[reed.hannebaum]

I use the term DIY pretty loosely. I actually start with an old dbx SW15 subwoofer. These are sealed down firing subs that I modify. The enclosure is made from 5/8” MDF with a ¾” baffle plate. The interior volume minus the driver cone volume is about 3.1 cu.ft.

What I do is I bypass the built-in crossover, and wire the dual voice coils directly to the speaker terminals. I seal all the interior corners and edges with silicone. I add cross bracing to stiffen the walls, and I line the walls with about 1 ½ lb nylon dampening material. I replace the wood screws used for mounting the driver with T-nuts & 10-32 machine screws, and put sealing caulk around the driver.

I took this route for several reasons. I already had one of these subs from my early audio hobby days, I wanted something near DIY in my system (also, I have just mediocre carpentry skills), plus I wanted to minimize cost and effort.

My next step is to save my pennies and replace the drivers with the Adire Tempest 15D8. These are very good drivers especially design for small/medium size enclosures, and should work well with this box. Miraculously, the existing baffle cut-out and bolt pattern match up with what I now have.