My custom built sub!

[FendersRule]

My good friend who happens to be an audio expert (a PhD student), designed me a subwoofer. I just spent the past 2 days working my butt off with him, and we finally got it done. I'm not sure what program he used, but he blueprinted it as well, and found that it's going to require an 18" enclosure for it to be super bad ass. Well, that's what we winded up doing!

Took about 8 hours total for us to do. Lots of sanding, cutting, routing, sawing, etc. The crappy part was waiting for the materials to dry.

It's a 18 x 18 x 18" subwoofer (monster)
12" Driver (Dayton)
240 watt Amp (Dayton).
3/4" MDF Casing
It has 2 braces
We also doubled the front and back (forgot the word here)
We used generic wood glue, along with silicone to assure proper sealing

All it needs some some venire...which we'll do later.

It also weighs nearly 80lbs. We had to put straps on it in order to transplant it from his place to mine.





You probably won't be able to achieve the performance of this sub for under $500, and especially retain the longevity. This is a winner! Custom built is the way to go if you have the tools and someone with the knowledge and expertise!

[Aerodude73]

That is one Sweet looking MASSIVE Sub dude! Great job with your friend & yourself teaming up to build it. How's it work so far, sound as amazing as you thought it would, you plan on using a riser of any type?

[FendersRule]

It's got balls for sure. I'm letting some music run through it right now at pretty minimal settings.

I'm gonna have to be really careful with this thing with the neighbors too.

Performance is above and beyond my expectations. My entire system sounds cleaner, and the bass like I've been saying, is just insane.

The gain is about 50% on the back of the amp. The Onkyo settings are "-8db" on the subwoofer, and the "Bass" is set to "0". Even at these crippling settings, the bass is quite available and potent. I'm using these settings to break it in, while causing minimal harm to my neighbors.

When I watch movies, I just change the "subwoofer volume" from the Onkyo from "-8db" to around "-2db to -4db" and it's nothing short of amazing, if not earth shattering.

I've yet to try things at 100%. I'm too scared at this point. Probably will wait until it's broken in, and until the neighbors are away from the weekend.

I'll probably have to read up on the riser stuff, as I'm not too much of an audio expert. I know as of right now, I get no unwanted vibrations anywhere. Things are just clean, and working very well thus far. We've tried the sub on the right side of the room, and noticed that it sounds better away from the corner and on the left side of the room.

Next project is working on a center stand. My center needs to be angled upward a tad bit, and raised some.

[Fors*]

It looks great, nice job. Are you going to treat the enclosure with anything?

[FendersRule]

I'm currently looking at:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/psho...number=260-031

or

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=261-610

However, I do worry about the durability of these products. Any recommendations?

[Animo]

Nice build. You could try painting it, instead of a laminate.
I had a local cabinetmaker friend use Dupont Nevamar to finish my sub build.

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

Next project is working on a center stand. My center needs to be angled upward a tad bit, and raised some.

Yes, I think you're right. That center doesn't look rightl being vertical as it does horizontal. My son has that same exact Polk center speaker. He has it set on the beveled or sloped side which orients the speaker upwards toward the listening area. It seems that was part of the design. It's perfect and dialog is very clear, open, and defined. You could wall mount your LCDTV and put the center on the top shelf of you TV stand. That way it'll be right under your TV too.

[slickooz]

how much did it cost to make your sub? im thinking of making one myself

[progers13]

Wow, I like how that turned out. Good job. To the OP, have you tried that bad boy out on a riser? If all the reports are true, you may have to turn it down even more!

[FendersRule]

Yeah, I might order myself a riser to help with the dampening.

I would say I spent over $300 in total (amp, driver, materials, laminate). $325ish...

[slickooz]

Fender great job! once u paint it or laminate it the sub will looks amazing

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

My good friend who happens to be an audio expert (a PhD student), designed me a subwoofer. I just spent the past 2 days working my butt off with him, and we finally got it done. I'm not sure what program he used, but he blueprinted it as well, and found that it's going to require an 18" enclosure for it to be super bad ass. Well, that's what we winded up doing!

