How to get the most SPL from two w6-1139SCs

[edjosh23]

I bought two of these Tang Band w6-1139SC from a local audio shop during the summer (had lots of money at the time) when I was getting some other things at the store. I wanted to get two of these to fool around with. That weekend I threw a box together. I'm new to woodwork so everything takes a long time, but I really just threw this together in about 1.5 hours. It is a 1ft^3 bass reflex cube tuned to 35hz.

A friend of mine gave me a pro audio speaker with a built in 250w amp last week. Tonight I was able to tear apart the pro audio speaker and hook the amplifier up to my w6s. The play low frequencies, but there is no SPL. I was planning on building a really nice sub when I got the funds, but since there is no more summer there is no more work, only school.

I wanted to know what you all would suggest to get the maximum SPL out of these two w6-1139s.

Thanks,

Josh

[simon5]

Check your enclosure for air leaks. That size with that much power tuned to 35 Hz should give enough SPL, about 105-110 dB.

[edjosh23]

After I built the enclosure I knew it had air leaks because it was so poorly built, so I went back and put silicone in every joint. There is a small airleak where I missed putting a screw into the vent so I think right below the vent is a small hole where a screw went through, but otherwise that should be the only hole. Because the joints aren't super tight the box vibrates quite a bit.

I used to be big into car audio and obviously these can't compare to my single eD 13kv.2 with 400w, but these don't seem to have even half of the output or anywhere near it. So I can't compare these to much except for car audio that I have built.

Will things like a larger port area give me more spl?

Thanks,

Josh

[simon5]

Larger port area will give you less port noise at high SPL, not higher SPL. Did you check the tuning to be sure it's 35 Hz?

Did you close the small screw hole? That could rob you some SPL for sure.

What kind of wood thickness did you use? Vibrations kill the SPL, since you're from car audio I think you know that hehe! Put a bunch of heavy books on the sub and use wood clamps to hold the box together, check if SPL climbs.

You're comparing two 6 inches to a 13 inches with twice the power. In theory it would take 5 drivers of 6 inches to equal the output of your 13 inches, so you lose about 5 dB here. Also your old 13 inches had more excursion so better low end and also had a twice as powerful amplifier so another 3 dB you lose there, so 8 dB lost in total.

8 dB is near 10 dB which is in fact usually considered as twice as loud for our ears, go wonder hehe!

[simon5]

You could get way higher SPL, with a horn, but you said your woodworking skills are poor. A project like this would improve them for sure on the other hand.

[edjosh23]

I built the box from scrap .5" mdf.

The eD13kv.2 is actually a 12" Here is the link

I'm not poor at woodwork, I'm just new to it and 17 years old. This project was poor woodwork, because I didn't want to spend any money on a box and I just wanted to listen to them.

I start many projects by just adding cheap speakers to my bill. For example I bought some pioneer B20s when I was buying some crossover parts and a tweeter for my wr125. I found myself a week later building boxes for them out of scrap wood, and now I've built some pretty nice boxes out of them (check the web link).

I'm not afraid of building a horn because of woodwork by any means, but I'm afraid of the mouth area. I was also considering an MLTL, but the line would be gigantic and I'm not sure I want to give that much room to these 6.5" speakers.

Right now I have some bookes on the subwoofer because my room is too cluttered.

Thanks,

Josh

[rjon17469]

You might want to look into a TL. Right now I'm listening to a Tang Band W5-1138SG (the 5" little brother to your driver) in a tapered TL, tuned to 35 Hz. When placed in a dorm room (where I am right now), it reaches down into the 20's. Box size is 11.25" wide, 12.25" tall, and 18" deep. Amazing little sub. Great sound, and I still haven't bottomed it out. I started on the project about 3/'4 a year ago (when I was 17 as well), and it took me about 1/2 a year while in school to design and build. Worth every minute.

Reece

[edjosh23]

Wow, very small. How long is the line? Can you tell me more?

Thanks,

Josh

[rjon17469]

Sure thing!

The speaker uses a single TB 5" driver (the one I mentioned previously), forward firing. The design has 3 folds, each spanning the full depth of the enclosure, ending in a front-firing terminus next to the driver. The closed (driver) side of the TL measures 5 x 7 inches, while the terminus measures 5 x 2 inches. The first quarter of the enclosure is stuffed with acousta-stuff, at a density of 1 lb per cubic foot. I don't have a picture (working on that - soon), but I believe I have a few CAD drawings laying around. The walls are all 3/4" MDF

Quarter-wave resonance is 35 Hz. 1 watt will get you to about 85 dB (there is a slight boost over the base sensitivity). Obviously, this is not a HT "subwoofer". This speaker was designed to sound as good as possible for music on a limited budget (about $40 spent on this thing) and in relatively small space (to help you get into my head in terms of the SQ I wanted, ported was out of the question). In smaller rooms, it's amazing. In larger rooms, I think it might be lacking. My current room is approx 15x15x8, and it has taken things off the wall (and opened cabinets in the next room over).

For reference, I measured about 110 dB from this speaker in a smaller dorm room at 1 M at 30 Hz, with over 100 dB into the 20's, corner loaded. So, it goes loud enough for anything I need. The sound is very tight, and slightly harsh. The previous subwoofer this replaced was a bass reflex design, which was not as tight, and had a lot more of a mellow sound to it. So, it depends on what you want.

All in all, I love it. If you want some drawings or more plans, let me know!

Reece

Edit: All that, and I still didn't answer your question! The line is about 69 inches long.

[rjon17469]

One other thing I might add for your current subwoofer is to give it some break-in time. Both the current subwoofer I built, and the previous one I bought, when new had very poor SPL capabilities. However, with break-in, both became much sweeter.

Reece