u/EsoRimmerX

Image 1 — [WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build
Image 2 — [WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build
Image 3 — [WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build
Image 4 — [WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build
Image 5 — [WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build
Image 6 — [WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build
Image 7 — [WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build

[WIP] Tesla 721A Festival (1957) - passive Hi-Fi stereo speaker – vintage sleeper build

Long-time lurker, first build worth sharing.
I’m converting a Czech/Slovak Tesla 721A Festival tube radio cabinet (~1957) into a passive stereo speaker system driven by a Sonos Connect Amp.

The goal: keep the original aesthetic completely intact – station dial glass, rotary knobs, magic eye tube, Festival logo – while engineering a proper acoustic interior from scratch.

Drivers: 2× MarkAudio CHR-90 (5”, full-range, no crossover)

Enclosure: ~14L bass-reflex per channel, ~54Hz tuning, dual isolated chambers inside the original cabinet

Inner shell: CNC-cut 18mm MDF insert inside the original 10mm plywood – ~28mm sandwich wall

Front panel: 3D-printed PETG, grey woven acoustic fabric

Amplifier: Sonos Connect Amp (55W/8Ω)

Now I’m prototyping 3D-printed filler pieces to compensate for the geometry and get the inner MDF shell to seat properly. Original radio had the front wall inclined towards floor. I decided to make it vertical, so now I’m prototyping the front panel to compensate the inclination. Nothing is square, nothing is flat, I’m basically reverse-engineering a grandmother’s radio with calipers and FreeCAD.

u/EsoRimmerX — 2 days ago