Sound Splinter RL-p18 Giveaway build thread

**ISLAND1000** · **07-26-07, 06:24 PM**

No really you guys go ahead, I'm alright I don't wish to take this thread off topic . . . . I was just so comfortable with this project. A little light dimming never hurt anyone . . . . never mind that. LOL

**Mongrel714** · **07-26-07, 07:31 PM**

Ok, I'm working om hooking up REW, The program tells me my laptops soundcard is ok, which Radio shack meter sould I get, the analog, or digital? Also, mysoundcard only has the headphone out and input jacks, I suppose my headphone jacks go to an input on my reciever, and the meter hooks into the input, anything eles I need to make this work??

I've been reading in the forum for an hour now and found most of the info I need except digital or analog??

**bobgpsr** · **07-26-07, 08:47 PM**

Quote:

Mongrel714 wrote:

I know this is not good, but it is amusing, my lights dim when my sub hits.

It really helps to run a 20 amp service from your breaker box to your sub amp.

**brucek** · **07-26-07, 10:17 PM**

Quote:

The program tells me my laptops soundcard is ok

So your laptop has a line-in? Mic-in is not acceptable....

brucek

**Mongrel714** · **07-27-07, 06:42 AM**

Quote:

brucek wrote:

So your laptop has a line-in? Mic-in is not acceptable....

brucek

You know, it prob is a mic in, was not thinking.

**brucek** · **07-27-07, 08:09 AM**

Quote:

it prob is a mic in

USB soundcards are quite cheap.........

brucek

**Mongrel714** · **07-27-07, 10:19 PM**

Any thoughts on the radio shack meter, analog or digital??

**brucek** · **07-28-07, 07:34 AM**

The analog is bit easier to see relative changes. I prefer it.

**Sonnie** · **07-29-07, 05:47 PM**

I would buy a Galaxy CM-140... SPL meter with a better mic.

**Mongrel714** · **08-03-07, 09:52 PM**

I recieved a couple of good compliments from the wife this last week, her and some friends went to watch a movie at a local theater, she came back very un-impressed with the theater sound, she stated that our HT system sounded so good that it was disapointing going to watch a movie!

, also, as she pulled into our driveway, she walked to the back of my truck, about 30 feet from our house, to talk with a neighbor in the next yard, about that time I was testing some various cd's and let one rip, she could not hear what our neighbor was saying, probably turn it down!!

Disclaimer: I don't blast music out all the time, was just a short test!

**ISLAND1000** · **08-04-07, 08:16 AM**

Those are the type of compliments which mean the most. She, your wife, had not been responding to an inquiry by you and she was comparing your HT sound to a known quantity we all share, the movie theater. Congrats on being the winner there.
Also LOL, providing the neighbors periodically with the gift of sound from your system is a good thing. How far down the block can you block out normal conversation?
What have you found out about your box so far? Does it have some weaknesses or strengths? Are there any buzzes or flexing affecting the quality of reproduction? Does the unique angle of the speaker baffle create any unusual nodes or nuls in your listening room? What height above the floor is the box? Have you listened to the output of the box from the vent? What does that sound like?
How many braces did you add to the box? What did the interior finally look like?

**Mongrel714** · **08-04-07, 09:19 AM**

Ahhh, Test time!!!

lol, I always admit when someone is right! and Steve you are the winner here, I will indeed need 8" legs on this enclosure, at low freq/high output, it sounds like there are two large marsupials (Sp??) wrestling under my enclosure, extreme chuffing! and I dont know if that causes what I describe next or if this is the resort of not putting three layers of speaker baffle as Steve recomended, but while revisiting The Shire and Andor yesterday, the ultra low freqs in that movie caused my driver to hit max excursion (I think) the noise was a poping, very loud , I turned down the bass gain on my reciever to 4, (had been running on 10, 12 is max) and turned the double bass off,(Onkyo reciever) and the low end was still shaking the couch and my wife two rooms over, "The Fellowship of the Ring certainly has some massive low end!!

There are some equality issues that need to be addressed, there is a peak at around 60 Hz that is noticably louder and of course some freqs lower down need boosting, but the overall sound even with these problems is amazing, the sheer volume and earthquake factor amaze all that listen to it, I'm not sure, but can you buy a sub that will perform like this at best buy? I know I've never heard anything like it short of a Metallica concert in Charlotte NC arena.

