Twin Titanic sealed sonosubs

**BoomieMCT** · **02-02-07, 10:27 AM**

A while ago (when they were on sale) I bought two 12" Dayton Titanic MkIII drivers and ordered two 500 watt BASH amps (yet to arrive) with the intent of making two sealed box subs for my HT. Since then I've done some other projects and now have quite a bit of 16" sonotube leftover. So I was thinking of making two sealed sonosubs instead. Since I do not want these to be downfiring, I intend to build a 'cradle' for each to sit in so it lays on its side like a wine barrel.

A couple of thoughts I'd like y'alls opinion on.

1) Instead of a cradle, have the tops of the endcaps have a flat side. This way there won't be vibration between the cradle and the sub (or am I overthinking this)? I guess another alternative would be to glue the cradle onto the sonotube.

2) Has anyone covered a sonosub with anything other then carpet? I'd like to try something a bit classier as these will be in the front of my theater.

**brandonnash** · **02-04-07, 10:10 PM**

as far as the vibration issue, you could do it just about anyway you wanted, as long as you seal it together somehow. if you left it sitting there on it with nothing holding it there, you'll almost certainly get vibration.

As far as covering, i think i've seen some of that spray on bed liner used, but i'm almost sure you could do something better. I've heard of some speaker makers taking several very thin sheets of wood and bending them into a correct shape then staining and applying a glossy finish of their choice. of course you could probably just paint to your choice then putting a piano gloss finish on it. I'll try to find a link to someone who has done the piano finish and post it.

**BoomieMCT** · **02-04-07, 10:30 PM**

Quote:

brandonnash wrote:

I've heard of some speaker makers taking several very thin sheets of wood and bending them into a correct shape then staining and applying a glossy finish of their choice. of course you could probably just paint to your choice then putting a piano gloss finish on it. I'll try to find a link to someone who has done the piano finish and post it.

Yeah, I never heard if anyone had veneered carboard.

**F1 fan** · **02-04-07, 10:55 PM**

Quote:

BoomieMCT wrote:

Yeah, I never heard if anyone had veneered carboard.

I think that the slighly raised spiral seams of the tube would show through the veneer.

**BoomieMCT** · **02-04-07, 11:09 PM**

Quote:

F1 fan wrote:

I think that the slighly raised spiral seams of the tube would show through the veneer.

Bingo. At the least, the veneer would be fragile along the spiral. I was wondering if anyone figured out a work-around.

**Hakka** · **02-04-07, 11:21 PM**

You can use sandpaper to level off the spiral seem. Not a fun job though.

**Josuah** · **02-05-07, 02:47 AM**

Yeah, I covered my subs with cherry veneer and the spiral seams peek through. But someone else mentioned using drywall mud and/or sanding it down to get rid of the bumps. I think they look decent enough. Certainly not commercial quality but I don't really care myself.

**BoomieMCT** · **04-02-07, 11:03 PM**

It's been a while since I posted to this but, as I just found an old digital camera, I can now post some pics. Here are my "keg subs" as they currently exist. I had issues with one driver so the set isn't running right now. I don't want to do measurements until both are done so that is why I don't have any posted. I guess the only other thing that is missing is I haven't put either one's grills on yet (you can see one on the floor in the second pic). Normally I'd go grilless but I have kids in my HT from time to time and those drivers are begging to get kicked by a size 4 Keds.

I have done some listening and I'm quite happy. In my room I can get output down to 20 Hz at least. I don't expect anything below that.

**steve nn** · **04-02-07, 11:47 PM**

You might check Ilkka's new dual driver (TC-2000) sub out on page three.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...-tested-3.html

**BoomieMCT** · **04-03-07, 12:14 AM**

Quote:

steve nn wrote:

You might check Ilkka's new dual driver (TC-2000) sub out on page three.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...-tested-3.html

Man! I thought I was being so creative too

. Well, my hat is off to Ilkka - that is a nice looking wood baffle you got there. I wish I could have fit a 5 cubic foot enclosure but my HT is pretty small (that was a big part in picking the designs I did).

**Exocer** · **04-03-07, 12:59 AM**

Lookin good!

**FlashJim** · **04-03-07, 10:43 AM**

Quote:

BoomieMCT wrote:

Here are my "keg subs" as they currently exist.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...ubs-twosub.jpg

Sub Puppies!! They look like little dogs. Woofers!

**BoomieMCT** · **04-10-07, 06:14 PM**

Well it turns out my one woofer was defective so PE honored the warranty and shipped me a new one post-haste

. I just installed it and it seems to be playing great. Once I get both of these broken in and EQ'd I'll post their FR curves and comment on any tips I learn for setting up two non-colocated subs in a room.

