I fairly recently purchased 1 unit of this driver for a subwoofer build. I'm looking for 1. punchy midbass, and 2. decent bass extension, in that order. I want to feel this subwoofer hit me on the chest with well-recorded kick drums basically. These are my two ideas so far:
1. Single driver in a ~0.6 Qtc, 0.75 cu.ft. sealed enclosure.
2. Two Drivers in a ~0.6 Qtc, 1.75 cu.ft. sealed enclosure.
I will be running this using a miniDSP unit with my mains, so EQ-ing won't be a problem.
All ideas and comments are welcome
1. Single driver in a ~0.6 Qtc, 0.75 cu.ft. sealed enclosure.
2. Two Drivers in a ~0.6 Qtc, 1.75 cu.ft. sealed enclosure.
I will be running this using a miniDSP unit with my mains, so EQ-ing won't be a problem.
All ideas and comments are welcome
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you Can get a decent kick and fast sound using a ported enclosure, just ensure you tune the box lower so the main kick range is via direct radiation and the added lower resonance is more from the port/phase match between port and direct radiation, tuned to 28 or 25 would be fine, but would mean larger cabinets and ideally more than one
for sealed I would suggest 2 as well because 2 is better
if the room isnt all to big and the listening levels not too immense one would suffice
sounds like one or 2 of these in moderately sized sealed enclosures is what you want. if you wanted them to sound tighter with the expense of lower output you could shrink the box size and rely more heavily on amplification but i wouldn't recommend that personally.. why make something inefficient and heat up the voice coil.. There is a good Mean box size for all sealed drivers that should yeald good results. where the box is still forming a good vacuum for that more fast tight kick bass region
to make a system do one thing well try to focus on the system as a whole,
for sealed I would suggest 2 as well because 2 is better
if the room isnt all to big and the listening levels not too immense one would suffice
sounds like one or 2 of these in moderately sized sealed enclosures is what you want. if you wanted them to sound tighter with the expense of lower output you could shrink the box size and rely more heavily on amplification but i wouldn't recommend that personally.. why make something inefficient and heat up the voice coil.. There is a good Mean box size for all sealed drivers that should yeald good results. where the box is still forming a good vacuum for that more fast tight kick bass region
to make a system do one thing well try to focus on the system as a whole,
If you are looking for punch, you need one thing that is obvious, and one that is not.
- Solid output down to something in the 30odd Hz region
- With very solid output in the bassmid - 80-300 odd Hz region
Without that second somewhat higher frequency being strong (you probably want a couple of parametric EQ's to get things right) a heap of bass just sounds sad and muddy.
Do try not to mix deep bass in the same driver with output in the hundreds of Hz - as again, things just get muddy.
+1 on multiple bass drivers.
Big sound needs big air volumes being moved.
- Solid output down to something in the 30odd Hz region
- With very solid output in the bassmid - 80-300 odd Hz region
Without that second somewhat higher frequency being strong (you probably want a couple of parametric EQ's to get things right) a heap of bass just sounds sad and muddy.
Do try not to mix deep bass in the same driver with output in the hundreds of Hz - as again, things just get muddy.
+1 on multiple bass drivers.
Big sound needs big air volumes being moved.
sound boxes. instruments in themselves. all we do is do the best with what we can, trying to build several that aline a in phase wave in phase throughout the band of our hearing but there will be, harmonics
so its more just matching drivers boxes and room to get something that sounds good. and many systems can sound good. but unless your god himself they will all differ. spice of life as they say
for a drum kick to sound good. the mid range energy needs to be good for example.
what are your mains? if the rooms not to large I would recommend you use a Sealed enclosure, goodish sise so you still get some lower resonence and as usal a trade off, but if you padded it atleast your, metioned mid bass bandwith will be leveler.
so its more just matching drivers boxes and room to get something that sounds good. and many systems can sound good. but unless your god himself they will all differ. spice of life as they say
for a drum kick to sound good. the mid range energy needs to be good for example.
what are your mains? if the rooms not to large I would recommend you use a Sealed enclosure, goodish sise so you still get some lower resonence and as usal a trade off, but if you padded it atleast your, metioned mid bass bandwith will be leveler.
thats why to me small ported subs are basically didgerydoos of different sizes only worse. just chose a good fundemental tuning if you use ported/helmsholmz resonence
though you probably wish to cross this low and many would agree I would recon your 'kick range' will be better with it up to about 250 at a intuated guess, and that like the rest will need carefull placement.. somewhere behind the mains to the side
though you probably wish to cross this low and many would agree I would recon your 'kick range' will be better with it up to about 250 at a intuated guess, and that like the rest will need carefull placement.. somewhere behind the mains to the side
I have a pair of these drivers. I loaded them in a 25 liters bass reflex. Excellent for music.
It can go down to 35Hz (-3dB) in a slightly larger 35 liter enclosure.
Click for TS and Box Sim
Thanks for all the comments and ideas guys. I will keep them all in mind as I move forward with this project. This forum rocks 
My current mains are 0.58cu.ft. ported bookshelf speakers with Fountek NeoCD3.5h/Usher 9950-20 tweeters and Vifa NE180W-08 woofers. I'd say they do really good bass down to around 40hz (tuning is 41Hz) but I'd still want to assign the lower frequencies to a dedicated hifi subwoofer, maybe cross around 100Hz or whatever is optimal for my room.
