Lab 15 subs on open baffle?

[Racket Scientist]

I've been mulling over whether to go with boxing my Tang Band 1808s in order to get more mids and upper bass or doing something else. I've also considered building bigger open baffles for them along with accessory woofers. Heres the question - I'd like to go as low as I can in the bass, and cross over at around 100 to 150 Hz to the TBs. I know the Lab subs from Eminence are designed for horns or cabs, but anybody ever use them on an open baffle? Any reason they just wouldn't work for this? That would be one way to generate some bass down below 30 Hz, although without pretty big baffles most of it will be lost anyway. I've also considered boxing the subs since they'll be crossed so low. Any advice?

 

[j.michael droke]

Hi there: TB-1808 would be better used on an open baffles and pick other drivers than Labsubs for the bass-unit. Suggest using H Frames with the open baffles above as has recently described other threads. I believe they discussed woofer sizes as 18 or 15-inch. The H Frame and open baffles are rather easy to construct and the woofers can be much less expnsive than the labsubs. My preference is to biamp the system rather than the nightmare of correctly designing crossovers. ...regards, Michael

 

[chris661]

Most people use either the Eminence Alpha or Beta 15 drivers, because they have significantly higher efficiency. In open baffles, the baffle dictates the LF roll-off, so having a sub driver with lower efficiency will hinder the maximum output. It (the lab15) does have a fairly stiff suspension and a decent Xmax, so you're not likely to make it hit the stops too often.

 

[matevana]

I've been mulling over whether to go with boxing my Tang Band 1808s in order to get more mids and upper bass or doing something else. I've also considered building bigger open baffles for them along with accessory woofers. Heres the question - I'd like to go as low as I can in the bass, and cross over at around 100 to 150 Hz to the TBs. I know the Lab subs from Eminence are designed for horns or cabs, but anybody ever use them on an open baffle? Any reason they just wouldn't work for this? That would be one way to generate some bass down below 30 Hz, although without pretty big baffles most of it will be lost anyway. I've also considered boxing the subs since they'll be crossed so low. Any advice?

If you want to keep a smallish baffle, the Peerless XXLS 10" buyout at PE is hard to beat for open baffle. In pairs, they can be had for as little as $88 each. In addition to the quantity of bass these things put out, the quality is extremely good. With their cast baskets and silent motors, there are almost no artifacts produced by the driver itself. Mine sound great on a 14" wide baffle, along with a 3" full range driver. I am biamping along with a slight house curve applied to correct dipole roll-off. They roll off at 250Hz with a 24dB/octave slope. The entire rig is very clean and clear, and they can play loud.