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First timer, looking for some guidance

2K views 13 replies 3 participants last post by  dan711 
#1 · (Edited)
First off Id like to say Hi to everyone, this seems like a great forum and sure all my questions will be answered. I am embarking on my first ever diy subwoofer, well diy any speaker for that matter. I have sitting here a TC Sounds Epic 12 driver, and a Crown XLS1000 amp.

This subwoofer is going to be used for a 2.1 setup, I currently have a Onkyo TX8555 stereo reciever and a pair of Klipsch B3 bookshelfs. My main emphasis here is for music. I litsen to rock, hard rock, metal, techno/electronica, rap and hip hop.

I will also use this setup for kicking back and watching a blu ray every once in a while also. So some lower extension would be nice. Im looking for a fairly easy to build enlosure, but will to do what it takes to get my desired requirements. I have for tools on hand, circular saw, chop saw, jigsaw and a power drill. I was thinking glues and screws for the build, but will also check and see if I can find a cheap pair of clamps.

So heres where you all come in, as I have no idea how to design a enclosure. I hope I have given enough information to help you help me, if not just ask away.

Edit: Wow cant believe the views with zero responses. Mybe I should re word my question. Im not looking for a full fledged design with cut sheets and everything, more so of help as to make something work for my intended purposes.

How would this driver do in a sealed enclosure? My man cave is in the smallest room of the house, its around a 8x8 room. Would I get significant room gain with a sealed in a corner loaded placement. I wouldnt be sitting it dead in the corner, rather 2-2.5 feet from the corner with equal distance from two adjacent walls.

Thanks in advance!
 
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#3 ·
#4 ·
This is how I got started in DIY sub building.

1. download WinISD and plug in your sub and amp info
2. decide if you want sealed or ported (most will say sealed is easier but I found that with proper direction from the experts on this forum that ported is almost as easy).
3. check out the DIY members database to get some ideas for your build

Your 8x8 room shouldn't need too much wooferage to give you good bass.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the replys and the welcome. Well I got winisd and modeled up a 2.5 ft3 enclosure sealed. The -3db point happens at around 45hz. Do you think with the placement I plan with the room dimensions, Id get enough room gain for atleast down to 30hz??

I tried to do a print screen of my model, but when I resize it to be readable, its too large to attach here.

I had a look at that build it looks awesome, just some fancy bracing I couldnt replicate. I was just going to cut a piece the same size as my baffle with a large circular cut out in the middle, with four dowel rods from the brace to the front and back.
 
#6 ·
2.5 ft3 is about a 17" squared box. You would hit 105db at 30hz. Should sound nice in your small room.

Making a small box like that is relatively inexpensive. If you didn't like the pertformance you got; you could always make the box bigger (3.5 sq ft) and port it. That would give you more bottom end for sure.
 
#7 ·
Cheers dan, I was considering ported, but heard to many horror stories of chuffing and boomy. I bought this driver to replace a klipsch ksw12 that I sold, as I found it way to boomy for music, but great for movies. Since my main focus is music, figured why not go sealed, and see how it I like it, as you said if I dont like it I can build again.

I was looking at this enclosure from edesigns, seems I cant post links, look up elemental designs single 12 diy kit, I chatted to there support and they say after there aero port and the brace, the box would net about 2.75 ft3. When I tried to model it in winisd, seemed there wasnt much room for the port unless I put a bend in it, then in turn it would take up more volume.

But as I said, since Ive never had a real sub, and you guys think ported would be a better solution, feel free to throw some graphs at me.

Thanks a bunch guys.
 
#8 · (Edited)
So no other input?? I just want to make sure before I break out the saw, as the mdf can be returned if that enclosure at elemental designs would work.

Edit, so Ive been playing with winisd some more, and think I may have settled on a ported design. The max external dimensions for my box would be 17x17x40. So that should gross me around 5.33 cubic feet internal. I decided to go with 2 4inch round ports. So Im taking a guess I should be left with net 5 cubic feet, and the two ports of 30inches long for a 20 hz tune. I was thinking of using dowel rods for bracing. How ould I go about calculating the space the ports and dowel rod will take up?? So Im not guessing at a 5 cubic foot net, but can be more precise for actual port length. Also, do I add the depth of the flares to overall port length?? Should I hear any audible chuffing with this setup?

Edit: Im using the winisd file I got from the stickies, and it appears the only way to get peak air velocity below 20 ft/s is to give the sub like 2 cubic feet of space, and then the rest all port. If I increase box size the air velocity keeps on increasing. This cant be right can it??

Edit: What specs to go with? Partsexpress and the overview section of tc sounds website says xmax is 22.9mm. But here under specifications it claims 18.1. http://www.tcsounds.com/epic_main.htm

Edit: Ive been playing with simulations for a while, best I can get with my restrictions is a peak of 52 ft/s. Is that going to sound horrible?? Thats at my tuning frequency of 25hz with a slot port. At 30hz, it peaks at 39 ft/s.
 
#9 ·
Ok with my size constraints on enclosure size, this is what I have decided to. Please see attached screenshot. This was modeled with 500 watts input power. To keep the driver under control see the filter in the screenshot I came up with. So here comes my next question, I can go ahead and return the crown amp for something else, and what would you suggest at 500watts that has a filter comparable to what I modeled? I was looking at the oaudio 500watt amp, but I have no idead how to model its filters in winisd.
 

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#10 ·
With your box (I figured roughly 5.2 ft3 internal volume after driver and port), the Epic 12 tuned to 20hz with the Oaudio 500 would work. Looks like you hit xmax at 17.5 so you would probably need a high pass filter. Not sure if the Oaudio has a HPF built in or not.
 
#11 ·
So is that box calculator I got rubbish?? As it states net volume after the port at 4.14 ft3, which is what I have been modelling with in winisd. Using the xmax listed at tc sounds of 18.1mm I exceed xmax at 20 hz. The oaudio has four hp filter options, but the also add different degrees of boost. So Im having a hard time trying to figure the best amp to put a 4th order hp at 20hz.
 
#12 ·
Sorry, I used the wrong dimensions. You are correct. It is approx. 4.14 ft3 and with 500 watts it exceeds xmax at around 19hz.

4.14 ft3 with 500 watts and a port size 2x15.5x36 gets you a tune of around 22hz. I don't think you need any boost but will need a HPF at around 20hz. You might need to call Oaudio and get specifics on what the amp has or what it can be configured with.
 
#13 ·
Cheers Dan, next question, and hopefully my last since I about have my mind set. If I were to keep the crown xls amp, and get a minidsp, can I use the minidsp as a lowpass crossover, highpass filter, and a peq all at the same time?? Or can it only do one or the other on the single output Ill be using?? My receiver has s ub out on it, but being a stereo rceiver there is no crossover control of the sub out.
 
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