First DIY Project

[DIY_newbie]

Hey guys,

As you can probably guess from my login name, this will be my first attempt at DIY Audio. I just bought a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 100's and I was looking at subwoofers to go with them when the thought occured to me that I might be able to build one instead. Seems like an easy way to start, only one driver/type of driver so the cross over should be simple.. Then I started reading the boards and now I'm thinking its alot harder then I initially expected .. I was hoping some of you could lend me a hand. My main speakers are good to 44Hz, so I'm just looking to fill in the really subterranian bass with the sub. I want it to be musical, not the typicall HT type sub, but it will also be used for the LFE channel when I watch movies so I would like it to extend into the teens

Thanks in advance,

--Chris

[Hybrid fourdoor]

maybe one of the PartsExpress subwwofer kits might be your thing. You get really good product thats already been designed, but you get to put it together...so its till DIY

$350 you get everything you need, buy they have others as well


BTW: hi to fellow DFW'er

[Hybrid fourdoor]

Also if your more into not spending money

read my response in this thread....post # 10.

You can build the cabinet for less than $50. Then buy a 12" dayton regular sub and plate amp (all from PartsExpress) and it will probably run you $200 total.

[DIY_newbie]

Thanks for the quick responses. I looked at the PEx subwoofer kits, but I think I want something that will extend lower. Since I started looking I have donw some modeling in WinIsd. How accurate are the results from WinIsd? It looks like i could design a sub with F3 around 16Hz with a Adire DLP12 and their 15" passive radiator. Is this too advanced as a starting point? Any other driver/box type recomendations? I did some reading on the forum about Linkwitz transforms and sealed boxes giving the flattest/most musical sound? Any comments/input would be greatly apreciated!

--Chris

[Dave Jones]

I recently built a sub. I've only had it a few days. So far, I'm very happy with it. I will definitely go down looooow. Check out the recent thread:

10" XLS semi-finished

[DIY_newbie]

Heres a plot and the PR setup of my theoretical box using the Adire DPL12 and PR15

I would like to know if this is a good design? WinIsd shows a completly flat response, is this realistic? Do I need any kind of equalization? Lowpass filter?

Box = 144L



--Chris

[454Casull]

No, you won't need any equalization. You've got pretty good response down past 20Hz, and room gain will push that up even more.

No, the flat response isn't realistic at all, you'll get nulls and peaks in the room. The flat line is just to show the rolloff of the driver in ideal conditions given the parameters you input.

[DIY_newbie]

I noticed a couple of threads about building cylindrical Subs from Sonotubes. All the designs I saw had the drivers mounted on the bottom and the ports as well. If I want to do a passive radiator can I mount the driver on the bottom and the PR on top? or vice versa? Or do I need to do a cube in order to use a PR? Are there any advantages to doing an MDF cube instead of a sonotube? Do i need to add braces to my sub? What sort of bracing do I need?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm totally new to this!

--Chris

[Jim85IROC]

Other than being a collecting point for dust and children's toys, having the passive radiator on the top shouldn't pose much of a problem as long as you don't have too much mass attached to the cone.

You could always save yourself some money and use a port instead of a passive radiator. With a sonotube style sub, I would think it would be more practical due to the upfacing PR that you just mentioned.

[johninCR]

Passive Radiators should not be mounted horizontally. Gravity has too much of an impact with only the suspension to correct it.