Considering a DIY Sub - got a favorite?

[aschen]

I built the 18" ultimax flatpack. I have it powered by crown XLS and Minidsp.

Cant say anything bad about it. It has more output than my house can stand. crank it too high and anything not bolted down will rattle. I will eventually build another to try to get a more even room response. It is big SOB though. In hindsight I might have made sub towers with 2x12" or 3x10" to try to save a little floor space and drive up the cool factor.

 

[BenB]

I am leaning toward a pair of sealed 12" subs. I want to make my own cabinets, primarily for aesthetic reasons (I prefer hardwood to the ubiquitous black cube). I like the Rythmik aluminum cones and I like a forward firing design.

I will be using the XLR subwoofer connections and bass management in my preamp.

I'm looking for suggestions other than Rythmik to research.

I have a pair of these 12" Dayton Audio DVC subs, wired in series/parallel for a 4 ohm load. Each sub is in it's own 2 cubic foot box, sealed, and placed in very different parts of the room to fight room nodes. I am very happy with the result.

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-RSS315HO-44-12-Reference-HO-DVC-Subwoofer-295-467

 

[paddycrow]

OK, I have a new contender for drivers. Anyone familiar with CSS (Creative Sound Solutions)? Either their 10 or 12 inch drivers would work well.

I'm also thinking about what to do for amplification. I'd like to build them as passive enclosures with separate stereo or mono amp (as opposed to plate amps built into the enclosure). This is attractive simply to contain power and trigger wires in the main rack and just run speaker leads to the subs. Researching proper amps for the purpose is proving to be a challenge.

 

[drfous]

This is the CSS 12” with passive radiators I mentioned earlier. Just got it together this weekend. Does its job so far.

im using the Behringer NX3000D in bridge mode for power and dsp.

1st speaker build. 1st time veneering. So take it easy.

 

[paddycrow]

Your veneering looks pretty good to me! What kind of glue did you use? Paper backed or solid wood? What wood species?

I should mention my preamp has full base management and parametric EQ, so I don't really need DSP in my sub amps.

 

[paddycrow]

Curious about the Behringer amps, can the rack mount ears be removed or are they permanent?

 

[drfous]

Paper-backed Rosewood. Shellac finish. rub rub rub rub.

I'd try wood backed if I did it again.

The glue was a water-based contact cement - Titan DX.

 

[drfous]

Curious about the Behringer amps, can the rack mount ears be removed or are they permanent?

Permanent. I'm looking for a solution to that.

 

[312elements]

OK, I have a new contender for drivers. Anyone familiar with CSS (Creative Sound Solutions)? Either their 10 or 12 inch drivers would work well.

I'm also thinking about what to do for amplification. I'd like to build them as passive enclosures with separate stereo or mono amp (as opposed to plate amps built into the enclosure). This is attractive simply to contain power and trigger wires in the main rack and just run speaker leads to the subs. Researching proper amps for the purpose is proving to be a challenge.

what features do you need in your amp? If your goal is to get down in that sub 20hz range I strongly recommend a manually controlled DSP solution somewhere in the chain.

 

[paddycrow]

My goal is to extend the bass in my system (and improve the quality) without adding a couple big black boxes. I temporarily borrowed a Polk DSW Pro 660 from my home theater, it made a nice improvement.

My plan right now is to use a Umik-1 and REW. I adjusted the Polk by ear, but I want to do better.

This is complicated by the fact that I plan to move later in the year, so I'm not sure what my room will look like then.

 

[paddycrow]

I'm using the bass management in my preamp. I've set the crossover at 60 Hz for now and the slope at 6 dB. Right now I'm only using 1 sub, I will probably run stereo when I have two, or I could try two mono subs.

There are five parametric filters in the subwoofer channels and five more in the main L & R channels. My preference is to use those rather than put another piece of equipment into the signal chain.

 

[Bear123]

Little over budget, but how about using the B&C15DS115 driver. For amp, you could use the Behringer NX3000d or NX6000d. The nice thing about either amp is that it will drive two subs and has very capable DSP built in. Downside to those amps is they use fans which will be clearly audible unless you can remote mount them.

 

[paddycrow]

What about the Yamaha PX amps (PX10)? Looks like the rack mount ears come off and would work nicely with a passive sub.

 

[drfous]

For amp, you could use the Behringer NX3000d or NX6000d. The nice thing about either amp is that it will drive two subs and has very capable DSP built in. Downside to those amps is they use fans which will be clearly audible unless you can remote mount them.

I did the fan mod. They are very quiet. We'll see if that shortens their life.

 

[paddycrow]

Paper-backed Rosewood. Shellac finish. rub rub rub rub.

I'd try wood backed if I did it again.

The glue was a water-based contact cement - Titan DX.

Paper backed will be more stable, which is important with the contact adhesive. You won't have trouble with your seams moving.

I thought it looked like Rosewood. I'm going to use some figured Bubinga on my project.

 

[312elements]

So this is for music (2.1) and not for home theater? Have you considered something like the buckeye amps? Depending on how loud you listen and what driver you pair it with it could be a nice match and have the upside of being repurposed down the road.

 

[paddycrow]

Started my subwoofer build, no more comments until the unveiling...

 

[MrPotatoHead]

Started my subwoofer build, no more comments until the unveiling...

You're ahead of me! But my Dayton driver shipped so I'll be working on it soon... (Overdrive 10 mentioned previously)

 

[DonH56]

Late to this, but Rythmik sells DIY kits for their subs. www.rythmikaudio.com

 

[Wolf]

You're ahead of me! But my Dayton driver shipped so I'll be working on it soon... (Overdrive 10 mentioned previously)

Let me know if you need more info. It still impresses me.