Even better option for you. Build the above cabinet, 2" dimension in the 'throat.' and use your dual kickers.
Here's what you get. xmax limited at 50hz 56volts for TH, in series. xmax limited at 40hz, 48volts sealed in series.
all it costs you is plywood and some time.
and the software is hornresp.
Here's what you get. xmax limited at 50hz 56volts for TH, in series. xmax limited at 40hz, 48volts sealed in series.
all it costs you is plywood and some time.
and the software is hornresp.
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The easy way to do it, is to draw it out on the 'side.' board. Start with 2" clear space from the top to the baffle boards to create the 'throat' and then run the board down to it's centered at the end. Roughly 4.5" away from top/end/bottom. It should be in the neighborhood of 45 or so inches. If you want to be 'exact' then make the dimension of the center/end of the baffle board to the 'top' at 4 3/8", the dimension from the end of the baffle to the end of the cabinet at 4 1/2" and the dimension from the baffle center/end to the bottom at 4 5/8"
When you build, make sure you add bracing from the top to the baffle board and from the baffle board to the bottom. (a single brace in the center is sufficient)
maybe some of cowan's pics would be a good example? so you have a visual of what you are going to build?
Tapped Horn Experiments
keep in mind, your driver is reversed from what you see in cowan's pics. A kicker doesn't fit in 2"
Don't use crap plywood... littlemike gave you good advise, horns create pressure. auroco from lowes is good stuff, homedepot made in china plywood is junk. PL premium polyurethane construction adhesive is the best... but messy. I was introduced to it, and admit, it's the only stuff to make cabinets like this out of.
When you build, make sure you add bracing from the top to the baffle board and from the baffle board to the bottom. (a single brace in the center is sufficient)
maybe some of cowan's pics would be a good example? so you have a visual of what you are going to build?
Tapped Horn Experiments
keep in mind, your driver is reversed from what you see in cowan's pics. A kicker doesn't fit in 2"
Don't use crap plywood... littlemike gave you good advise, horns create pressure. auroco from lowes is good stuff, homedepot made in china plywood is junk. PL premium polyurethane construction adhesive is the best... but messy. I was introduced to it, and admit, it's the only stuff to make cabinets like this out of.
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I agree, don't worry about the impedance overly much. Unless you have a humongous electrical system, the amp probably has a lot of trouble delivering all the power into a very low impedance. It may likely drive as much power into the higher impedance, actually. Plus the impedances always change when loaded into a horn.
Focus more on the sensitivty (dB per volt) and the maximum SPL output.
Also tell us if you're trying to do 64' pipe organs, or Motorhead, or what you want to play with this and what you're looking for sound-wise.
As for your 10s, car subs are typically designed to be crammed into tiny boxes, whose response is then highly loaded by the car interior, not blasting into open air like in your boat. I know, lots of car subs are used for boats, but that's just because the boat distributors are serviced by car audio companies. Boats should probably have differently designed subs. That's why your not getting what you want from your Kickers. It is indeed possible by coincidence that they could drive a horn well.
I may be a little too late to the game ...
Looking at your existing subs I can see your problem - they are very inefficient at 86 db. That's fine in a car but in a boat there is no cabin gain at all. What you want is a heck of a lot of efficiency and output in the 50 - 200 Hz range. Essentially a pro sub squashed cleverly into your boat as if you are hosting open air concerts at point blank range. Start looking at 97db efficient drivers. You probably want to see how many 12", 15" or 18" pro woofers you can fit in, you want to look at those well treated to handle the conditions, or you may also look at coating the drivers and putting grilles on them. I'd also be thinking about pro drivers full range. Perhaps a coax 8 - 12" depending on what you can fit in. So you'd be looking at 97 db sensitivity in the main 2 way speakers, and the same for the subs but using as many as you can to boost efficiency and output even more.
I'd start with efficient drivers first, ones that are fairly low Qts to work in small vented boxes. I'm not sure TH is the way to go. I'm sure you could get it to work well, perhaps even better than vented. But starting with an inefficient driver then trying to get more out of if with a TH box doesn't sound like the best approach to me, not when you really want to rock! You've got a noisy motor, you're zooming along and you want some butt kicking bass and an assault on the senses?
This reminds me of an 80s/90s movie that has a scene with a hifi salesman ..... lol
Consider this. If you start with 86 db sensitivity and at best a TH can give you 6db extra output, you have boosted it to 92 db. Still a long way behind a 97 db driver. Get two of them and now your'e up to 100db with your first watt. You've doubled the power handling and they could easily take the 1kw of power and go all night with low compression. That translates to more of a kick in the guts as if you put all that power into inefficient car subs the voice coils will act like radiators!
