Best DIY subwoofer?

[CECAA850]

1 hour ago, Rudy81 said:

but am looking more at the LFE possibilities.

Build an IB then.

[derrickdj1]

That is a big room and you have more than enough space for a big box.  I don't know what the mains speakers are but, two Full Martys or two Deep Invaders like in my signature..  These are easy to build, relative cheap, serious spl, and very low distortion and get you into the 15-17 Hz range.  Here is a pic of the Deep Invader 48X36X24 tuned to 14.5 Hz.

 

[derrickdj1]

Here is a pic of the full Marty subs next to the RF 7II's.

[CECAA850]

A Stonehenge or two would work as well plus you can get them precut in a flat pack.

[SWL]

I'd build a 'Deep Invader' just so I could tell people I have a 'Deep Invader'.

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[Rudy81]

The infinite baffle has always intrigued me.  I have the attic space above and one of the side walls that leads to another attic over the first floor.  My concerns with the IB are the stiffness requirements of the wall to which the subs are attached, and the ability of the sub to withstand the Texas summer heat in the attic.  I do realize that IB's have some of the best response among sub build techniques. 

 

What is the Marty?  I really have been out of the sub business for some time. 

[wvu80]

22 hours ago, Rudy81 said:

What is the Marty?  I really have been out of the sub business for some time. 

There is a full Marty and a mini-Marty, I believe.  You could search on DIY speakers and subs over on avsforums.com, I don't remember many details.

 

 Many of of us here are members over there as well.  You mentioned being interested in at least 18".  Some of those guys have done 24" sub projects as well.

 

EDIT:  I didn't realize until I read Derrick's sig that he has the Full Marty, Mini-Marty and a Marty Cube!  THAT's the guy to ask!

[CECAA850]

39 minutes ago, Rudy81 said:

The infinite baffle has always intrigued me.  I have the attic space above and one of the side walls that leads to another attic over the first floor.  My concerns with the IB are the stiffness requirements of the wall to which the subs are attached, and the ability of the sub to withstand the Texas summer heat in the attic.  I do realize that IB's have some of the best response among sub build techniques. 

 

My IB drivers have been in the attic for over 10 years here in SE TX.  Zero issues.  These drivers can withstand automotive trunks in the summer as well, it's really a non issue.

 

If you build a manifold instead of an array, all your wall has to do is hold the box up.  The strength of the box is all that's needed as far as driver stresses go.  All the drivers will be cancelling the vibrations as you'll have 2 sets of opposed drivers. 

[CECAA850]

An IB uses zero floor space as well.

[derrickdj1]

The Marty is the sub next to the RF 7 II's.    The wood can be cut at Home Depot fairly close and you can make you own window braces.

This driver will work in the Deep Invader or Marty:https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-rss460ho-4-18-reference-ho-subwoofer-4-ohm--295-472

[Rudy81]

Reasonably priced driver. I'll have to take a look at all the designs and also consider the IB option. 

[RoboKlipsch]

I worked with DdJ to get my 2 big 18" martys and i built 3 of my own with 2 15" drivers.  Fantastic subs with 100s of builds it is well proven.

 

The lil wrecker and f20 are also very popular and proven.  

[Rudy81]

The full Marty is looking really promising.  I am over at the AVS forum looking at that thread.  Hopefully they have a plan posted.

[derrickdj1]

There is a plan posted and if you have questions, I have built the Marty, Mini Marty, Marty Cube and the other subs listed in my signature.  Where are you located?  

 

[Rudy81]

7 minutes ago, derrickdj1 said:

There is a plan posted and if you have questions, I have built the Marty, Mini Marty, Marty Cube and the other subs listed in my signature.  Where are you located?  

 

 

I am in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  Thank you for the offer.  I will take you up on it. 

Which drivers do you have in your full Marty?

Were you able to take any frequency response measurements after you completed the build?

Did you use MDF or 3/4" plywood?  I normally use 18mm. baltic birch in my builds, but can get a hold of 1.25" MDF if that would be better. I normally prefer plywood. 

What is your opinion on this driver https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-um18-22-18-ultimax-dvc-subwoofer-2-ohms-per-coil--295-518

 

I am looking at that full Marty thread now. 

[derrickdj1]

I used the Daytou UM 18.  The difference between that and the Dayton Reference driver is around 1.5 db.  They list the Xmax of the Reference at 12 mm but, it has been tested and found to be around 20 mm Xmax.  This will get the most out of the Marty box and no real benefit to spend extra for the UM 18.  My Deep Invaders use the SI HT 18 that are rated 600 w RMS,  These take advantage of the box better than the UM 18 rated at 1000 RMS.  It is a matter of box design and not RMS or watts.

 

I used MDF.  It will require less bracing but, the boxes will be heavier .  I have wheels from Harbor Freight or Home Depot on all the subs for easy moving.  I did have some graphs of their performance.  I will see what I can dig up.  I lot some with the last hard drive failure but, I can always take new measurement.

[derrickdj1]

Here is an old graph of my system.  This includes the other subs but, the I Nuke am can be set to a hpf of around 16 or 17 Hz that will get you there.  This graph can be pushed up to about 127 to 135 db safely.  This is in a 5300 cu. ft. room.

[derrickdj1]

One other thing, people talk about distortion of a horn sub vs one of these.  Not a mute point but, not a factor since the tune is so low.  Very little music will go to 15 Hz.  Most will stop in the 35 Hz area.    So, transient responsive and some other things are avoided.  It dose not mean they don't occur but, it is at 15 or lower Hz and will not be audible in 99.9% of what music you listen to..  Even then, you would need to be listening at 120+ db.  That loud and you can't tell the difference anyway.

[Rudy81]

2 hours ago, derrickdj1 said:

Here is an old graph of my system.  This includes the other subs but, the I Nuke am can be set to a hpf of around 16 or 17 Hz that will get you there.  This graph can be pushed up to about 127 to 135 db safely.  This is in a 5300 cu. ft. room.

 

Wow, that looks like pretty nice performance. 

 

I normally prefer to go with baltic birch due to weight and I find working with lumber much simpler to fasten. 

 

The UM18 seems to have better T/S parameters for a sub application. 

 

I currently use two RSW-15's from 80Hz down to 20Hz as part of my main speakers.  I have used those since they do very well with music.  The SPUD clones I built are just set for the LFE channel.  Do you use your Marty subs for music as well as LFE channel?  I'm wondering if I could build the subs and then just use them for the bottom end of my mains as well as the LFE channel material. 

 

 

 

[RoboKlipsch]

Many of the big martys are built and crossed at 40hz but honestly every design is good to 100hz up until maybe a tuning below 15hz.  

 

Theres no debate they are great subs and the horn subs are too...its really a preference.  I have tons of measurements...the first page of the official martysub page has it all.  

 

Theres even a budget version for those that want to build 8 or 16 cheap....i think thats the vbss sub