Took about 8 hours total for us to do. Lots of sanding, cutting, routing, sawing, etc. The crappy part was waiting for the materials to dry.

It's a 18 x 18 x 18" subwoofer (monster)
12" Driver (Dayton)
240 watt Amp (Dayton).
3/4" MDF Casing
It has 2 braces
We also doubled the front and back (forgot the word here)
We used generic wood glue, along with silicone to assure proper sealing

All it needs some some venire...which we'll do later.

It also weighs nearly 80lbs. We had to put straps on it in order to transplant it from his place to mine.

You probably won't be able to achieve the performance of this sub for under $500, and especially retain the longevity. This is a winner! Custom built is the way to go if you have the tools and someone with the knowledge and expertise!

Greet job putting it together. Congrats! It looks great even without the veneer.

I'm curious and have a few questions. First, is it a sealed or ported box? Second, what reason(s) did you chose one design over the other? And lastly, what is the driver model and number, a Titanic MK III or what?. Oh, and one more question, did you buy your stuff from parts-express.com? Thanks!

[FendersRule]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

I'm curious and have a few questions. First, is it a sealed or ported box? Second, what reason(s) did you chose one design over the other? And lastly, what is the driver model and number, a Titanic MK III or what?. Oh, and one more question, did you buy your stuff from parts-express.com? Thanks!

This is a sealed box. I'm not sure why my friend chose to go with a sealed over a ported, but I did save this blue-print that he made that might tell some answers. I think he was using this to determine the HO or the HF driver, along with ported vs non-ported:



I had a conversation with him yesterday about this, and he gave me some pretty good answers. I can't really remember them, but I think he was explaining that sealed boxes are easier to build, and he thinks that they sound better for most types of things. I probably should get him aboard this forum so that he could chime in and probably explain this stuff better than I could...

The driver I used was a Dayton RSS315HF-4 12" Reference HF Subwoofer 4 Ohm.

The amp I used was a Dayton SA240-B 240W Subwoofer Amplifier with Boost.

All from partsexpress.

The reason I have my center vertically, is that's the way MTM centers should theoretically sit:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=89614

I've said this in many previous posts, but the reason that centers (in general) are horizontal, is due to real estate concerns. They weren't "designed" that way for audible reasons, but due to placement availability. Most entertainment stands have no room for a vertical center (I just got lucky with mine).

Real setups anyhow will have all floor standing speakers, especially in the front. <entering soap box mode> In general, I despise wall mounted setups, unless they are done properly. By properly, I mean by sticking your AV rack or shelf in a different room, and just having a TV on the wall. The problem with most wall mounted setups, is that you are upstaging your TV by all your other junk sitting out in front (which bothers some people like me) and all you are doing is losing viewing distance. Another reason I don't like wall mounting, is sometimes I lay on my couch, and I would still like the TV faced towards me. As of now, I can simply swivel my TV a tad bit to accommodate for wider viewing distances. I guess this is more of an issue with LCDs due to the limited viewing angle. <exiting soap box mode>

But yea, we are going to build a 4-6" center riser that also tilts the speaker up at the audience. You may want to have your son turn his center vertically, and see if he notices any difference (this could be interesting). I noticed that the dialog and screen effects stayed centered on the screen more, and it just sounded overall better. My friend turned his center vertically, and he hasn't moved it back in 3 months. I guess he also finds it better that way....

Thanks for the replies..keep at em!

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

This is a sealed box. I'm not sure why my friend chose to go with a sealed over a ported, but I did save this blue-print that he made that might tell some answers:



The driver I used was a Dayton RSS315HF-4 12" Reference HF Subwoofer 4 Ohm.

The amp I used was a Dayton SA240-B 240W Subwoofer Amplifier with Boost.

All from partsexpress.

The reason I have my center vertically, is that's the way MTM centers should theoretically sit:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=89614

I've said this in many previous posts, but the reason that centers (in general) are horizontal, is due to real estate concerns. They weren't "designed" that way for audible reasons, but due to placement availability. Most entertainment stands have no room for a vertical center (I just got lucky with mine).

