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Dayton Ultimax 12" Sealed Subwoofer Build


johnnydrama

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I noticed that that Parts Express has a whole line house brand DIY subs now.

http://www.parts-express.com/cat/speaker-kits/286?N=13332%204294967118%204294967079&Ne=10166&Nrs=collection()/record[endeca:matches(.,%22P_PortalID%22,%221%22)%20and%20endeca:matches(.,%22P_Searchable%22,%221%22)]&PortalID=1

I will be very interested in what you think of the quality of the kit once you get into the build. I have been thinking about building a non horn sub to go with my Chorus. PE is only 25 min. north of me.

If you're looking for a easy to build sub check out the Simplexx 15 home theater sub from Bill Fitzmaurice, i have the plans here and its pretty simple in design and ruler flat to 30Hz, it uses the Dayton 15" RSS390HO-4 driver and would pair nicely with the Yung 500 watt plate amp on sale for $150 but sale ends soon.

Why 1/2" plywood? Is there a ton of bracing inside? Have you built one?

I might buy the plan set for them, as I have the CD. It is a couple years old, so it doesn't include the Simplexx.

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I completed this Saturday night. I haven't had time to hook it up and play yet, but will share some pictures and test results tonight or in the morning. I'm pleased with the aesthetic results of the unit, I shot pretty high for my first build and my desire to emulate the design of the XW-500d below to match my Icon X line. I think for the materials and finishes I chose to work with and my budget that the results were pretty good. Good news is that I can upgrade the materials and finishes as time goes on if my heart desires. Looking forward to listening to this beast. I've never owned a powerful sub, the best performer I've owned is the Epik Legend. I'm hoping to eclipse that unit, especially considering I spent about the same amount of money to build this unit. What kind of results do you guys think that I can expect from this unit? Comparisons to a well known brand and model? Thanks.

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Edited by johnnydrama
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I don't think you will rival the epik. Diy is great but where you really start getting into bang for your buck is 15-18" subs. I was gonna build a small ultimax 10 for my computer but the price doesn't come cheap after all. Think it was a little over 400 with everything I wanted. For 600 you can have a 18. It would take a number of 10's to equal an 18 and obviously a 10 can never hit as low as an 18. At least same drivers anyways.

I think it should be close to the 500d. Not sure what amp you got hopefully you have the ability to eq. If not might not be quite as close.

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I don't think you will rival the epik. Diy is great but where you really start getting into bang for your buck is 15-18" subs. I was gonna build a small ultimax 10 for my computer but the price doesn't come cheap after all. Think it was a little over 400 with everything I wanted. For 600 you can have a 18. It would take a number of 10's to equal an 18 and obviously a 10 can never hit as low as an 18. At least same drivers anyways.

I think it should be close to the 500d. Not sure what amp you got hopefully you have the ability to eq. If not might not be quite as close.

Hmm I'm a little surprised by your thinking. Not all of it but some of it. I agree that DIY pays off more from a price/performance standpoint as you increase the size of the driver. However I would think that DIY 12" is going to rival subs that are well above the cost you put into it. The Epik Legend was a solid performer for a $600 sub. However it was still only a 300 watt amplifier, and it used what seemed in my opinion to be modest to cheap drivers. But was able to perform well due to the fact the it employed 2 of those drivers. And I would think that without a doubt that this Ultimax build would surpass the XW500d. Same wattage, 500, w/ a 12" driver and larger cabinet as opposed to a 10" driver and smaller cabinet. Both sealed of course.

That being said it's hard for me to make a direct comparison to the Legend due to the fact I've owned them both in different listening environments, and my impressions of the Legend are based solely on recollection at this point. The Legend was extremely clean and blended nicely with both my Reference line and Gallery line. However my listening environment was only a 12' x 16' room and never felt as if I could really feel the bass.

I will say I was thoroughly impressed with this Ultimax when I plugged it in last night. My listening environment now is a similar size room 13' x 18', however it only has 3 walls and opens up into my dining room and kitchen. Still yet, I could feel the bass and not just hear it. I did not push the sub hard and didn't spend much time truly dialing it in. Just ran auto eQ on my Harman and ran with it. I'm looking forward to spending some more time with it and moving it around a bit in the room. I will be putting it through it's paces with some Blu-ray demo material over the next few weeks and can give a more detailed impression at that point. For the complete build I spent $468.23.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

The subs great. I think you'd struggle to find something NEW that could beat it from a performance standpoint. The kit itself is unbelievably easy to put together. You don't even need instructions. I've never owned a "powerhouse" sub before, but this is certainly the highest performing unit I've ever deployed in my home. I've always preferred the sound of sealed vs. ported as well, not to mention, it allows you to install the driver in a much smaller box. For the $450 or so that I have into this unit, I wouldn't spend my money any other way. Not to mention, I'm big on aesthetics, and I'm pretty sure there aren't too many drivers that look as nice as the Ultimax for the money.

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I agree. The Ultimax sure looks good.

Glad to hear you're liking it. I'm thinking about buying two of the 12" Dayton knockdown kits and running them with a iNuke 3000 DSP. I'm trying to decide if the 15" models are really worth it. Money difference isn't too much but I think the wife will fight me on how big the boxes are sitting in our living room. Decisions, decisions.....

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