DIY Subwoofer Risers

[LaMp-PoSt-MaFiA]

got 3 days off for the 4th!!!! gunna make a rizer!!!! sounds fun to me i love making stuff!!!

[jerix]

I made a sturdy 12" riser for my big front/down firing DIY sub and placed some foams underneath. My wife and 3 kids commented, "thats not nice to see.! I just smiled because i love this hubby of ours.

[erict]

Well I finally started setting up my gear today. The riser works great with the A2-300. I still have to mount and install my surrounds and that will be tomorrow. I ended up putting the sub behind my TV stand and it sounds great there. The wife didn't like the idea and the way it looked with the TV in front of the window so It's off to one side. Some arguments you just can't win when the wife is involved. I just have to do the best I can. I have nothing dialed in yet nor did I run YPAO yet. It sounds pretty dame good for not dialing in anything yet. The sub hits really nice. I guess anything is an improvement over my sound bar. I will post pics when complete. I may have some questions tomorrow when I set it up.

[lolwaut]

Originally Posted by erict

Well I finally started setting up my gear today. The riser works great with the A2-300. I still have to mount and install my surrounds and that will be tomorrow. I ended up putting the sub behind my TV stand and it sounds great there. The wife didn't like the idea and the way it looked with the TV in front of the window so It's off to one side. Some arguments you just can't win when the wife is involved. I just have to do the best I can. I have nothing dialed in yet nor did I run YPAO yet. It sounds pretty dame good for not dialing in anything yet. The sub hits really nice. I guess anything is an improvement over my sound bar. I will post pics when complete. I may have some questions tomorrow when I set it up.

i had the same issue with my g/f about putting my tv in front of the window. so, i just went ahead and put it in front of the window when she was at work one day. i ordered some blackout curtains from wallyworlds website for 20 bucks. my tv used to be in the corner of my living room, but i couldnt do a proper surround sound setup with it in the corner. after i put the curtains up and moved the tv, she was pleasantly surprised by how good it looked when she saw it. personally, i think it looks a lot better than it did in the corner. here's a couple before/after pictures... i need to move the curtain slightly to the left so the tv is centered in front of it, just havent had the chance yet:

BEFORE:


AFTER:


anyways, just thought id let you know that there is still hope! good luck with your setup!


EDIT: after reading your post again, im not sure if youre talking about the tv being off to the corner or if you were talking about your sub... oh well, good luck again!

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Aramis is correct.

*Debates on putting that quote in his sig*

[LaMp-PoSt-MaFiA]

I paid a total of 18 U.S.D. to make my riser and it took about 5 hours including paint drying time and going out to get the supplies. I didnt take any pictures of it while I was building it but I will be putting a finished pic up in my H.T. gallery soon. looks nice!!

[liquidice]

yes sir, get those pics of your riser up!

[liquidice]

Originally Posted by lolwaut

BEFORE:

I like your little dj mixing station you have over there. I spent 8 years as a circuit nightclub/rave dj, and that setup brings back good memories.

[bluseminole]

Well, I have been convinced that I need to build myself a riser. The top of the riser will be 12" off the ground; I am going to leave 9" open between the base and the top of the riser so that I can place a component there. While acoustically, using all of that space for damping material would be ideal, I am extremely short on shelf space, so for my particular room, 12" thick of damping won't be happening . Anywho, to avoid shaking the bejeezus out of whatever component I choose to put on that lower "shelf", I'll not only need to dampen the whole structure, like everyone else has done, but I'll need to dampen the top shelf as best I can to prevent vibration from traveling down the legs to the bottom "shelf". I briefly considered isolation spikes for the legs connecting the top to the base, but the cost scared me off. So here's some pics:

1) 1" thick SonoFiber from Auralex, advertised to dampen better than a 2" thick slab of melamine. $10 total for a 24x18 piece-together. This will go on the top of the top shelf. Underneath will be a 1/2" layer of my "standard" foam...see pics under "2)"
sonofiber profile.jpg
better sonofiber.jpg
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2) 1/2" thick...well, I admit it, it's carpet padding. Quite spongy, but got a whole roll of it for free. Since I'm building a base shelf with legs reaching up to a top shelf, this will be used to pad the top of the base shelf and also placed under the Sonofiber for extra damping.
thin foam.jpg

The bottom shelf will be elevated 1.5" off the ground by four round legs. I will damp that 1.5" space as aggressively as possible!! My strategy is to use these "books" I have created out of the 1/2" carpet foam. It is 8-ply. So 4" thick. Will be compressed by the weight of the stand down to 1.5". That'll make it pretty freakin' dense. Anybody have thoughts on this particular strategy?
foam books.jpg

And last but not least, I will cover with gray carpet.

