Caper's TRIO12 + 2 PRs Sub Build

caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Hi all. First woodworking project is a DIY subwoofer from Creative Sound Solutions.
The kit is the
The cabinet used is a 24" cube vice the 20". Since volume was not a real issue and low frequency extension was, Mike P from HTS ran some models and the result was the 24" had advantages at lower frequencies:
The 24" cube has the advantage below 23 hz.
  • The 20" cube produces 106 db,
  • the 24" cube produces just about 110 db, a 4 db advantage.
at 18 hz.
  • 102 db for 20" cube,
  • 108 db for the 24" cube, a 6 db advantage.
.
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
The gear:

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The plate amp all snug in the box:

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I used a huge table saw to cut the sheet of MDF into panels. Here I am using a rotozip to cut the holes, with 1/8" remaining inside the hole to sand out:

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Oscillating Spindle Sander to make a really nice circle since I had no router jig:
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Front and sides all finished and dry fit. Thats the TRIO12 driver sitting there:

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Cutting the center brace on the bandsaw :

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Here I used the inserts that came with the kit. They go in from the front. Since I was worried that the driver would be trying to pull them out, I used Gorilla Glue to hold them in and seal any voids. I also started with the widest bit first, so the next bit had a centering hole from previous bit. 3 bits used; flange for insert, body of insert, and machine screw hole all the way through:

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Dry Fit PR to make sure all the screws line up:

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Here I had an extra panel from the cutsheet so I used it as a reinforced baffle. I cut the top sheet the total width of the driver flange and routered it over to round it out. I should have made the panel 1/4 inch larger and sanded it after it was glued to cabinet.

.
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Baffle with driver flange cut out:

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Brace, top & bottom:

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Gluing the back:

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Gluing Sides:

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Gluing the front...you can never have TOO many clamps! :) :
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Screw holes filled with spackle and everything sanded:

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One coat of primer:

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Duratex textured cabinet finish:

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Lining the flange with closed cell weatherstrip from Canadian Tire (3/8" wide, 1/4" thick). This seals the driver & PRs:

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Since there is no "anchor" for the driver, I elected to use nylon lock nuts on the back of the mounting screws. I bought some for the PRs but didn't install them.
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Driver, PRs, and plate amp installed and ready to ROCK! :cool: That is a bar fridge in the background for comparison!

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Front view. You can see the floor spikes in this one. I use a mechanic's creeper to move it around...I will weigh it soon!!
 
Guiria

Guiria

Senior Audioholic
Nothing like a 24" cube to fill in some space. I'd love to hear your listening impressions.

Next week I will be building the Quartet10 into a parts-express prefab 2.0 cubic foot box. Should be interesting. Building it for my in-laws.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
Awesome dude, nice work!

I'm soooo jealous of your workshop. I'm building a component rack, on my hands and knees on my walkway.
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Nothing like a 24" cube to fill in some space. I'd love to hear your listening impressions.

Next week I will be building the Quartet10 into a parts-express prefab 2.0 cubic foot box. Should be interesting. Building it for my in-laws.
Yeah, 24" box is bigger than you would think! Wife isn't too impressed, but nothing we can do now ;) I was listening to music most of the day yesterday. All I could do was grin!! Listened to everything from 90's dance music (Humpty Dance, Whoomp, Please Don't Go), some Pop (Red Red Wine, Billy Jean; both sounded amazing), some hip hop (Method Man, Snoop: Still Dre), and some rock & metal. There is also a track I got somewhere called "Bass Tester" or something which is a high amplitude bass 'song' with some REALLY low notes, and it hit them all...I was like "WOW".

Awesome dude, nice work!

I'm soooo jealous of your workshop. I'm building a component rack, on my hands and knees on my walkway.
It is a workshop in an aircraft hangar!! :D Cost me $75 for the year to be a member but worth every penny!! I painted it in my den which was a little more space limited, lol.
 
GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
Hi all. First woodworking project is a DIY subwoofer from Creative Sound Solutions.
The kit is the
The cabinet used is a 24" cube vice the 20". Since volume was not a real issue and low frequency extension was, Mike P from HTS ran some models and the result was the 24" had advantages at lower frequencies:

.
I read your threads over at HTS. After building such a nice enclosure, it sucks when you have to deal with the vibration and ground loop issues. Hope it's an easy fix.

