So I built some subwoofers
 

Starts with a 12 foot long tube.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...psaea44aa5.jpg

Find the center, drill a pilot hole.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...psf1f0576a.jpg

Set the router jig, and cut!

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps77b835ad.jpg

It takes a few passes to make a clean cut.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps6b3847d6.jpg

Perfect circle! And my dad's ham legs.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...psaae2a16f.jpg

Cut more circles. Glue them together.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...psd05f232c.jpg

CLAMPZ.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps520ef8eb.jpg

Glue's gotta dry overnight.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps21b15922.jpg

Trying to get this thing level sucks. Just too big to do easily.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps38fd7b99.jpg

It does look like a giant fleshlight right now :laugh1:

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...psaee8ab06.jpg

Heeelllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooo in there!
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps2c5367ba.jpg


Added the legs and attached the cap to the bottom.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps1a156d41.jpg

Unfinished product
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps0033c736.jpg

My dad using his paint sprayer to paint them. WAY faster than painting by hand and much more even coverage. Bad thing is that the sprayer wastes a ton of paint, so it took two gallons to get two full coats on them.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps073678a7.jpg

Dropped the 18s in, drilled a couple of holes for the binding posts.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps10658d3e.jpg

Fin!
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps5af8aec0.jpg

Subs are these:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=295-472

Now I just have to get them tuned properly. My friend works as a professional sound engineer (does shows for people like Maroon 5, John Mayer and Lady Antebellum) and he's bringing in his professional equipment over Thanksgiving so we can get the whole system really dialed in.

He's probably just going to bring over pink and white noise analyzers. You'll most likely need massive bass traps and corner traps. Otherwise, it's going to sound like a whole lot of "baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" without any definition.

There are places that sell the material to make your own but I don't have that kind of time. I use GIK Acoustics and Acoustimac.com for all of my treatment needs.

Good luck!

I saw this project on the net about 10 years ago. Adire Tempest (Which is a Dayton 15" sub) was the sub used in a lot of them back then. A person could basically build a sub that played linear past 20 Hz for less than $200.

The design is pretty good. Enjoy.

http://n6eaj.com/diyaudio/sonotube/

I should have build installed an Infinite Baffle with 4- 18's when I remodeled our house. That is the truest, cleanest low end design possible.

I didn't like my IBs. I had 4 Acoustic Elegance 15s.

I'm in the process of making some bass traps, but I don't know where I'll really need to put them. Plus, they have to meet wife approval, so they've undergone some revisions. My room is neither small, nor square. I have the calibration mics and equipment to tune it myself, but I'm anxious to have a pro do it.

Mine are tuned to 19.6 Hz and will extend much lower. They already shake my bar apart. That's going to be a problem.

They don't have any "punch" and very little distortion.


It is a different sound, that is for sure. You definately need some good speakers to handle bass from 50-60Hz on up.

Mine didn't have the low end excursion that I wanted. These definitely do. Probably too much.

LMAO

I love it. I wish I had the time to build some stuff.

I sold a bunch of JBL GTi (same as the high-end pro) gear 2 years ago. It didn't get the low end extension like a lot of the high XMAX speakers do now, but they sounded amazing and kicked major ass within their limits.


I still have a couple of experimental Image Dynamics subs from 9-10 years ago. They are basically what an ID Max would have been if they made it in 15". Not very many of them out there. My wife would apply foot-to-ass if I brought in a couple of big-ass sonotubes. :D

No kidding. :hmmm:


I was warned by many people on the internet that IB was touchy. You have to worry about cancellation issues.

That would suck to design a room around IB and have it sound like shit.

Yeah, I think it was probably my room more than anything else. The only good place to mount them was all in the rear or 30 feet away on the right hand side of the room. Not a good option either way.

With these, I'm going to put one in the rear left and one in the front right to balance it all out. And then maybe two more in the other corners if I can talk the wife into it ;)

And yes, these took WAY too long to make. Cutting a 24" sonotube level is a pain in the ASS. Took a couple of days to figure out how to do it well.

