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Subwoofer advice for workshop


Tom Adams

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I'm at that point where I need to run A/V cabling in my workshop before the drywall goes up. I've got the placement & cabling for the TV and speakers nailed down (pun intended), but I'm at a complete loss for where to put a sub. Ideally, I'd like to place it some where on the back wall up near the ceiling (sorry about the photo - it's the only one I have of the back wall at the moment).

The problem I'm having is that most of the subs I'm considering are down-firing and ported. Because this is a workshop, having the sub on the floor just ain't gonna happen. Could a Sub-12 be placed on its back with its driver firing towards the ceiling? Should I consider a sealed, forward firing sub that could be placed on a shelf? Should the sub be more in the middle or towards the side walls. Mind you....I'm not going for sound quality here, just decent ouput and thump.

Oh - and you IB folks need not chime in. That's just not in the cards (not now anyways).

TIA

Tom

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Oh - and you IB folks need not chime in. That's just not in the cards (not now anyways).

You cut me to the bone Tom!!

I've seen pro style subs (in a horn type cabinet) hung from chains with good output. I'm sure there's some smaller ones out there that'd work well.

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Oh - and you IB folks need not chime in. That's just not in the cards (not now anyways).

You cut me to the bone Tom!!

Sorry - I should've put a smilie face on that statement. [:$]

So can you guys give me some idea of what I should be looking for size wise? It's not a very big area at 20' x 24' x 9' and naturally there's a big roll up door on one end.

It would be nice to have a smaller version of this guy http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/kpt-684.aspx but not sure who would make something like that.

Tom

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FWIW.....I've been having a conversation with a guy who's my closest supplier of EAW speakers and one of the things I learned was that the SB48zP doesn't have a passive network. However, since most new receivers have adjustable high / low pass filters that won't be a problem. I was told that the output would be decent, but dealing with a volume such as my workshop, there's only so much a pair of 8" speakers could do. So.....

It was suggested that I look at a couple of different Bag End subs. They too look promising, but again.....since my sub will have to be placed on a shelf of some sort, size is a concern

Of course all this has gotten me to wondering if I couldn't just do a DIY sub that was similar in design to the EAW SB48 but use a pair of 10's or a pair of 12 inch subwoofers. As I said, my goal is not some bottom dwelling sub, but one with excellent punch and decent output at 30Hz or so.

I'm suprised that Dr.Who or Jay hasn't chimed in here. It wouldn't take much encouragement from them for me to tackle my first DIY sub.

Tom

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Tom, DIY is WAY fun if you have the time and tools. Doc, Jay and Michael H are warehouses of DIY info. You also appreciate the end product more. FYI, the new receivers have low pass filters only (crossovers) and you would need a high pass filter to protect your driver.

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Tom, DIY is WAY fun if you have the time and tools. Doc, Jay and Michael H are warehouses of DIY info. You also appreciate the end product more. FYI, the new receivers have low pass filters only (crossovers) and you would need a high pass filter to protect your driver.

Well if they're such fountains of knowledge, why aren't they posting something to this thread? Can't they see that I'm stoopid and need help??? [:$]

Oh and thanks for that link to the Yamaha pro sub. I did look at it and the other pro subs on the Musicians website.

Anyhow.....I guess I'll run my A/V cables and my subwoofer cable and look into a DIY sub at a later date.

Tom

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Take a look in the commerical products line of the klipsch site. There are subs in all sizes....thin as 11 inches to the normal washing machine size ones.

Take a look at the KPT-418.

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Take a look in the commerical products line of the klipsch site. There are subs in all sizes....thin as 11 inches to the normal washing machine size ones.

Take a look at the KPT-418.

Thanks fritz. Yeah - I saw that sub and it's on my short list.

The notion of doing a DIY sub never crossed my mind until I saw that EAW SB48 sub. Its "form factor", if you will, got me to thinking that that might be the ticket. IOW.....since I want the sub to be mounted up near the ceiling and don't wish for it to protrude too far from the wall nor hang too far down, a horizontally long enclosure of say 18 to 20 inches deep seems to be the answer. I'm also thinking that dual 12" drivers will get me the output I'm wanting. The Klipsch KPT-684 would probably be killer. But again, its dimensions just won't work for me. Sure would like to know what that KPT-418 cost.

Thanks again.

Tom

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Here's a dual 12" ported box I made for my sons van (click the pdf tag above). I think it was tuned to around 34 Hz. It had tremendous output and was pretty easy to build. It also fits your general shape you're looking for. The brace that says "optional" is not an option, put it in the box, you'll need it.

Edit: I can't link photobucket due to the stupid filter here at work, but if you go to photobucket.com and search "cecaa850" you'll find my photo albums. Look for the dual arsenal box folder and you can see detailed pics of the build and what it looked like finished.

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Thanks fritz. I remember seeing that Decware site some time back. Completely forgot about it. I've started a folder for sub plans and have placed a copy of the wicked one plans in it.

That site has some other really cool speakers/plans. Man.....if I were retired, I'd be buying sheets of MDF by the truck load and trying all sorts of DIY speaker things. [:D]

Tom

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Here's a dual 12" ported box I made for my sons van (click the pdf tag above). I think it was tuned to around 34 Hz. It had tremendous output and was pretty easy to build. It also fits your general shape you're looking for. The brace that says "optional" is not an option, put it in the box, you'll need it.

Edit: I can't link photobucket due to the stupid filter here at work, but if you go to photobucket.com and search "cecaa850" you'll find my photo albums. Look for the dual arsenal box folder and you can see detailed pics of the build and what it looked like finished.

Excellent!! That's pretty much what I've been seeing in my minds eye. Sadly.......our work filters here prevent me from accessing photobucket too. Will have to check it out when I get home. In the mean time........

Can you tell me more about the driver and what kinda power your drove them with?

Thanks guys for all the help.

Tom

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Can you tell me more about the driver and what kinda power your drove them with?

They were Ascendant Audio 12" Arsenals. We had them in my son's van powered by a 1200 watt Kicker amp. You'll see the drivers once you can access photobucket,

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