1w > 100 db
10w > 110 db
100w > 120 db
1000w > 130 db
You will lose a touch due to power compression, but certainly less than the Kicker subs. As a bonus you get more top end that you can use. In the TH you are likely to get an ugly top end that will limit the bandwidth. I have no doubt that Danley could do better than a vented design in this app, but most of us would do better IMHO with what I've described. Don't overlook this! The energy in the 50 - 200 Hz range is what will give you the fun bass I think you're looking for. Looks like the TH sims are giving you the output with a very peaky design with a big massive dip around 100 Hz.
Even if this idea doesn't give you more juice down low, the top end makes it worth it. Why? Because you can then boost the juice up higher as well. You can get more efficiency up there as well by not having to get down to say 80 Hz - you can cross higher. That could mean two octaves less if crossing 200 - 300 Hz. You can use efficient mids - instead of 88db more like 93 - 95 db.
Active 3 way is how I'd do it, quite easy with car amps and perhaps a cap on the tweeter around 1k just for a bit of extra protection.
Sorry if this muddies the waters, but I think more fun can be had this way.
Looking at your existing subs I can see your problem - they are very inefficient at 86 db. That's fine in a car but in a boat there is no cabin gain at all. What you want is a heck of a lot of efficiency and output in the 50 - 200 Hz range. Essentially a pro sub squashed cleverly into your boat as if you are hosting open air concerts at point blank range. Start looking at 97db efficient drivers. You probably want to see how many 12", 15" or 18" pro woofers you can fit in, you want to look at those well treated to handle the conditions, or you may also look at coating the drivers and putting grilles on them. I'd also be thinking about pro drivers full range. Perhaps a coax 8 - 12" depending on what you can fit in. So you'd be looking at 97 db sensitivity in the main 2 way speakers, and the same for the subs but using as many as you can to boost efficiency and output even more.
I'd start with efficient drivers first, ones that are fairly low Qts to work in small vented boxes. I'm not sure TH is the way to go. I'm sure you could get it to work well, perhaps even better than vented. But starting with an inefficient driver then trying to get more out of if with a TH box doesn't sound like the best approach to me, not when you really want to rock! You've got a noisy motor, you're zooming along and you want some butt kicking bass and an assault on the senses?
This reminds me of an 80s/90s movie that has a scene with a hifi salesman ..... lol
Consider this. If you start with 86 db sensitivity and at best a TH can give you 6db extra output, you have boosted it to 92 db. Still a long way behind a 97 db driver. Get two of them and now your'e up to 100db with your first watt. You've doubled the power handling and they could easily take the 1kw of power and go all night with low compression. That translates to more of a kick in the guts as if you put all that power into inefficient car subs the voice coils will act like radiators!
1w > 100 db
10w > 110 db
100w > 120 db
1000w > 130 db
You will lose a touch due to power compression, but certainly less than the Kicker subs. As a bonus you get more top end that you can use. In the TH you are likely to get an ugly top end that will limit the bandwidth. I have no doubt that Danley could do better than a vented design in this app, but most of us would do better IMHO with what I've described. Don't overlook this! The energy in the 50 - 200 Hz range is what will give you the fun bass I think you're looking for. Looks like the TH sims are giving you the output with a very peaky design with a big massive dip around 100 Hz.
Even if this idea doesn't give you more juice down low, the top end makes it worth it. Why? Because you can then boost the juice up higher as well. You can get more efficiency up there as well by not having to get down to say 80 Hz - you can cross higher. That could mean two octaves less if crossing 200 - 300 Hz. You can use efficient mids - instead of 88db more like 93 - 95 db.
Active 3 way is how I'd do it, quite easy with car amps and perhaps a cap on the tweeter around 1k just for a bit of extra protection.
Sorry if this muddies the waters, but I think more fun can be had this way.
Here's where your at:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
You have two problems:
1. TH may need a fair amount of space and you have some limits. Vented may allow twice as many drivers.
2. TH usually have a limited bandwidth - somehow Danley manages to get them smooth and extended, but most diy efforts are peaky and need a lower cutoff
If you have limited space for drivers, but can allow for a big box volume per driver, then TH makes more sense, but you still have the 2nd issue. I'd probably cross as high as 300 Hz to lower the demands on the mids. Then you can use a smallish mid that has high efficiency from 300 Hz on up. Plenty of 6 and 8" drivers with high efficiency in that range.
1. TH may need a fair amount of space and you have some limits. Vented may allow twice as many drivers.
2. TH usually have a limited bandwidth - somehow Danley manages to get them smooth and extended, but most diy efforts are peaky and need a lower cutoff
If you have limited space for drivers, but can allow for a big box volume per driver, then TH makes more sense, but you still have the 2nd issue. I'd probably cross as high as 300 Hz to lower the demands on the mids. Then you can use a smallish mid that has high efficiency from 300 Hz on up. Plenty of 6 and 8" drivers with high efficiency in that range.
There's no reason to switch. However you should do a through investigation of the area where you plan to put the sub. Dig in and see if there's any hidden obstructions. Most features of your boat are structural in some sort of fashion, this box will support the seat. It looks like there is more height than 10" available, accurate measurements of the area are important as size = performance.
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