Bass bin questions from a forum noob

[Dave71]

Morning all

I'm a dj doing a wide range of events, mainly weddings and birthdays and am looking to add a pair of bass bins to my current rig (pair rcf712 active) I currently have a single rcf 902active sub but although they sound very nice together in small venues at low vol it's no good for marquees/larger venues. The sub gets left behind and I end up running the tops on full range.

Active subs are ar too expensive and local retailers with sensibly priced quality subs are few and far between

So I'm thinking of building my own, probably a simple reflex type cab with a budget of aroung £500 for a pair.

I'm not after deep sub frequencies so something 60hz and above will do.
Spec im after is 500w rms per cab and spl of 130

The burring questions at the moment are what type of cabinet design is best suited for my needs and 15" vs 18"

What are the main pros and cons between 15" and 18?

All advice gratefully received

Dave

 

[Top Shelf]

You may want to extend that FR requirement down to 40 hz and above. There is a lot of musical information in modern dance music in the 40- 60 hz range... just a thought🙂

 

[Cal Weldon]

I would tend to Google it and get some ideas of size and weight etc. so you have a little background on your options. Everything is a compromise so you should have a better idea of what your bins can, and cannot be.

 

[weltersys]

So I'm thinking of building my own, probably a simple reflex type cab with a budget of aroung £500 for a pair.

I'm not after deep sub frequencies so something 60hz and above will do.
Spec im after is 500w rms per cab and spl of 130

The burring questions at the moment are what type of cabinet design is best suited for my needs and 15" vs 18"

What are the main pros and cons between 15" and 18?
Dave

For the upper octave of bass you specify (there is a lot of bass music in 30-60 Hz range) your options are many, not hard to get 130 dB of mid bass even from a pair of 12". Larger speakers in general require larger boxes, but are more efficient.

To get 130 dB from 500 watts £500 for a pair puts your options more towards horn loaded, which can use 1/2 to 1/4 the power to achieve the same level as a bass reflex, allowing less driver (but more wood) expense.

Traditional front loaded horns (FLH) require more space (and wood, and weight) than tapped horns (TH) for the same low frequency response.

For portability, the SS15 or the THAM are good TH choices for upper bass.
If you don't mind a larger cabinet, a single Keystone (which works well with 2x12", 1x 15", 1x18" or 1x 21") can achieve around 130 dB down to 35Hz.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/185588-keystone-sub-using-18-15-12-inch-speakers.html

I'm working on a design now using 2x12" that uses more power, is 1/3 the size but still has the same LF extension, a pair would put out more level than the Keystone 18, but be smaller.

In a single cabinet smaller than the SS15, a 2x12" using the B&CTBX100 can put out quite a bit more level over that limited frequency range.

Art

 

[m R g S r]

**** for 60hz and 500watts build two ss15's...can't beat that!

I use two on my beach radio setup and play all EDM (lots of content below 60hz) and they do fine with 300rms each!

 

[nigelwright7557]

For portability I would forget the horn loaded. Too big and too heavy.
A simple box would suffice.

I use a 18 inch eminence sigma pro (around £110) in a simple box and it is more than loud enough for my use as a DJ.

 

[m R g S r]

The ss15 is made from 1/2" ply and uses a 3015lf and weighs 50lbs total.

 

[Dave71]

Thanks for the replies

I know what you mean with music and the need to drop to 40hz but I have had complaints from some venues and 1 has banned bass bins altogether.

Also the thump you feel as opposed tp hear isn't always desirable

I have been looking at the cubo 15 using the kappa drivers and B&C Stuff but the drivers are very expensive