DIY ProAc Response 2.5 Clone - Part 1

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Tools, Material and Parts

In the last article, I gave a little background on my journey building a ProAc Response 2.5 loudspeaker project. I'm thinking of dividing the project into 4 articles:

• Tools, Material and Parts
• Woodworking - Cutting and gluing
• Building the crossover and applying the Veneer
• Putting it all together.
  

In this article, I'll list all the tools, parts and material needed to build your own loudspeakers. Since this is a few years ago, the cost of material, parts and the stores I bought my items may have changed or may not be available.

Below is a list of online store I frequently visit for audio part supplies:

• Madisound
• Speaker City
• Parts Express

Tools:

• Tablesaw - You can use a circular saw, but you'll need a long straight edge.
• Router and Router Bits - a 1/4 and 3/8 straight bit to trim veneer and to cut the circular holes. My router comes with a plunger, which is needed to route the bevels on the speaker holes.
  
• The Jasper Model 400 - This is the jig I used to cut all the port and speaker holes.
  
• Measuring Tape - Since the diagram measurements are all in metric, I suggest you pick a metric one. I bought this Stanley Metric/Fractional Tape one at Lowes.
  
• Clamps - a minimum 4 clamps are need to glue the speakers together. The more the better. I bought a set of cheap clamps from Lowes for $20. Here is what the set looks like on Amazon. Here.
• Orbital Sander - Use to sand flush imperfections when gluing the panels (a belt sander is probably better, but I don't have one) and for sanding the wood veneer.
• Glue - Wood glue (Titebond). A spray adhesive to glue the Dampen Polly Fill. I used the 3M Supper 77.
• Contact Cement - This is use to for veneering your speakers. I went with DAP contact cement (waterborne) and got good result.
• Hot Glue Gun - This is to glue crossover parts onto a board.
  
• Rolling Pin - I used my wife's baking tool. :)
  

Parts
Use this list as your reference as well.

• Two 4' x 8' MDF board. I think you can get away with just one if you plan your cut well. I ended up using 2 because I made a mistake on one of the speaker panel. (~$25 per board)
• 3" PVC pipe - This is for the port. You just need a pipe long enough to create two 6-inch long ports. I've a leftover PVC pipe from my past plumbing project.
• Roofing Felt - For the 3-5mm bituminous felt damping.
• Polly-fill - Damping foam lining.
  
• 1 x Maple Wood Veneer (4' x 8' sheet). I ordered mine from here. $84 + S/H.
• 2 x 18w/8535 Scan-Speak - I bought mine from Speaker City. You can get the shielded version if you are going to put these speakers near a CRT TV. $281.60
  
• 2 x D2010/8513 Scan-Speak. $113
• 2 x DAYTON BPA-38G HD BINDING POST PAIR GOLD. $19.90
  
• Solderless terminals for speaker. it looks something like this. I just went to my local Radio Shack and picked up a bag of these.
• 12 AWG speaker wires. A 25-ft spool from Radioshack should be sufficient.
  

Crossover Parts
I built my crossover based on this diagram. Troels' modified crossover. I built it with the Optional Notch. I did not get all the parts with the exact specs listed in the diagram. I tried to get as close as possible. During my search on the web and reading DIY forums on people who have built speakers in the pas, I have concluded that most of these folks have good experience with Mills brand resistor. Getting Mills resistors from an online source to buy is a bit challenging. I ended up getting Dale 1.5-Ohms/5W and Dale 5.6-Ohm/5W from Surplus Sales of Nebraska. I just did a quick search on Google now and this place offer Mills resistors. http://speaker.rosaryshop.com/index.php/r/components
As for the 47-Ohm/5W resistor, I got them from here. https://www.hndme.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=54&idproduct=1003

I think this will work as well, it's just rated with higher wattage. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=005-47

I bought 10 or more resistors of each type just in case I decided build more clones for friends and family. All these parts sits on a square laminated floor board I have leftover from my past project.

• 2 x Alpha-core 12 AWG Inductor .27 mH. $28.50
  
• 2 x Alpha-core 12 AWG Inductor .82 mH. $41.04
• 2 x Alpha-core 12 AWG Inductor 1.8 mH. $63.36
• 2 x Solen 3.3uF - 400VDC POLYPROYLE capacitor. $4.40
  
• 2 x Solen 4.7uF - 400VDC POLYPROYLE capacitor. $5.18
• 2 x KIMBER KAP 7.0uF-200V CAPACITOR. $38.40
• 4 x Mills 47-ohms/5W Resistor. $2.35 ea.
• 2 x Dale 5.6-ohms/5W (RS5-5.6). $1.25 ea. (note: check above URL for Mills resistors)
  
• 2 x Dale 1.5-ohms/5W (CW5-5-1.5). $0.75.

Next article: Woodworking - Cutting and Gluing