Subwoofer search

[alfa147x]

I also just got the OK from the parents to build an end table, exterior design has to pass the final approval of the mother though ...

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: alfa147x
also what does it mean when a subwoofer has dual 4-ohm voice coils? Should i look at something with less resistance? or more?

It depends on what amp you want driving the speaker. With dual 4 Ohm VC's, you can run them at 4 Ohms+4 Ohms (if you have a two channel 4 Ohm stable amp), or combine them for either 8 Ohms or 2 Ohms (for use with a single channel (mono) amplfier stable at 8 or 2 Ohms).

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: Adul
exoduis audio 12" XBL^2 sub, 135

oh and did you use 2x subs or is that the name of the sub?

I'm pretty familiar with Exodus/DIY Cable, and I've never heard of that sub. Or are you talking about the XBL^2 motor assembly?
The only sub in that price range is the Shiva-X, so that's probably the one.
The Shivas and Tempests are good drivers...

 

[alfa147x]

anyone know anything about this amp:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe...fm?&Partnumber=300-750

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: alfa147x
anyone know anything about this amp:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe...fm?&Partnumber=300-750

300 watts RMS @ .5%THD into 4 ohm load.

It's a decent amp for the price, not a ton of power, but you may not need alot.
Pretty standard stuff, auto shutoff, gain control, phase control, and x-over.
You will need a driver with either a single 4 Ohm voice coil, or one with either dual 2 Ohm or dual 8 Ohm voice coils.

 

[alfa147x]

how would one go about finding a driver? what do i compare ?

thanks a bunch for the help

 

[Soundmanred]

This is the driver the above poster used, the Shiva-X.
It has dual 8 Ohm voice coils so you can wire it for 4 Ohm use.

This will tell you alot about the driver and various box options.

Plus it's on sale ($135).

 

[vi edit]

For the money, the oAudio 500w Bash is about the most featured one you'll find.
http://www.oaudio.com/500W_SUBAMP.html

It's really stretching your budget out though.

Personally, if I had it to do over again, I would have spent a few extra bucks on a 15" driver and got a 500w amp to match up to it. With the room size you are talking, you'll appreciate the extra displacement the 15" will provide.

But then you are in the $400'ish range for just the driver & amp. Not even counting building materials. You are looking at around $60 in wood, plus another $50 in misc stuff like the precision port, glue, T-Nuts, sound dampening, ect.

It can quickly get out of hand

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: vi edit
For the money, the oAudio 500w Bash is about the most featured one you'll find.
http://www.oaudio.com/500W_SUBAMP.html

It's really stretching your budget out though.

Personally, if I had it to do over again, I would have spent a few extra bucks on a 15" driver and got a 500w amp to match up to it. With the room size you are talking, you'll appreciate the extra displacement the 15" will provide.

But then you are in the $400'ish range for just the driver & amp. Not even counting building materials. You are looking at around $60 in wood, plus another $50 in misc stuff like the precision port, glue, T-Nuts, sound dampening, ect.

It can quickly get out of hand

thanks a bunch for all the help but that is out of the budget
Iv really pulled my parents on this and doubt i can get them to shell out $400 on just the driver and the amp

Thanks though

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred
This is the driver the above poster used, the Shiva-X.
It has dual 8 Ohm voice coils so you can wire it for 4 Ohm use.

This will tell you alot about the driver and various box options.

Plus it's on sale ($135).

thanks for the links, thats a great PDF

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: vi edit
For the money, the oAudio 500w Bash is about the most featured one you'll find.
http://www.oaudio.com/500W_SUBAMP.html

It's really stretching your budget out though.

Personally, if I had it to do over again, I would have spent a few extra bucks on a 15" driver and got a 500w amp to match up to it. With the room size you are talking, you'll appreciate the extra displacement the 15" will provide.

But then you are in the $400'ish range for just the driver & amp. Not even counting building materials. You are looking at around $60 in wood, plus another $50 in misc stuff like the precision port, glue, T-Nuts, sound dampening, ect.

It can quickly get out of hand

thanks a bunch for all the help but that is out of the budget
Iv really pulled my parents on this and doubt i can get them to shell out $400 on just the driver and the amp

Thanks though

No problem. Like I said, that was my only real regret. It was only a little bit more and you get one real chance to do it right. Do you have any woodworking experience and the right tools available?

