Best DIY subwoofer in 300-400 dollar range?

[Grimfate126]

can you link me to your winisd file for the xo-12 dvc?

thanks

 

[TLS Guy]

TLS Guy, another alternate is the XO-12 DVC from Torrent Audio at $99. Could you model that one as well please? It seems to model closely to the Shiva-12.

It may do what he wants and ease his budget constraints.

Thx.

Thanks a lot, now I have three to model. Since he is a poor student I will!

 

[Grimfate126]

Thanks a lot, now I have three to model. Since he is a poor student I will!

thanks, and sorry

what do you use to model?

 

[Spkr_Bldr]

thanks, and sorry

what do you use to model?

WinISD Pro is free and full-featured.

 

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

jinjuku...do you happen to know the Re and Sd of the XO-12?
I have all of the other T/S params, but winisd wont let me model without the above.

 

[Grimfate126]

problem.

my dad saw the hkts 18's today, and somehow got the urge to be lazy and buy it. He wants me to hold off the sub until i start making money...

help...

i have until the 15th to convince him...

 

[TLS Guy]

TLS Guy, another alternate is the XO-12 DVC from Torrent Audio at $99. Could you model that one as well please? It seems to model closely to the Shiva-12.

It may do what he wants and ease his budget constraints.

Thx.

I have added the three divers to the sub woofer page on my website. There are enough drivers there, that you should be able to pick a good project.

In the OP's situation, I'm going to recommend the Torrent in the vented 3 cu.ft enclosure. I think that will fit his needs the best.

Basically all these three drivers are intended for car use in sealed boxes. The Dayton is not suitable at all for a vented alignment. All of these drivers generate huge air velocities. A large volume of air is required in the ports. All of these vented alignments will require the construction of slot vents. No way would a tube vent be suitable. Even with the slot vents, the air velocities are still around 20 m/sec. However with the vents I designed, I'm certain there will be no chuff. An enclosure with an outside dimensions of 32" X 20.5" X 14" will probably do the trick.

I suggest you print off all six pdfs and study them carefully.

I hope this has helped.

 

[GTHill]

In the spirit of helping out a student audiophile, I'll cut the parts for the enclosure for cost of materials and shipping only. Of course, this is with TLS Guy's permission since it is his design. Whatever design the OP chooses, I'll probably model it in Sketchup for others to follow as well (again, with permission).

I'll even cut the Domino mortises (and of course include the Dominos themselves) if the OP would like.

One caveat: Let me know ASAP since I'll only be home this upcoming week and after that it will be quite a while before I have a lot of shop time.

Gene

 

[Grimfate126]

DANG.

that must have taken some time! thanks a lot.

I talked to my dad, and he said he'll let me build it in 3 weeks (i think he gets his salary check or something )

 

[TLS Guy]

In the spirit of helping out a student audiophile, I'll cut the parts for the enclosure for cost of materials and shipping only. Of course, this is with TLS Guy's permission since it is his design. Whatever design the OP chooses, I'll probably model it in Sketchup for others to follow as well (again, with permission).

I'll even cut the Domino mortises (and of course include the Dominos themselves) if the OP would like.

One caveat: Let me know ASAP since I'll only be home this upcoming week and after that it will be quite a while before I have a lot of shop time.

Gene

That is most generous of you.
Members are free to use and adapt my designs for non commercial purposes as they see fit.

I just want to see members have fun and get hooked on DIY speaker building.

It seems to me the interest in DIY on these forums is increasing, and I find that encouraging. I would like to see people fired up enough to build the whole enchilada and not just the sub.

I'm starting to design a system for our new town home in Eagan. My wife wants HT there as well as the lake since she and the family have enjoyed this one at our lake home on Benedict Lake so much. I will keep members posted as I progress.

Once again thanks for helping out the impecunious student!

 

[Grimfate126]

In the spirit of helping out a student audiophile, I'll cut the parts for the enclosure for cost of materials and shipping only. Of course, this is with TLS Guy's permission since it is his design. Whatever design the OP chooses, I'll probably model it in Sketchup for others to follow as well (again, with permission).

I'll even cut the Domino mortises (and of course include the Dominos themselves) if the OP would like.

One caveat: Let me know ASAP since I'll only be home this upcoming week and after that it will be quite a while before I have a lot of shop time.

Gene

i appreciate the offer, a lot. However, i really dont think my dad would be comfortable with it :/ (hes one of those "dont trust anything from the internet except buy.com" types) i would also like to get some cutting experience myself. (if only with a router.)

I am terribly sorry

now i feel like an *******

about the driver: i think ill go for the xo-12 slot vent. 3 cu. ft. sounds really doable. http://www.drmarksays.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/torrent-xo-12-slot-vent.pdf

I must say, this has to be the most generous forum ive ever seen. Within 3 days, you all have have found a good driver, given me a FULL spec sheet, and offered to do all my dirty work for me . Thats unheard of by my standards.

