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DIY Speakers
Bass reflex cabinet for the Cube Audio F8 Magus
July 19, 2023
While waiting for the Cube Audio F8 Magus to arrive, I decided to document how I built the bass reflex cabinet designed for it.
Back in late May...
I miss listening to the magic that only a single-ended triode amplifier delivers. I designed and made a couple of those some decades ago, and in fact I had a dual tube amp setup consisting of the Anthem Amp1 + Pre1L and my JE Labs 2A3. I retired from serious DIY long ago and decided to audition a parallel single-ended 300B amplifier paired with my trusty Infinity Kappa 200 bookshelf, but the experience did not yield a positive result. The plan was to buy a SET amp first and decide on the speakers later. All of the DIY amps I made, even the lowly 45, was able to drive the Infinity Kappa 200 with reasonable satisfaction but the PSE 300B simply failed for various reasons.
With that, the plan switched, i.e., get a proper speaker first and decide on the amplifier later.
Enter Cube Audio Scouring the depths of the Internet yielded a gem, Cube Audio. Alas, none of their speakers are anywhere near my spending ability. However, I found out that one my trusted dealer carries them and drivers only are available for order! I was offered the F10 Neo (version 1) mounted on a DIY cabinet based on Cube Audio specifications. The price is very tempting and it's here, now! But it's big at 600mm deep, thus the ultimate plan of having a high efficiency speaker beside the Scansonic MB3.5B won't happen due to space constraints. The DIY cabinet plans for the 8" drivers (F8 Neo, F8 Magus, Fc8) are ideal and I am leaning towards the bass reflex version at 244mm x 300mm x 905mm which will fit nicely beside my Scansonic. I was torn between the F8 Neo and Magus but became keen on the latter due to higher efficiency at 94dB. Fickle-minded me... I asked if I can audition the F10 Neo in the custom cabinet and one weekend it was delivered.
Prior to the delivery, I had to say goodbye to my Magnepan 1.7 which
was grabbed instantly over Father's Day. The sale made space in my
loft, but that space is now taken over by the Scansonic as they were
set aside.
I'm not going to do a full review of the experience but I'd say that
it's positive that I ordered the F8 Magus drivers. The F10 Neo pair
has been returned to the dealer, so what about the
cabinet? Well, it turned out to be a challenge. The speaker cabinet
maker leads I accumulated turned out to be either outright rejection of the
work, inquiry ignored, or
frustration over someone who did reply.
Therefore, I'm going to build my own!
On to the build diary...