When it comes time to securing the driver, look at hurricane nuts instead of T-nuts. They are more forgiving on the cutout.

http://www.amazon.com/20-Hurri...qid=1223058937&sr=1-16

Also, what do you plan on doing for the finish? I used Birch MDF and just applied stain right to the MDF veneer. Turned out pretty good, although it doesn't stain that dark. An Oak MDF would likely take a stain a little better at the expense of a courser grain on the surface.

Check out my thread above for specific links on tuning, box building, and general DIY info.

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: vi edit
For the money, the oAudio 500w Bash is about the most featured one you'll find.
http://www.oaudio.com/500W_SUBAMP.html

It's really stretching your budget out though.

Personally, if I had it to do over again, I would have spent a few extra bucks on a 15" driver and got a 500w amp to match up to it. With the room size you are talking, you'll appreciate the extra displacement the 15" will provide.

But then you are in the $400'ish range for just the driver & amp. Not even counting building materials. You are looking at around $60 in wood, plus another $50 in misc stuff like the precision port, glue, T-Nuts, sound dampening, ect.

It can quickly get out of hand

thanks a bunch for all the help but that is out of the budget
Iv really pulled my parents on this and doubt i can get them to shell out $400 on just the driver and the amp

Thanks though

No problem. Like I said, that was my only real regret. It was only a little bit more and you get one real chance to do it right. Do you have any woodworking experience and the right tools available?

When it comes time to securing the driver, look at hurricane nuts instead of T-nuts. They are more forgiving on the cutout.

http://www.amazon.com/20-Hurri...qid=1223058937&sr=1-16

Also, what do you plan on doing for the finish? I used Birch MDF and just applied stain right to the MDF veneer. Turned out pretty good, although it doesn't stain that dark. An Oak MDF would likely take a stain a little better at the expense of a courser grain on the surface.

Check out my thread above for specific links on tuning, box building, and general DIY info.

We have a good amount of experience in wood working, also for the outside we have a friend that has some hardwood for the outside (not the flooring kind) for the rest i was going to use MDF

My next question is how should the drive be mounted?

 

[alfa147x]

also how do you know what size amp you need for a ported enclosure ?
like 12" do i need a 250 watt
but with a 15" i need a 500 watt ?

 

[vi edit]

When you say you have hardwood for the outside, are you saying you have a veneer to affix? Or are you talking about a solid panel of oak you'll use? Hardwood is not recommended at all for subwoofers. It can crack and it isn't as airtight as MDF. Plywood works too and is easier to work with than MDF, but I like the mass that MDF provides.

In regards to power handling, you want to match up the amp to the speaker as close to possible. With a ported design, you do not want to overpower it as you can overdrive it and physically damage the speaker. But underpowering it isn't robbing it from as much energy as going sealed. You might miss out on a little performance since you likely won't push it to xmax, but just how much likely won't be a deal breaker.

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: vi edit
When you say you have hardwood for the outside, are you saying you have a veneer to affix? Or are you talking about a solid panel of oak you'll use? Hardwood is not recommended at all for subwoofers. It can crack and it isn't as airtight as MDF. Plywood works too and is easier to work with than MDF, but I like the mass that MDF provides.

In regards to power handling, you want to match up the amp to the speaker as close to possible. With a ported design, you do not want to overpower it as you can overdrive it and physically damage the speaker. But underpowering it isn't robbing it from as much energy as going sealed. You might miss out on a little performance since you likely won't push it to xmax, but just how much likely won't be a deal breaker.

ok so ill look into veneers for the sub, the panel idea is out....

Let me get this straight about drivers \ amp
power range: 100-350 watts RMS
peak power handling: 700 watts
frequency response: 24-200 Hz
sensitivity: 91 dB
top-mount depth: 4-1/2"
sealed box volume: 0.66 cubic feet

for this driver i should be looking at a 300 watt driver?

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: Adul
I just finished my sub build.
exoduis audio 12" XBL^2 sub, 135
350 watt amp from elementral designs 175
27 bucks for a sheet of mdf.
Plus a couple of nice binding post to connect speaker wire. I opted not to integrate the amp since I may want to upgrade.
Box I built was tuned to 18hz with a 1" slot port.

here is some pics of my project

http://pics.allthatremains.org...hp/v/Speaker+Projects/

total cost was around 350 for me.


