I built this pair of speakers in late 2013. They were designed by Curt Campbell, who dubbed them Invictus. I built them from a kit that included cabinet plans, drivers (the cones and domes), and crossover (electrical) components. Unfortunately, the tweeter they used is no longer available, so the kit is no longer available for sale.
I worked out the aesthetic details and designed the grills. The grills are made of perforated metal in a thin wooden frame and are held in place by magnets in the frame and behind the veneer in the cabinets.
Like many speakers, the cabinets are made of MDF, then veneered. For veneer, I used reconstituted wenge and zebrawood veneer from Tape-Ease. (Cover your eyes if you follow the link. That company has always provided good products and service, but the site was dated back then, and even more so now). The finish is six or seven thin wiped-on coats of gloss Arm-R-Seal.
Using reconstituted veneer saved me a lot of money. At the time, I paid about $150 total for the veneer (one full sheet each of wenge and zebrawood). "Real" veneer would have cost me nearly $400. I compared samples of actual and reconstituted wenge. The actual wenge was slightly prettier, but not that much prettier for this particular application. I didn't compare actual vs. reconstituted zebrawood, but the latter looks close enough to photos I've seen to satisfy me. (Plus, real zebrawood is so striking that it has always looked a bit fake to me.)
I used pocket screws for the interior braces and main cabinet, along with dadoes in the sides and top/bottom for the braces. That made glue-up a lot easier--no clamps required. The backs are removable, attached with 3/32" bolts and and T-nuts.
I didn't veneer the back panels because I built and tuned the speakers before applying the veneer, and I just didn't want to deal with trimming the veneer around all of the counterbores and binding post mortises. So I just went with satin black paint.
If you're interested in more details or are curious about the innards of speakers, please see the corresponding blog series.
Another great project. I want to learn more about veneer - sure adds options at a lower cost. And, appreciate the notation on pocket screws (for some reason I always feel like I shouldn't use them...but they work so well in some situations!).
Looks very nice with the entertainment stand. Thanks for sharing the background info.
Interestingly, these speakers were originally intended to go in our family room, which has a different A/V console I built. (That room is no longer red, but a grayish/greenish color called Link Gray. You can see the new room in my fireplace mantel/surround project) My wife prefers the sound of an older pair of speakers I built, so I moved these ones up to our yoga room, which houses my second audio system.
Barb, my blog series will have a post on how I veneered these speakers.
Sweet! I’ve got a lot of respect for Curt Campbell designs, and have always wanted to build the Statements 2. Sadly, Meniscus has pulled the parts kit from their website recently. Should’ve made the plunge earlier! Your speakers are gorgeous. To me…a fantastic fusion of interests we share…audio and woodworking. Lots of fun when you can combine hobbies in one’s creation…
That’s too bad about the Statements II being discontinued. I saw that the midrange driver was no longer available. The same sort of thing happened with the Invictus kit because of the tweeter.
I completely agree with your comments about combining hobbies. Toss in photography and writing, and it’s a four-for-one.
