Newbie small subwoofer questions

DSB91 · 11th February 2008, 10:53 PM

I'm completely new to the speaker building community, and I thought it would be a fun, productive project to try. I have some limited hobby electronics experience, so I can build amps from kits, but I have a few questions about speaker design.

I am thinking about building a small set of 2.1 speakers, for example to be used with a laptop. My questions are about the subwoofer, since the satellites are a lot easier to work out. I am looking at using the Hivi B3N 3" midbass diver in a ported enclosure, with 1" mid-tweeters as satellites. I'm not looking for ear-bleeding power, just something that sounds better and deeper than laptop speakers on a Vaio SZ 440.

I tried using some internet calculators for ported enclosures, and found that I needed a box approximately 0.486 cubic feet in size. How much could I decrease that number and still have the speaker sound reasonable? Is it worth building a ported enclosure?

GM · 12th February 2008, 01:11 AM

Well, it really needs a TL wherein the whole cab is the vent due to its tiny Vas and high Qts.

GM

owdi · 12th February 2008, 03:24 AM

The HiVi B3N is not suitable for a vented enclosure. Check this out instead: http://www.zaphaudio.com/ZBM4.html

Dan

planet10 · 12th February 2008, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DSB91
Hivi B3N 3" midbass diver in a ported enclosure...approximately 0.486 cubic feet in size.

The B3N is challegened to get to 100 Hz or so, let alone be a woofer... and something is awry with a box that big for a 3" driver -- i can fit 1 or 2 SDX7 in that size box.

dave

judtoff · 13th February 2008, 05:53 PM

Agreed, I could put an 8" tang band 740C into that and it would work lol.

I wouldn't port that driver. And its going to have a hard time playing real low. But anything that size will.

How portable does the enclosure need to be?

Heres a "sub" that would work much better.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=264-831

Try a 0.5cuft box tuned to 40Hz.

That should get you from 35 to 100Hz with a decent amount of volume.

GM · 14th February 2008, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by owdi
The HiVi B3N is not suitable for a vented enclosure.

A TL is a vented enclosure, so why is it unsuited for TL loading?

GM

squib · 15th February 2008, 01:07 PM

Errr, did we all just mistake your intent? I was just about to chime in when I re-read your post. The HiVi B3N will be used in the
satellites. Are you planning on using a different driver for the bass unit?

What woofer/subwoofer driver did you model to get the 0.5 ft3 cabinet?

If you are looking for moderate levels of bass from a small cabinet, you might consider the Tang Band W5-1138 of W6 1139 drivers. There are a couple of projects using these for computer speaker 2.1 systems and office systems.

Here's one: cerebus design

It's an 11" cube (external) with a single W6-1139.

squib · 15th February 2008, 01:12 PM

Oops! Please disregard my last post. My re-reading skills need a tune-up

3" Hivi as mid/bass - 1" mid/tweeter as satellite. Got it.

Tang Band has a 4-inch "subwoofer" that might be suitable:

TB W4-992

Squib

11th February 2008, 10:53 PM	#1
DSB91 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2008	Newbie small subwoofer questions I'm completely new to the speaker building community, and I thought it would be a fun, productive project to try. I have some limited hobby electronics experience, so I can build amps from kits, but I have a few questions about speaker design. I am thinking about building a small set of 2.1 speakers, for example to be used with a laptop. My questions are about the subwoofer, since the satellites are a lot easier to work out. I am looking at using the Hivi B3N 3" midbass diver in a ported enclosure, with 1" mid-tweeters as satellites. I'm not looking for ear-bleeding power, just something that sounds better and deeper than laptop speakers on a Vaio SZ 440. I tried using some internet calculators for ported enclosures, and found that I needed a box approximately 0.486 cubic feet in size. How much could I decrease that number and still have the speaker sound reasonable? Is it worth building a ported enclosure?

12th February 2008, 01:11 AM	#2
GM diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Chamblee, Ga.	Well, it really needs a TL wherein the whole cab is the vent due to its tiny Vas and high Qts. GM __________________ Loud is Beautiful if it's Clean! As always though, the usual disclaimers apply to this post's contents.

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12th February 2008, 03:24 AM	#3
owdi diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bellevue, WA	The HiVi B3N is not suitable for a vented enclosure. Check this out instead: http://www.zaphaudio.com/ZBM4.html Dan

13th February 2008, 05:53 PM	#5
judtoff diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Goderich	Agreed, I could put an 8" tang band 740C into that and it would work lol. I wouldn't port that driver. And its going to have a hard time playing real low. But anything that size will. How portable does the enclosure need to be? Heres a "sub" that would work much better. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=264-831 Try a 0.5cuft box tuned to 40Hz. That should get you from 35 to 100Hz with a decent amount of volume.

15th February 2008, 01:07 PM	#7
squib diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2007	Errr, did we all just mistake your intent? I was just about to chime in when I re-read your post. The HiVi B3N will be used in the satellites. Are you planning on using a different driver for the bass unit? What woofer/subwoofer driver did you model to get the 0.5 ft3 cabinet? If you are looking for moderate levels of bass from a small cabinet, you might consider the Tang Band W5-1138 of W6 1139 drivers. There are a couple of projects using these for computer speaker 2.1 systems and office systems. Here's one: cerebus design It's an 11" cube (external) with a single W6-1139.

15th February 2008, 01:12 PM	#8
squib diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2007	Oops! Please disregard my last post. My re-reading skills need a tune-up 3" Hivi as mid/bass - 1" mid/tweeter as satellite. Got it. Tang Band has a 4-inch "subwoofer" that might be suitable: TB W4-992 Squib

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