I made a major speaker upgrade recently and in order to help offset some of the (unexpected) costs, decided to sell my very much loved Seaton SubMersives (4 of them) and try DIY.
While I had 4 SubMersives, 3 is more than adequate (in fact, two are and is what I started with) but my OCDness would not allow the required asymmetrical subwoofer placement. The original room I had the SubMersives in was in a concrete basement. I am now in a converted loft on the 2nd floor so I am limited by my concerns over structural integrity of the room/house on how much woofage I dare put in this space.
A fellow AVSer (CraigJohn) in whose ears I trust and also a SubMersive owner, had heard some DIY subs done by Gorilla88 and in Craig's words, those DIY subs "killed" his SubMersives. At the time, Gorilla88 had, if I recall correctly, 6 or 8 of the SI HT18's running so that is the direction I started in.
To reduce the space requirements of that many cabinets, I then decided to try to find a dual-opposed cabinet utilizing SI HT18's but the availability of those cabinets did not meet my time requirements.
So back to single 18 inch enclosure and have ordered 4 of the flat packs from Parts Express. Given the reduction in the number of cabinets (from the 6 to 8 that Craig heard at Gorilla88's), I have ordered 4 of the SI HST18's (vs HT18's) and will see how they perform vs my needs/wants and previous experience with my SubMersives). If those 4 turn out to fall short, I will just keep adding boxes until I get there. Sound is such a personal preference thing, and while I have received all kinds of opinions, I thought I would start "small" and add as necessary. I am cautiously optimistic that these 4 will do the job. (My room is about 3400cf).
Pieces I need to get up and running:
Drivers: 4 HST18's (D2) on the way
Amps: I have two Peavey 7500's on the way. I plan on running the HST's at 4 ohms so one amp in 4 ohm mode will drive 2 cabinets
DSP: I have a miniDSP in house
Cabinets: 4 On the way
Paint: 2 Gallons of Duratex and 4 rollers are on the way
Glue: Titebond II in house
Clamps: Going to Harbor Freight Tools this weekend (we live in a very small community) to buy a bunch: How long does it take for these cabinets to dry enough so that I can remove the clamps and glue the next cabinet.
Spackle: The folks from Acrytech who make Duratex recommended Ace Hardware Vinyl Spackle so will find an Ace Hardware when we make our trip this weekend.
Connectors: It has been recommended that I use Neutrik speakON connectors. I still need to research this and also determine what kind of connector the amps use.
Lastly, screws/connectors/fasteners for the drivers to connect to the enclosure. It has been recommended to use PE's Hurricane nuts + hex socket screws so I will investigate those as well.
If I have left anything out (a real possibility) I would appreciate any feedback.
I have no doubt that I will eventually get these all constructed (I have about 4 weeks until my 4 SubMersives leave the premises). But most importantly, I am anxious to see what kind of FR I am able to achieve. The FR from my current subs in their current locations is ruler flat being down about 5db at 7hz.
I am looking to meet that AND have the same sound quality/impact.
We shall see.
Thanks
While I had 4 SubMersives, 3 is more than adequate (in fact, two are and is what I started with) but my OCDness would not allow the required asymmetrical subwoofer placement. The original room I had the SubMersives in was in a concrete basement. I am now in a converted loft on the 2nd floor so I am limited by my concerns over structural integrity of the room/house on how much woofage I dare put in this space.
A fellow AVSer (CraigJohn) in whose ears I trust and also a SubMersive owner, had heard some DIY subs done by Gorilla88 and in Craig's words, those DIY subs "killed" his SubMersives. At the time, Gorilla88 had, if I recall correctly, 6 or 8 of the SI HT18's running so that is the direction I started in.
To reduce the space requirements of that many cabinets, I then decided to try to find a dual-opposed cabinet utilizing SI HT18's but the availability of those cabinets did not meet my time requirements.
So back to single 18 inch enclosure and have ordered 4 of the flat packs from Parts Express. Given the reduction in the number of cabinets (from the 6 to 8 that Craig heard at Gorilla88's), I have ordered 4 of the SI HST18's (vs HT18's) and will see how they perform vs my needs/wants and previous experience with my SubMersives). If those 4 turn out to fall short, I will just keep adding boxes until I get there. Sound is such a personal preference thing, and while I have received all kinds of opinions, I thought I would start "small" and add as necessary. I am cautiously optimistic that these 4 will do the job. (My room is about 3400cf).
Pieces I need to get up and running:
Drivers: 4 HST18's (D2) on the way
Amps: I have two Peavey 7500's on the way. I plan on running the HST's at 4 ohms so one amp in 4 ohm mode will drive 2 cabinets
DSP: I have a miniDSP in house
Cabinets: 4 On the way
Paint: 2 Gallons of Duratex and 4 rollers are on the way
Glue: Titebond II in house
Clamps: Going to Harbor Freight Tools this weekend (we live in a very small community) to buy a bunch: How long does it take for these cabinets to dry enough so that I can remove the clamps and glue the next cabinet.
Spackle: The folks from Acrytech who make Duratex recommended Ace Hardware Vinyl Spackle so will find an Ace Hardware when we make our trip this weekend.
Connectors: It has been recommended that I use Neutrik speakON connectors. I still need to research this and also determine what kind of connector the amps use.
Lastly, screws/connectors/fasteners for the drivers to connect to the enclosure. It has been recommended to use PE's Hurricane nuts + hex socket screws so I will investigate those as well.
If I have left anything out (a real possibility) I would appreciate any feedback.
I have no doubt that I will eventually get these all constructed (I have about 4 weeks until my 4 SubMersives leave the premises). But most importantly, I am anxious to see what kind of FR I am able to achieve. The FR from my current subs in their current locations is ruler flat being down about 5db at 7hz.
I am looking to meet that AND have the same sound quality/impact.
We shall see.
Thanks