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Best DIY subwoofer?


Rudy81

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No one can tell you that you made a bad choice going with a horn vs Marty sub.  Wattage, power requirements, no real world difference.  You can use a smaller driver and less power with a horn sub but, in the real world it  will be less than $1.00 in your monthly electric bill.  These Marty subs are like Klipsch, very efficient and great sensitivity.  So, it is a matter of a 5 star energy rating vs a 4.9 star energy rating.  I have a feeling in the next 30 days, I will be building another Mini Marty.  I am curious to consider a B&C driver for more mid bass.

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In looking through the AVSforum threads on the full Marty, I noticed some builders opted to place the sub on the 2'x2' end of the sub, thus avoiding the bend in the port.  I am calling this a horizontal setup vs. the often seen vertical plan with the driver on the 2'x4' face of the sub.  As long as the internal volume of the sub is kept constant, is there any difference in performance or frequency ability?  When I get some time I need to get back into WinISD and play around with the designs. 

 

I would think the horizontal build with two round ports would produce optimum results.  Any ideas on that?

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34 minutes ago, Rudy81 said:

In looking through the AVSforum threads on the full Marty, I noticed some builders opted to place the sub on the 2'x2' end of the sub, thus avoiding the bend in the port.  I am calling this a horizontal setup vs. the often seen vertical plan with the driver on the 2'x4' face of the sub.  As long as the internal volume of the sub is kept constant, is there any difference in performance or frequency ability?  When I get some time I need to get back into WinISD and play around with the designs. 

 

I would think the horizontal build with two round ports would produce optimum results.  Any ideas on that?

IF this is a,sub for your shop and not critical listening then I don't think that you'll notice any difference between slot and round ports.

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No sir.  The subs would be for the media room and replace my SPUD clones.  Over the years I have found that the SPUD clones are ok for most material.  But, when really pushed by LFE material, they tend to get into some ugly distortion.  You can only ask so much from 8" drivers. 

 

While setting up my re-built shop, I have been wondering what my first project will be and new subs might be just the ticket.  I am still in the process of setting up the shop and have still to set up a new router table.  I am getting away from the router table as part of the table saw.  Otherwise, I have the dust collection operational and the new Sawstop. 

 

My port idea is leaning to 6" round ports with flared ends.  building a horizontal sub would allow for a straight port, optimizing performance for the port without the ninety degree bend in the vertical design.  The 6" flares added to some 6" PVC might work well, or even some of the 6" HVAC metal pipe I have been using in the dust collection system. 

 

https://www.parts-express.com/precision-port-psp-6ofn-flare-for-6-port-tube--268-384

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12 hours ago, derrickdj1 said:

No one can tell you that you made a bad choice going with a horn vs Marty sub.  Wattage, power requirements, no real world difference.  You can use a smaller driver and less power with a horn sub but, in the real world it  will be less than $1.00 in your monthly electric bill.  These Marty subs are like Klipsch, very efficient and great sensitivity.  So, it is a matter of a 5 star energy rating vs a 4.9 star energy rating.  I have a feeling in the next 30 days, I will be building another Mini Marty.  I am curious to consider a B&C driver for more mid bass.

Ddj please contact me before going to b&c i will point you at another option to consider too ☺

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9 hours ago, CECAA850 said:

Is the room big enough for large boxes?  Honestly if you're looking for HT infrasonics and extremely clean with music I'd do an IB.

 

In your IB, do you use the IB with music?  IF so, how high do you take the IB subs? 

 

The room should be plenty large for large boxes 20x27x9 IIRC.  I was looking at the setup today and a full marty created to have the driver on the end 2x2 panel would fit very nicely.  One sub near each corner.  I have to look at the frequency response guys have posted and see how I would integrate them. 

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Right now, IIRC, my system is set up as follows.  The Oris horns are set from 20kHz-300Hz.  The dual 15" driver open baffles are set from 300Hz to 100Hz or so and I use a set of RSW 15's from 100Hz to 20Hz.  The LFE is hooked to two SPUD clones.  So, for music the SPUDS are not in the picture, just movie material send stuff to the LFE channel.

 

If the Full Marty can go up to 100Hz or so, and is musical, I can feed the main material below 100Hz to the Marty as well as the LFE channel. I have plenty of capability with my pro amps, and the active crossovers.  If you guys have any suggestions, by all means let me know. 

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Carl,

I can just hear this conversation.  "Hey honey, I am going to cut a large hole in the ceiling for a subwoofer project that may or may not work!"

 

Yikes, that will be a hard sell.  But....would it be worth it?  In my room, using a box, how many drivers would it take to pressurize the room properly? Just thinking out loud.

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9 hours ago, Rudy81 said:

 

In your IB, do you use the IB with music?  IF so, how high do you take the IB subs? 

Yes.  Music as well.  I think the main are crossed around 40 or 50 Hz.  It's been over 10 years since I set it up.  If you didn't look up you'd never know there was a subwoofer there.  It sounds like the mains have an unlimited bottom end.  If you have smaller speakers you can cross higher as the IB is extremely clean up high as well.  It acts similarly to a large sealed box in its response curve.

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Yes, I have started to visit the Cult site to increase my knowledge on the subject. While I'm at it, which subs would you guys suggest that can be used in both IB and a ported box?  Just wondering if I can get subs that would work in both environments so I have some flexibility.

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1 hour ago, Rudy81 said:

Yes, I have started to visit the Cult site to increase my knowledge on the subject. While I'm at it, which subs would you guys suggest that can be used in both IB and a ported box?  Just wondering if I can get subs that would work in both environments so I have some flexibility.

The drivers I'd use if I were building a sub today would be the Ficaraudio IB 18s.  You'll need 4.

 

Prior to building my IB I had 2 Svs subs in the living room.   My wife was ecstatic when I told her there would be no more subs taking up space or to vacuum around anymore. 

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4 minutes ago, SWL said:

Could I use my basement as the enclosure for an IB?

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk
 

 

I'm pretty sure the answer is a resounding Yes.  Just remember that the back wave will be 'playing' in that space.  So if someone is using that area while you are listening, it may not be very pleasant for them.

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12 hours ago, CECAA850 said:

Yes.  Music as well.  I think the main are crossed around 40 or 50 Hz.  It's been over 10 years since I set it up.  If you didn't look up you'd never know there was a subwoofer there.  It sounds like the mains have an unlimited bottom end.  If you have smaller speakers you can cross higher as the IB is extremely clean up high as well.  It acts similarly to a large sealed box in its response curve.

How does infinite deal with lack of placement options or by tuning it so low does it not much matter?  40 i can see but at 50 there's some modes.

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32 minutes ago, SWL said:

Could I use my basement as the enclosure for an IB?

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk
 

You just need 10 x the total vas of all the drivers combined for the area the back wave vents to.   As Rudy pointed out, it will be as loud on the back side as it is on the front.

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3 minutes ago, RoboKlipsch said:

How does infinite deal with lack of placement options or by tuning it so low does it not much matter?  40 i can see but at 50 there's some modes.

If you have a small sub you can place it where the IB will go and take some measurements.  Sometimes you have to put it where it needs to go and deal with whatever issues pop up not unlike a conventional sub with limited placement options.

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