# Audax HT finished



## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

At the same time I built the Modula MT's, I finished up the Audax HT system that I've been (slowly) working on for over two years. The finish is the same as the MT's. I built four MTM's to use as mains and surrounds, as well as the WMTW center.

Here they are:









and the center:

















Excellent sound - loving movies we've seen before in a completely different way with these!

Bruce


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## Exocer (Apr 19, 2006)

Wow, those turned out really nice! Good work.
So, how do they sound?


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Excellent work! :T


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

Thanks for the nice comments, Exocer and Sonny.
They sound great - currently I'm just breaking these in with my other downstairs receiver, so it'll be a few days before I can say for sure. But so far they have excellent imaging and do everything admirably (vocals, instruments and sound effects). When I fired them up with my old Sansui receiver, the left channel was really low and then I discoved that it was only a dirty selection switch...click, click...and everything was just fine!
I will have to decide which set I'll keep, but the Modula MT's certainly fit my limited HT space much better.
Bruce


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## mrogowski (Sep 9, 2006)

Wow! The finish of your front baffles are exceptional. What's the secret?


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

Thanks for the compliment. It is the look I was shooting for - burnished metallic black with a durable satin finish. Actually, there is no secret. 
The method is posted here:
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showpost.php4?p=289230&postcount=595
The baffles get several coats of flat black marine enamel followed by very light sanding with 600W/D paper and 000 synthetic steel wool. A final coat (or two) of oil-based satin polyurethane is sprayed-on and that's it. The HVLP sprayer works like a charm.
With more use the sound continues to improve - I'm lovin' it!! :bigsmile: 
Cheers, Bruce


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## kano32 (Sep 14, 2006)

Are those titanium domes in the Audax system? I thought it was the fabric dome. I almost went with the Audax system but didn't have the money, I then stumbled onto the HTGuide forum and found the Natalie P's and RS 3-way towers. How does the Audax compare to the Modulas?


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

Kano,
I used the Audax TMO25F7 titanium dome in my system because I'd read a lot of good things about it. Wayne J. used it in his Audax HT system as featured in the PE Showcase. I'm very pleased with the Audax MTM's and WMTW center - their performance is super. Plenty of punch for HT use and good quality FR for music. These were designed for HT and that's what I use them for 70% of the time. 

Currently I'm using the Modula MT's for HT use and it's interesting to compare them. For music the Modulas have superb clarity and definition - "revealing" is an accurate description of their attributes. 
I haven't done a direct A/B comparison, because I only have one place to set up my speakers.

Logistically, the Modulas fit into our space better because, with an MT, when the tweeter is at ear height, the enclosure is not as high (visually) as an MTM would be. In addition, the Modulas handle the demands of HT easily and with headroom to spare. 

That being said, I don't listen to music or HT at "ear-bleeding" high SPL's as a rule.:bigsmile: 


Cheers, Bruce


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## kano32 (Sep 14, 2006)

Technimac,

Did you do anything to the crossover when you changed to the titanium?


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

Kano,
The only change is in the MTM mains crossover. 

"Capacitor C5 rolls off a high-frequency rise in tweeter response to produce an overall flat response (*remove when using the TMO25F7*)."

That's it! Everything else remains the same as when using the TMO25F1. :T 

HTH,

Cheers, Bruce


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## Barrettn (Mar 13, 2015)

Hard to believe, but after divorce and dozens of other reasons, I'm finally getting around to building the Audax home theater speakers I bought years and years ago. I can't find the detailed plans anywhere, can you tell me where I can find them? I'm hoping you have them archived somewhere, they show a cutaway view and dimensions, they look like they were laid out with a CAD package - you can see a picture of one of them (blurry and not really usable) at http://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/8/81/htf_imgcache_38545.jpeg I can find these plans, http://www.waterloowi.us/comm/forms/audax diy home theatre.pdf but I'm hoping to find the detailed plans as well - they show the placement of the vents and if the driver mounting is flush or recessed, something the "not detailed" plans doesn't show. 

I hope you can dig them up for me, I'm making the enclosure now with the help of a friend 
Thanks!


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Stellar finish work, those are beautiful!!!


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

Here's what I have:
Attached.
Good luck with these.


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## Barrettn (Mar 13, 2015)

Thanks! The "Audax HT L & R cabinets.pdf" was exactly what I was looking for, and the others were all helpful as well. 

Maybe it's not really important - but every actual build of these speakers I've seen has the drivers flush mounted, but the plans only show the AP130Z0 being recessed, everything else is shown as surface mounted.

Do you know if it makes a big difference one way or another? The driver specs all show a mounting depth, is that what you used to determine how deep to recess them on your build?

Thanks for letting me pester you about this - this is the first set of speakers I've ever built, and I'm paranoid I'm going to mess something up.

Barrett


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

These are vented speakers, so flush-mounting isn't going to alter the quality much, if at all. 
I would go for flush mounting all drivers. It'll be a cleaner look and with flush-mounting, it's easier to install a grill-cloth frame over the baffle.
Good luck with your build.


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

You're already flush mounting the AP130Z0, and hopefully, the tweeter. 
So you've probably got your router guides set up for that. 
Doing two more shouldn't be too much more effort for a very nice final result.


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## technimac (Sep 13, 2006)

"The driver specs all show a mounting depth". I can't remember if I used that figure or not.
I actually measured the speaker flange depth, excluding the gasket (which is compressed when they're installed). 
Once installed, the flanges were "just" proud of the finished baffle surface (probably because of the compressed gasket) and that's preferable to them being more recessed.


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## Barrettn (Mar 13, 2015)

Thanks! I have a Jasper circle jig I'm using for the cutouts, so recessing them not only is easy, but justifies having bought the tool, so it's a double win. Knowing that it doesn't make much if any difference I'll go ahead and do them all, I agree it looks much cleaner and avoids any problems with the grill covers.


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