[Big Daddy]

Bluseminole,

Good luck and don't forget to post pictures of the final product.

[duneaholic]

I haven't gotten through all the pages but have learned a lot! I've raised my sub on a box my wife got for the dog toys and filled it with couch pillows(the wifes out of the house right now) and man what a difference it made. It raised the sub a foot. I also raised the gain on the rcvr +3 more than what it was and no bottom or chuffing. I ran the War of the worlds scene where the walkers come out of the ground and no chuffing. It would do it sitting on the floor. I've got my sub in a corner(kinda) between a wall and desk.

My next question is...how would a box made of MDF about 14" tall and filled with poly fill do as opposed to a stand with legs? Thanks for all the wonderful information you guys provide!!

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by duneaholic

I haven't gotten through all the pages but have learned a lot! I've raised my sub on a box my wife got for the dog toys and filled it with couch pillows(the wifes out of the house right now) and man what a difference it made. It raised the sub a foot. I also raised the gain on the rcvr +3 more than what it was and no bottom or chuffing. I ran the War of the worlds scene where the walkers come out of the ground and no chuffing. It would do it sitting on the floor. I've got my sub in a corner(kinda) between a wall and desk.

My next question is...how would a box made of MDF about 14" tall and filled with poly fill do as opposed to a stand with legs? Thanks for all the wonderful information you guys provide!!

We have the first dog subwoofer in the world. Wait until the wife comes back.

A box filled with dampening material will work better than a riser. Stuff all your old mattresses inside the box.

SubTrap1.jpg


SubTrap2.jpg SubTrap3.jpg

[bluseminole]

Originally Posted by duneaholic

I haven't gotten through all the pages but have learned a lot! I've raised my sub on a box my wife got for the dog toys and filled it with couch pillows(the wifes out of the house right now) and man what a difference it made. It raised the sub a foot. I also raised the gain on the rcvr +3 more than what it was and no bottom or chuffing. I ran the War of the worlds scene where the walkers come out of the ground and no chuffing. It would do it sitting on the floor. I've got my sub in a corner(kinda) between a wall and desk.

My next question is...how would a box made of MDF about 14" tall and filled with poly fill do as opposed to a stand with legs? Thanks for all the wonderful information you guys provide!!

I would imagine that'd work wonderfully. The problem with the "leg" designs--at least the one I'm attempting--is leaving open "undamped" space...not so much a problem per se as a lost opportunity to further isolate the subwoofer. If I could offer a suggestion though, something denser than polyfill would probably dampen better. Of course there's the cost....

Your design would probably be pretty close to the SubTraps we've seen pictured from ASC, right?

[bluseminole]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

We have the first dog subwoofer in the world. Wait until the wife comes back.

A box filled with dampening material will work better than a riser. Stuff all your old mattresses inside the box.

The wife? Wait until the dog comes back!

[duneaholic]

Well the dogs are kinda ticked at me..they use it to look out the window for there mamma to come home.

Well I tried 4 blocks of the green styrofoam blocks that you use to stuff fake flowers into and it seemed to work good too(but not as good as the dog box) but the WAF took a huge dive with the green blocks!!


I'm about to go on vacation but will work on the box when I get back and post some pics when I'm done.

We do get some boxes in from work with some really thick dense foam we usually throw away that would probably be ideal to stuff in the box.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by bluseminole

The wife? Wait until the dog comes back!

The dog doesn't mind. The poor thing doesn't hear bass sound too well. You are lucky you don't have a pet elephant.

AnimalHearing.jpg

[bluseminole]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The dog doesn't mind. The poor thing doesn't hear bass sound too well. You are lucky you don't have a pet elephant.

Attachment 6687

Then build an open stand, like this:

supersub006.jpg

Sorry crazy, hope this is okay!

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by bluseminole

Then build an open stand, like this:

Sorry crazy, hope this is okay!

You shouldn't have done this. You are giving him ideas. CrazyBlue is crazy enough to stuff a dog inside a subwoofer.

[duneaholic]

What kind of dampening do 4 pound pomeranians provide??? Cause I got two of 'em....hehe!

[bluseminole]

Add some decoration and absorptive material:

supersub007.JPG