First time poster... occasional lurker here.
I've assembled my first Home Theatre setup and I am absolutely loving every minute of it!
Polk R50 mains
Polk CSR Center
Polk R150 for Side and Rear surrounds
Yamaha RX-V661 Receiver
PS3
HTPC
Toshiba Regza HL42167 LCD TV
but wait!
Something's missing here!!!!
no sub for my .1!!!!!! :raped: ( BTW Great Smileys guys
)
I looked into a few commercial subs and I find myself thinking I can do better for my money with a little elbow grease... I looked at the BIC H-100 and the Parts Express Dayton Sub-12.... To a Lesser extent I considered the AV123 X-sub due to a lower price and their location in my home state of colorado would save me some green on shipping....... But I fear it will lack the extension and output I want and leave me with a sub I'll want to upgrade.... also the lead time on the finish I want is a little longer than I want to wait.
So the question is: Can I build a better mouse trap for my money?
13'X14.5'X8' room with some open walls and a hallway down the back wall.
I want to spend about 250-300$ between the driver and the Amp.. Build materials I can pay for as I go.. I'm less concerned about those as the parts can be bought as needed.
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This build was suggested to me on the AVS forums:
4cf Slot ported 12" Enclosure
Pros:
Cost of parts are within budget with wiggle room to get a better amp than the Dayton 240.. possibly a Bash300 or an
ApexSr.
I have access to all the tools I'd need to build it except for maybe a compressor and a paint sprayer.
From what the build thread says it should have good extension and decent output for a small-ish room. Way better than anything commercial I can buy for the cost of Driver, Amp enclosure and finish if I use paint.
It's dimensions have already been calculated and graphed with the driver I want to use so I can see on paper it looks good (to my laymans eyeball anyway)
Cons:
Big honkin cube compared to the commercial subs I was looking at.
I have
NO Wood working experience. I can follow directions and I will have some expert help (Friend is a Carpenter/handyman) but this is not a project I can undertake on my own. This will also likely cause the build to take a while to complete as I'll need to work on parts of it in a friend's workshop and not at my house.
Linked with the woodworking thing... If I build this I'm going to need to finish it.. I've never done veneer but it strikes me as a difficult process to get right... especially with all the corners and curved edges..
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So with the cons on the above in mind I started researching a SonoTube build.
I would like the dimensions of the tube to be near to the size of the SVS 25-31 PCi 20"X33"
PROS:
SonoTube Design uses a little less floor space than the cube
I think I could figure out how to cut the plugs and the tube in one stop to my buddies workshop so I can bring home all plug pieces and assemble it at home at my leisure
Not a huge concern but I have access to a cheap SonoTube so materials should be cheaper
Easy to finish.. I can make the caps look nice with paint or use a nice piece of wood for the part sticking out and then just cover the tube with carpet or cloth or something.
CONS:
Not sure if this is a Con but an ICBM silo in the corner looks a little funny.
I can't figure a way to internally mount the Amp like the SVS subs do without ruining the tube. Cardboard is none to forgiving and cutting a square hole in a curved surface sounds like a recepie for disaster.
I can either use an external box for the Amp or possibly build a finished box for the Amp and try to attach it to the side of the tube over the carpet and run the wiring though a small hole in the side. I would like my sub to be all one piece for asthetic reasons.. I don't want this to look like a half done DIY project so anything to get the amp IN or ON the sonotube would be worth doing in my opinion as long as it doesn't hurt sound quality or look worse than an external.
This is my biggest concern with the sono option because I know with a lot of help and elbow grease I can make the ported box look good. If I can make the Sono look good on my own I'll go that route so I can make progress according to my own schedule
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Any thoughts, Critique or suggestions would be appreciated! Especially if someone would like to help me do exact calculations on the Sono Tube option so I'm sure to get the proper dimensions to take advantage of the Driver I want to use...
Also suggestions for other good budget DIY sub projects would be appreciated