[JHuck]

After looking for an internet direct sub to replace our 10" JBL, I chose the DIY route. I settled on DIY Cable's slot port design for the 15" Tempest (21 hz tune, Dayton 500W amp). Needless to say I had a blast on this build.

Being that the WAF would be negatively impacted by the size, I spent extra time on the finish. After she heard it for the first time, she realized size does matter...and she liked the finish.

In the last picture it looks like the new sub is about to snack on the poor little original sub. Mmmm suuubwoooofer.

 

[Bengoshi2000]

Nice!

 

[Mike P.]

Looks good. What is the net volume of the cabinet?

 

[Drizt]

Very nice. Very nice indeed.

Well done... how does it sound ?

 

[JHuck]

Looks good. What is the net volume of the cabinet?

Kevin states it is slightly over 5 cu ft. I was originally looking at a 10 cu ft build but I now know that my wife would not have allowed something that big in our living room.

 

[JHuck]

Very nice. Very nice indeed.

Well done... how does it sound ?

Thank you for the comments.

Being newly diagnosed with audio upgrade disease, I have yet to acquire tools to take measurements. Even though it is randomly placed where the JBL was sitting I can tell you that I drool when deep bass gets played on our HT. We will be getting more than our $13 worth from Netflix each month.

Last night we watched the animated movie Bolt. The scene where the dog jumps over the helicopter made my pants vibrate on my lower legs and my 9 year old was monitoring the shelves to make sure nothing fell. The room is probably 2400 cu ft but it is totally open to the kitchen on one end. The sub is approximately 13 feet in front of the listening position. I only wish my wife would let me make another one so we could have sofa end tables!

If we had this in a sealed room, I can't imagine what it would do. Now we need to buy some non-skid matting so things will quit moving around in the room.

 

[Lonely Raven]

Looks like a great build!

What did you use for the black? Is it paint, or something like truck bed liner?

 

[Moonfly]

Good effort, and an excellent job integrating the port. The finish looks very well has definitely helps sneak a big sub into SWMBO's house :bigsmile:

 

[JHuck]

Looks like a great build!

What did you use for the black? Is it paint, or something like truck bed liner?

The black is exterior satin acrylic latex paint (Olympic). I chose this based on a posting I had seen somewhere regarding good speaker finishes. I did two coats of the shellac primer and two coats of the black. I rolled the primer on with a 6mm roller and the paint with a 10mm. Had considered the bed liner route but thought this might provide a cleaner look. I'll have to see how this works from a durability standpoint.

Now, if I wanted a bullet-proof finish, I might have tried POR15 or another type of reactive paint (cures due to moisture in air). It's used a lot on cars. I foam brushed this stuff on a Cobra kit car frame. It laid flat, set up hard and if you get it on your hands, it won't come off until that layer of skin is ready to be shed:gulp:. Might use this on my planned bookshelf build.

BTW-The shellac primer worked great on sealing the routed edges of the MDF. After the first primer coat, I was able to lightly sand the corners to a very smooth finish. I did the same thing after the second coat and was very pleased with the result. It's funny, after hours of sanding bondo and primer, I can still see the slightest seam in the enclosure if I look close enough. I wish I had some background in auto body repair; that would be helpful right now.

 

[JHuck]

Good effort, and an excellent job integrating the port. The finish looks very well has definitely helps sneak a big sub into SWMBO's house :bigsmile:

Thanks. After I routed the port opening to help it breathe, I decided the whole thing would look good with the edges softened.

 

[Moonfly]

Thanks. After I routed the port opening to help it breathe, I decided the whole thing would look good with the edges softened.

Its very effective and finishes the whole cabinet of nicely :clap:

 

[Kevin Haskins]

It looks awesome. I agree that the roundovers look nice. I think the slot port 5 cubic foot design should be called "The most fun you can have with a single sheet of MDF".

For a frame of reference, you have a subwoofer with comparable output to subs that cost several thousands of dollars if you bought a unit from one of the big names in audio.

Enjoy!

Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio

 

[mj79]

Looks good man.. Always looking to see who uses what as far as paint, primer , veneer etc... Like the front and rear fire designs myself too

 

[Lonely Raven]

Wow, you really must have put some serious time into prep work, that looks great for rolled on paint!

Thanks for the background on what it was and how you did it.

 

[robbo266317]

It looks like it's downfiring, do you have any problem with it walking around when there is a lot of bass?

Oh, nice finish btw.

 

[Guiria]

Nice job there. I really like the look of the slot vent that is the whole width of the box. My DIY sub has a 2.5" slot vent and is about 1/2 the width of the box. I'm always finding toys, books, and other fancy kid things up inside it. A slimmer slot might deter the kids from putting too much in there! (Not sure if you have kids, I'm just thinking outloud to myself )

 

[JHuck]

It looks like it's downfiring, do you have any problem with it walking around when there is a lot of bass?

Oh, nice finish btw.

Thanks.

Yes, the sub does walk some. My wife is picking up some black non-slip matting from Wally World today. A small square piece under each foot should do the trick.

 

[JHuck]

Nice job there. I really like the look of the slot vent that is the whole width of the box. My DIY sub has a 2.5" slot vent and is about 1/2 the width of the box. I'm always finding toys, books, and other fancy kid things up inside it. A slimmer slot might deter the kids from putting too much in there! (Not sure if you have kids, I'm just thinking outloud to myself )

Yes, I have kids and pets. The only thing I've had come out of the slot so far is a small piece of poly that got burped up.

 

[Kevin Haskins]

Yes, I have kids and pets. The only thing I've had come out of the slot so far is a small piece of poly that got burped up.

A few Hotwheels and tinker toys shouldn't interfere too much with the modeled performance. ;-)

Kevin Haskins
Exodus Audio

 

[JHuck]

No, no.

At 7, 9 and 12 years of age, if there's one thing my kids know, it's that it's best to stay away from the loud expensive stuff in the living room. I'm most concerned about my 12, soon to be 13 year old son. He tried to hide the fact that he snuck the center out to watch a movie the other day but did a sloppy job returning it to its resting place. We had a talk about that. :rubeyes: