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I built the CSS Criton 1TD-X speakers

Brian

Brian

Eating fat, staying slim
I'm going to split this across 5 posts.

Post 1 of 5

I built the CSS Criton 1TD-X. Big thanks to Dan at CSS for his patience answering my emails over the last year.

The plans for CSS speakers can be found at : CSS store

This is a 2-way design using a 7" mid/bass. External dimensions of the cabinet are 14” x 8.5” x 12” (HWD), so it's a pretty compact speaker.

I don't speak the jargon for describing how something sounds. The summary now they are built and working is this is a very, very good loudspeaker. I like it a lot. Plenty of bass and detail, none fatiguing and very musical. The amp is a Naim 72/hicap/250 which drives them effortlessly.

I can't recommend them enough.

There is a lot of info on CSS and their speakers on youtube.
 
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Post 2 of 5


Cabinets

I could have bought the flatpack cabinets but I wanted a project to build woodworking skills and using tools such as a router and a tracksaw. I've gone back and forwards to this project for a year now and I finally built an acceptable ( not perfect ) cabinet after I think 5 attempts. I cut the wood panels to size from summerhouse seating (mdf) I made a while ago that I didn't like much and had replaced with ikea chairs. So I had a fair bit of spare 18mm mdf to practice on.

I made the cabinets copying how the CSS flatpack cabinet fits together using rebates. How this works can be seen at the link below, the edges are seen on the side panels. https://www.css-audio.com/_files/ugd/519b00_c6bf1b91a4c746e0ac3651531acf79f0.pdf

Baffles marked out for the drivers


Rear marked out for the port and a hole for the terminal block I already had.
CSS provided good quality speaker binding posts but I didn't use them. Though it appears it could be bi-wired it is not. I see no benefit from bi-wiring, I used this terminal block to allow for later using the crossovers externally from the cabinet.



Baffle and rear holes cut


Test fitting of drivers


How the panels go together...side view
 
Post 3 of 5

I painted the baffle, rear and underside



I applied 3 coats of sanding sealer to the baffle, back and bottom to prepare for painting. I'm not too happy with the paint.

Sides and top
I had 1 roll of oak veneer that is 4 years old from an earlier project that never got started. It was enough to veneer the sides and top of both speakers.

I applied 3 coats of watered down pva to the bare mdf to seal and prepare for the veneer and here is the veneer as it went on



Here it is after 2 coats of sanding sealer on the veneer itself


 
Post 4 of 5

Having finally ordered the parts from CSS the parts arrived by Fedex with no drama.

As the box arrived from Fedex


A very well packed box


Packing removed


MF/LF




HF


Misc parts such as hookup wire



Crossover parts
Caps, inductors and resistors





Underside of the xover board showing the lettering configuration for connecting it all together



 
Post 5 of 5

Top view of the built crossover


Underside view of the unfinished crossover


Here you can see how CSS have simplified assembly of the crossover. You simply connect each part based on the letter indicated on the board.

I connected the drivers using the supplied connectors.



Here is a picture of the finished speakers in my living room on wooden stands I also built.

 
How do they sound?

I've seen a few builds on YouTube and the cross over, with its A to A, B to B, is a neat idea.
 
Yes, the crossover board is a brilliant idea.

Describing how speakers sound is not something I'm good at, it's so subjective I just tend to like something or not. What I can say is for 3 of us here there is lots of detail there. I particularly don't like music that is too much in your face and these are in no danger of that. It's an easy and relaxing listen, imo. I can listen to music with these for hours. I'd say they are the best small-ish standmount speaker I've had here.

Bass is good, very easy to follow and not even with the caveat of being a compact speaker. There is just a very nice balance to the whole thing.

Typical music here is from the 70's on, for example yesterday and today I've listened to Motown, Sade, Thin Lizzy, Supertramp, Genesis, 10cc, Fleetwood Mac, Springsteen, Eagles, Crash Test Dummies and haven't been disappointed with anything.

The finish could be better so I'll build more cabinets later in the year with veneer from ebay that another member pointed to the orher day, but next up is a 3 door wardrobe.
 
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