I'd give the following advice to novice speaker-builders, that is particularly relevant to constructing the Phoenix woofer cabinets.

1. All-in-one drill bits that drill a pilot hole, clearance hole and countersink in one hit save a lot of time and line-up errors. I forgot about these until I was drilling the last hole.

2. It is very difficult to screw the cabinets together and get everything to line up exactly. I managed this on one, but was slightly out on the other. Mark up every side and mating edge so you keep everything the right way round. Mark around the internal baffles on the sides, so you can easily see if they are in the right position as you put everything together. I constructed the internal baffles as a complete assembly, then fitted the sides to the base. I then fitted the baffle assembly inside the U of the base and sides. I then fitted the top. Remember to drill holes for the drive unit bolts and internal wiring before assembling the box.

3. As can be seen from the pictures, I am unable to provide useful advice on cosmetics. A can of primer and black spray paint was as far as I was prepared to go. I did fill the screwheads and sand before painting.

4. The grilles are acoustic foam. There primary function is to prevent stray objects and dust building up around the drivers. The foam folds back into the front of apertures and attaches using double-sided velcro. This avoids using any supporting structure that could vibrate or alter the aperture size, potentially affecting required EQ. Because of the size the foam came in, I had to cut the front grille into three sections (left, center and right). I have found that the velcro glue isn't strong enough in hot and humid weather to hold onto the foam. I'll start experimenting with a stronger attachment method.

5. I have used heavy duty cable and binding posts. I regret not fitting 2 pairs to each cabinet as I may want to bi-amp the 2 woofers (if for example I am using power amp IC's). This is a relatively easy mod to do, but removing the drivers and re-fitting is a major pain - it would have been easier to do this from the start.