My 200S Speaker Cabinet Construction Project

[Greg_M]

As of this morning.....

State of the cabinet construction



The other side




 

[D.M.N.]

Isn't building cabinets fun? Can't wait to see the finished product!

[ROCKETBRO2]

What are the dimensions?

[Greg_M]

40x24x15
This is what I was getting measurements for on the thread here.....

http://sunn.ampage.org/sdp/index.php/topic,5547.0.html



I'm having a pretty good time DMN   

[HRobert]

Greg,

I hope you're planning on puting in reinforcing cleats in the corners.

Rob

[Greg_M]

The pictures only show progress as of yesterday morning

[Walt-Dogg]

Is that a sink you have it standing on?

[Greg_M]

It is my atomic record cleaning system.   

(It is housed in a roll-away utility sink)

[Greg_M]

As of 10/21/10

It's a little foggy out this morning

Got the bracing in, next will be to cut the fronts and back to fit

This side has been sanded. I added some non standard bracing to the horn for greater structural strength



This side hasn't been sanded


Time to order the router bit
 

[Jeff Troy]

Hi, Greg,

Learned the following lesson from my floor monitor project:

Looking at the corner pieces, I guessed at either a 1/4-inch or 3/8-inch router bit for rounding the cabinet edges with the router bit.

I cut one cabinet's edges with the 3/8-inch bit, but while still uncovered, it looked too round, so I used the 1/4-inch bit for the remaining three enclosures.

Turns out that a 3/8-inch bit makes a better fit for the stock (Conrad nickel or original chrome) corner pieces after the cabinets are covered.

Do as you think best, but I like 3/8 inches for the outer edges, and 1/4 inch for the inside (facing the grilles) edges that do not receive corner pieces.

Best bet is to cut a scrap, lay a small patch of covering over it and check the fit. Then you can make a knowledgeable decision.

Always remember my life's lesson: "If it wasn't for f**king up, there'd be no up at all!"

Your project looks great. Nice work, my friend. Wish I had the time and space to do a pair of 2000S cabinets, but then I'd have to find and buy a good head - and figure out why I needed anything more than my 200S/415M in a 15 x 15-foot basement!

Warmest regards,

[Greg_M]

The rounded corners are/were a concern.
The only place I even saw corners with anything less than 0.44" radius (about 7/16") was at "Vibroworld" and I sent them a note but have never heard back.
So I bought the .044" corners from another place and here's why.....

The original Sunn tolex is not available and neither is the original Sunn grill cloth. While being a disappointment, it's also somewhat liberating.
I also have a '66 Super Reverb so I thought, "why not make a family?"

So although it's a Sunn 200S cabinet design, the tolex will be like my SR and so will the corners and probably so will the grill.
I sent a pic of the SR grill cloth to Wendell and they were able to immediately identify it. Supposedly I have a sample on the way.

I guess the demand for 5/16" corners is just not good enough for someone to supply them.
Bummer
 

[biltmore]

Greg_M, have you contacted Conrad to see if he has any Grill Cloth or Tolex available? I swear that he had some available just recently.

[Greg_M]

Once I found out the corners are essentially not available, I started thinking along different lines.
I'd rather make it "different" than a poor copy.

[wildbill96]

FYI, I tried to contact Vibroworld myself a while back too with the same result.  They still have a website up but I think they're out of business.

As for cabinet hardware...check out Flip Tops and American Handle Company.  Both sell different types of corners.  American Handle is the original supplier of the handles that were used on the vintage Sunn cabinets and heads so you may want to go there any way for some spiffy new handles that look like the old ones.

Wendell is your best choice for speaker grill fabric and I believe that they were the original supplier to Sunn although they may no longer not make the exact type of fabric that was used back in the day.  I purchased fabric from them and was very pleased with the match to my old ratty original grills in my speaker cabinets.

As for tolex...if you Google "Sunn Rough Tolex" you'll find a couple of places that sell what they claim is a match.  I have not purchased any of this material since I have had decent success just scrubbing the original tolex with hot soapy water and a brush after a good presoak with a multisurface citrus spray cleaner.  A little touch up here and there with a black paint pen and a little black RTV for larger spots and you'll be surprised how good it can look with the decades of cigarette smoke removed. 

I realize that this cleaning process won't work for your current, new-build project but I found that it works very well for a restoration project.