Real setups anyhow will have all floor standing speakers, especially in the front. In general, I despise wall mounted setups, unless they are done properly. By properly, I mean by sticking your AV rack or shelf in a different room, and just having a TV on the wall. The problem with most wall mounted setups, is that you are upstaging your TV by all your other junk sitting out in front (which bothers some people like me) and all you are doing is losing viewing distance...

Thanks for the replies..keep at em!

I agree that having A set of towers is best on the front sound stage !

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

This is a sealed box. I'm not sure why my friend chose to go with a sealed over a ported, but I did save this blue-print that he made that might tell some answers. I think he was using this to determine the HO or the HF driver, along with ported vs non-ported:



I had a conversation with him yesterday about this, and he gave me some pretty good answers. I can't really remember them, but I think he was explaining that sealed boxes are easier to build, and he thinks that they sound better for most types of things. I probably should get him aboard this forum so that he could chime in and probably explain this stuff better than I could...

The driver I used was a Dayton RSS315HF-4 12" Reference HF Subwoofer 4 Ohm.

The amp I used was a Dayton SA240-B 240W Subwoofer Amplifier with Boost.

All from partsexpress.

The reason I have my center vertically, is that's the way MTM centers should theoretically sit:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=89614

I've said this in many previous posts, but the reason that centers (in general) are horizontal, is due to real estate concerns. They weren't "designed" that way for audible reasons, but due to placement availability. Most entertainment stands have no room for a vertical center (I just got lucky with mine).

Real setups anyhow will have all floor standing speakers, especially in the front. <entering soap box mode> In general, I despise wall mounted setups, unless they are done properly. By properly, I mean by sticking your AV rack or shelf in a different room, and just having a TV on the wall. The problem with most wall mounted setups, is that you are upstaging your TV by all your other junk sitting out in front (which bothers some people like me) and all you are doing is losing viewing distance. Another reason I don't like wall mounting, is sometimes I lay on my couch, and I would still like the TV faced towards me. As of now, I can simply swivel my TV a tad bit to accommodate for wider viewing distances. I guess this is more of an issue with LCDs due to the limited viewing angle. <exiting soap box mode>

But yea, we are going to build a 4-6" center riser that also tilts the speaker up at the audience. You may want to have your son turn his center vertically, and see if he notices any difference (this could be interesting). I noticed that the dialog and screen effects stayed centered on the screen more, and it just sounded overall better. My friend turned his center vertically, and he hasn't moved it back in 3 months. I guess he also finds it better that way....

Thanks for the replies..keep at em!

Thanks for the details on your sub. I figured it was a sealed box. Perhaps your friend knew you'd probably be using it for music as well as for movies. Thus you'll have the best of both worlds. The Qtc of your sub is 0.78 which is nice because it won't have much of a hump above around 26 Hz which is the -3 db down point of your sub. It's about -10 db down at 21 Hz, which will be about the lowest useful frequency you'll hear at normal listening levels. So you should get some really good chest thumping sound from that baby. Usually a first time sub builder is better off building a sealed box because it is a bit more forgiving. From the graphs you'll see that a ported 2.0 cu. ft. box would give you about +3 db more bass output. That would be very nice for movies if you ever decide to convert it to a ported box which wouldn't require much effort to do.

I know all about the horizontal versus vertical center debate. I even participated in it. I advocated leaving mine horizontal despite everyone opinions that it should sound even better vertical. I tried both ways and found no significant differences between the orientations in the off axis horizontal dispersion of the midrange and highs when I measured the SPLs of tones from 500 Hz to 22 KHz across the extremes of the seating area in my living room. The dialogue sounds clear, distinct, and discernable even during movies having low conversation or whispering scenes. Both horizontal and vertical sounded just fine. There is no good reason for me to place it vertical and good reason or two not to. It looks ugly vertical and my wife hated it while had it that way during the tests. No amount of persuasion or further discussion will ever convince to place it vertical. Thanks, for sharing your thoughts, and I appreciate you're trying to help with that. I've been there done that, and the issue is no issue for me.

