Custom RE XXX Subwoofer Build

And there was a stack of plywood and Bubinga; Soon to become a 25 cubic foot custom enclosure for a Resonate Engineering 18" XXX Overall dimentions of 66"tall 41.5"wide 22" deep with a downfireing 10" port system designed by the customer, to tune to ~11hz. More pictures will follow.

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IMG_2394small.jpg (187.5 KB, 167 views)

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Nathan Funk
Funky Waves Audio
www.funkywaves.net

It's finally happening!

Nathan if you pull off this craziness with the quality of your other work I've seen... You will truly be the man!

That solid Bubinga looks nice too...

I like saying . . . . Bu . . . Binga . . . . slowly in my lowest voice. It's sounds like I'm on safari.

Will this be a "side firing" tube?

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We're all in this together!

Nay say I...twill not be a tube at all. That cavernous cardboard tunnel pictured is for the exhaust from the 80lb air pumping device. This to be housed in the laminated flesh of dead birch and bubinga trees.

After looking at the pic again you may be right.

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We're all in this together!

I may be right indeed...it's for me that this monstrous construct of bassitude is to be created.

Lucky you! So what's the net volume and tuning going to be?

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We're all in this together!

And the router said "Let there be holes" Net volume will be 25cubic feet tuning should be 11-12hz

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IMG_2415small.jpg (142.1 KB, 138 views)

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Nathan Funk
Funky Waves Audio
www.funkywaves.net

Nathan . . . . you've got me conflicted. On the one hand I'm a "tree hugger" on the other hand I'm a neo-subist. After I saw all that debris from all those holes you drilled through my beloved Bu . . . Binga I have decided I can't watch anymore. I'll wait to hear how it sounds.

Are those line array cabs in the left hand background?

They are not full line arrays, 9 midbases and a ribbon tweeter.

More progress pics;

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	IMG_2437small.jpg (176.7 KB, 118 views)
	IMG_2429small.jpg (183.2 KB, 120 views)

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Nathan Funk
Funky Waves Audio
www.funkywaves.net

Wow! Looks like you are really kicking butt on this thing. Those last 2 pics had me cheesing while I stared at them. The internal bracing looks great. Judging by that lathe picture maybe you should contact Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs!

First of all, wow that's a crazy amount of complicated looking bracing. And second, there's a lathe involved in this project!? You always have to kick it up a notch, don't you Nathan! I can't wait to see the finished result on this one. Keep us updated!

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- OJ -

My HT and DIY Tempest
My DIY Dipolar rear surround
My DIY XLR to RCA cables
My DVDs

I'm wondering what the lathe is making for the sub? Must be something good. I can't wait to see the finished project. It looks like you are a skilled craftsman Nathan.

Using the lathe, Nathan is making what I presume to be the port flow guides. Here is a rough concept that will help you get the idea...

XXX18 PPP.JPG

That's pretty cool...thanks. There's nothing like dedicated hand craftsmanship. I would suppose that anything mass produced would use cheap plastic.

Yeah, it really adds a lot of character to the project. I forget who made the tunable sonosub with a similar adjustable wood "spike" built into the port. I'm loving these advanced projects.

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- OJ -

My HT and DIY Tempest
My DIY Dipolar rear surround
My DIY XLR to RCA cables
My DVDs

Do the materials available have a huge impact on the final result?

For example if the flow guides, ports and internal bracing were made out of aluminum, other metals, hardwood, softwood, MDF, particle board (LDF) or hard plastic (polycarbonate or acrylics).

Is it all about mass/density and vibration dampening characteristics?

I gave Nathan a pretty tall order with this sub enclosure. First off it's huge! 25 cu ft after subtracting for bracing, driver and port system. Also it is not a normal ported sub, the port system is much more complicated than just a port in a box. Actually I don't know for sure that it works as described by the patent holder. I'm just assuming that it does, since they had it patented, used it in their products and had technical write ups in mags. Also I opted to go for a premium finish(bubinga like my drumset)look at the snare drum in my avatar) and I had pretty strict dimensional limitations. There are a lot of other details too. It's a big project and I'm really anxious to see it come to life as he builds it.

Concerning the materials used...Some are better than others for certain applications. I really dig the small solid aluminum enclosures that Nathan has done, but for this application imagine the weight! It would be impossible to move! Actually we decided to use Birch ply for this mostly because it would save some weight over MDF. I think that we are estimating the enclosure to be about 300lbs without the 80lb driver in it!