Has anyone ever built a bar out of a subwoofer?

**Kevin_Wadsworth** · **08-01-07, 10:18 PM**

Maybe I'm crazy, but would this work?

I'm thinking about using a bar as a second row of seating in my under-construction theater. This would allow a shorter riser and would give a place for eating during football games. I was also trying to figure out the likely subwoofer placement in the room for wiring when the thought occurred to me - has anyone ever tried making a bar out of a subwoofer?

With proper bracing, the bar would have an internal volume in the range of 33-37 cubic feet, which seems to model well for a pair of dual sealed RLP-18's or quad SDX-15's. By doing a sealed, opposed driver design I should minimize vibration to allow for drinks and such to be placed on the bar top without fear of vibration.

Any thoughts on the idea? Here's a concept sketch:

**bonehead848** · **08-01-07, 10:50 PM**

i imagine that having such a large distance between the opposing drivers would allow for pretty significant vibration especially if they are separated into two boxes.

**alan monro** · **08-01-07, 11:14 PM**

Kevin . Don't care what anybody thinks , go ahead and do it . I'm sure you have the brains to make your own decision . Kind regards . Alan

My opinion is it is a terrific idea .

**Sonnie** · **08-02-07, 12:08 AM**

That might be a pretty cool idea... eating while watching the ballgame. Sports probably wouldn't have that much low bass to be vibrating while eating. When it comes to watching a movie you could then take a comfy seat.

**SteveCallas** · **08-02-07, 12:30 AM**

Sealed? Sealed???

Port that bad boy for extra clean headroom and low end kick in the pants with movies. It's a prime LLT candidate. A properly braced subwoofer with plenty of weight won't vibrate much at all. You can rest your hand against my giant sonosub during intense bass scenes and barely feel anything. Granted a sonosub is naturally more resistant to resonance and vibration than a box, but you shouldn't have any problems of peoples' food moving even with a box.

Go ported my friend, you won't regret it

**Sonnie** · **08-02-07, 02:03 AM**

Good point... my Behemoth dual RLp-15 LLT doesn't seem to vibrate any.... you can feel it, but wouldn't vibrate anything off the top. The subs sure to move a lot though, which is obviously a good thing.

**Jason Schultz** · **08-02-07, 05:16 AM**

I think its a great idea. If your going to use such a large volume you might as well do it in the least intrusive way possible. I' wouldn't like to leave my drink on the bar during transformers though.

eccentric

**Bob_99** · **08-02-07, 07:04 AM**

A little vibration would be good for mixed drinks.

Bob

**bobgpsr** · **08-02-07, 07:55 AM**

I agree with Steve. Port that puppy! But put the port openings high up on the sides so cats, small dogs, etc don't crawl inside.

I like your idea of opposing the drivers (putting on opposite sides) to help cancel vibrations.

**Rodny Alvarez** · **08-02-07, 08:30 AM**

I haven't seen anybody do this but here's something that I think will help with the box, what about build a tray at the top of the box, maybe 2" or 3" deep and fill it with sand(like play sand) and then put your final piece on top of that, it will be a lot of weight

don't you guys think this will help deaden the box and the vibration??

**Kevin_Wadsworth** · **08-02-07, 09:41 AM**

Quote:

Rodny Alvarez wrote:

I haven't seen anybody do this but here's something that I think will help with the box, what about build a tray at the top of the box, maybe 2" or 3" deep and fill it with sand(like play sand) and then put your final piece on top of that, it will be a lot of weight

I'd estimate the weight with MDF, drivers, and a granite top to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 lbs. 2" of sand would add an extra 100 pounds, which probably isn't worth the effort.

Thanks for all of the comments, guys! Somehow I had a feeling that Steve would chime in and suggest ported.

I was thinking sealed because of the vibration issue, and because I had spent most of my time planning on a sealed sub becasue of size (I cant find room for a huge sub in the room, until I thought of the bar idea). Any suggestions for drivers/tuning with a box of this size?

