The physical assembly of the array corresponds to the structure of the speaker circuit. Three "clusters" of four mounted speakers are first assembled together, with the four speakers of each cluster wired in series. In the next step, these clusters will be wired together in parallel to complete the circuit, and physically bolted together to close the dodecahedron.



To build a "cluster," first arrange four speaker modules face-down on your work surface, as shown. Each cluster contains



one speaker with a long red jumper and a short white jumper,

two speakers with short white jumpers, and

one speaker with a long white jumper.



Note, from the photo, the correct order of these four speakers, as well as the correct orientations of the speaker terminals with respect to each other.



You will be bolting the four modules in the cluster together along their five shared "inner" edges. Two modules are joined at each edge by a "mating pair" of male and female bolts and a pair of split washers (one under the male bolt head and one under the female bolt head). These are "lock" washers; when compressed, they provide constant tension against the threads of the bolts to prevent them vibrating loose over time.



Apply a gasket to one of the two trapezoidal faces along each "inner" edge. It doesn't matter which of the two faces gets the gasket, but if you're confused just copy the photos and it'll work out fine.



To apply a gasket, simply peel off the craft foam adhesive backing (which should take the template remnant with it), line up the edges of the gasket with the edges of the module, and press it into place with your thumb. Don't worry too much if the alignment isn't perfect. When everything's put together, only the long edges of the gaskets will be visible, and these will be trimmed flush during final assembly. In fact, it's better to err on the side of hanging too much gasket off the long edge than to have the opposite problem.



Now, press-fit a female bolt into the counterbore opposite each gasket. The bolt holes and counterbores are designed to be tight-fitting, so these bolts shouldn't need any help staying in place. If they do tend to fall out, though, it's not a big deal--it'll just make getting everything lined up during the bolting operation a bit trickier.



Now, proceeding as shown in the photos, work your way around the cluster, soldering and bolting each pair of speakers together before moving on to the next. In each case, you will be soldering the pre-installed lead from the (-) terminal of one speaker to the free (+) terminal of the next. As before, first hook the bent, tinned lead through the hole in the speaker terminal solder tab, then gently squeeze the hook closed with a small pair of pliers, before actually applying the iron.



Once the connection is soldered, bolt the corresponding edge or edges together. Don't tighten the bolts very much at this point. Make sure the threads are engaged, but the split washers should not be compressed much. A good rule of thumb is to only use one screwdriver, for the moment, tighten from one side only, and stop turning once the opposite bolt head begins to spin. The bolts will not be tightened "all the way" until the array is fully assembled.



Once you have a cluster of four modules soldered and bolted together as shown, get out your multimeter and test the series resistance across the red and white leads. It should be about 30 ohms. If there's a bad connection or component, now is the time to find out about it.



Finally, work your way around the circumference of the cluster, applying gaskets to every other edge. It doesn't matter which edge you start with, but make sure it's the same one, relative to the red lead, on each of the three clusters. Then go back, as before, and press-fit a female bolt into every edge that does not have a gasket.



Repeat this step twice more to complete three clusters of four speakers each.