DIY subwoofer

ToneAlive

ToneAlive

Active Member
Hey guys, I want to build a box for a subwoofer and I need some good suggestions for the subwoofer driver. Want to keep the speaker itself under $150. I will be using them in a recording studio.. I think I want one for the right side and one for the left. I'm all about finding stuff used if it helps
 
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maybe, if I decide to go with two of them, I would probably look for something a little cheaper. How important is the quality of a subwoofer? Are they going to sound that different? As long as it is able to handle enough wattage and it doesn't malfunction...:scratch2: I would probably cross it over at about 90hz, so it's not like its going to have a whole lot of frequencies to articulate.
 
The importance of fidelity is debatable, but there are more primary concerns that are all intertwined. I would think in a studio, you're going to want fairly high SPL capability available, and you'll also want flat response in the room, which will likely take a little EQ, and you need quite a bit of extra max output to make room for EQ.

I suggested the LAB because it's kind of really hard to go wrong with those - very flexible and capable driver. I had a go-to $99 sub driver that could keep up with the LAB 12 in most respects, but it has been discontinued recently. Not sure if I know of anything under $150 that seems like a good buy now. Not that I know everything there is to know about bargains in sub drivers, of course.
 
dumptruck said:
The importance of fidelity is debatable, but there are more primary concerns that are all intertwined. I would think in a studio, you're going to want fairly high SPL capability available, and you'll also want flat response in the room, which will likely take a little EQ, and you need quite a bit of extra max output to make room for EQ.
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I definitely want high spl capability. How do you determine that though, just by wattage? I was thinking 400 watts was perfect.. didn't want any less. It will be able to be eq'ed as well as put through a crossover. As far as the max output, do you mean how the LAB 12 is described as "400 watts RMS/800 watts max", twice as much max power as RMS power?

westend: Yeah, car subs ARE cheap aren't they.. I will be powering the subs with a crown PS-400, so 200 watts per channel.
 
Well, some of the veteran builders can pretty well estimate in their heads from the driver parameters, but the rest of us have to simulate (WinISD, etc.) to figure out what enclosure (if any) will give a response we like first. Then, you can watch the simulated excursion go up with power and to get a guess of how much power it will truly handle in the lowest frequencies before you exceed xmax. Usually that's a lot less than the rated power handling, but sometimes it's more, in which case the rated power handling is your limit. Then, you take the sensitivity spec. with that max power you've estimated to see how loud it would be at that point (or just look at the SPL level if you're using WinISD).

The thing about car subs is that they are most often designed for high SPL while sacrificing a lot of frequency response below ~45Hz (partly so they can brag about SPL levels, but also because the inside of a car boosts the low stuff). They tend to have pretty high excursion, so you can EQ them if you've got lots of power and lots of woofers, I suppose..
 
whats your room size, what sized driver are you looking for. what are your music preferences. What is the max external size of the sub you can live with. without these, its very difficult to suggest anything.
 
doors666 said:
whats your room size, what sized driver are you looking for. what are your music preferences. What is the max external size of the sub you can live with. without these, its very difficult to suggest anything.
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Thanks Doors, my room is 12' wide, 6'10 tall, and 21 feet deep. I think I want 12" drivers, but I am not dead set on that either..seems like 12's should sound more solid. And I really only need it for lower than 90 hz. I don't want the whole sub with box to be bigger than 1"10" or taller an 2'.

Dumptruck: that program did not have the eminence lab 12 speaker in there.. Do you have the specs for it to manually enter in the data for how you can create a new entry?
 
ToneAlive said:
Thanks Doors, my room is 12' wide, 6'10 tall, and 21 feet deep. I think I want 12" drivers, but I am not dead set on that either..seems like 12's should sound more solid. And I really only need it for lower than 90 hz. I don't want the whole sub with box to be bigger than 1"10" or taller an 2'.

Dumptruck: that program did not have the eminence lab 12 speaker in there.. Do you have the specs for it to manually enter in the data for how you can create a new entry?
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2 12s would probably be too much for that room. How about 2 10s or even 2 8s unless you need very high spls. For music, not much of a need to go below 30hz as not many instruments go below that.

Check out css sdx 10 (or whatever the new model is called, css makes real good subs with xbl2 motor), peerless also has some drivers that might fit your need. Then there is always the dayton subs from PE. I have only made a 15" and a 8" sub, so dont know all that much about the 10s and the 12s:).

If you are talking about winisd, there are quite a few files for drivers available on home theater shack forums, i remember seeing some eminence drivers also. Its a sticky thread on one of the sub forums there.
 
The help file has step-by-step instructions for adding new drivers. Here's a file for the original Lab 12, I don't recall if there's any significant difference to the current version (you can just look at the parameters and see).

I don't understand the concept of "too much for that room", but that sounds like a room that could be tricky for bass response. 4x10" or 3x10" and 1x15" or something along those lines might be best of all.
 

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dumptruck said:
The help file has step-by-step instructions for adding new drivers. Here's a file for the original Lab 12, I don't recall if there's any significant difference to the current version (you can just look at the parameters and see).

I don't understand the concept of "too much for that room", but that sounds like a room that could be tricky for bass response. 4x10" or 3x10" and 1x15" or something along those lines might be best of all.
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Thanks for the file! I'm not that worried about the bass response in the room because it will be heavily treated. There is quite a lot of absorbtion and bass traps that I have built. BUT, that doesnt mean I should not make the right choice about the best sub setup scenerio.

Honestly, I guess I should have started my sub journey by first trying to figure out what the best speaker size, number, and positioning should be. I really have no reason for picking 12's other than that I figured they would be able to handle the job better when I need it loud and huge sounding, and that they would go a bit lower than 10's. And I don't have enough experience with subs to know what I prefer. :dunno: I know that low frequencies are omni directional, but I still like the idea of having one per side. .. But one fat 15 in the middle might be kind of cool. Lol
 
I use just one subwoofer (and not that often) but two or more is better. There are a lot of benefits using distributed bass but the price is a more complicated arrangement. Here is a pic of the subwoofer, a 15" IDQ car audio driver in an approx. 2^3 ft. box. No frills deal.

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