Can someone please point me to subwoofers ( DIY or commercial) made using multiple smaller drivers (5.25" - 6.5")?
The idea of using multiple smaller drivers has always appealed to me and I remember at least one such company carrying a sub in their portfolio but am unable to find it.
Thanks in advance,
Goldy
The idea of using multiple smaller drivers has always appealed to me and I remember at least one such company carrying a sub in their portfolio but am unable to find it.
Thanks in advance,
Goldy
What is your reasoning behind this? You will get better results by using one big driver, as for the same money lots of small drivers will be cheap ones, against one really good quality big one. Also the small drivers will most likely have lower resonance frequency so need (more) equalisation.
Hi Richie00boy
The reasons are many
1) Its for a line array where the mids start from 500hz. A bigger driver will not be able to go that high.
2) I assume that eq may be used to bring in the desired low end response. 4 (or even 6) 6.5" woofers per side in a stereo setup can take ample power and have quite decent excursion. I am aware that both of these are required in plenty if eq is used.
3)I donot have access to good quality big drivers, whereas mid woofers like wavecor are easily available.
I am looking at existing designs to see how they fare. With room gain I intend to have F3 of 25hz in room response.
The reasons are many
1) Its for a line array where the mids start from 500hz. A bigger driver will not be able to go that high.
2) I assume that eq may be used to bring in the desired low end response. 4 (or even 6) 6.5" woofers per side in a stereo setup can take ample power and have quite decent excursion. I am aware that both of these are required in plenty if eq is used.
3)I donot have access to good quality big drivers, whereas mid woofers like wavecor are easily available.
I am looking at existing designs to see how they fare. With room gain I intend to have F3 of 25hz in room response.
I was about to tell you to look at the 6" subs from DLS for car audio, but then noticed you wish to run them up to 500Hz. Quite high for a subwoofer 
I'd suggest rethinking the lower cutoff and going for ~50Hz with a 24dB high pass, and then using a 'conventional' 12" or 15" subwoofer for the bottom end. This allows you a much larger choice of bass drivers and gives you some headroom in your design.
Rob.
I'd suggest rethinking the lower cutoff and going for ~50Hz with a 24dB high pass, and then using a 'conventional' 12" or 15" subwoofer for the bottom end. This allows you a much larger choice of bass drivers and gives you some headroom in your design.
Rob.
In klang+ton from this month is a subwoofer project with 4 raptor 6 woofers from monacor
http://www.lloxx.de/testberichte/heft-downloads/klang-ton/klang-ton-22009.html
http://www.lloxx.de/testberichte/heft-downloads/klang-ton/klang-ton-22009.html
parts express project "the boogie man"
http://www.parts-express.com/projectshowcase/indexn.cfm?project=Boogieman
http://www.parts-express.com/projectshowcase/indexn.cfm?project=Boogieman
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
What about this?
http://www.system-audio.com/_da-DK/Content/Data/PDF/Brochure/engelsk/SE100 intl.pdf
What about the performance of such subs? It uses only 4 13 cm EQed ordinary woofers. Though I do understand that, given the power and Xmax demands of active eq, its not easy to substitute bigger subs, yet I want to know what can be achieved with good ordinary woofers built similar to the one mentioned. I am sure folks have already tried this approach.
http://www.system-audio.com/_da-DK/Content/Data/PDF/Brochure/engelsk/SE100 intl.pdf
What about the performance of such subs? It uses only 4 13 cm EQed ordinary woofers. Though I do understand that, given the power and Xmax demands of active eq, its not easy to substitute bigger subs, yet I want to know what can be achieved with good ordinary woofers built similar to the one mentioned. I am sure folks have already tried this approach.
Thanks for the info.
Hey, OP, I have a flat-ish (relating to physical dimensions - only six inches high, but as wide and long as a bed) fourth order, expanding hyperbolic port, quasi-subwoofer positioned beneath my bed. It uses eight - four inch, pro-audio midrange drivers placed side-by-side to form a "V" in the diamond shaped compression chamber. The port opens from the smaller side of the "V" splits, folds over itself and the compression chamber then re-combines into a truncated, folded hyperbolic horn.
I'm not saying it's great, but it makes use of wasted space, uses some drivers I already had lying around, creates a helluva lot of nice woof - but not really subwoof - while completely disappearing in the gnarly harshness of a wife-friendly environment.
I broke most of the rules and it still works. It is really flat, dimensionally, uses a multitude of small drivers crossed over a full octave below their resonant frequencies, but tweaked up with some equalization. I can watch movies or listen to music in bed, with a decent bass sound, which is all that was missing, before.
Any slowness (or at least most of it), associated with a fourth order design is mostly offset by the fact that the bass box is closer to the listening position than any other driver.
I know you are looking for something to enhance a linear array, so I doubt this will help, but the fact is, any driver can be horn loaded to improve its performance. When combined into an array though, the sound of the array will mostly resemble the sound of one driver alone, just arrayed into a column.
If you're using multiples of a certain driver, what ever the characteristics of that specific driver are, the sound of the arrayed combination will be similar to the sound of a single driver. This is why Bose speakers don't work well without their proprietary equalization and amplification.
Hey, OP, I have a flat-ish (relating to physical dimensions - only six inches high, but as wide and long as a bed) fourth order, expanding hyperbolic port, quasi-subwoofer positioned beneath my bed. It uses eight - four inch, pro-audio midrange drivers placed side-by-side to form a "V" in the diamond shaped compression chamber. The port opens from the smaller side of the "V" splits, folds over itself and the compression chamber then re-combines into a truncated, folded hyperbolic horn.
I'm not saying it's great, but it makes use of wasted space, uses some drivers I already had lying around, creates a helluva lot of nice woof - but not really subwoof - while completely disappearing in the gnarly harshness of a wife-friendly environment.
