The Caritas 88.1 Speaker Kit

Product Description

The  Caritas, 88.1 Speaker Kit benefiting 88.1 FM, WYCE Community Radio

Since this kit has its own website, I have renamed it 88.1. Caritas is Latin for Charity. The charity is a community radio station, WYCE. Thus, what we have for you is an entry-level speaker kit that donates in two ways.

This kit fulfills a good number of needs, but before I discuss it in more detail, I’d like to tell you the story behind it.

The Premise

I’m a huge fan of our local community radio station and give faithfully during the twice-yearly fund drive, but I wanted to do more. Brewing in the back of my mind for the past several years as an entry-level kit, part of the proceeds would be given to the station.   I knew the kit had to be inexpensive to get most builders involved, and that parts had to be decent as well.

The Parts

I knew the only way this would work was to find some quality units on the surplus market.  The tweeters came first and were an easy find.  The BC25TG-15 is a respected, low-cost unit from Vifa/Peerless.  The quirk that made this a surplus unit was that these are magnetically shielded.  With CRTs extinct, the shielded driver became expendable.  Once the first batch of these kits was sold, I searched for more surplus, and David came through again with the guys at Outlaw Audio.  They were scaling back the speaker’s side of things and had a bunch of custom, OEM SB tweeters.  These are also magnetically shielded and have an odd-shaped faceplate.  Router template included, but Jeff says surface mounting will be just fine.

An interesting fact about the tweeters is the treated fabric dome is sourced from SEAS.   You’re getting a premium tweeter this time around.

The woofer turned out to be harder to find than I ever thought.  I sifted through countless units on the market, and found them unusable for the cabinet size I needed, the wrong impedance, or a response so bad that crossover design would be a nightmare.

Again, I made a call to David Stephens at SB Acoustics to see if perhaps that had anything – a mistake, overrun, or cancellation.  After hearing my story, David said, “What do you need? We’ll make it for you!”   SB was kind with the price, too.  A made-to-order woofer at the surplus price!

Having all the drivers on hand, we set out to design the network.  When Jeff Bagby heard the story, he wanted to be part of the process, so he dove in and came up with a pretty simple design that works very well and keeps the parts cost low.

Here’s what it will do for you.

I wanted this kit to fulfill the needs of many.

The first-time kit buyer might prefer to start with something safe and inexpensive.  I know you’re a bit apprehensive about spending a lot of time and hard-earned money on a project you might not be sure of the outcome.

The seasoned builder looks for that go-to kit for friends and relatives.  The build is easy, and the recipient is always grateful for a custom system that is hard to come by at a retail level these days.   The time working on a project like this with a child or Grandchild is priceless.

The school project is another great idea.  We’ve had several Physics and shop teachers offer their students the kit ideas as a senior class project.

The side benefit.

A good portion of what you pay for this kit goes to WYCE.  You did something nice and didn’t feel a thing!

I could go into great detail on how great WYCE is and how it can benefit you, but I won’t.  That is a story for another time. For now, this is all you need:

What’s In The Kit?

The Bare Bones Kit includes all the drivers and crossover parts:

• 2 x SB / Outlaw soft dome tweeters – Round Tweeter Faceplate option – at my cost.
• 2 x SB, OEM 6.5″ woofer, Paper/Rubber
• Printed Circuit Board
• 2 x Crossover parts – specified inductors, film capacitors, resistors
• Complete Plans

The Full Kit adds all the extras to make it complete:

• 2 x  Choice of Terminals – cups with 5-way Binding Posts, or large single binding posts
• 2 x Internal hookup wire
• 2 x Mounting hardware
• 2 x Port Tubes
• 2 x Internal damping material
• Complete Plans

Extra Options to choose from:

CNC Front baffles

Full knock-down flat pack – I got a great deal on 40 sheets of MDF.  Not the Excel +, but just Excel, so passing the savings on to you!  It also includes a Baltic Birch plywood brace.

Grille Frames,  Includes the Neo Magnets.  If you order these, your front baffles will automatically be cut for magnets too.  You’ll need to source your own grill fabric.

Here’s what to do next

This kit is a no-brainer.  It is a perfect fit for you in so many ways.  Scroll up to the buy button and click!   I didn’t mention this, but I have just 50 sets available. That’s it.  When they are gone, no more!

The system has a nominal 8-ohm impedance and will work fine with most receivers.

The cabinet is 14L or .5 cu ft.    Take a look in the photo gallery tab to see the cabinets for the 25th – Silver Anniversary system donated to the station, which will be auctioned off.  Note the signatures of all past and present programmers from the station.   Also, there is my build with the Rosewood veneer.

PS -You might be wondering, a radio station as a charity?  Aren’t there more deserving causes out there?  Yes, there are, but I’ve heard it said you give with your heart.  Maybe that endangered South American Tree Toad is low on your list, but its saliva might end up as a cure for cancer one day.  You never know.  Perhaps music is a cure for what ails our minds.

PPS  Fun fact – the kit price is the same as the station call letters 88.1, the first number on the dial.  Or, go to http://www.wyce.org/ and listen. You will be in for a treat.  https://grcmc.org/wyce/support

Caritas Cabinet Plans