**Blaser** · **08-02-07, 12:55 PM**

Dual RL-P18 in 33-37 cu ft would not be optimum, but IMO will still best a sealed in terms of low end output!

**Kal Rubinson** · **08-02-07, 01:04 PM**

Quote:

Bob_99 wrote:

A little vibration would be good for mixed drinks.

Only if they are shaken, not stirred.

Kal

**SteveCallas** · **08-02-07, 06:48 PM**

Three or four 15" drivers would work out nicely, and you have a large selection to choose from. I still haven't modeled those Mach IXL 18s, but I think a couple of those would work too. You'd be a bit shy for dual big dogs like RL-p18s or Q18s.

**Owen Bartley** · **08-20-07, 02:22 PM**

Kevin, this project looks like a very cool idea. I really hope you go ahead with it, if for no other reason than the fact that I'll get to see the results.

**Kevin_Wadsworth** · **08-20-07, 03:33 PM**

Quote:

Owen Bartley wrote:

Kevin, this project looks like a very cool idea. I really hope you go ahead with it, if for no other reason than the fact that I'll get to see the results.

It will happen in some form - I have the MDF for the inner layer in my garage. I'm going to use maple-veneered plywood for the outer layer and that is on order. I still need to order the drivers, but those are about the last stage anyway. The optimistic side of me says that it could be done in 3-4 weeks, but the realist says Christmas.

This is part of a finishing-the-basement project, so there are many other little tasks to occupy my time.

**WillyD** · **08-20-07, 11:22 PM**

Quote:

You'd be a bit shy for dual big dogs like RL-p18s or Q18s.

Really? Looks like enough to me.

**Kevin_Wadsworth** · **04-21-08, 11:05 PM**

I thought I'd resurrect this thread 8 months later. The theater is finally finished and I built the sub this weekend. I apologize for the bad pic - my real camera is hiding so it's with a phone, and the bar still needs the rails put on the top to finish the edge.

But the sub part works great (don't look, Steve - I kept it sealed). Four SDX-15 drivers wired in 7.6-ohm pairs with a Crown XS900 driving each pair.

**Owen Bartley** · **04-22-08, 06:16 AM**

Holy crap you built it and it looks awesome. Seriously Kevin great work, what were the final details on the enclosure? Do you have a lot of bracing in there? Are you going to cover the drivers at all, or just leave them out to be admired?

**atledreier** · **04-22-08, 06:32 AM**

Awesome concept! I love it! Although you forgot to put holes for the ports...

**Rodny Alvarez** · **04-22-08, 07:07 AM**

Very NICE!!!!!

Excellent work!!!

**Kevin_Wadsworth** · **04-22-08, 07:45 AM**

Thanks guys! I'll put some during-construction pics up once I find my camera.

I went the typical overkill route with construction. It's a 3/4" MDF box with internal dimensions of 18" x 36" x 89". There are MDF braces every ~10". The outer shell is 3/4" maple-veneered plywood glued to the MDF on the sides. The top and bottom are a second layer of MDF. Then the visible top is a 96" x 38" piece of maple ply. I'll put bar rails around the top ply to make it look nicer, and perhaps upgrade it to granite at some point in the future.

I did forget holes for ports.

But EQ'ed frequency resonse in-room is realatively flat down to ~15 Hz, and in a ~2200 cubic foot room it doesn't feel like I'm lacking in output.

**Ricci** · **04-22-08, 02:36 PM**

Great sub you've got there!

What are you going to do for grills? I imagine some friends over one night, one of them gets sauced and WHAMMY! Work boot, or drink to the SDX!

**Kevin_Wadsworth** · **04-22-08, 02:53 PM**

I hadn't really planned on grills. I like the look of the drivers and I had figured the top will over hang 6-7" once the rail is on, which should keep you somewhat away from them.

But then again, I'll have a toddler in the house in a couple years, so some form of protection might be warranted. I suppose a homemade grill wouldn't be too much difficulty.

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