[FendersRule]

Yeah. Honestly, however the center is mounted is great either way. But yea, I know about it too, so I'll just leave her mounted the way she is and give her alittle bit more height and angle

When I graduate from graduate school and get a house and such, it's going to be a floor standing center all the way. The height is probably the most important aspect.

Glad you know your stuff about the sub. That's pretty much exactly what he thought and what we decided upon - music and movies. Nice read-out on the graph too, you said it pretty darn accurately.

I'll keep updating this thread as I laminate it and such. Get some more good before and after shots.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

This is a sealed box. I'm not sure why my friend chose to go with a sealed over a ported, but I did save this blue-print that he made that might tell some answers. I think he was using this to determine the HO or the HF driver, along with ported vs non-ported:

Sealed subs are easier to design and build, can be smaller, and sound good, particularly for music. Their power handling and low frequency extension is not as good as ported subs.

Ported subs are more difficult to design and build, must be larger, and can go deeper than sealed subs. They also have more power handling in the relevant frequency range. Well-made ported subs can be great for both movies and music. Poorly designed ported subs can suffer from port noise and won't sound very good.

[FendersRule]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Sealed subs are easier to design and build, can be smaller, and sound good, particularly for music. Their power handling and low frequency extension is not as good as ported subs.

Ported subs are more difficult to design and build, must be larger, and can go deeper than sealed subs. They also have more power handling in the relevant frequency range. Well-made ported subs can be great for both movies and music. Poorly designed ported subs can suffer from port noise and won't sound very good.

Thanks Big Daddy for the info. He's an old school guy, and I know that he doesn't care too much for building ported subs. He's still got the 2.1 system going on at home, but with custom built cabs, rare drivers, subs, and just so much of this awesome and amazing stuff. He built his amp, and it's all cased on a board under his coffee table. He's just truly brilliant! He finds that 5.1 systems can be distracting- he's that old school!

But yea, I'm glad I went for a sealed though...for now....

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

Real setups anyhow will have all floor standing speakers, especially in the front. <entering soap box mode> In general, I despise wall mounted setups, unless they are done properly. By properly, I mean by sticking your AV rack or shelf in a different room, and just having a TV on the wall. The problem with most wall mounted setups, is that you are upstaging your TV by all your other junk sitting out in front (which bothers some people like me) and all you are doing is losing viewing distance. Another reason I don't like wall mounting, is sometimes I lay on my couch, and I would still like the TV faced towards me. As of now, I can simply swivel my TV a tad bit to accommodate for wider viewing distances. I guess this is more of an issue with LCDs due to the limited viewing angle. <exiting soap box mode>

I have my 52" Sony Bravia LCD TV mounted on the wall. The middle of the screen is at eye level when seated on the couch. I don't loose any viewing distance having it that way. I don't really follow your line of thought about loosing viewing distance with wall mounted LCDs and plasmas because you actually should gain viewing distance when you mount them on the wall.

I am thoroughly happy with mine the way it is and wouldn't have it any other way. I like the center positioned horizontally below the TV for both the sound and the looks. My audio equipment is on the lower shelves and thus much more convenient for me that way. But everyone is different with different tastes and different experiences, and we all respect each other's differences.

[FendersRule]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

I have my 52" Sony Bravia LCD TV mounted on the wall. The middle of the screen is at eye level when seated on the couch. I don't loose any viewing distance having it that way. I don't really follow your line of thought about loosing viewing distance with wall mounted LCDs and plasmas because you actually should gain viewing distance when you mount them on the wall.

Well, you're loosing viewing distance if you think about it. The TV moves BACK, and the entertainment shelves, etc stay at the same distance, therefor, upstaging your TV and giving it an "unclean" look in most cases.

You also loose viewing angle simply due to the fact that you can't pivot them while they are on the wall. In most cases, this is fine. But when you have a limited size TV in a large room, this could be an issue for incorporating additional seating.

Everyone has their preferences, but in all seriousness, the most optimal setup is a TV on the wall, and speakers all around. Nothing else, no shelves, no cabinets, etc. After all, the purpose of a home theater is to model the real thang'. If you're wall mounting without doing any of the rest above, then I feel that it is really sub-optimal than just having it on a decent stand due to the reasons above.