Hiding an eyesore of a sub.

[mexicanzero]

I recently purchased a 10+ year old 15" tempest sub, in a ported enclosure tuned to about 16hz. The box is a little ridiculous, at 51" tall and 30 wide and 20 deep and it weighs over 300 lbs... The driver is down firing with 2 4" ports beside it. Its powered by a behringer ep4000 so almost 1000 watts rms. Got the sub and amp for 150$ and it's fantastic compared to the 12" cubed sub it replaced.

Its decently finished but is still just a huge black box. I would like to make it less of an eyesore. With big subs like these how far from the wall should they be? Currently its 6" from the back wall and 2 feet from a side wall and is upright.

How much does orientation matter? Would it be a bad idea to turn it on its side in the corner to make it look more like a table? I Would use pucks as makeshift legs. If I do this should the driver face the tv or the wall?
Any other ideas of what you've done to camouflage a huge box?

I know moving it around and trying things is ideal but 300 pounds is a lot for a little guy like me to move around so I'm hoping some of you have pointers.

Thanks -Alex

 

[everettT]

Side orientation is fine as long as the ports aren't against the wall. You can use a nice table cloth to cover as well.

As for location, the room really dictates what's best

 

[DigitalDawn]

Holy cow, that sub is *big*. You could draw a door on it and try to convince people that it's a refrigerator.

I do have an idea though. You can create a "skirted table" out of it. Buy a round wood top that's 15-20% wider than the sub and put it on top. Then take acoustically transparent cloth (they come in many different colors) and cut it to the appropriate length. Drape it over the table top, making sure it touches the floor. Then buy a piece of round glass to put on top. You can then put sturdy things on top of the table and no one will see the sub.

I learned this trick when I lived in a small apartment in NYC. We put all sorts of things underneath these table tops - including short filing cabinets.

Here's a company that sells really nice acoustic fabrics: https://www.guilfordofmaine.com/acoustic

 

[mexicanzero]

That table idea is good, it would be a pretty huge table though if I made it round. Maybe build a cabinet around it...

I'll likely lie it down with the driver facing the wall, that should leave 1-2 feet between the driver/ports and the wall. That should be enough eh?

I might try and find some pallets and build a table/cabinet that covers it up...

 

[KEW]

Ottoman?

 

[snakeeyes]

Wow! You have a monster sub! I don’t know how you hide that. Maybe some folding Japanese doors / room dividers. It’s literally the elephant in the room.

 

[shadyJ]

Turn it into the bottom section of some kind of sofa for near-field punch and a tactile transducer.

 

[Verdinut]

Should you want to move the cabinet more easily. why not install casters? Then, it would also make a crawling sub testing a small task should you wish to proceed with it.

 

[mexicanzero]

The casters are a good idea, I might try to get my hands on some furniture dollies.

It would be cool to turn it into a couch but that's way beyond my skill level and would be quite time consuming.

On It's side it looks better, but doesn't sound as good. I'm going to flip it 180 degrees tomorrow so the driver is facing into the room to see if sounds better.

Thanks for all the ideas, when I decide where it sounds best I'll use your ideas to make it look better.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Paint some flames on it. Low rider style!!!

 

[KEW]

These slides work well (just be sure to clean any sand from floor first) I use mine on Oak flooring and it is like casters, except installation is a matter of lifting and sliding the glide under each foot of the sub. I generally leave mine under my subs so I can move them anytime. Not sure you want to add the 3-4" of height that casters would add.
https://www.target.com/p/magic-sliders-100mm-move-remove/-/A-11154062

 

[mexicanzero]

Those look cool, no targets around here unfortunately and shipping internationally takes a while.
I'm considering just painting it or getting some sort of vinyl wrap.

 

[j_garcia]

Vinyl wrap would be a quick solution, or if you can get some woodwork done, you could make it look nicer.

One of the reasons I sold my Tempest was the size

 

[mexicanzero]

Of the 2 spots and 3 orientations tried so far this is what sounds best. Looks better than when it was standing up.
I might make a grill for it or just paint around the driver, it's starting to grow on me.

 

[KEW]

Those look cool, no targets around here unfortunately and shipping internationally takes a while.
I'm considering just painting it or getting some sort of vinyl wrap.

Looks like you may not need them, but the slides are also available here in the US at Lowe's or Home Depot so I would expect they're probably available at any similar type of Home Improvement Hardware Store.
And I'm sure plenty of online sources as well. Definitely not exclusive to Target!

 

[mexicanzero]

Good to know thanks, they may be useful in the future.