Island, I ended up with a two layer baffle, and did'nt put in all the braces I drew on my last detail, I will correct this before painting the enclosure, I really did not see how a driver could play this much havoc on an enclosure, I stand corrected, I'm not sure if the angle of the baffle is greatly affecting the sound, what should I look for here?

I can't feel any vibration on the sides of the enclosure at all when I lay hands on it (resonating?), I do feel it on the top baffle allthough it is minor.

The port output will be hard to judge untill I exterminate the furry creatures living under there, (the Chufaroo's or "Chufious Air Maximus" for you more scientific type) I may draw a pic of these creatures later so new shacksters will know what to look for! The amount of air the sub moves out of the port is huge.

Thats about it for now, I'm very happy so far, I can't wait to hear the results with a BFD in the chain, it's like trying to drive a high horse power vehicle with the steering gear from a Pinto.

Oh yes, Island, if you haven't yet, check out my mains design on the last pages of my mains design thread in DIY speakers, let me know what you think, heheh, its time to wake my son, (read shake him out of bed!!)

later all.

**brucek** · **08-04-07, 10:15 AM**

Quote:

Ahhh, Test time!!!

So, hopefully you have decided on the Galaxy CM140 meter and have obtained a soundcard with line-in and line-out capability.

I wouldn't do any modifying of the sub until you test with REW and get it equalized......

brucek

**ISLAND1000** · **08-04-07, 11:14 AM**

Quote:

Mongrel714 wrote:

Ahhh, Test time!!!

lol, I always admit when someone is right! and Steve you are the winner here, I will indeed need 8" legs on this enclosure, at low freq/high output, it sounds like there are two large marsupials (Sp??) wrestling under my enclosure, extreme chuffing!
" but while revisiting The Shire and Andor yesterday, the ultra low freqs in that movie caused my driver to hit max excursion (I think) the noise was a poping, "very loud "
"There are some equality issues that need to be addressed, there is a peak at around 60 Hz that is noticably louder and of course some freqs lower down need boosting"
"short of a Metallica concert in Charlotte NC arena"

"Island, I ended up with a two layer baffle, and did'nt put in all the braces I drew on my last detail"
" I'm not sure if the angle of the baffle is greatly affecting the sound, what should I look for here?"
"I can't feel any vibration on the sides of the enclosure at all when I lay hands on it (resonating?), I do feel it on the top baffle allthough it is minor."

"The port output will be hard to judge untill I exterminate the furry creatures "

"Thats about it for now, I'm very happy so far, I can't wait to hear the results with a BFD in the chain, it's like trying to drive a high horse power vehicle with the steering gear from a Pinto."

Oh yes, Island, if you haven't yet, check out my mains design on the last pages of my mains design thread in DIY speakers, let me know what you think, heheh, its time to wake my son, (read shake him out of bed!!)

later all.

LOL! I just looked at your "Mains" thread . . . . Wow! I commented there.

You could test for ground clearance as the cause of CHUFFING by laying cabinet on it's side.
As you "break-in" the driver please be carfeul about bottoming the voice coil, they are fragile and so is the glued joint between voice coil and cone. I've broken several subs at that critical joint.
Room acoustics are evidently playing a part of the sub's overall FQ ,frequency response. It'll take you some time to figure that one out. It looks like you have that one corner for your choice of placement so that leaves you with room shape and/or furniture placement for physical change and then an equalizer to do it electronically.
Your speaker baffle may improve with a third layer of MDF maybe not. How bout the bottom baffle, with the vent? How's that performing? With all that power and that huge speaker, anything can go wrong and will, just ask anyone in Minneapolis.
Be advised with that BFD statement you tread on thin ice buddy . . . . . I still DRIVE my 79 PINTO station wagon here in Texas and the AM radio and stock speakers get me where I want to go. YeeHaa!
Since you started your projects mine have idled, your's are much more fun than mine.

**SteveCallas** · **08-04-07, 01:32 PM**

If you are going to the trouble of changing the legs now, you may as well make them 10". Keep in mind that for most people who use a down firing driver with an upfiring 8" port, even for a very large LLT like this, they are getting at least 12" clearance above the port, usually more. Did you flare the external port opening?

