Another Stereo Integrity Build, HT-15D2

13411 Views 32 Replies 17 Participants Last post by ScAndal, Mar 5, 2013

Patzig

Discussion Starter · Jan 6, 2013

10

Well, it took me about a week to build the box and I finally got the driver in today. Haven't gotten it broken in yet, but this thing is a beast. Never been able to shake the whole house until now. Box is made with 3/4" mdf, double ply all the way around. Ended up being somewhere around 2.7 cu ft internal with driver displacement and bracing. Running the driver at 4 ohm load. Powered by one channel off EP4000.

First layer of box with bracing

First addition of second layer

Think I clamped too hard?! lol

All 2nd layer edges on except front baffle

All sides on and rounded off edges

Painted, stuffed and wiring added

Finally got the driver in

Front of home theater room shot. 100" screen and LCR are Curt's sealed Aviatrix.

I didn't add a whole lot of polyfill, as you can see from pictures. Not sure if I should get more stuffed in there. Also, there is no eq on the setup yet. Going to buy a miniDSP soon. I do have the new miniDSP USB Mic though. I will take measurements and post soon. I also have not done any acoustic treatment, and my room is very small at 10'x9'x11'. I can already tell I will need some serious bass trap treatment.

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1 - 20 of 33 Posts

fusseli

· #2 · Jan 6, 2013

Awesome work! How does it sound so far? I bet that thing weighs a few pounds...

Patzig

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 6, 2013

Thanks Fusseli. Well this is my first "quality" sub, so I don't know how it sounds lol. I'm new to the complex world of sound and acoustics so I haven't really developed an ear for what a good sub sounds like. I know that when I play Transformers through it, it sounds epic and my chest almost explodes. Right now I have it crossed with the Aviatrix at 80Hz. And yes I didn't weigh it, but I believe I used right around 100 lbs of mdf to build it and the driver is 30...so 130? Should have put wheels on the dumb thing.

chrapladm

· #4 · Jan 6, 2013

Looks awesome. Have not seen a white sub in a long time. :T

Mike P.

· #5 · Jan 6, 2013

Awesome looking sub!

I know that when I play Transformers through it, it sounds epic and my chest almost explodes.

That says it all. Enjoy your sub. :T

dougc

· #6 · Jan 6, 2013

That looks like a very solid build, enjoy! Did you build the Aviatrix for the rear surrounds also?

theJman

· #7 · Jan 6, 2013

Now that is a very nice cabinet. I don't even like white and I think it looks fantastic! Incredible job... :clap:

fschris

· #8 · Jan 6, 2013

that is a great looking build, how did you paint this up ? Spray or Foam roller?

txredxj

· #9 · Jan 6, 2013

looks like you could puff the filling more. i had some poly fill in my loudspeakers and after i went through it and pinched off bits i could tell a difference with the same amount of stuffing. took a while and can be a bit messy but it was such a difference i did the rest of my speakers. looks like a solid box and i like the rest of your set up. i did curts tritrix TL with a sealed center and i really like the sound.

Patzig

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 6, 2013

Looks awesome. Have not seen a white sub in a long time.

Thank you! I chose white because I like how it makes the drivers stand out. But I have alot of light reflection in the room now because of them. Might paint everything a darker color later on.

Awesome looking sub!

Thank you sir!

That looks like a very solid build, enjoy! Did you build the Aviatrix for the rear surrounds also?

Thank you, I'm definitely enjoying it already. Yes I built 2 of the sealed MT versions of the aviatrix for the surrounds as well. I can't say enough good things about Curt and his designs. These speakers really are amazing. I want to build the Statements for my next project.

Now that is a very nice cabinet. I don't even like white and I think it looks fantastic! Incredible job...

Lol, thank you. The white may be be painted over soon...

that is a great looking build, how did you paint this up ? Spray or Foam roller?

Spray. Used a whole quart of Kilz Original Primer. Pretty heavy and solid paint.

looks like you could puff the filling more. i had some poly fill in my loudspeakers and after i went through it and pinched off bits i could tell a difference with the same amount of stuffing. took a while and can be a bit messy but it was such a difference i did the rest of my speakers. looks like a solid box and i like the rest of your set up. i did curts tritrix TL with a sealed center and i really like the sound.

Thanks for the advice, I think I will go back and fluff...I didn't really fluff at all this first time, just crammed it in there. I wish I had a chance to hear some of the Tritrix, especially the TL's.

Patzig

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 6, 2013

4

Ok I took some measurements. The flatest response I got from the subwoofer was with it tucked all the way into the front right corner. Set Mic on Boom stand in middle listening position. Rew output went to Onkyo TX-SR508 receiver via hdmi. All these measurements are with no eq and no Audyssey. I did run the Audyssey setup and tried to compare measurements with it on and off. It didn't seem to make hardly any changes at all, so I left it off. Crossover set to 80Hz. Still very new to all of this.

Yellow - Subwoofer only, Green - FL and FR speakers only, Pink is both. No Smoothing.

This is FR, FL and Sub on. 0hz to 20,000Hz. Looks pretty decent to me...I think? 1/48 Smoothing.

Not entirely sure how to read this, but I'm pretty sure this is really bad, right?

If I could get some interpretation from you experienced guys, I would really appreciate it. I know my room is very small but I do plan on acoustically treating it the best I can. So far I have a dozen 2'x4'x2" oc703 sheets I plan on making panels out of. I want to build some bass traps also. Thanks!

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fusseli

· #12 · Jan 7, 2013

Is there any reason that you changed your scale (Hz) to linear on your first plot? I think about everyone is accustomed to looking at log scale on the frequency axis, could you possibly repost that?

The little dig below 80Hz with your mains + sub makes me wonder if that's a phase issue with your crossover point. You could try adjusting the phase setting on the sub and see of that dip changes.

The FR in general looks like it would benefit from some EQ, naturally you'd need to EQ your mains to fix anything above your crossover point. Overall it looks like there's a lot of potenial in your system, it should be strong even below 20 Hz.

Patzig

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 7, 2013

2

wow, I wondered why they looked so funny. Must have hit that button on accident, thanks for pointing it out.

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Patzig

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jan 7, 2013 (Edited)

purple - phase 0, green - phase 180. Interesting stuff

EDIT: All I did was switch polarity on the subwoofer. I don't believe the ep4000 has a phase setting.

2nd EDIT: I don't think I have the miniDSP USB Mic volume setup right with REW, and I didn't calibrate it with a SPL meter, so I don't think the actual spl numbers are correct. There's no way it's hitting 120 db on those sweeps.

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8086

· #15 · Jan 7, 2013

Nice Craftsmanship!

Owen Bartley

· #16 · Jan 7, 2013

Great looking enclosure, man that thing must be solid as a rock! Looks deceptively lighter with that roundover, nice job. The white is definitely striking and stylish, but I can see how it may be a little distracting in a dark room catching light from the projector. At the end of the day, its your setup, so finish it in a way that makes you happy, and be proud of it!

Patzig

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jan 8, 2013

Nice Craftsmanship!

Thank you sir.

Great looking enclosure, man that thing must be solid as a rock! Looks deceptively lighter with that roundover, nice job. The white is definitely striking and stylish, but I can see how it may be a little distracting in a dark room catching light from the projector. At the end of the day, its your setup, so finish it in a way that makes you happy, and be proud of it!

Thanks lol, ya it is a tradeoff. Darker color - better performance, white - makes your buddies say "those look sweet man!"

fusseli

· #18 · Jan 9, 2013

Go with the green!

Patzig said:
purple - phase 0, green - phase 180. Interesting stuff

EDIT: All I did was switch polarity on the subwoofer. I don't believe the ep4000 has a phase setting.

2nd EDIT: I don't think I have the miniDSP USB Mic volume setup right with REW, and I didn't calibrate it with a SPL meter, so I don't think the actual spl numbers are correct. There's no way it's hitting 120 db on those sweeps.

Patzig

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jan 9, 2013

Lol ya Fusseli the green looks much better, thanks for that tip. So looking to smooth the FR further...how much help would adding another identical HT-15d2 be? The drivers are fairly cheap, I enjoy building the boxes and I have that other channel on the ep4000 crying out for a mate. I could get the minidsp to help also, but putting money towards another sub just seems way more fun.

fusseli

· #20 · Jan 9, 2013

I think adding a second sub would help you get the same (already decent) low end response in multiple locations instead of just at the point you took the measurements so far. Adding the minidsp would help improve the FR below your 80 Hz crossover point. Upgrading your receiver to one with better room correction, or using an external amp + minidsp would help improve FR above your 80 Hz crossover point.

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