Roll it over a table saw?

You must have used some long clamps to hold while the glue dried.

As far as placement, I know I like my bass up-front, but it depends on where you have those beasts crossed over.

When I was into car audio SQ the bass heads with 15's crossed over at 150hz hammering from the back drove me nuts.

What are you powering them with?

It's really, really hard to roll it evenly. And the factory edge isn't square, so if you tried to brace one end for the rolling, it still ended up off.

We ended up putting a disc inside, and getting it level vertically, then used a router with a flush cut bit to strip away the excess tube.

We didn't clamp the caps on the bottom. We just weighted them with lots of MDF sheets and whatever else would fit on top lol

The top caps were clamped cross-wise. It's solid enough that I can stand on it and that's good enough for me lol

Behringer EP2000. May step up to a 4000 or a 2500.

Right now, I have them crossed over at 80 Hz. Seems to work well with the rest of my setup. These are my mains:

http://www.klipsch.com/klf-20/details#specs

I like this move. You could have an outdoor rave!

Sweet.


I have a Crown XLS that is collecting dust for now. I had to use an ART Cleanbox to get the most out of it, though.

I still have a Feedback Destroyer Pro (collecting dust, too) that I used for an EQ. Man I need to get this gear running again.

I am currently running a Dayton plate amp (240 watt) to an Image Dynamics IDQv2 in a sealed 1.5ft2 box.

It sounds very smooth and keeps my wife happy. You have just reignited a fire in me that has been out for a long time, though.

Ha! I just ordered a Cleanbox Pro.

If you want to sell your Feedback destroyer, I'm in the market.

Oh, duh. Trying to control a 5-6' piece of tubing steady while rolling would be damn near impossible.

My own trial and error probably would have had me running a string around the tube and marking it. Break out the jigsaw and pray.

Tried that, and using wax paper, but it still always came out off.

It will pull a LOT more juice out of your amps. It's basically a line-driver for pro equipment.

The Sub-Outs from receivers don't have near enough line voltage to drive a pro amp.


You will love your new clean box.

I will let you know on the FB Destroyer. It is a complicated piece of equipment that takes a LOT of patience to adjust.

JIMP!!! Im thinking about buying a couple RF-7's

Not a bad choice at all. I just like used speakers. I got two pairs of KLF-20s for $350 each.

Lol thats a pretty sweet deal. I work at an electronics store and will get them for $1500. Just cant decide if i want new speakers or the new 4k TV. :D im thinking speakers now and tv after the price drop

Oh and awesome job on the subs. I hope I can do something like that one day

Just hooked up the Cleanbox Pro.

Holy ****. HO. LEE. ****.

I can *literally* shake the foundation of my house. The joists are rattling.

Moving air is FUN.


Was I right about the Cleanbox? LMAO

Oh, play 33 Hz as loud as you can with your wife sitting on your face or lap. /sounddomain

so... did you build subwoofers, or subwoofer enclosures?

No, I first flew to the Amazon to harvest the purest of latex from the finest Sharinga tree for the surrounds. I then forged the basket out of pure silver wrought from the mines of Mordor. Hours were spent calculating the exact amount of wire to use on the magnet to get the right amount of air displacement.

Yes, I built enclosures. You know what I meant. Don't be an ass.

Not being an ass, I opened the thread genuinely interested in seeing someone build subwoofers.

LMAO


Nice work.


I know a few crazy guys that literally build their own subs. They are nothing special, though, and cost more than the equivalent off of an assembly line.

Quite the renaissance man, aren't you?

Should have used hemp cones , Silock.

No shirtless pics.

/thread fail.

:(

What's wrong?

I was just responding to Lewdog. Although I am heading to Home Depot now to get something to fix the legs. The subs shook one of the legs off. Whoops.

He made it all flat without the need for all that shit.

Before, LR, no EQ, at the speaker:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...1at93454PM.png

Before, LR, no EQ, in listening position:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...1at93505PM.png

LR after:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...1at92309PM.png

Center, after:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...1at91822PM.png

Subs:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...at105808PM.png