SemperFiAg08 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 The last two weekends I've been working to assemble the sub and it's respective amplifier box. My father in law (CECAA850) helped me build the box last weekend, and I've done all the finishing work since. He encouraged me to do a build thread, so here we go: Build Day: Hole for the driver cut and inserts glued. Lining everything up Mostly complete, minus the top, with braces installed Top installed, glued, and all screws removed. Access door is cut and routed smooth Screw holes are filled Back painted black. Decided to do that since no one will ever see it, and I wasn't sure I'd have enough veneer to do that. Mouth painted black as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFiAg08 Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Continued: First cut on the veneer. Got my supervisor keeping a lookout from the garage. Contact cement rolled on, just waiting for it to dry. It was tricky to cut the access door before it was glued. I was trying to save the piece so the grain would match. I ended up using some boards and clamps on one side of the hole at a time to hold it roughly where I wanted it. I rolled it backwards and made some score marks with a knife to mark the exact corners, then switched to the other side. I took it off, used a straight edge to connect the marks on the corners, and it came out almost as cleanly as I wanted. The difficult side is done. The rest was a cake walk comparatively. Just enough of a gap to make it easy to install. Bracing installed for the door, and I painted the interior black. Edge banding installed and moved inside. I used two coats of Dark Walnut Danish oil from Watco. It doesn't quite match the Forte IIs, but it's close enough and I know the color will change slightly with age. Lastly, I wanted something a little nicer looking for the plate amp (Dayton 500w). I was a little less discerning with the finish of this, since it was going to stay mostly unseen. Like the F20, it's birch ply with walnut veneer. I added some black walnut on the front for aesthetics, and because I mis-measured the depth of the amp when installed. I took the amp out of the plastic case and there is an opening at the bottom and top to allow for some ventilation when I get around to cranking this thing up. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TasDom Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 That looks great, nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Nice looking build, Carl seems like a handy guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Awesome! One question, why the F20 over any other of Lilmikes subs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Very nice! Nice job on the access door especially! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 11 minutes ago, The Dude said: Awesome! One question, why the F20 over any other of Lilmikes subs? Maybe I can chime in here. As far as I know, the only other HT sub he's designed is the Lil Wrecker. It's about 9 cu ft bigger than this and about 9 cu ft less on WAF. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 1 minute ago, muel said: Very nice! Nice job on the access door especially! I did this door differently than others. I actually traced a piece of scrap from inside the chamber. It took a bit of doing as there wasn't much room to get your arm in but it made a perfect pattern for cutting the door. I also really encouraged Jason to use the cut veneer for the door instead of using scrap veneer for grain matching purposes. He did a great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 36 minutes ago, CECAA850 said: Maybe I can chime in here. As far as I know, the only other HT sub he's designed is the Lil Wrecker. It's about 9 cu ft bigger than this and about 9 cu ft less on WAF. You don't know if the out put is worth the bigger size, do you? Waf is not a factor for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 On 3/1/2018 at 2:01 PM, The Dude said: You don't know if the out put is worth the bigger size, do you? More output and tuned about 8 Hz lower. There's a build thread somewhere here in the subwoofer section from the one I built. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Takes twice as much plywood as an F-20 also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted March 1, 2018 Moderators Share Posted March 1, 2018 Looks great, better than the first pictures, very nice. I skimmed through the whole thread just looking at pictures thinking well that's 2 new great looking subs until I went back and actually read, it's the same sub. Also we (most of us)will not hold against you who is your father in law. Welcome, and Thank You for your service. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 3 minutes ago, dtel said: I skimmed through the whole thread just looking at pictures thinking well that's 2 new great looking subs until I went back and actually read, it's the same sub. It's a little early in the day to be seeing double, or are you on a cruise again? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted March 1, 2018 Moderators Share Posted March 1, 2018 15 minutes ago, CECAA850 said: 19 minutes ago, dtel said: I skimmed through the whole thread just looking at pictures thinking well that's 2 new great looking subs until I went back and actually read, it's the same sub. It's a little early in the day to be seeing double, or are you on a cruise again? No but I can practice. Ever since Pilgrimage a couple years ago I take it easy now, most of the time. You gave me a martini a little after breakfast and I had to go sit down a little while, made me realize what they can do all by themselves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Wow,just WOW! Like I said when FIL posted the finished picture a couple days ago. Excellent job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFiAg08 Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Thanks, everyone. I just got to hook it up yesterday and I'm impressed with the sound (especially how low it goes), but it's much cleaner sounding than any other sub I've owned. I'm really looking forward to putting it through the paces with movie nights. I went with the F20 at Carl's recommendation, and due to the size limitations of where it sits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted March 2, 2018 Moderators Share Posted March 2, 2018 Is this your first horn sub ? Asking because to me they do sound cleaner than a direct radiator, the driver actually barely moves compare to a DR. Less work from a driver with more sound = less distortion. Looks really good, you two did a good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khornukopia Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 That is a fine looking subwoofer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 On 3/2/2018 at 4:33 PM, dtel said: Is this your first horn sub ? Asking because to me they do sound cleaner than a direct radiator, the driver actually barely moves compare to a DR. Less work from a driver with more sound = less distortion. Looks really good, you two did a good job. Yes it's his first horn sub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Nicely done, both of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.