Thanks

 

[GTHill]

i appreciate the offer, a lot. However, i really dont think my dad would be comfortable with it :/ (hes one of those "dont trust anything from the internet except buy.com") i would also like to get some cutting experience myself. (if only with a router.)

I am terribly sorry

now i feel like an *******

about the driver: i think ill go for the xo-12 slot vent. 3 cu. ft. sounds really doable. http://www.drmarksays.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/torrent-xo-12-slot-vent.pdf

I must say, this has to be the most generous forum ive ever seen. Within 3 days, you all have have found a good driver, given me a FULL spec sheet, and offered to do all my dirty work for me . Thats unheard of by my standards.

Thanks

No worries. From reading you previous posts I thought you didn't have a wood shop to use so that is the only reason I offered. If you have access to the tools for the project that is great! Keep us updated on your build progress!

Gene

 

[Grimfate126]

Ok. scratch my earlier choice. i just measured, 3 cu ft will be too big

next choice, shiva x-12 sealed. however, i will only be giving it 300 watts, not 600. will this make a really big impact?

winisd wont let me model the shiva. gives me consistency errors :/

also, what is the difference between Vb, and V(total)?

 

[TLS Guy]

Ok. scratch my earlier choice. i just measured, 3 cu ft will be too big

next choice, shiva x-12 sealed. however, i will only be giving it 300 watts, not 600. will this make a really big impact?

winisd wont let me model the shiva. gives me consistency errors :/

also, what is the difference between Vb, and V(total)?

The difference between 300 watts and 600watts is only 3db. Just make sure you get an amp with an EQ function to provide the boost.

Vb is the volume of air that needs to be in the box. Now you have to add the volume of air displaced by the driver, braces and amp etc to get Vt. It usually comes to around Vb plus 15 to 20%.

That sub will be fine for dorm use, and easy to cart around. Remember with the EQ it will take more amp power below the EQ. Say for the sake of argument you achieve your 84.4db 1 watt at 1 meter with a watt of input at 40 to 80 Hz, then to achieve 84.4 db at 20 Hz will require 16 watts.

In a dorm that will be fine, but if you want higher overall spl you can tame the EQ to 6db per octave and then the power delivered at 20 Hz would be 4watts under the conditions above, however the sub would be about 6 db down at 20 Hz, still good performance. One of the nice things about a sealed alignment is the ability to use EQ, which is not a viable option in a ported alignment, because once the driver decouples from the box all you get from EQ is excessive cone displacement and no increase in output.

 

[Grimfate126]

Sonosub?

Hi. Im back... and sleepy. (school starts at 7 )

Anyway, ive had some more time to research what sub i want to build. I was looking at Sonosubs, and i REALLY liked what i saw. They seem to be easier to build, and look cool. I modeled the Shiva-x 12 with sonosub.exe, and this is what i got:

It says the sag is 2.3% which is acceptable.

What do you guys think?

However, I did have some questions:

1. How well will this sub do? Does the 17 Hz tune mean anything significant (good or bad)?

2. I still want to attach a plate amp to the sub (like the SVS cylinder subs). How would I go about doing this? I havent been able to find anything good enough for me (still a noob :/)

Thanks

P.S. I measured, and this will fit through the door to my dorm . I also have a corner reserved for it.

 

[Haoleb]

I really have never seen a DIY job yet that used a sonotube with a plate amp attached to it that looked good. Ive seen a couple that were absolutely horrid looking though. I think the only way to do one properly would be to do something like build a seperate chamber in the base where you can inset the amp into the tube, Of course you would have to build some kind of framework to support all of it though.

I think the best option would be to either build a seperate box for a plate amp to mount into, Or get something else like a pro amp and a crossover. Both of which would be more versatile if down the road you wanted to try something different.

 

[jinjuku]

P.S. I measured, and this will fit through the door to my dorm . I also have a corner reserved for it.

Glad to see you are still plugging away at this and getting your learn on. If you have a corner simply build a boxed sub-woofer and use it as a stand for something.

I don't know if I would recommend a tube sub for a 1st time DIY.

Keep us posted!

 

[Grimfate126]

Glad to see you are still plugging away at this and getting your learn on. If you have a corner simply build a boxed sub-woofer and use it as a stand for something.

I don't know if I would recommend a tube sub for a 1st time DIY.

Keep us posted!

any reason why you wouldnt recommend a sonosub for a 1st time? I thought it was easier (no bracing ). The amp part is gonna be a bit weird though.

Thanks

 

[jinjuku]

any reason why you wouldnt recommend a sonosub for a 1st time? I thought it was easier (no bracing ). The amp part is gonna be a bit weird though.

Thanks

Just fitting the amp seems a pain... They make great subs though. The other thing is they tend to have a large footprint. At least with box sub you can use it as a table or some such... Just thinking out loud basically.

 

[Grimfate126]

Just fitting the amp seems a pain... They make great subs though. The other thing is they tend to have a large footprint. At least with box sub you can use it as a table or some such... Just thinking out loud basically.

ah. makes sense. i kinda like their large footprint. theres something awesome about having a subwoofer that is close to your height

(im probably going to go hug it when its done)