Bounty Hunter Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Hello Klipsch Brothers and Sisters, New member here with a question that will surely demonstrate my complete lack of audio knowledge and expertise...but here we go... We have a wonderful home theater audio system that is amazing... RP-280F floorstanders RP-250C center R-51M surrounds R-120SW subwoofer (or used to have...here is where the question comes) Our adopted German Shepherd decided the R-120SW was a big chew toy, and damaged the subwoofers cabinet. Really? Yep. I've heard of cats scratching speakers, Rats, Mice...but a German Shepherd? Well, a 120 pound dog with teeth like a Stihl Chainsaw can do a bit of work in no time. That being said, we were looking at either repairing the damage, or in a moment of brilliance (or indigestion) we wondered if we could remove the driver, amp, and electronics from the R-120SW (which still work perfectly) and use them to build a tapped or folded horn subwoofer. One point toward this is that i'm a journeyman carpenter, and build furniture and cabinets. Have all the tools and materials at hand. The problem was my search for plans and DIY builds were completely bewildering, and it seemed that matching the driver with the horns characteristics is absolutely essential. I'm completely out of my element in that arena. We would greatly appreciate any direction the experts and experienced members here might provide. We love our system but would really dig lower bass, and from what we have read the tapped or folded horn subwoofer, throwing sub 20Hz sound, is out-of-this-world! Thank you Best Wishes, Bounty Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 If you are taking the time to build a horn its worth it to buy a proper driver fit for the design. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Best to part it out and start from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 I agree with the others regarding using the parts in a horn. Rebuild the damaged cabinet or reuse the existing parts, or build a horn sub from scratch with the proper components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounty Hunter Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 Thanks for the replys, and i'm gonna raise a white flag on the idea and repair the damaged R-120SW enclosure...we have some vinyl overlay that will match the Klipsch finish reasonably well even. Still would love to build a horn tho...I have read many of the threads on builds and clearly there is a science and an art that relates to getting it right and producing good quality sound. I will round up all the needed components to do the job in the finest way, not a half-a$$ed approach like my initial plan. What would you recommend? I'm looking for a finished horn in the 36" x 36" x 30" range, any larger and Mrs Bounty Hunter will find a reason to target practice it with her .45 auto. Thank you Klipsch Brothers and Sisters, have a great day and enjoy the sound...😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounty Hunter Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 Update: Went to Bill Fitzmaurice and got plans for a Tuba HT, and built one in a 30" wide version. I used a 15" Ultimax UM15-22 driver, and powered it with a Dayton Audio SPA250 DSP amp. The build took a couple months, including coating the finished THT with Duratex. The result was unbelievable. First of all, this thing is huge...its a monster. Super efficient too, it takes very little power and low gain setting to literally shake the house. It easily reaches the infrasonic ranges of low frequency effects in movies, and adds a huge new dimension to the experience. We added 2 additional R-120SW subwoofers to our setup to blend the lower ranges, so we have 2 subwoofers on the front, left and right of the center, one more in the back of the room in the left rear corner, and the THT in the right rear corner, facing the wall. Tuning took a little time, but the result is amazing...the sound is crisp and clean all the way down to crazy low frequencies (took a while to find all the things that rattle in the house), but now every movie is a whole new experience...better than any movie theater we can go to. Scary at times. They say low frequency effects can instill a fear-like quality, or a feeling of dread, and i now believe that. Something primal about it. Watching the Cave Troll attack in "The Lord of the Rings", "The Fellowship of the Ring" was spectacular...freaked us out. And we watched "The Greatest Showman", the Hugh Jackman musical movie...and OH MAH GAWD...the very first scene is a number called "This is the Greatest Show"...and the stomping feet on the grandstasnds were like we were really there...the room shook with authority...Wow... If you guys want a crazy powerful sub, and have decent carpentry skills, i highly recommend the THT...a few hundred buck in plywood and about 5 hundred in audio parts...sounds like a $5,000.00 sub. Thanks for reading Audio Brothers and Sister, have a Blessed and wonderful day 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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