DIY round sub?

[NBPK402]

I have been trying to think of a sub that I can make inexpensively, and easily in Mexico. I was looking at a review of one of the Sonotube style subs, and it sounds like it might be good for my large room.
I am thinking I might be able to build 2 for my rear corners. I think in Mexico I can get green sewer pipe which is thicker than Sonotube, and I believe not expensive either.

I know years ago a friend of mine had one with a huge woofer, and he said it had 1 note bass, so he got rid of it.

Question: Are they still one note bass or is that tuned out with a MiniDSP or otherMiniDSP crossover nowadays.

Has anyone had experience with the newer ones, and how they compare with other DIY, and store bought subs?

 

[chrapladm]

I havent heard them being one note wonders at all. Maybe they sounded a bit "one note," because they were tuned really low and were very tall with the port exit at the opposite end of the driver. I have no idea why though. I had a pair of dual opposed sealed sono tubes and loved them for music. Needed some eq and bigger amps but I really did love that setup. If you need ported it is a very easy build also..

 

[NBPK402]

my friends were at least 6' long. i was thinking of making some go floor to ceiling in the rear corners which are maybe 10' tall. i was then thinking of attaching 2" Roxul to the side facing the room. this way it would also would do a little for absorption. the one I saw someone make had the port on top with the woofer on the bottom...so it would be better to have the port and woofer on the bottom?

 

[NBPK402]

I have been doing some research and it appears there are 5 ways to make one...
1: Dual woofers... one at each end, with the 2nd one out of phase.
2: Single woofer
3: Single woofer built into 2 tubes ( inside of the other), essentially making it a horn loaded tube?
4: Ported
5: Sealed

Not sure which way to go. I have 114" of height to play with including spacing for the woofer, woofers, or port. I read that the spacing for each woofer to the floor should be a minimum of 3". I am thinking of a 12 or 15" woofer, and I would like to get into the teens or at least 20hz. I have even thought of getting a used servo amp to keep the bass nice tight, and fast one.

Anyone know what size tube I should be looking for? I am going to start looking for the tubes soon. What would be a good woofer that will not sag?

 

[chrapladm]

114"is huge amount of height to work with. What is the floor space size your using?

If I was going this large I would go ported or horn. Which driver depends on what your preference is. I like music first HT second. Meaning for the sound. I watch mainly movies but am extremely critical when listening to music. Probably from being a former novice musician.

But knowing floor space will determine sono size you can use. But also with such a huge possible volume I dont know if there are any smaller drivers such as a 12 that can use that amount of space. How big is the room and what sort of spl are you hopig to achive? Or what size room does this speakers need to fill.

Have you seen the DTS-20 from Danley?

Not saying to buy this but something like this size of sub may work. I think Kravachenko or how ever you spell his name also has a design maybe similar.

 

[NBPK402]

About 16"x16" is about all I was hoping to use.

I also am more critical of music than HT.

The room is open floor plan with part being 1 story, and the other being a Boveda ceiling 32' high. room is 19' wide with a total depth of 40'. I have some pics posred in my HT build thread.
Room is built with 12" thick brick, and Cantera Marble floors. It is going to be a nightmare to get it tuned properly. I wish I had a room like my old dedicated HT was.

I would like to hit about 114db max.

in my old room I had 2 DTS10s and it sounded great.

 

[Sonnie]

I built a pair of tall Audiopulse 15" ported subs and they pounded hard. Down firing... not round, but they served the purpose. I believe they were tuned to 18Hz and they had a really smooth response using my BFD parametric EQ back then. You can get a miniDSP with Dirac Live now... so you should be able to smooth them out nicely. I say go ported with an 6 or 8" sonotube down the center of the larger tube.

 

[NBPK402]

Can a 6 or 8 inch woofer go down to 18hz?

 

[Sonnie]

Not with any authority, no.

 

[NBPK402]

I would need a 12 or larger, right?

 

[chrapladm]

I would need a 12 or larger, right?

Ya Sonnie was just talking about the port size being 6 or 8". PLUS your filling or trying to fill a large room so I would go with as many 12's as you can.

 

[NBPK402]

So go with the dual woofer setup?

 

[chrapladm]

I would go with a dual sub approach as I think your already doing. Dual setup will just be a matter of what fits and how it models. You will have almost 1000liters of room per sub. That is enough for four 12's in a column per sub. DTS10 was about 500 I believe. But also tuned a cabinet to around 18-20hz would also be very easy with this much volume to work with. I would suggest a pair of 18's for that size room to start. May need more but there are a lot of variables. Since wanting to stay small then a pair of 12's equals an 18. So multiple 12's would be a good start.

The trick is going to be if your using a sono then you can only mount at opposite ends. Not sure I would want that driver weight that high from the ground. The other option is to use the baddest 12"sub you can get and just be happy with that. That would be the 12HST. But not sure what your thoughts are on budget.

I myself if I was restricted to a column I would just buy two to four 12's per column. Make the cabinet look more like furniture and then tune to about 20-22hz. What is the budget for the drivers and what is available to you?

I would model some designs but on work computer.

 

[Sonnie]

How big can you get the sewer pipe? If you could get it big enough to do 18's... I agree.... do 18's. I have a pair of 18's sealed in a much smaller box in my room and they absolutely pound. Got them from parts express. If you do a couple of 18's ported in as big of an enclosure you are talking about... you better get some structural support for you house.

