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Excessive IB: Help Wanted!

7K views 23 replies 6 participants last post by  S_rangeBrew 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello fellow Bassheads,
I find myself in the middle of a ported build for my modest HT setup, but I have the need to plan another.

Personal Build:http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/ported-subwoofer-build-projects/42850-jl-audio-10w7-build.html

Fortunately this next one is not so much on my dime. I must must confess first that I'm in a fraternity, but unlike my stereotypical brothers (some actual), I do have hobbies other than drinking. We are in the final steps of finishing the remodel of a room in our basement. A few others and I have found our current sound equipment inadequate and horrid. It has taken a lot of abuse from being moved around a bunch. So with this room, we're building in a sound system. I'll look for ideas for mains elsewhere, but the reason I'm here is bass.

I had originally been looking into a Peavey 18" 2400W sub powered with a large Crown (I'll find an amp for the IB easy enough in the budget, so thats a non issue). I did these plans last fall before I really knew better than pro audio. It says that its response goes to 50Hz and is -10dB at 30Hz! seems unacceptable to me.

Since I'm pretty handy with the woodstuffs, I'm looking into an IB. Theres a sufficient sized storage room on one wall with the rest being block with a concrete floor. The ceiling is a double layer of hardwood. This seems as close to a concrete bunker as you can get without planning it! :D

Heres the room:







Here's the general area that I'd do the manifold opening, but most of that wall works.


A bit o' Eye candies :)


So for better or worse, the majority of the music will be technoish or bass intensive stuff. I've been reading a bit and the perceived loudness of an IB seems to be highly subjective and differs a lot from person to person. And seeing as most uses are HT, can anyone give a good opinion on the IB effectiveness in this type of application? Will people dance to it as they would a traditional sub? Or should I just go with the commercial option?

A huge benefit I'm selling on this to the guys who've never heard of such a thing is the space gains we get from removing the sub box from the room. I think I can easily get a budget around $600-800 for drivers. I could push closer to 1k if it would justify a significant increase in performance.

So I'm open to all suggestions. I looked at some Ficar, Dayton, AE, and M5 drivers. They all seem good. I'm not really knowledgeable enough in IB design to really compare 4 15"s vs. 2 18"s and so on. WinISD-pro_alpha wont let me edit my database (Vista-64bit) so I can't simulate the drivers not in the existing database.

Thats all I can think to share besides the guys are used to 500W of a peavey amp going into this i think http://www.peavey.com/products/proaudio/loudspeakers/pv/index.cfm/item/116087/PV(r) 118.html
Ipod/laptop goes right to the amp which has a crossover. Beat up PV monitors for mains. People like this setup. I wanna blow them away! :R

Thanks Gents! (Build thread promised!)
 
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#7 ·
Based on what I've read of IB (constantly learning) -- 2 FiCar 18 IBs should be pretty substantial. I know that some people will build a second manifold down the road --- or simply build the first manifold for 4 drivers - so there is room for future expansion.

I've read a number of threads about people debating between 4 15" AE IB speakers - or 2 Ficar 18"s... and I think there is a tendency to go with the 18"s since they're simply bigger drivers and can move more air.
 
#12 ·
I see. I'm going to try to make this whole system pretty plug and play from the DJ/Laptop side of things. So I'm gonna want to have some power handling headroom.

Right now the mental picture is two ficar 18"s with room in the manifold for more. If I don't just start with 4.

I'd love to model this myself. Since I'm unable to modify the WinISD pro database, I can't really do much there, and in the beta version, I cant save new drivers. Is there any fixes for this stuff? Or is this just a really bad reaction to a 64 bit OS in both programs?
 
#13 ·
I'd love to model this myself. Since I'm unable to modify the WinISD pro database, I can't really do much there, and in the beta version, I cant save new drivers. Is there any fixes for this stuff? Or is this just a really bad reaction to a 64 bit OS in both programs?
I'm running Win Pro Alpha on Win7 (64 bit) - and have no problems creating new drivers and editing..
I just do the following.. Launch WinISD.. go to Utilities -> Database editing, then create new driver and hit SAVE. Generally need to fudge a couple calculated parameters to get it just right.

You can try downloading the wdr file here:
http://www.tatzfamily.com/HomeTheaterShack/wdr/FicarIB318.wdr
 
#14 ·
I put the file into the drivers folder and it worked fine. So theres that issue solved. It still wont close on its own. Has a memory error. But force close works fine so its no big deal.

So then to model, I use a huge volume of like 10000 Liters. the .707 box option, and one driver at a time?
 
#20 ·
Thanks mojave! Solved my issue too! And also thanks Mike for the plot. Looks like it should, as us kids say, DO WORK!

Don't things start randomly moving about the room as you approach 130dB?

I'm going to leave room for the extra two anyways. Just so I can see what it's like if I ever can't resist the urge! :devil:
 
#21 ·
Since we've been talking about Ficar drivers, does anyone know if the IB3** series can be still be ordered from them?

I emailed them recently regarding the fact that they're not on the site, and they're apparently going to be making changes and selling them on a new site in the near future (http://www.blueprintdrivers.com ) --- catering to HT purposes. Ball park $220/ea I believe.

Might be a couple weeks before the site is up, and looks like 6 more weeks before they start stocking the new ones.
 
#24 ·
You have the budget for 4 of 18" IB3's. Don't mess around, get 4 to start with. You can never have too much bass at a party. Make sure you soak 'em with at least 2000 RMS watts of power, and set the gains low enough on the sub amplifier, so even if (when) some drunk idiot turns the main volume to 11, the subs won't shoot out of the manifold, killing everyone. ;)
 
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