I want to build a new HT subwoofer in the crawlspace of my home, without cutting holes in my floor. Crazy, I know.
The floor joists are 16" apart and the floor itself is 1/2" thick "oriented strand board" (the super cheap glued together composite stuff). There is a half inch of foam on top of that, followed by carpet.
My thought is to build a super stiff sealed enclosure in my crawlspace with a closed chamber that absorbs the back wave, forcing sound to travel through the floor into my living room. Essentially using my floor as the subwoofer.
Is this possible?
Wife factor is a big deal. I have a 2.4 cu ft sealed sub in my living room and she complains about it. Too big, gets in the way, yada yada yada
My living room is open to the dining room and kitchen, leaving a space of 18'x34'x9'. While my Dayton Ref 12" sounds nice, it struggles.
Can this work?
If I do need to cut a vent in the floor (***cringe***), how big?
The floor joists are 16" apart and the floor itself is 1/2" thick "oriented strand board" (the super cheap glued together composite stuff). There is a half inch of foam on top of that, followed by carpet.
My thought is to build a super stiff sealed enclosure in my crawlspace with a closed chamber that absorbs the back wave, forcing sound to travel through the floor into my living room. Essentially using my floor as the subwoofer.
Is this possible?
Wife factor is a big deal. I have a 2.4 cu ft sealed sub in my living room and she complains about it. Too big, gets in the way, yada yada yada
My living room is open to the dining room and kitchen, leaving a space of 18'x34'x9'. While my Dayton Ref 12" sounds nice, it struggles.
Can this work?
If I do need to cut a vent in the floor (***cringe***), how big?
Hard to get much excursion through a 1/2" thick wooden floor. Maybe moving area would help. I'd worry about buzzing and about the sub driver getting super pissed off from not having anywhere for its air to go.
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I realize I need to make some alterations....
I could probably drill 1/2" holes in the floor without anyone (wife) noticing. Two Dayton Reference 15s right under the couch, 4ft apart, with 6 cu ft sealed behind them could sound good.
I could probably drill 1/2" holes in the floor without anyone (wife) noticing. Two Dayton Reference 15s right under the couch, 4ft apart, with 6 cu ft sealed behind them could sound good.
Maybe one of those larger cast iron floor grills, like for return air to a furnace. The nice ones aren't cheap ($100+) but it is an option.
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Maybe move all your equipment out to the garage now as it sounds like you're really eager to please her as it is.
First off, neither OSB nor 1/2" thickness are allowed as flooring around here. I have to wonder about your findings. Second, can you build a box with an exit vent (think bandpass) you could run through the floor and make it look like a forced air heater vent?
Yeah, 1/2" OSB as a floor? That doesn't seem right.
The vent idea is a cool one, if you can make it work. Or lots and lots of bass shakers attached underneath the floor. 🙂
The vent idea is a cool one, if you can make it work. Or lots and lots of bass shakers attached underneath the floor. 🙂
23/32" OSB has been used for floors in the US for more than a decade. It is interchangeable with plywood.... But 1/2" thickness seems weird indeed.. at 16" joist spacing our floor would flex a LOT I can only imagine.
Anyway... an air return grill really sounds like your best bet to ventilate a subwoofer into the room.
If you're admin that there can't be holes think about attaching bass shakers to the subfloor as they are intended to be use in similar applications. Much easier to transmit vibrations using them than using a standard driver in an isolated box.
Anyway... an air return grill really sounds like your best bet to ventilate a subwoofer into the room.
If you're admin that there can't be holes think about attaching bass shakers to the subfloor as they are intended to be use in similar applications. Much easier to transmit vibrations using them than using a standard driver in an isolated box.
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Floor joist horn
I had the same WAF issues and came up with this and with time she got used to hole in the floor because 1) easy clean up after movie night, 2) sound is amazing.
The Crawler, A Floor joist horn build - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews
I had the same WAF issues and came up with this and with time she got used to hole in the floor because 1) easy clean up after movie night, 2) sound is amazing.
The Crawler, A Floor joist horn build - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews
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