Have you made any efort to calibrate your sub to the other speakers, at least as a starting point? Having the sub level set to 10 when already having massive output a 4, having the "double bass" (I'm scared to ask exactly what that is) on, and playing at what would seem to be near reference levels based on your other comments sounds like you are....ahem....pushing things just a little bit hard. If your levels are calibrated at all, your speakers have got to be pumping out buckets of distortion trying to keep up with your sub. I'd suggest backing off just a little bit, and there shouldn't be any need for any feature called "double bass"

As for the pop you heard, it is one of two things. With the crabked up levels and "double bass", you very likely could have bottomed your sub by overdriving it in the 20-30hz region. This is actually the area where the sub is susceptible if you keep pushing it louder and louder. The other scenario is that you clipped your amp and sent a nasty signal to the sub. What amp are you using again?

Whichever one it was, it is not good, and doing it again can cause serious damage to your driver, either by damaging the suspension or frying the voice coil, both of which will result in a dead driver. So again, I'd back off just a little bit. Even a high excursion 18" driver has it's limits. What you'll find after some calibration is that you are very likely running your sub extremely hot, I'm going to guess in the neighborhood of +18db or more based on some of your descriptions. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but it is a very inaccurate representation, especially for music. With time, same as with just about everyone else, you will actually come to prefer a more balanced, calibrated system, as it will get a little bland when every single scene with even the slightest amount of bass is shaking the house, cause it becomes hard to get any sense of what is really supposed to be powerful bass. +3 to +6 is what most of us settle on.

Lastly, if you are going to take the sub apart before painting it, please do add a 3rd layer to the baffle, build an external port opening flare if you haven't already, and go ahead and build a flare for the inner port opening as well. Do this by cutting two 11" diameter donuts from 3/4" MDF. For one, make the hole the same diameter as the EXTERNAL diameter of your port, probably ~8.5". For the other make the hole the same diameter as the INTERNAL diameter of the port, probably ~8". Now on this second one with the 8" diameter hole, roundover the inner surface so that you have created a 3/4" flare. Center the two donuts up and glue them together. Now glue this to the internal port opening. Let me know if that makes sense.

**Mongrel714** · **08-04-07, 03:20 PM**

Yes I understand the interior port opening, I will do that, the exit port is flared, lol, I don't want you to think I'm cranking this wide open, I could'nt handle it, I'm running the QSC RMX 1450 bridged at 4 ohms, which claims 1400 watts, the amps gain is set at just over halfway at the moment, and I'm still in need of a signal boost from my Onkyo reciever to drive it, and yes, my other speakers do sound like crap compared to the S.S.

I def will get all my test gear before modifying any furthur.
And I think the Pinto is one fine automobile! even with the rear collision explosions!!

Now don't Idle to long there Island, I want to see some of your ideas come to fruition also!

**SteveCallas** · **08-04-07, 04:46 PM**

If it is true what some have said about the Onkyo pre out levels being low, I guess a third scenario could have been clipping the sub signal from the processor.

**Mongrel714** · **08-04-07, 05:42 PM**

Here's the sound predator living in my port, everyone should take exterminater Steves advice and use BIG ports and correct clearance, even though the Chuffaroo is of a larger size, he loves undersizes ports and low clearance, they make him feel secure, untill you fire up your sub, then you'll hear his trademark, angry "Chuffing" call, ruining your base experiance, so be sure to build your sub right the first time, they hate large and free flowing ports, and once you get a Chuffaroo infestation, they are very hard too get rid off!

**ISLAND1000** · **08-04-07, 08:01 PM**

Reminds me of my first wife after a night out.

**Mongrel714** · **08-12-07, 07:31 PM**

I read in another thread I should wrap the port in acoustic insulation, are we talking the outside wall of the port, (interior of enclosure) or inside wall of the port, (leading out of the enclosure)??

**SteveCallas** · **08-12-07, 09:00 PM**

Line the exterior of the port, you don't want to obstruct airflow through it.

**Mongrel714** · **08-28-07, 04:29 AM**

Getting ready to start the paintproject, the wife announced she is getting weary of the big wooden box in the living room, sooo... My man Rodney,or anyone else, what brand of two stage paint would you recomend??

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