Here's my dual 18 build... https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/d...max-sub-kit-um18-22-and-denovo-flatpack.1453/

And here is my 15 Audiopulse build with the sonotube down the center for a port... https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/building-the-pulse-revival-of-old-build-thread.1504/

 

[NBPK402]

I would go with a dual sub approach as I think your already doing. Dual setup will just be a matter of what fits and how it models. You will have almost 1000liters of room per sub. That is enough for four 12's in a column per sub. DTS10 was about 500 I believe. But also tuned a cabinet to around 18-20hz would also be very easy with this much volume to work with. I would suggest a pair of 18's for that size room to start. May need more but there are a lot of variables. Since wanting to stay small then a pair of 12's equals an 18. So multiple 12's would be a good start.

The trick is going to be if your using a sono then you can only mount at opposite ends. Not sure I would want that driver weight that high from the ground. The other option is to use the baddest 12"sub you can get and just be happy with that. That would be the 12HST. But not sure what your thoughts are on budget.

I myself if I was restricted to a column I would just buy two to four 12's per column. Make the cabinet look more like furniture and then tune to about 20-22hz. What is the budget for the drivers and what is available to you?

I would model some designs but on work computer.

If I go opposing subs I can make the subwoofer cabinet mounting plates to where there is only be inch or two clearance to the ceiling. I can do this because it would be under a loft... I would just get it upright in the living room, and then movie it to its appropriate corner.
Another option would be to put one with 2 woofers behind our couch, but I am not sure how that will go over with the wife.
As far as the price for a woofer... I am not sure as it will depend on how many woofers I need to buy.

I am going to see if this next week I can find out where I can buy the sewer pipes... I have seen them down here, but I cannot remember where.

 

[NBPK402]

How big can you get the sewer pipe? If you could get it big enough to do 18's... I agree.... do 18's. I have a pair of 18's sealed in a much smaller box in my room and they absolutely pound. Got them from parts express. If you do a couple of 18's ported in as big of an enclosure you are talking about... you better get some structural support for you house.

Here's my dual 18 build... https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/d...max-sub-kit-um18-22-and-denovo-flatpack.1453/

And here is my 15 Audiopulse build with the sonotube down the center for a port... https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/building-the-pulse-revival-of-old-build-thread.1504/

I am going to find a source for the sewer pipe this next week...Hopefully it will not be too expensive. If I cannot afford it I will look for Sonotubes or whatever brands they have. I think a 18" will be too big. I would prefer 12s, or 15s as max size.

 

[Sonnie]

Keep in mind that your port will be firing out the top... typically you want the ports to have some room to breath properly, or you might get noise/chuffing. I would keep them at least a foot from the ceiling.

I've found one sub front and one rear works best in a couple of different rooms I have had a theater installed.

 

[NBPK402]

How big can you get the sewer pipe? If you could get it big enough to do 18's... I agree.... do 18's. I have a pair of 18's sealed in a much smaller box in my room and they absolutely pound. Got them from parts express. If you do a couple of 18's ported in as big of an enclosure you are talking about... you better get some structural support for you house.

Here's my dual 18 build... https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/d...max-sub-kit-um18-22-and-denovo-flatpack.1453/

And here is my 15 Audiopulse build with the sonotube down the center for a port... https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/building-the-pulse-revival-of-old-build-thread.1504/

I am going to find a source for the sewer pipe this next week...Hopefully it will not be too expensive. If I cannot afford it I will look for Sonotubes or whatever brands they have. I think a 18" will be too big for a Sonotube, but for a tower with woofers in the side... that might work. I would prefer 12s, or 15s as max size for a Sonotube.

 

[NBPK402]

Keep in mind that your port will be firing out the top... typically you want the ports to have some room to breath properly, or you might get noise/chuffing. I would keep them at least a foot from the ceiling.

I've found one sub front and one rear works best in a couple of different rooms I have had a theater installed.

I just looked at the 18", and that could be a possible one. I could start with 1, and then move to whatever quantity I need, and stack them if needed.

Question.... How was the flat pack shipped? Was it on a pallet? I am asking as I do not want to get it in Mexico after clearing customs in Laredo, and find out the cabinet pieces are damaged.

Do you think it sounds better than a dual 12 or 15" sonotube?

 

[Sonnie]

It was in a regular box with Styrofoam pieces packed around it... not that great of a packing job, although it did make it undamaged. If Parts Express ships to Mexico... I would think they would be responsible for damages and replace if necessary.

I have two of these 18's... originally both up front, but I later found I could get a better response with one in front and the other in back... same distance to my main listening position. I have always been a firm believer in having dual subs.

 

[NBPK402]

@Sonnie I was just looking at your 18" build, and I thought of something... I have a complete box that we made for 1 k402 horn (since I need 3 of them I might as well have 3 made when the horns are ready, and use this one if I can.). If I make a new front plate for it I could use it as a sub.

The horn box is about 40" x 28" x 27"...

 

[chrapladm]

Now your getting huge lol. You could almost fit a single Skram( 32" x 24" x 36").

 

[Sonnie]

Yeah... that's pretty big. You could put two 18's in the that box.

I don't have the software to model it, but it would be interesting to see how it would model sealed vs ported.

 

[NBPK402]

Well I def will not be having Parts Express ship to Mexico... it would be $200 Just for the shipping plus $180 for the duty. If I by from them, and have them shipped to my Texas address it is free, and then 50 cents a pound, plus about $150 for duty.

 

[Sonnie]

Is there nothing in Mexico you can buy that would be similar?