sub-woofer "coffee table"

[zafira1981]

Hi!!

I'm moving from my parents house to an small apartment. I have one room (4x3m) that will be for the home theater.

Actually my sub woofer is a bass-reflex 55cm x 45cm x 75cm, really big box for an small room.

I had the idea of making a sub-woofer box that acts as a table too, something like this:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

so, I don't have to use extra space for the sub, and it's quite cool idea to build a sub-woofer cofee table.

What I want to know is what type of subwoofer box is better for small rooms. Closed? vented? bass-reflex?

my speaker is a 18" RCF L18540P with this specs:

350W RMS
sens: 99.5db
max x-over freq 250hz
Fs: 34hz
Qms: 8
Qts: 0.34
Mms: 0.14kg
Cms: 0.00013m/N
Vas: 0.228m^3
Le (1khz): 1.23mH
BL Factor: 22.7 Tesla m
Reference efficiency: 3.34%
Peak linear displacement of diaphragm: +-4.5mm

of course, I wont be using it at 350W RMS,... but, I dont want to buy a new speaker, this is really good one.

EDIT:

a basic drawing:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

 

[AndrewT]

Hi,
the VAS and Qts indicate it will work better as a vented rather than sealed.
But vented will end up as a bass speaker not a sub.

If you can get it to work sealed then you have the option to use Linkwitz Reilly to extend the bass below resonance and get sub performance out of it, but this method requires a lot of equalisation and uses up power and Xmax resulting in lowish maximum output levels.
This may not be noticeable in a smallish room with the speaker quite close to the listener and there could also be some room gain to help with the lowest frequencies.

Let's see what other say.

Oh!
there is another way, fit it to a vented box that is by convention far too big and tune it low. This gets sub performance but only upto lower volumes. You need to do a lot of modelling in WINisd to find a combination that achieves the frequency response you want with adequate SPL and in a box that fits your table.

 

[zafira1981]

andrew, thanks for your reply.

After reading lot of pages, I decided to build a fourt order bandpass box.

My lower -3db frequency will be 30hz.
Vas = 228 liters
QTS = 0,34
FS = 34hz
18" speaker, Xmax = 4.5mm


after calculations,

volume of sealed box: 138 liters
volume of vented box: 52 liters
port diameter: 3" (76mm)
port length: 30mm


Can anyone tell me if this values are normal? I don't want to waste my money & time building something that is incorrect

thankssss

 

[mashaffer]

If you are going to put it in a coffee table you might want to consider Transmission Line or Tapped Horn to get more low bass out of it.

mike

 

[djk]

"volume of vented box: 52 liters
port diameter: 3" (76mm)
port length: 30mm"

T/S parameters for that driver do not indicated a BP4 enclosure. Vented size is too small and a cheap 10" driver will play louder.

"If you are going to put it in a coffee table you might want to consider Transmission Line or Tapped Horn to get more low bass out of it."

Agree.

1981

http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/catalogs/1982-home/page1.jpg

 

[Eva]

One more vote for attempting tapped horn