Suggested DIY sub

[Brian Murphy]

[MOVED FROM DIY PROJECT IDEAS THREAD TO A NEW THREAD]


First off, HELLO ! ! I'm new to the site. There is a lot of great information here.

NOT being an engineer but a former audio tech I don't have the technical chops a lot of you have. I'm also a weekend warrior musician. From that perspective here is my take.

I like the 2X12 Lab design Sub but I would prefer a box that was more narrow, not as deep, but taller and lighter. This would facilitate easier transport on a hand truck. Something on the order of 20W X 18D X 37.5H that you could either stand upright or lay on it's side.

Or a box with one 15" that would be close to those dimensions.

Or, has anyone done calculations on an existing Sub box, with inexpensive drivers, that could be upgraded with better drivers that fit the parameters of the existing build? Or, would that be an insane piece of reverse engineering?

I'm just tossing out some ideas. Please feel free to respond.

Obviously I haven't searched or looked through the site too much so if something already fills that need pardon the question.

 

[Jeff Babcock]

Re: Ideas for future DIY speaker projects

Something on the order of 20W X 18D X 37.5H that you could either stand upright or lay on it's side.

Or a box with one 15" that would be close to those dimensions.

Or, has anyone done calculations on an existing Sub box, with inexpensive drivers, that could be upgraded with better drivers that fit the parameters of the existing build?

Hi Brian,
If you go with a typical front loaded sub design it is pretty easy to model the behavior with design software. While it's not ideal to put a different driver in an existing sub cabinet, if it's front loaded/ported and the driver parameters are reasonably close to what the original design used, you'd just need to adjust the port dimensions. The end result may or may not perform well, but should be quite usable if you choose a good driver.

Ideally it would be better to build a box from scratch based on a model. Keep in mind, a single ported 15" sub may or may not give you the sort of output you're looking for. I'd recommend an 18" if you must do a single driver sub. If you aren't interested in making your own design, a number of the speaker manufacturers have free designs that they share for their products. If you don't like the dimensions, really it's not that big of a deal to change them, so long as you maintain the same internal volume in the cabinet.

 

[Brian Murphy]

Re: Ideas for future DIY speaker projects

Hi Brian,
If you go with a typical front loaded sub design it is pretty easy to model the behavior with design software. While it's not ideal to put a different driver in an existing sub cabinet, if it's front loaded/ported and the driver parameters are reasonably close to what the original design used, you'd just need to adjust the port dimensions. The end result may or may not perform well, but should be quite usable if you choose a good driver.

Ideally it would be better to build a box from scratch based on a model. Keep in mind, a single ported 15" sub may or may not give you the sort of output you're looking for. I'd recommend an 18" if you must do a single driver sub. If you aren't interested in making your own design, a number of the speaker manufacturers have free designs that they share for their products. If you don't like the dimensions, really it's not that big of a deal to change them, so long as you maintain the same internal volume in the cabinet.

After reading through the 2 x 12 Lab sub post again, along with other threads, it would seem next to impossible for the avg. person to build a sub or any cabinet and have it perform as well as buying one on the used market. There are so many parameters to contend, with including testing, that unless someone who is qualified to do so designed, built, tested the final product, and posted the plans and specs it may end up sounding like a Rube Goldberg project! :lol:
I'll defer to the experts rather than try and put all the pieces together myself.

Thanks

 

[John Halliburton]

Re: Ideas for future DIY speaker projects

After reading through the 2 x 12 Lab sub post again, along with other threads, it would seem next to impossible for the avg. person to build a sub or any cabinet and have it perform as well as buying one on the used market. There are so many parameters to contend, with including testing, that unless someone who is qualified to do so designed, built, tested the final product, and posted the plans and specs it may end up sounding like a Rube Goldberg project! :lol:
I'll defer to the experts rather than try and put all the pieces together myself.

Thanks

You could adjust Art's cabinet design to suit your desire for a taller, rectangular enclosure. Keep the box volume and size of the port of similar length and area.

Best regards,

John

 

[Art Welter]

Re: Suggested DIY sub

[MOVED FROM DIY PROJECT IDEAS THREAD TO A NEW THREAD]

I like the 2X12 Lab design Sub but I would prefer a box that was more narrow, not as deep, but taller and lighter. This would facilitate easier transport on a hand truck. Something on the order of 20W X 18D X 37.5H that you could either stand upright or lay on it's side.

Or a box with one 15" that would be close to those dimensions.

Or, has anyone done calculations on an existing Sub box, with inexpensive drivers, that could be upgraded with better drivers that fit the parameters of the existing build? Or, would that be an insane piece of reverse engineering?

Brian,
Just came up with a new pair of subs that might interest you:
Lab 12 Domino DFLH - diyAudio
The Domino was not an unqualified success, a single 12" "slim" Keystone
Keystone Sub Using 18,15,&12 Inch Speakers - diyAudio
would have more LF but less upper kick.
For the type of music I use the small system for, the upper articulation of the Domino is worth the tradeoff of having less low frequency.

Art

 

[Alan Sledzieski]

Re: Ideas for future DIY speaker projects

After reading through the 2 x 12 Lab sub post again, along with other threads, it would seem next to impossible for the avg. person to build a sub or any cabinet and have it perform as well as buying one on the used market. There are so many parameters to contend, with including testing, that unless someone who is qualified to do so designed, built, tested the final product, and posted the plans and specs it may end up sounding like a Rube Goldberg project! :lol:
I'll defer to the experts rather than try and put all the pieces together myself.

Thanks

You can build some nice box's with this program, if you spend the money on good componennts, you will have a better sounding box then many of the entry level box's out there.


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