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Recommend for pair of 12" sealed passive subwoofers

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Davide

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Hello people,
would anyone be able to kindly suggest me a project for the realization of a passive and sealed subwoofer with 12" scandinavian driver? (or Dayton Audio maybe ...they are available in Europe).
Possibly something for which distortion as well as frequency response is known.
As for the amplifier, I have an NC502MP with which I would amplify the pair, while for the LPF filter I manage everything digitally.
It should be something easy... but I have not found anything satisfactory on the web.
Thanks in advance.
 
Thanks for the quick reply.
I've seen that project, but the passive radiator seems to me an unnecessary cost.
Furthermore, there are no distortion measures, so the goodness of the project is not clear.
Finally, that cabinet houses an amplifier, so I honestly don't know how it should be adapted having it external.
 
Dlomb11 said:
Hello people,
would anyone be able to kindly suggest me a project for the realization of a passive and sealed subwoofer with 12" scandinavian driver? (or Dayton Audio maybe ...they are available in Europe).
Possibly something for which distortion as well as frequency response is known.
As for the amplifier, I have an NC502MP with which I would amplify the pair, while for the LPF filter I manage everything digitally.
It should be something easy... but I have not found anything satisfactory on the web.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
There is no easy solution for a DIY:er because if you buy a SVS sub the result probably gonna be better than any DIY, and the second hand market is much better if you buy something from a brand in a store. Your DIY subs, no matter if they would sound rather good, is wortheless if you would try to sell them after a couple of years , so :

1. Its better to buy a new or second hand subwoofer from a real brand. You will save money that way.
2. Its almost impossible to do better DIY than SVS , REL or Genelec. They have the skills no DIY:er have, and they pay only a fraction for the same driveunits that you as a DIY:er must pay for.
3. But, if your purpose is different - and you want to have fun building something for yourself, then go for it.
The Dayton reference series is really good. The results might be rather good as long as you dont compare with REL, SVS or Genelec.
 
Tangband said:
There is no easy solution for a DIY:er because if you buy a SVS sub the result probably gonna be better than any DIY, and the second hand market is much better if you buy something from a brand in a store. Your DIY subs, no matter if they would sound rather good, is wortheless if you would try to sell them after a couple of years , so :

1. Its better to buy a new or second hand subwoofer from a real brand. You will save money that way.
2. Its almost impossible to do better DIY than SVS , REL or Genelec. They have the skills no DIY:er have, and they pay only a fraction for the same driveunits that you as a DIY:er must pay for.
3. But, if your purpose is different - and you want to have fun building something for yourself, then go for it.
The Dayton reference series is really good. The results might be rather good as long as you dont compare with REL, SVS or Genelec.
Click to expand...

I have $1000 including amp into my passive dual 18" subwoofers that get down to 14hz flat in room and then slowly fall off to about 8hz until they really fall off.

What dual sub setup from any manufacturer is going to touch that?



This 12" kit is $300 shipped. That would be hard to beat for the size, output, etc from most manufacturers.
www.parts-express.com

Home

Dayton Audio 12" Ultimax Subwoofer and Cabinet Bundle 600 WattsAbout the CabinetThis particular cabinet is designed specifically for the Dayton Audio 12" Ultimax subwoofer, but works for any subwoofer with an overall diameter of 12-3/8" or less, and a cutout requirement of 11-1/8" or less. For...
www.parts-express.com

Not to mention if you just enjoy building compared to buying.


Resale is fine as long as you have some measurements. Look at avs forum. They are up there often.
 
There is software such as WinISD that, given the driver's Thiele-Small parameters can help you with box design and predict performance. I don't think WinISD gives you a distortion graph but it does give a "maximum SPL" graph.

And after playing-around with WinISD you might decide on a ported design. Speaker design is a compromise and some drivers are more suited to ported designs. And of course a port adds another variable for adjusting/ optimizing performance. With a sealed box the only important variable is box size.

It should be something easy...
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean... It's just a sealed box with a hole to mount a speaker. It's not much harder to add a port. {Or there are more complex designs.) The "hard part" can be cabinet finishing or that can be easy depending on what kind of appearance you want.
 
Tangband said:
There is no easy solution for a DIY:er because if you buy a SVS sub the result probably gonna be better than any DIY, and the second hand market is much better if you buy something from a brand in a store. Your DIY subs, no matter if they would sound rather good, is wortheless if you would try to sell them after a couple of years , so :

1. Its better to buy a new or second hand subwoofer from a real brand. You will save money that way.
2. Its almost impossible to do better DIY than SVS , REL or Genelec. They have the skills no DIY:er have, and they pay only a fraction for the same driveunits that you as a DIY:er must pay for.
3. But, if your purpose is different - and you want to have fun building something for yourself, then go for it.
The Dayton reference series is really good. The results might be rather good as long as you dont compare with REL, SVS or Genelec.
Click to expand...
Your point of view is interesting.
However, I believe it only applies to servo subs or those that integrate a DSP for distortion correction (which requires in-depth measurements and mathematical skills to be carried out).
But I think it is a narrow niche of products ... REL certainly not in the economic range, and perhaps not even SVS.
The frequency response tuning is another speech, but it can be easily done even by a diyer with digital eq (net of room influences, which, however, are not even managed by commercial products).
As for response given by the integration between driver and cabinet, I believe that the acoustic laws are accessible to all, and implemented in various open source software.
I agree that a driver and perhaps a cabinet cost less to a commercial brand, but considering they have to profit from it, in the end we are perhaps at the same price/quality ratio on entry level products (but I doubt as in many other cases DIY solutions, such as amplifiers, are ahead).
 
Anyway thanks for the suggestions, at the moment it seems that Dayton Audio solutions are the favorites in terms of value.
Too bad that German site is badly translated ... I don't understand exactly what they sell.
 
Dlomb11 said:
Too bad that German site is badly translated ... I don't understand exactly what they sell.
Click to expand...
It’s just a kit with RSS315HFA-8. Only the woofer is already €330, which is to expensive. The MDF box is another €135 (flatpack). Otherwise, nothing special really.

Preferably you go for 4 Ohm drivers though, otherwise you’ll loose some amp power.
 
But between the RS series and the Ultimax which is to prefer in terms of distorsion?
(I'll be using them for music not movies so I care more about accuracy than brute power).
 
Ultimax usually has more power handling, more xmax, and lower fs.

But compare the specs.
 
Jdunk54nl said:
Ultimax usually has more power handling, more xmax, and lower fs.

But compare the specs.
Click to expand...
I have seen the specs but unfortunately I am unable to understand how they translate into sound quality or distortion ... sorry.
 
Given the price difference is negligible, I’d probably go for the Ultimax. You can also get away with a smaller box because you can add a bit more boost.
 
Last edited:
mightycicadalord said:
DIY subs not competing with commerical offerings? That's a new one for me.
Click to expand...
It really depends on the price bracket. In the €$500 range for a complete sub with amp, enclosure and driver, you can really find some very competitive commercial solutions.
 
Thanks guys, very useful information.
As a cabinet, I would be inclined to get one as a kit as I don't have much time to work with it, however I only see the Denovo, which is also sold in Europe by SoundImports, but 250€ is not a bargain.
Could someone tell me others?
 
Dlomb11 said:
As a cabinet, I would be inclined to get one as a kit as I don't have much time to work with it, however I only see the Denovo, which is also sold in Europe by SoundImports, but 250€ is not a bargain.
Click to expand...
I saw that :oops: quite a steep price! Try your local carpenter?
 
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