26" Cube, Maelstrom-X dual PR build

4809 Views 22 Replies 6 Participants Last post by altahometheatre, Jul 30, 2009

vili

Discussion Starter · Jul 2, 2009 (Edited)

I figure I would make a thread with my build. I made a variation on SturmMDs build and made it 26" so that I could center the PRs in the cabinet. I am using a Crown XS1200 to power this, 3kw at 4ohm mono. I have a Gen II Maelstrom-X, I had a Gen I, but it was defective and Kevin replaced it, so Kudos to him for awesome customer service. After bracing and drivers the internal should be about 7.5 cubic feet and modelling in winisd gives a tune around 17hz. I am using 14 washers on the PRs and have about 1750g total weight on them. I have tried the sub with various levels of fill and will get into that later. Using an SMS-1 with a 17hz subsonic filter to EQ and a Pioneer SC05 crossed over at 100hz. Feel free to ask any questions.

At the time I didn't have any tools (just bought a used table saw for $60 last week) so I had a cabinet maker friend help me build the enclosure. This is my first DIY anything.

We rounded over the outer baffle with a 1/2" roundover bit and a 1.25" on the outside of the box if my memory recalls.

The most work was probably the prepping for painting really. Betwen filling imperfections with wood putty, sanding, wiping down the entire enclosure, do a coat of primer, then do the same thing a time or two before we just sanded/wiped down and painted. It was a lot of work.

Then we started the black paint, we did 2 coats of black and then 1 coat of high gloss. Some of the pics are kinda dusty/fuzzy...sorry about that.

I did a lot of sanding, perhaps a bit more than I needed to, but I wanted a good looking enclosure.

Here is the finished product in my room:

I also bought a custom made subdude HD in a 26" cube configuration, I can take pics if you want and put them up.

At the moment I've been playing around with fill and things of that nature.
This is the uneq'ed mael with fill in my room

Here is a pic of the mael with 6-7 pounds of fill eq'ed

About half that

And then no fill

After a suggestion by Ricci, turned off all of the EQ and did a measurement from about 2" away from the center of the mael just to see what it would look like and this is it

After I did that I rememebered that my Ascend Sierra's put out the test tone sweep as well so I disconnected them and this is a nearfield measurement with nothing but the Maelstrom.

It sounds great, but the graphs show something kind of weird, I assumed that a sub should be relatively flat to it's tuning, but I get a big hump in the mix with no EQ, any thoughts?

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vili

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 2, 2009

My room is about 19x13x8. It opens up to the kitchen though. I have a small house which is only 900 square feet plus a 300 square foot attached garage.

2 bedroom/1 bath. Currently attending college, have 1 year left before I have my Bachelor's in nursing. My wife graduated this past December with her teaching degree, she is currently working at the university full time since there aren't any teaching jobs around here this year and we have a baby on the way...our first...just found out Tuesday we are having a baby girl in November. I also work at the university at an it help desk.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 2, 2009

Since my house is small my theater room is the living room, I have a 125" DIY DW screen. I am using an Epson 6500 for the picture. Also have 3 Berkline 45003's with buttkickers although now with the new sub they don't have much use heh.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 2, 2009

Thanks Warp, I just thought I rememebered roughly a flat line doing nearfield measurements at the sub gtg at brandons. the last pic of the sms just looked kinda odd to me, didn't know if it was something on my part or what.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 2, 2009

In case anyone is curious, I did have to do a fan mod on the crown xs1200. It sounded like a little jet with the stock fans in it. I replaced them with the same fans as the ep2500. I didn't realize it until after I got it, but the stock fans are 60mm or something like that because the 80mm fans are much bigger than the stock, luckily the case still closes fine. All that holds them in is a zip tie, thats the way the manufacturer made it...no screws nothing...kinda crazy.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 2, 2009

Ah, didn't know I needed to raise my pio XO...let me do that and get back with ya. I figured a crossover at 100hz on the pio would mean it would drop at 100hz flat.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 2, 2009

Here is a pic with the Pio at a XO of 150hz. Just the mael in the mix.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 2, 2009

Here's something kind of interesting/weird. I have a null at 80hz, well I tried boosting it and of course it didn't effect it all, the definition of a null right? Well I tried cutting it and low and behold it boosted it.

This may sound like crazy talk, but at 0db or at +6 db there is still a null there, but the more I cut it the more it levels out...and I don't mean that everything around it comes down to level out...the null actually reads higher in db with a -13db cut than a +6db gain. Is that not crazy or what?

I also found out that my bedroom door that is in the back of my living room...if I shut it it gives me a null at 50hz, but if I keep it open the null goes away....something else thats interesting! Although I can't boost/cut it...only that 80hz one works that way.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 3, 2009

Hah, I know it! My wife already makes me turn the bass down to next to nothing when watching anything because she is afraid it will hurt something and she doesn't like the way it makes her feel. I can tell her all day long it won't hurt anything, but she won't listen to me so I have to oblige.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jul 28, 2009

I did decide go with the speakon connections. I honestly was boggled for a couple of weeks over how to wire it, for some reason it just seemed greek to me. I got the 4 pole connector. Basically if you are going to wire the sub bridged to an amp, go with 4 pole and if you are just using a single channel use 2 pole. My speakon has 2 + and 2 - for wiring with screws to clamp down the speaker cable. I have my maelstrom wired in series so I have one of the positives on the mael to one of the positives on the speakon and then I have that negative and the other positive wired to each other with the final negative wired to the other positive on the speakon. It sounds kind of weird I guess.

Here is a link...maybe it will explain it a bit better. I'm using a crown amp btw.

http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/amps/126986.pdf

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vili

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jul 28, 2009

Thanks Kevin. I guess it makes sense that I wouldn't be able to do a proper closed mic since the PRs work too, I didn't think of that.

So far it's awesome, with the wife being pregnant, she doesn't like it up too loud so I haven't gotten to really push it. Hopefully there will be another GTG around me and I can haul this beast to push it and see what it can do.

The front 3 feet or so of my room has that excellent tactile sensation, I may need to build another in order to get it to the rest of the room. That will probably be awhile though and I will probably be in a bigger house by then. I can still feel it at my listening position, but mostly through my furniture actually and thats with a subdude being used to decouple it from the floor. It pretty much eliminated the wall rattling with the subdude. I have buttkickers in my berklines and the maelstrom pretty much does the same thing as them with the seats, I can feel everything through the chairs.

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vili

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jul 28, 2009

I did end up doing a fan mod, I used the same fans that they use for the EP2500. I got the 80mm fans, but apparently the crown used 60mm or something. Luckily, it isn't screwed down or anything and is merely held in by a zip tie (I actually called Crown to confirm this is how they ship the units and they said it is) so I just put the bigger fan in there, luckily the lid still closes on the amp.

I need to mess with the settings to see where I can get the amp to clip with the mael, I feel like even though I'm running it about 6db hot and -10 on my Pioneer receiver that the mael still has a ways to go. Probably sometime this week I'll bump it up to -6 (highest I ever listen) and then play a scene thats recorded hot like kung fu panda skidoosh or WOTW and see how high I can take it before either the amp or the driver start complaining and then back it down slightly. Just so I can get the most from the experience

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vili

Discussion Starter · #21 · Jul 28, 2009

Absolutely, so far the mael doesn't even seem to break a sweat. It can take a lot of power.

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