I plan to build a couple of Trio12 subs in the near future (can't predict when - too many "Honey-do" projects to finish first :rolleyes:) I like the extra volume giving you deeper extension with higher SPLs. :)
 
GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
Yeah, 24" box is bigger than you would think! Wife isn't too impressed, but nothing we can do now ;) I was listening to music most of the day yesterday. All I could do was grin!! Listened to everything from 90's dance music (Humpty Dance, Whoomp, Please Don't Go), some Pop (Red Red Wine, Billy Jean; both sounded amazing), some hip hop (Method Man, Snoop: Still Dre), and some rock & metal. There is also a track I got somewhere called "Bass Tester" or something which is a high amplitude bass 'song' with some REALLY low notes, and it hit them all...I was like "WOW".


It is a workshop in an aircraft hangar!! :D Cost me $75 for the year to be a member but worth every penny!! I painted it in my den which was a little more space limited, lol.
Did you solve your issues already?:confused: The shop is in an aircraft hanger? You're not at Greenwood, by any chance?;)
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Did you solve your issues already?:confused: The shop is in an aircraft hanger? You're not at Greenwood, by any chance?;)
Too funny. I didn't even notice you were in NS until just now. Yeah dude. I joined the wood hobby club just to build this thing!! It's in the hangar straight through the T-intersection past the rink. If you plan on building one (or more!) you are more than welcome to come and check it out sometime. :cool:
Well I did solve most of the issues. The driver needed extra glue on the basket. Real easy fix...I was quite amazed at the huge difference a little superglue could make on such a massive magnet & basket.
Ground loop. I know what the problem is, and the fix is temporary for now. The is a ground loop from Eastlink cable on the power circuit. Right now I am using a 3-2 prong extension cord to disconnect the ground prong of my sub for now, until I try and get a better earth ground on the circuit or the coax cable outside.
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Cost Estimates

Here is an estimate of my totals. I will round to the nearest $5 for ease.
  • Parts: Trio12 driver, 2 PRs, plate amp, floor spikes, and all mounting hardware: $600 including shipping and taxes.
  • Sheet of MDF: $40
  • Glue sticks: $5
  • Gorilla Glue: $5
  • Primer: $10 (See Note 1)
  • Duratex Cabinet finish: $80 with tax & shipping
  • Say $10 for shop supplies (Carpenter's Glue, wood screws, sandpaper, nylon nuts, etc)
  • Weatherstrip: $10
That's a total of : $760
.

I also joined the wood hobby club specifically for this, so my personal total would include:
Membership to wood hobby club: $75
.

My grand total: $835
.
Note 1 = Primer is not required. I wasn't sure how much duratex would be needed, but there is about 3/4 gal left over and it is self priming, so I could have used that instead.
 
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ma7rix13

ma7rix13

Junior Audioholic
Nice job. I think you put the threaded inserts in wrong though. They should go the opposite way so they squeeze the sub to the baffle.
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
Nice job. I think you put the threaded inserts in wrong though. They should go the opposite way so they squeeze the sub to the baffle.
No. They aren't T nuts or hurricane. They "self tap", so if you put them in from the back, when you screw the machine screws in from the front (clockwise), the direction on the backside will be CCW, and they will want to back out. That's why I used gorilla glue on the inserts, and bought nylon nuts to go on the back. Next time I would go with T nuts from the back side... less work ;) Thanks for the compliments.
 
caper26

caper26

Full Audioholic
SPL Values

Here are some SPL readings I took at 1 meter with sub located as per photo above.
  • I used a Realistic (Radio Shack) digital SPL meter model 33-2055.
  • I had re-run YPAO prior to readings, and had gain on sub's amp at 11 o'clock.
  • The sub's "EQ Level" knob was set to the ZERO mark and other EQ knobs set to min settings.(therefore removing any EQing by the amp)
  • Receiver volume was brought close to or at "0".
  • I used correction values for the meter found at HTS. No decimals used. (0.5 or higher was rounded up. 0.4 and below was dropped.
Read in 3 columns: Frequency -- Raw SPL reading -- corrected SPL value

Freq --- SPL --- Corrected
16 Hz -- 91 dB -- 104 dB
18 Hz -- 103 dB -- 114 dB
20 Hz -- 109 dB -- 118 dB
22 Hz -- 111 dB -- 119 dB
25 Hz -- 111 dB -- 118 dB
28 Hz -- 112 dB -- 117 dB
31.5Hz-- 110 dB -- 114 dB
35 Hz -- 105 dB -- 109 dB
40 Hz -- 102 dB -- 105 dB
45 Hz -- 105 dB -- 107 dB
 
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adwilk

adwilk

Audioholic Ninja
That looks pretty good.. I'd love to know how it compares to other diy options in that price range... 24" cube isn't too big and the numbers look solid. Nicely done..
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
Well done. It's gotta be nice having access to a shop like that. One of these days. I'll have a good shop.;)
 

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