diy subwoofer recommendations?

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Hello everyone. I am new to building subs. Could anyone recommend a diy kit for a really nice musical sub that could also hit the lows needed for ht? My price can not go over $1000. I know this is not a lot of money for a really nice sub but if the project goes much over that, I would just rather buy one that comes ready to go. Thanks for your time. It is appreciated.:)
 
Hi!

I don't know if the chassis is available in the US (and yeah, I also don't like the labelname, since I'm absolutely not into tekkno), but I would recommend the Zebulon Ultra, from one of the two German Speaker-DIY-Magazine.
It is cheap, and despite all expectations on such a 15" design, it is not boomy at all... I just (one hour ago) finished the sub (no paint yet, and some minor details still need work), and it is astonishing how deep, yet accurate it plays.
Take a look at
Example of a Zebulon Ultra

, they show you how it's built (not entirely uncomplicated) and how it looks (and don't underestimate its size, it weighs roughly 60 kg, about 60 * 60 * 46 cm).

I would say that there is no better sub for about 160 $ (chassis + wood + screws + material).

If the chassis is available, I could even send the construction plan.


I was just listening to it playing "Bohren & Der Club Of Gore", a German Jazz combo (having invented what they call "Horror Jazz", and the bass is such an improvement over my last sub (a 12" chassis mounted into a 55 l bassreflex volume)... My old sub was just boomy (and actually this one is more quiet), but this one goes down to the deepest volumes without hesitating.

I drive it with a "The End Millenium" diy amp, which should put out about 250 W RMS into 4 ohms. Maybe I will build something stronger later this year...

But probably most people would disagree with me because the "ingredients" for this sub just seem to be too cheap... But I'm happy with it...

Bye,

Arndt
 
After doing a lot of looking, I settled on an Adire Audio 15" driver with an AVA 250W plate amp from Adire in a relatively small, sealed enclosure. I'm building it now, so no promises. Other options are the various combos at Parts Express, and the Stryke drivers looked very interesting as well.

http://www.adireaudio.com
http://www.partsexpress.com
http://www.stryke.com
 
I agree about the DPL12. Unless you need insane levels it is a great choice.

For the amp and cabinet, check out Rythmik Audio. They sell a very nice plate amp for about $150, and cabinets for a similar price. Best of all, their amps are available with a Linkwitz Transform to extend the response of the subs.

http://www.rythmikaudio.com

So you could build a pair of them for under your budget.

Cheers

Steve
 
Thanks for your suggestions. To answer a few questions:
$1000 for the entire project which would have to include amp and crossovers. It needs to hit pretty hard at 25hz. As long as the sub is not bigger than my couch I'll be alright with it. I don't need stereo subs, although if I can get the same output with two smaller subs, I would consider it. Does anyone know about the adire titan?
thanx for your input.
 
My suggestion: if you can't get the TS parameters, don't get the driver. Otherwise you won't know if it will be suited to a design that you like. This can cause problems like:
you want vented but you can't fit a vent in the box that is big enough without port noise - so you end up needing passive radiators
you might find that it won't have as much SPL as you thought
it might need a box bigger than you can accept

The list goes on ...

Also, consider looking beyond what you can get locally - check with overseas suppliers if they ship to your location, and ask for quotes for shipping cost (and how long it will take) ... don't forget to add customs.

Hope this helps,
Paul
 
Even if you are new, you have more options than just kits. There are so many DIY subs on the net, you could for example, copy a design and get all the parts yourself, if you figure you get better value that way, or just find something you like more.

A few things you might consider:
*do you want it for music or home theatre? which is priority?
*plate amps vs power amps with crossover/processor added - if you want a lot of power you can get a 2nd hand PA amp and it can work out cheaper than a plate amp, but a plate amp is usually enough and a simpler option

I suggest giving yourself a chance to see quite a few different DIY projects on the net so you don't rush out and build the first good idea then see something someone else has done "if only I had seen that before ...."

Stryke, Adire, Parts Express, Madisound, Acoustic Visions, etc - all good places to start
 
Paul,

I had a look at your website. Very nice aesthetics for the proposed cabinets. Just as a matter of interest, how are you shipping the AV12s out?

On other thought comes to mind regarding your assumptions on room gain. I have a similar sized room, although my ceilings are double the height of yours, and room gain is not as robust as predicted in models, and varies wildly because of room modes anyway.

Are you planning on using something like the Behringer Feedback Destroyer to kill peaks? If so (and I would recommend it), it can be used to counter room gain, or give you a low frequency boost like a Linkwitz Transform.

I have an EBS aligned sub (with an Adire DPL12) but ended up sealing it because of the driver unloading on subsonic bass. I personally would go with one of the sealed alignments and EQ to taste from there.