While I am not completely finished with my sub yet (turning it into end table), it is hooked up for listening purposes to make sure I am happy with design.

So far I am more that satisfied. I'll upload some pics later.

Looks sweet how did you come up with that design ?
any recommended links

oh and did you use 2x subs or is that the name of the sub?

sorry for delayed replied its one sub.

XBL^2is the name of the technology used in the sub. Its know ofr its low inductance.

http://www.diycable.com/main/p...89b53de12f302c89a930d3

This is the sub I used. You get better results if you go with subs that are designed for home theater use. That not to say a good car audio sub wont work.

As for coming up with the design, well I started with using the free modeling program ( glorified excel sheet) Unibox to model my driver in a ported enclosure. I just put in the T/S parameters in there and it gives me a good ball park figure to work with.

The design of the box was out of want to hit a 18hz tune, but also turn the design into an end table if I like how it sounds. I didn't want to go with a traditional round port as I like the flexibility of a slot port to more easily meet my needs. This is my second sub woofer. This first once was a sealed 15" monster I built for my mom.

Here is a pic of the 15" Sub at my mom's place.

That sub stands 42" tall and the walls are all 1.5" think with internal bracing. Its only powered by a 240 watt amp, though it can handle a hell of a lot more.

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: Adul
exoduis audio 12" XBL^2 sub, 135

oh and did you use 2x subs or is that the name of the sub?

I'm pretty familiar with Exodus/DIY Cable, and I've never heard of that sub. Or are you talking about the XBL^2 motor assembly?
The only sub in that price range is the Shiva-X, so that's probably the one.
The Shivas and Tempests are good drivers...

yes it was the Shiva-X I was talking about. I left that out of my reply.

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: Adul

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: Adul
I just finished my sub build.
exoduis audio 12" XBL^2 sub, 135
350 watt amp from elementral designs 175
27 bucks for a sheet of mdf.
Plus a couple of nice binding post to connect speaker wire. I opted not to integrate the amp since I may want to upgrade.
Box I built was tuned to 18hz with a 1" slot port.

here is some pics of my project

http://pics.allthatremains.org...hp/v/Speaker+Projects/

total cost was around 350 for me.


While I am not completely finished with my sub yet (turning it into end table), it is hooked up for listening purposes to make sure I am happy with design.

So far I am more that satisfied. I'll upload some pics later.

Looks sweet how did you come up with that design ?
any recommended links

oh and did you use 2x subs or is that the name of the sub?

sorry for delayed replied its one sub.

XBL^2is the name of the technology used in the sub. Its know ofr its low inductance.

http://www.diycable.com/main/p...89b53de12f302c89a930d3

This is the sub I used. You get better results if you go with subs that are designed for home theater use. That not to say a good car audio sub wont work.

As for coming up with the design, well I started with using the free modeling program ( glorified excel sheet) Unibox to model my driver in a ported enclosure. I just put in the T/S parameters in there and it gives me a good ball park figure to work with.

The design of the box was out of want to hit a 18hz tune, but also turn the design into an end table if I like how it sounds. I didn't want to go with a traditional round port as I like the flexibility of a slot port to more easily meet my needs. This is my second sub woofer. This first once was a sealed 15" monster I built for my mom.

Here is a pic of the 15" Sub at my mom's place.

That sub stands 42" tall and the walls are all 1.5" think with internal bracing. Its only powered by a 240 watt amp, though it can handle a hell of a lot more.

I'll post pics of my sub tonight. I just got to get the camera out.

wow looks great

I just got off the phone with a friend and he said he has these 2 in box i can have either for $50

Rockford Fosgate P1S415
Polk Audio MM1240D


im looking at UniBox ATM ill post in a bit

 

[alfa147x]

so im looking at the Shiva-X 12" Subwoofer with the Bash 300W Digital Subwoofer Amplifier ill be working this thing in UniBox tomorrow

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: alfa147x
so im looking at the Shiva-X 12" Subwoofer with the Bash 300W Digital Subwoofer Amplifier ill be working this thing in UniBox tomorrow

i am very please with my shiva-x. Perhaps later on you can build a second one. This helps eliminate room nulls and gives you a nice boost.

 

[Adul]

Here is some pics of my half finished project

http://pics.allthatremains.org...er+Projects/subwoofer/


side note :
and that had to be the longest private message I have ever sent on AT.