adire audio shiva subwoofer

It took me about 2 hours to cut the panels and another hour to assemble everything for a test fit. I'd advise reading all the instructions on the Adire Audio web site and taking your time. If you're not handy with power tools, find someone who is. A table saw is handy for cutting the panels, but a skill saw will also do. To get the measurements as close as possible, do a test cut on a board. An example would be to measure off 12 inches and place your guide there and make your cut. Now measure the cut piece. If it measures 9 1/8", for example, you'll need to add 2 7/8" to the position of your fence or guide. There are blueprints for all the cabinets on Adire's web site, but if you think they are a bit complicated you can use these:

I used 1 1/2" sheetrock screws to hold the cabinet together. A 7/64" drill bit was used for all pilot holes and a 5/16" bit was used for the counter sink. For my initial fitting, I only used a couple screws in each panel. On final assembly, I didn't skimp on the screws. I also used plenty of carpenter's glue where the pieces fit together, and as the pictures show, I also caulked the seams from the inside. Since I couldn't find a nice clear piece of 2x lumber for the legs, I bought a 15" smooth leg from Home Depot and cut off four 3 1/2" pieces. This article is not a lesson in cabinet making, so I'll skip some of the details and show the basic steps and how the pieces fit together.


The picture above shows how I used 4 screws for each leg. Look at the T nuts. There's one missing on the left side of the picture. Don't do this. I was so worried about making sure one didn't interfere with the vent (there turned out to be plenty of room), that I didn't pay attention to the side panel. Luckily, a sheetrock screw in this one hole is plenty to hold the Shiva in place.	The picture above and the 2 below show that I assembled the 2 side panels to the bottom first, and then the interior braces. When I did my test fitting, I installed the braces after the box was almost complete and only the top not installed. Then I used a pencil to mark the position of the braces with a line on both sides of each brace location.

I used plenty of carpenter's glue on the pieces and then screwed them together using the pilot holes from the test fitting. Then I drilled more holes and added screws.

Different views showing the bottom and side panels and both interior braces installed.

The left picture shows the back and top panels installed. On the right, see how I caulked all the seams I could before the front panel was installed. After installing the front panel, I caulked it by reaching through the subwoofer hole. I used a lot of glue and caulking may not have been necessary, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. Build it right and you only have to do it once.

After the cabinet was assembled it was time to fill in the screw holes with wood putty. This was my least favorite part. There were plenty of holes to fill and I had to wait until the putty dried before sanding everything smooth. Hours later I was able to paint the bottom of the cabinet using gloss black, latex enamel.

When the bottom was dry, I was able to stand the cabinet on it's legs and paint the top and sides. I used the same paint as used on the bottom and a small roller for this and it gave the paint a nice, lightly textured finish. Spraying a few coats of Stove Black on the top and sides gave a good match to the Blackened Ash look of my other speakers and was suitable as a finished coat. I wired my Shiva's voice coils and terminal cups with a switch so I could use it in 4 ohms mono or 8 ohms stereo. That way I wouldn't be limited to amplifier setups later on. After applying caulking to the subwoofer and cups, I screwed them in place and cleaned up the excess caulk.

At this point the speaker is essentially finished and ready to for use, but I opted for a couple more finishing touches. First was the use of carpet spikes on the subwoofer's feet. Then I decided to wrap all the sides in black grill cloth to match that of my other speakers and build a table top for it to make it look more like a piece of furniture.

		I've used a few different types of spikes in the past. Some are inexpensive and hidden, some are pricier and prettier. All of them work. I opted for the black chrome spikes from Parts Express (www.partsexpress.com) and also ordered a yard of black grill cloth from them.
		These spikes use T nuts like the subwoofer uses. Since I couldn't mount them from inside the cabinet, I decided to epoxy them in place. I scored an X on the bottom of each leg to find it's center. Then I used a 3/4" bit to drill a counter sink for the T nut and finished drilling the holes required for the screws.
		This is what the spike looks like. It's shown here with the floor protector which is not used when the speaker is on a carpet. The bottom half inch of the black chrome cone is screwed in separately and can be adjusted for leveling the legs.
		The yard of grill cloth is 67" wide by 36" long. Cutting it out as shown will give you 2 panels that are 22" x 36". The subwoofer is 76" around, and when sewn together, the grill cloth will be about 72". My wife sewed the cloth together for me and I stapled it to the bottom first, then the top. I left a 3/4" border on the bottom that gave it quite a professional look. I added the Adire Audio logo, the corner trim pieces and the Rosewood stained top. It looked good, but I later decided something was missing and added another Rosewood stained trim piece on the bottom front.