Cheers

Steve
 
Steve,

Glad you like, thanks for the comments. I also had a look at your website some time ago and would like to one day build something like your open baffle dipoles as my "ultimate speaker" ... in the meantime I'm into things not so difficult ... I liked your website and graphics as well, very well presented

The AV12's are coming out from the US surface mail ... VERY long wait ... still waiting .....

I have heard of the Behringer unit, not planning to use it so far, don't know much about it. I may consider it however ... haven't had a chance to set this thing up yet and experiment.

I'm assuming you use your sub for home theatre only? I hear people who get into open baffle bass never want to go back to anything with a box.

Hope I'm not breaking any rules here about getting off topic ...

anyway, I can be reached via email as well

cheers,
Paul
 
I use the sub for HT and DVD-A/SACD, but I am playing with it crossed in at 30Hz for the occasional really deep, really loud stuff I play.

I do think the BFD is a very important part of any DIY (or otherwise) sub and that it would be well worth checking out. I use mine to flatten the room response and then give a slight rise towards 20Hz.

They are $260 in Oz, and around $120 in the States.

How long have you been waiting for the shipment to land, ie since it left Stryke?

Cheers

Steve
 
I've been toying with the idea of building my first sub as well. As I go round and round the message boards and parts supplier sites I find myself more and more looping back to the Rythmik Audio site.
http://www.rythmikaudio.com/index.htm
He offers there a kit that includes a 350w plate amp with an integrated Linkwitz Transfer matched to a 12" really high quality driver. Don't know who he sources for the driver but it looks familiar - pictures of it are on the site. All the above for 319 dollars. Nice thing is that with the LT circuit included you can tuck this stuff into a 42 to 54 liter sealed box for some pretty impressive performance (according to specs). I'd love to hear from others what luck they've had from this kit. When you consider all the time, money, and noodling you'd have to do on your own to get an amp, driver and LT circuit working together, this seems like a great start for a beginner.
 
Bluebeard, it does look like a very good kit. But the best features about it you didn't mention - the directservo for low distortion and the way the amp and speaker are designed together as a system. The driver is unique to Rythmic, similarities in appearance may be due to either using something that is similar (a lot of cast baskets look the same and are in fact a little generic, esp if you see the stepped part at the back to which spider is attached), or that it uses similar parts to other drivers. Also of particular interest with this driver its low inductance, which is always desirable but often not achieved with high excursion drivers, certainly not the more budget ones.

I haven't heard of anyone using this kit, however it does certainly look very interesting. In fact I would consider it very good value. I have had discussions with Brian Ding from Rythmic who frequents the DIY speakers list (bass list), and he is very helpful. I don't think you can go wrong with this kit.
 
Paulspencer - the direct servo is a slightly differerent beast. It actually does look a little more intruiging than the non-servo "combo kit" I was referring to. But with all respect to the designer, as a beginner I'm a little concerned with the fact that the servo kit represents an amp and driver that are dedicated to one another. You can't change your mind down the road on either of them or, indeed, should you need to replace one of them and Rythmik is no longer in business, or the model or driver is otherwise unavailable. Still, at these reasonable prices, this may not matter to some folks. I'm really looking for something right in budget, and adaptable to whatever I may want to change in the future. The 350watt "combo Kit" is a non-servo system with a LW transform circuit that is matched to rythmiks driver. He sells it without the driver as well, but advises that you're kind of on your own in determining certain variable component values in the LT circuit should you use your own.
 
With directservo you get the best of both worlds - the value of diy and ability to make it how you want and the technology usually only available to pricey comercial high end subs. As far as flexibility to change later on ... that's only needed if you make a bad decision IMO. If you get something not suited to your goals. If you start with quality subs, then you can upgrade by scaling them up by adding more of them. But if you try to sell it, it's probably a bad idea, you won't get much. I would decide based on performance rather than the ability to change drivers later on.
 
bluebeard said:
... as a beginner I'm a little concerned with the fact that the servo kit represents an amp and driver that are dedicated to one another. You can't change your mind down the road on either of them or, indeed, should you need to replace one of them and Rythmik is no longer in business, or the model or driver is otherwise unavailable.... .

I fully understand the concern. First, the driver is just like any regular driver. I post the T/S parameters on the web. The same driver is also used in the non-servo kit to demonstrate there is nothing special about the driver that it cannot be used with regular amps. This is all because the sensing coil in the driver is very thin. In terms of flexibility, we are working towards that direction. As the first step, we have a dual mode directservo kit. That is, one can use either sealed or vented box by just a toggle of switch (and you get flat response down to 20hz with both configurations). No other kits can do that. The deal is that you can re-used the driver for different projects. That is the value we would like to add to the kit.

Lastly, if misfortune happens to the business, I will make the circuit design open to public and anyone can pick up from there.

Brian D.

Rythmik Audio
 
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