Four 18" Fi IB Woofer Build Thread

[Sonnie]

Ricci wrote:

What I want to know is... have you stuck your head down in one of the manifolds while playing the pod emergence scene yet ?

I would think it would be more that you value keeping your brains inside your skull...

Did you get a head shot? We need one for the IB Head Shot Thread.

Also a couple of finished pics (front and back would be good) for our Finished IB Projects Photos thread.

[NickTF]

Sonnie wrote:

I would think it would be more that you value keeping your brains inside your skull...

Did you get a head shot? We need one for the IB Head Shot Thread.

Also a couple of finished pics (front and back would be good) for our Finished IB Projects Photos thread.

Ok Sonnie, as soon as I get my grates for the covering of the manifold holes I'll be sure to hook you guys up with some pictures! I need to get under the crawlspace and clean out the saw dust so i'll get some pics of the bottom side while i'm down there!

[Fi Audio]

Nick,
Im happy to hear that the IB setup is doing well. It definitely would be of interest to get some measurements... but your little house crumbling graemlin seems to sum things up quite nicely

Thanks,
Scott

[NickTF]

Fi Audio wrote:

Nick,
Im happy to hear that the IB setup is doing well. It definitely would be of interest to get some measurements... but your little house crumbling graemlin seems to sum things up quite nicely

Thanks,
Scott

Hey, i'd be more then happy to have some one come in my house and take all the measures they want if anyone's close to southern delaware they'd be more then welcome to do so.

IN light of a thread on the Cult site I pushed my IB a little Tuesday night. I was picking things up from the floor all over the house

[Owen Bartley]

Nick, that's some serious displacement you have there! I've always liked the idea of floor mounted IBs for some reason, probably ever since I saw the "12 Shivas Dancing" way back. I can't remember who it was, so it probably isn't much help to you, but someone did make a beautiful custom aluminum grate for his floor mounted IB a while ago. It was really strong and looked great, I'll see if i can find the link for you.

Great job!

[NickTF]

Owen Bartley wrote:

Nick, that's some serious displacement you have there! I've always liked the idea of floor mounted IBs for some reason, probably ever since I saw the "12 Shivas Dancing" way back. I can't remember who it was, so it probably isn't much help to you, but someone did make a beautiful custom aluminum grate for his floor mounted IB a while ago. It was really strong and looked great, I'll see if i can find the link for you.

Great job!

Thanks Owen, the tactile feeling transmitted through the floor is reason enough to put this setup in the floor let me tell ya!!!

I got some grates from the link i'll post below. I'm very happy with them. I'm going to try to get some pictures with everything all done this weekend to post up.

http://www.gratevents.com/frame.htm

I purchased the ones appearing similar to the top right piece in the pic on the top of the page. Mine are stained with a Minwax Blackish color that Grate Vents does at a 12% additional cost. Doug indicated you can even walk on these although i'm not planning on it at 200lbs lol.

edit: go to the egg crate section for the appropriate picture of the ones I have!!!

[Owen Bartley]

Very nice Nick, those will look pretty cool, and intimidating flanking your equipment rack. Are they designed to be a tight fit, or do you think you'll have to add something to keep them from rattling? Maybe weather stripping or some kind of putty to hold them in place nice and tight?

[NickTF]

Owen Bartley wrote:

Very nice Nick, those will look pretty cool, and intimidating flanking your equipment rack. Are they designed to be a tight fit, or do you think you'll have to add something to keep them from rattling? Maybe weather stripping or some kind of putty to hold them in place nice and tight?

No, they sit on top of the carpet actually and don't rattle a bit. I'm pretty sure I will keep them like that for a variety of reasons, one being the fact they can't rattle like that. The other being it will be a very destructive effort to get these to countersink the way my setup is designed. I will get the pics up and explain further. I have more decorative plans for that area up there and have since added a nice cover to hide all my wires!!!

[Avus_M3]

I saw a post on "The Cult" that said you were thinking about 6 of the IB subs. Is this true? Is there something missing from the current setup? I am waiting for Scott to email me back so I can order mine. My RL's sold a few days ago.

[NickTF]

Avus_M3 wrote:

I saw a post on "The Cult" that said you were thinking about 6 of the IB subs. Is this true? Is there something missing from the current setup? I am waiting for Scott to email me back so I can order mine. My RL's sold a few days ago.

Ha, yep, at one time I THOUGHT about that but now have four and four of these monsters are more then I need trust me. I finally got around to snapping pics tonight of the finished product and will post them tomorrow when I get to my office. Trust me, four of these will be enough i'm pretty sure but some people are pretty nuts. These things feel like they will destroy my home during some movies passages and music is simply unreal! Give them power, they will love you for it!

[Avus_M3]

That won't be an issue. I have a Crown CE4000 waiting for something to do.

[NickTF]

Well I finally got around to snapping the pictures of everything in it's final or 98% final state so enjoy. Been nothing but happy and still amazed about how wonderful this IB truly is









Also closed off the bottom portion of the equipment stand with a piece of silk that closely matches the Def Tech BP20's black sock to hide the wire mess! The coverings are from a company called Wood Grates!

[ISLAND1000]

Excellent photos Nick! I think this is one unique use of an otherwise unused space. The finished grates are an excellent compliment to the rest of the system boxes too. Congratulations on a job well done. Enjoy!

ps nice socks too

[bonehead848]

wow, those things look mean. Oh how I wish I was in the Maryland area...

[rickf325]

Hey Nick. I love the pics and the posts--very informative. I am building my first IB with Fi 18 IB's also and had 2 questions for you:

1. What dimensions did you use for the cutouts? I am interested in the hole diameter as well as the routed edge (looks like the edge might be an extra .75" and .75" deep?

2. Why did you use wood block + foam "clips" instead of using regular speaker clips? Cost, look, strength, other?

Thanks!

[NickTF]

rickf325 wrote:

Hey Nick. I love the pics and the posts--very informative. I am building my first IB with Fi 18 IB's also and had 2 questions for you:

1. What dimensions did you use for the cutouts? I am interested in the hole diameter as well as the routed edge (looks like the edge might be an extra .75" and .75" deep?

2. Why did you use wood block + foam "clips" instead of using regular speaker clips? Cost, look, strength, other?

Thanks!

I can't remember right off the top of my head regarding number 1 because the routing was the only thing in this project I didn't do, I had someone else do it. I do recall that the recession is .75" deep and I want to say the woofer cutouts OD was the same as the dimension of the Q 18" woofer listed on FiCar's website. I think that you are correct though regarding the extra .75" for the cutout radius decrease for the woofer to fire into.

The wood blocks were used because of cost. The foam used for sound isolation and to provide additional clamping. You have to be carefull with them though as I found out they can break if you tighten the wood screws too much.

P.S. I watched the SD version of I Am Legend the other day and holy cow, that helicopter in that movie is painful to watch with these beasts lol!!!

[Avus_M3]

The subs are 18.500" in OD, the cut ID is 16.750", the flange is approximately .8250" and the depth of the subs from the back mounting flange is 9.500".

[Owen Bartley]

Ah, coming back to this thread is making me wish I had a crawlspace to abuse. Now that you've had it up and running a good while, have you had any problems with rattles or movement anywhere else in the house? Have you had to do any repairs?