Once they are broken in I'll put their grills on too and take pictures. Maybe I'll add some floppy ears too

.

**BoomieMCT** · **04-27-07, 05:48 PM**

Okay, these puppies have had a chance to break in and I've done a little (emphasize *little*) bit of work playing with location and EQ. As you can see from the attached graph, these are pretty flat to 20 Hz. This is with minimal placement experiments and only three filters on the BFD (subtration only). Also, the graphs look about the same from all of my seating positions. I think I may be sold on multiple subs! I still need to figure out if that dip at 72Hz is from the interaction of the subs or whether it is some room related artifact from the new locations.

But numbers don't tell the whole story!

It really isn't fair to compare two sealed 12" subs with 500 watts each to my old system, a single Velodyne CHT-10 pushing 150 watts. That being said, my bass is now tighter, more even and goes much lower. The "fear effect" I had heard about but never experienced with my trusty Velodyne appears in full force with these subs. Explosions now feel like they are smashing me in the chest. Kick drums feel like, well, I'm being kicked. I have not yet listened to my blues and jazz but I'm confident these will articulate an upright bass with little difficulty.

On the second attachment you can see the finished product with the childproof kick guards.

**aceinc** · **04-27-07, 10:29 PM**

This is slightly off topic.

I had been thinking that a flat sided end panels on a sideways sonotube sub would be great. The only difference is I want to use external ports. Since circles are one of the least space efficient designs, I thought I would put two 2"-3" ports coming out the side near the back with an 90 degree elbow running under the sub, and coming through the front baffle/endcap. Here is a crude drawing of my thought.

Paul

**BoomieMCT** · **04-27-07, 11:13 PM**

Quote:

aceinc wrote:

This is slightly off topic.

I had been thinking that a flat sided end panels on a sideways sonotube sub would be great. The only difference is I want to use external ports. Since circles are one of the least space efficient designs, I thought I would put two 2"-3" ports coming out the side near the back with an 90 degree elbow running under the sub, and coming through the front baffle/endcap. Here is a crude drawing of my thought.

Paul

Sounds cool. The only concern I'd have is cutting into the side of the sonotube in such a way that the port would have a snug fit. I imagine anything could be patched with enough silicone - but the more snug the fit the less the sonotube itself would be compromised.

A while back I saw a webpage from an Australian guy who did a lot of external ports. He made them look very cool.

**aceinc** · **04-28-07, 02:18 PM**

Quote:

A while back I saw a webpage from an Australian guy who did a lot of external ports. He made them look very cool.

I have seen those as well, and they are probably part of the reason I thought of it, the subconcious and all.

Paul

**brucek** · **04-28-07, 02:34 PM**

Quote:

childproof kick guards

Could you not just turn the sub around and face the driver toward the wall?

brucek

**BoomieMCT** · **04-28-07, 05:53 PM**

Quote:

brucek wrote:

Could you not just turn the sub around and face the driver toward the wall?

brucek

Yeah, but then they would kick at the amp's fins and the cables and such. Plus, they might touch a knob and change my settings!

**BoomieMCT** · **05-04-07, 05:03 PM**

Here are some more plots that verify why I wanted two subs instead of one.

Blue: Both Subs
Pink: Right Sub
Yellow: Left Sub

I did measurements from all the seating positions (second chart) in my theater room and they were all smoother with two subs. Note the yellow line - that is from laying on the floor. I also tried putting them out of phase and basically eveything below 50 Hz went into the ground.

**steve nn** · **05-06-07, 10:50 AM**

Quote:

Man! I thought I was being so creative too

Oh you were! I must have been under the gun or something in my last post? Anyway I really like the look of what you built! The two little piglets

Very nicely executed.

If you ever do decide to veneer them, know it's a option.. you just don't glue the whole surface like you would on MDF or the like.

**BoomieMCT** · **05-06-07, 10:52 AM**

Quote:

steve nn wrote:

If you ever do decide to veneer them, know it's a option.. you just don't glue the whole surface like you would on MDF or the like.

Really? Explain! Do you just do the glue in strips or something?

**aceinc** · **05-06-07, 09:04 PM**

Boom, what tool did you use for the graphs you posted?

Paul

**BoomieMCT** · **05-07-07, 08:11 AM**

Quote:

aceinc wrote:

Boom, what tool did you use for the graphs you posted?

Paul

Room EQ. I used Photoshop to combine mutliple graphs so they are easier to compare. The axis scales are messed up because I used my fiancee's Mac to do room EQ and it screws up the numbers when you move the scales.

**aceinc** · **05-07-07, 04:18 PM**

Thanks, I thought it was another tool. Merging graphs would be a nice feature for REW.

Paul

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