I broke most of the rules and it still works. It is really flat, dimensionally, uses a multitude of small drivers crossed over a full octave below their resonant frequencies, but tweaked up with some equalization. I can watch movies or listen to music in bed, with a decent bass sound, which is all that was missing, before.
Any slowness (or at least most of it), associated with a fourth order design is mostly offset by the fact that the bass box is closer to the listening position than any other driver.
I know you are looking for something to enhance a linear array, so I doubt this will help, but the fact is, any driver can be horn loaded to improve its performance. When combined into an array though, the sound of the array will mostly resemble the sound of one driver alone, just arrayed into a column.
If you're using multiples of a certain driver, what ever the characteristics of that specific driver are, the sound of the arrayed combination will be similar to the sound of a single driver. This is why Bose speakers don't work well without their proprietary equalization and amplification.
here is a line array sub using 12 TB 5" minisubs
http://www.lautsprechershop.de/hifi/twentyfive_s12_en.htm
http://www.lautsprechershop.de/hifi/twentyfive_s12_en.htm
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
what will this be used for???
I would like to know the purpose of this subwoofer - is it for music??? which kind???
Theoretically, you could use 4x 6" drivers to create the equivalent area of a 12" driver. You would need a lot of throw on these drivers if you are going to use equalisation aswell.
What amp you thinking of using???
Do you have access to better???
How low do you want this to go???
Answer these and we can probably help...
I would like to know the purpose of this subwoofer - is it for music??? which kind???
Theoretically, you could use 4x 6" drivers to create the equivalent area of a 12" driver. You would need a lot of throw on these drivers if you are going to use equalisation aswell.
What amp you thinking of using???
Do you have access to better???
How low do you want this to go???
Answer these and we can probably help...
Looks like you're either going to end up with something massive, or use equalisation.
The latter would be cheaper, and easier, however, it involves getting very specific components. I know of HT systems which use a 6.5" driver to do the low rumbly stuff on films quite well. Several of these (or smaller) would probably work.
Do you have the TS parameters for the drivers you have???
If you do, we could all go to winISD and draw up some pretty (or not) graphs for you.
From what I know, these drivers are going to need to have a decent amount of throw, and good power handling, if you want to equalise this sub.
The horn idea is an option, but there is a lot more work involved in making them perfect, and the wood-working on some of them is phenominal. So it's your choice - sealed (or ported if you wish), equalised, or a tapped horn.
The latter would be cheaper, and easier, however, it involves getting very specific components. I know of HT systems which use a 6.5" driver to do the low rumbly stuff on films quite well. Several of these (or smaller) would probably work.
Do you have the TS parameters for the drivers you have???
If you do, we could all go to winISD and draw up some pretty (or not) graphs for you.
From what I know, these drivers are going to need to have a decent amount of throw, and good power handling, if you want to equalise this sub.
The horn idea is an option, but there is a lot more work involved in making them perfect, and the wood-working on some of them is phenominal. So it's your choice - sealed (or ported if you wish), equalised, or a tapped horn.
I am new to all this, but am interested in the general subject. What about using 20 Goldwood GW-406D's in a 450L vented cabinet. Tuned to 40hz... This is an idea I had for a PA portable subwoofer... I have built an 8x10" 980 liter box which I think is quite nice, but have not had a chance to 'test'. I am a fan of the idea, but obviously if it were so simple... I would think everyone would be doing it. There must be catches.
Here is 20 406D's in WinISD. The beautiful curve is with 1150 Liters, the not so beautiful is 450 Liters tuned to 40hz. Holds 36hz @ -3db, this is better than most PA woofers... Over 130db continuous at 1000 watts.
Here is 20 406D's in WinISD. The beautiful curve is with 1150 Liters, the not so beautiful is 450 Liters tuned to 40hz. Holds 36hz @ -3db, this is better than most PA woofers... Over 130db continuous at 1000 watts.
Hi chris661,
Pls find my responses below.
"I know of HT systems which use a 6.5" driver to do the low rumbly stuff on films quite well. Several of these (or smaller) would probably work."
How many 6.5" and how many 5.25" 'typical' woofers?
"Do you have the TS parameters for the drivers you have???"
I haven't purchased yet, but they are woofers intended for both ported/sealed alignments.
"From what I know, these drivers are going to need to have a decent amount of throw, and good power handling, if you want to equalise this sub."
Are there any thumb rules to arrive at throw capability and power handling if eq is used? I know if we have sufficient drivers, it will work. But whats the minimum required? Lets consider dayton 6.5" (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=295-305) woofer as an example
"So it's your choice - sealed (or ported if you wish), equalised, or a tapped horn."
Sealed. I'd like to keep it simple and rely on room gain that is known to complement sealed systems the best.
Thanks,
Goldy
Pls find my responses below.
"I know of HT systems which use a 6.5" driver to do the low rumbly stuff on films quite well. Several of these (or smaller) would probably work."
How many 6.5" and how many 5.25" 'typical' woofers?
"Do you have the TS parameters for the drivers you have???"
I haven't purchased yet, but they are woofers intended for both ported/sealed alignments.
"From what I know, these drivers are going to need to have a decent amount of throw, and good power handling, if you want to equalise this sub."
Are there any thumb rules to arrive at throw capability and power handling if eq is used? I know if we have sufficient drivers, it will work. But whats the minimum required? Lets consider dayton 6.5" (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=295-305) woofer as an example
"So it's your choice - sealed (or ported if you wish), equalised, or a tapped horn."
Sealed. I'd like to keep it simple and rely on room gain that is known to complement sealed systems the best.
Thanks,
Goldy
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