From what I've heard the NE180W's do in my room, I have very high expectations of the the 10 inch version. Whether I'll use two drivers or one is still undecided. According to WinISD, two of these drivers in the aforementioned enclosure would go much lower and louder than just 1 driver in a smaller box with around the same Qtc. Perhaps a ported enclosure would also be a great solution. I just like the simplcity of the building of a sealed box because less things can go wrong.
My current mains are 0.58cu.ft. ported bookshelf speakers with Fountek NeoCD3.5h/Usher 9950-20 tweeters and Vifa NE180W-08 woofers. I'd say they do really good bass down to around 40hz (tuning is 41Hz) but I'd still want to assign the lower frequencies to a dedicated hifi subwoofer, maybe cross around 100Hz or whatever is optimal for my room.
From what I've heard the NE180W's do in my room, I have very high expectations of the the 10 inch version. Whether I'll use two drivers or one is still undecided. According to WinISD, two of these drivers in the aforementioned enclosure would go much lower and louder than just 1 driver in a smaller box with around the same Qtc. Perhaps a ported enclosure would also be a great solution. I just like the simplcity of the building of a sealed box because less things can go wrong.
I think a pair of those drivers would also do well in a bigger cabinet with a lower tuning and still have ample headroom.
If for example you use drain pipe, ( I used black drainpipe for my 10" seas woofers) you can make the hole in the cabinet for the port and then fine tune the length or try various before chosing the one to inset.
If for example you use drain pipe, ( I used black drainpipe for my 10" seas woofers) you can make the hole in the cabinet for the port and then fine tune the length or try various before chosing the one to inset.
It just so happens that 10cm, I think it was; pipe is ideal for bass ports. saves a pretty penny and is likely better than smaller diamiter ports, but as far as I know with a lower tunning and larger port you also need larger cabinets. depends on space, but there is likely a good mean between cabinet size, port diamiter, (so its big enougth) and tuning frequancy.
yes its good to unload the lower bass some what from your mains, they play better in the higher bass and mid especially at louder volumes if there moving less.
also, I find that a 6 or 8 driver will be reaching its limit before a 10 or 12, (in the bass) so if you unload the mid bass/midrange woofers you increase to some degree how loud the entire system can play. its simply less effort for a larger cone/box to reproduce the lower notes
I wouldnt be sure the best cross over frequancy to chose or how steep the curves, I know it also depends on the room and the placement of the speakers and sub, I would guess a gentler slope would allow them to marry better, or prehaps a gentler roll off for the mains, and a steeper crossover for the sub? If you are using a variable corssover on the sub that would allow you to play about abit,
I used to be lazy, I would simply turn the bass down on the mains amp a bit and have the sub on too.
yes its good to unload the lower bass some what from your mains, they play better in the higher bass and mid especially at louder volumes if there moving less.
also, I find that a 6 or 8 driver will be reaching its limit before a 10 or 12, (in the bass) so if you unload the mid bass/midrange woofers you increase to some degree how loud the entire system can play. its simply less effort for a larger cone/box to reproduce the lower notes
I wouldnt be sure the best cross over frequancy to chose or how steep the curves, I know it also depends on the room and the placement of the speakers and sub, I would guess a gentler slope would allow them to marry better, or prehaps a gentler roll off for the mains, and a steeper crossover for the sub? If you are using a variable corssover on the sub that would allow you to play about abit,
I used to be lazy, I would simply turn the bass down on the mains amp a bit and have the sub on too.
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@WaVeInFoRm
Thanks for the ideas. I haven't really designed or built a sub before so I'm just gathering good info from all sorts of people.
I have no doubt that a ported sub can be really good, it's just that I can't build the box myself so I'm trying to make everything as simple as possible so less things can go wrong on the builder's end. I'm also limited in space so big boxes are definitely not an option.
At this point I'm really convinced I should use two drivers in one box because the benefits shown by WinISD in terms of SPL, extension, and power handling are hard to ignore. I really wanted to go for the 12" version of this driver but it wasn't available. I'm probably going do this only once in a long time so I might as well do it right. We'll see.
Thanks for the ideas. I haven't really designed or built a sub before so I'm just gathering good info from all sorts of people.
I have no doubt that a ported sub can be really good, it's just that I can't build the box myself so I'm trying to make everything as simple as possible so less things can go wrong on the builder's end. I'm also limited in space so big boxes are definitely not an option.
At this point I'm really convinced I should use two drivers in one box because the benefits shown by WinISD in terms of SPL, extension, and power handling are hard to ignore. I really wanted to go for the 12" version of this driver but it wasn't available. I'm probably going do this only once in a long time so I might as well do it right. We'll see.
one idea would be to make 2 sealed boxes, just the right shape/ size and then have the option to place them under your mains if that works well will depend on room and setup. Sounds to me like 2 in one box would be fine too, It is ok in my opinion to use the room as best as can. I find a sub in a corner is a joke, but if its along a wall a bit out and a 1/5 to 1/3 of a distance along the rear wall, it still gets a hefty boost where required but doesnt get that one note boom. some people speak of multiple subs to even out room responce so you could have 2 identical boxes then always have the choice to stack them as one unit or to use them as stands for the mains or tuck em away in seperate pleasing locations.
Hey, I've thought about doing the same thing. Right now, I'd rather get the increased performance with two drivers in one box than split them up to be honest. I really only have one spot I can put the subwoofer on though so the benefits of being able to place two units in different places to cover nulls wouldn't really work, unfortunately.
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