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SSD-15 Dual Opposed Vertical Sub Build - Page 4

post #91 of 115
11/22/12 at 10:11am
Nice. It's always great to see confirmation of my results in a different room. cool.gif

Here's my go at the same system in my room, showing naked response, response after the SEQSS signal shaper and at the LP, directly compared to yours:

c6c4db6006df8af6ab04e583278d0df1.jpg

The SSD version of the SEQSS has a notch filter and bi-quads to remedy the inductance peak (the naked response trace is smoothed showing a tempered peak). That corresponds with your raw peak which is exaggerated by your room (yeah, ain't it always the way?).

My result is with the mains, which were used to tweak the crossover region with cross point at 100 Hz and I suspect that your results (if you had only the subs running) will be similar if you tweak the distance (phase) and cross point first, then apply post EQ.

Anyway, as I said since the first run through with the SSD-based Blackbirds, it's a heckuva system for the cash outlay. I found no complaints from the panel of musicians I use for subjective eval, and they are "brutally frank".

Nice work, great looking industrial design and execution. Looking forward to your comments with the ULF heavy hitters (WOTW, HTTYD, Tron, etc.) Please post pics once you've gotten the top plates installed?
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post #92 of 115
11/22/12 at 11:22am
Nice work Nube! I have 8 of the ssd15s and with a major room change they sound better than ever.
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post #93 of 115
11/22/12 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nube View Post

I appreciate the info on the finishing stuff, guys.
Haven't gotten the top plates yet, but I wanted to have a movie night with some friends, so I did some room measurements in various positions and ended up with this as the absolute best raw response in my room. These are with a 5hz calibrated mic from Cross-Spectrum Labs. I haven't measured chain rolloff at all, though.
baselineresponse.jpg
It's kinda sad, but that's partially the room and partially the driver's response characteristics. (The Captivator looked pretty similar across its typical bandwidth, too, pre-EQ.)
I addressed the dip at 13hz with 9dB of EQ with a ~4Q width (can't remember for sure if I did anything at 7hz, though I think I did), and am enjoying huge gain below that. I setup a total of I think 13 or 14 filters in the miniDSP, most aimed at the big hump, and got this as my first try EQ.
aftereq.jpg
I think this is with mains off, so some fill in should take place around the XO region where that dip occurs. Plus, I'll of course have to redo this when I get the top plates installed, and I'll want to tweak it to the absolute flattest response with the least amount of filters.
It sounds a ton better than the raw response, but sometimes the bass kinda rumbles a little bit. I'm thinking room treatments could address that, though I can't do anything spectacular in this rental house. Perhaps some tapestries or something.
All in all, movie night was a big success with the bass 3dB hot and MV at -20. We watched Prometheus and The Amazing Spider-Man, both of which have some ULF content, though not the hottest soundtracks. We thought they both sounded great with the HD audio tracks.

Looks great. I really like your cabinets and the work you guys did on them. Your FR is awesome.

Nice project!
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post #94 of 115
11/23/12 at 6:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gpmbc View Post

Nice work Nube! I have 8 of the ssd15s and with a major room change they sound better than ever.

Please divulge a bit? Room switch or room adjustment?
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post #95 of 115
11/23/12 at 7:33am
I used to have the subs behind the last row of seats which is on a riser. If you were sitting back there it was visceral on everything but moving anywere else and the bass was MIA. I flipped flopped the room so the seats are now where the screen used to be and the projector is on the opposite wall. With that switch, the ssd 15s are now originating from the front with 4 cht 18s behind more for fill and to even response. Now wherever I sit it's a big bubble. I played Sherlock Holmes where he fights in the pit in slo mo and it has major impact. I'll measure today and test some ulf movies if those are in tact the same I don't know if I'll be sub hunting too soon. I was contemplating adding four of the new Daytons for fun but after listening to handful of movie clips, I don't know what I'd gain as I wasn't craving anything more. But....gotta confirm on ulf (hulk, httyd)
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post #96 of 115
11/23/12 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gpmbc View Post

I used to have the subs behind the last row of seats which is on a riser. If you were sitting back there it was visceral on everything but moving anywere else and the bass was MIA. I flipped flopped the room so the seats are now where the screen used to be and the projector is on the opposite wall. With that switch, the ssd 15s are now originating from the front with 4 cht 18s behind more for fill and to even response. Now wherever I sit it's a big bubble. I played Sherlock Holmes where he fights in the pit in slo mo and it has major impact. I'll measure today and test some ulf movies if those are in tact the same I don't know if I'll be sub hunting too soon. I was contemplating adding four of the new Daytons for fun but after listening to handful of movie clips, I don't know what I'd gain as I wasn't craving anything more. But....gotta confirm on ulf (hulk, httyd)

