached with lag screws to the studs through the driver hold and a pad is used to acoustically decouple it from the wall. It's a sealed sub and very tight with no measurable boominess with Room EQ. I thought I'd need to add an EQ but it's not necessary. The room is large with exposed beams and standing waves aren't much of an issue.

I decided on the Zaph ZA5 monitors but wanted a curved cabinet. I made the mains with a sealed half liter cabinet out of shop sawn ash and paper backed cherry veneer. The stands are solid cherry and 8/4 solid ash.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43336&stc=1&d=1375377883
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43337&stc=1&d=1375377883
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43335&stc=1&d=1375377883

I really like the sound of these speakers. Sonically they don't draw attention to themselves and sound very good with both music and movies. The curved panels were made using four layers of 3/16" MDF and paper-backed cherry veneer. The front baffle is 3/16" shop-sawn veneer that is anchored with epoxy down the middle so it can move freely although there will not be visibly noticeable movement.

The curved panels are a 25" radius and the apex is about two inches behind the front baffle (from front to back it gets wider before becoming narrower). We really like the look so I decided to make the entertainment cabinet using the same strategy.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43340&stc=1&d=1375378423
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43338&stc=1&d=1375378423
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43339&stc=1&d=1375378423

If you're interested in any construction or design information you can view more photos with captions on Flickr.

Subwoofer http://flic.kr/s/aHsjE6QwTw
Mains http://flic.kr/s/aHsjF9Bg75
Cabinet http://flic.kr/s/aHsjHdw3wX

Thanks to all of those unmentioned people with photos on the web for ideas and inspirations. There's absolutely no way I could have done this without your help.


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

That is an excellent cabinet that anyone would be proud to own.
Well done! :T


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## thucker (May 25, 2012)

That is some great wood working skills. I had to live with the pain of having my entertainment system crammed into a corner too, before I moved to my current house. Great job making use of the limited space.


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Very nice craftsmanship, everything looks incredible! :clap:


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## dougc (Dec 19, 2009)

Beautiful, man, strong work!


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## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

wow, incredible wood working. I'm impressed


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## EG92B16A (Jul 29, 2011)

One word:

AWESOME !!!


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## stevemac00 (Jan 9, 2013)

Thank you for the generous comments. Anyone contemplating curved work should be prepared for time to make a lot of jigs for cutting and joinery but it's worth it to make things that have a different look.


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## Jstslamd (Nov 30, 2010)

How do the za5's sound ? Great enclosures by the way!


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## stevemac00 (Jan 9, 2013)

My opinion is that they are pretty good at neutrality. I have speakers I built in another room that has incredible high end that really jumps out at you. Then you listen to these and they sound a a bit dull.

On the other hand, you can listen to these for hours and sound analysis shows them to have a linear response. The imaging is very good and off-axis is just about as good as centered. They don't play very loud if that's important to you but it's not been a problem for me.

To be candid I was a little hesitant because they cost so little. I think the tweeter is about $14 and I considered spending more money since I was investing so much in other resources but I'm pleased with the result and it's not like I don't have other things to spend my money on.

The center speaker is just fantastic for a full-range center speaker in a less than ideal location.

I built my own crossovers because the pre-built from madisound would not fit my cabinet (mains) and the crossover was a simple build for point-to-point.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Beautiful work Steve. The speakers and stands look awesome, and the cabinet is gorgeous. Any of these projects would be impressive on their own, but they really come together to make an amazing setup.


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## stevemac00 (Jan 9, 2013)

Thank you for taking time to comment. Many other people's ideas all came together for me. For anybody wanting a similar design without having to build them, take a look at my inspiration from Dayton Audio http://www.daytonaudio.com/index.php/loudspeaker-components/speaker-cabinets/2-way-cabinets/twc-0-25ch-0-25-ft-2-way-curved-cabinet-pair-cherry.html


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## fmw (Aug 11, 2013)

Outstanding work. Congratulations.


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## PlanoDano (Aug 30, 2013)

Very beautiful work. I built a pair of ZA5's also with a few changes. They will never see this board after seeing yours. 

Outstanding work.


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## stevemac00 (Jan 9, 2013)

Tell us what changes you made. I have another pair I'm going to eventually make into rear ceiling corners and still waiting for the right idea.


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## Paulcet (Jun 18, 2013)

stevemac00 said:


> Tell us what changes you made. I have another pair I'm going to eventually make into rear ceiling corners and still waiting for the right idea.


This intrigues me as well, since that is my application, too.


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## PlanoDano (Aug 30, 2013)

I built the units sealed in 7 liter boxes and kept the Zaph crossovers. I added separate Dayton RS270 bass bins in 1.75 ft3 boxes. I bi-amped the units with sallen key filters at 350 hz using 110 and 50 amplifiers on each but not driving anything too hard. I have ordered a minidsp to help with the tuning as I want to try different crossover points. If you are interested I will start a thread once I get the minidsp integrated and a few sweeps.

These are for music only as I use another system for HT. In my mind I am partial to sealed speakers for music but I am not sure if it would hold up to any blind testing.


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## bbm (Oct 1, 2013)

that's great work there ! love the bare wood too !


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## jb5200 (Aug 20, 2010)

How does the sound compare to other DIY designs - I've read the Zaph's have a little bit of a dark signature to them and you say dull, do they have a lot of detail?


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## stevemac00 (Jan 9, 2013)

Did I really say "dull"? I would say "natural" or "uncolored" is a better word. I have some other builds like the Sten's which are "in your face". Maybe you'd like these better but over a long period of time, I'd prefer the ZA5.


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