Wow, glad you found a good way to orient your room. Was it not just an option to relocate the subs instead of switching the entire setup? I wish I had that option but in my room I am 100% limited to the orientation that I currently have.
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post #97 of 115
11/23/12 at 7:57am
I tried the subs in many different orientations and just couldn't get it the way I liked. As a side benefit I was able to get MK Theaters old jbl horns (3731) back in the mix which definitely lends to a big sound. Reference sounds effortless.
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post #98 of 115
11/23/12 at 8:25am
It'a good to hear that you have finally got what you wanted from your set up in that room. If it is the same room I remember, it had so much potential, especially with the time and research you have put into getting the sound you want. It is always so rewarding to finally be satisfied after all of the time and effort you put into making something great!
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post #99 of 115
11/23/12 at 10:39am
Sup J! Within the confines of my room , yes I'm finally honing in. I painted the ceiling black and a few other tweaks since you seen it and the dts 10s aren't in use at the moment.
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post #100 of 115
11/23/12 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by filtor1 View Post

If you have a minute, I would really like to know how you accomplished the matching concave portion of the legs to match the convex shape of the enclosures edge. The creativity involved in this solution is amazing! Great work! I even have my wife following the build. smile.gif
Edit: Also, what side round over bit was used on the driver cutout? Sorry if I missed it.
Edit again: I keep thinking of questions. When you router the circles for the driver cut outs, what method did you use to secure the piece of wood? Here is my issue, every time I router a circle the last 1/4" of the circle the piece moves. I have a scrap piece of 3/4" MDF that use when cutting drivers circles and I put 2-3 screws through the center piece. This has improved my success rate but not eliminated my issue. I have tried clamping the outside piece but with baffles so small I always have to stop and move the clamp mid cut because the circle jig hits it. This is one of those things that annoys me about my own projects and I was hoping to learn from you.
Chris
Use a downspiral cutting bit , the dust collects in the groove keeping your piece in place.
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post #101 of 115
3/26/13 at 2:29pm
Thread Starter 
I wanted to update this thread as the project is nearly complete. I also consolidated the first post with finished pics and info.

Yesterday I picked out granite slabs from the boneyard at Rocky Mountain Stone, and got a quote when giving them the cutting templates today.

Cost for both the 3cm slabs shown below: $11 after tax.
Cost to fab them: $140 after tax.

I was pleasantly surprised by the pricing. It's about the same price as custom cut tempered glass, but so much more beautiful. I'm hoping they turn out!

Here are a couple of pics of the slabs I chose:

These two weigh 130lbs. Cut down to size, they'll weigh about 45lbs each.



It's known as butterfly granite. It normally sells for $50 a square foot for just the raw material, not fabbed at all.



The two aren't exactly the same, but damned close. Best I could find after wading through and moving about 3 tons of rock solo.

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post #102 of 115
3/26/13 at 3:05pm
This is gonna be cool.
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post #103 of 115
4/7/13 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 
Finally got the slabs back from the stone company. Here's the finished product x2:







That orange on the bottom edge in the last image is the reflection of my shirt.

If you want to see a lot of detail, click the image, then in the viewer that opens, click "Original' and you'll get the pic in full res. Sorry for the blurry corner shot. Should have used the tripod.

I'll get to measuring later today.
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post #104 of 115
4/7/13 at 2:17pm
Awesome, nube! Inspirational work for sure. biggrin.gif
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post #105 of 115
4/7/13 at 2:42pm
Those are magnificent! Almost makes me wish I did DO 15"s. I hope mine come out half as awesome as these did!
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post #106 of 115
4/7/13 at 2:51pm
Wow. Excellent!
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post #107 of 115
4/7/13 at 3:51pm
Wow is right. Well done!
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post #108 of 115
4/7/13 at 11:04pm
Nice!
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post #109 of 115
4/8/13 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
Thanks fellas. smile.gif I'm pretty happy with how they turned out!
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post #110 of 115
4/10/13 at 10:59am
How are the measurements coming? Get that new response hump under control?
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post #111 of 115
4/10/13 at 3:22pm
Ya, how did the tops affect things.

Those turned out really nice BTW. Very nice.
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post #112 of 115
4/15/13 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
Been really busy with school - lots of papers to grade and to write! However, I do have new measurements. The hump at 60-70hz seems higher, although I measured without the tops, with the subs on their sides, and everything to eliminate the bandpass function of the floor and the tops, and it didn't change response at all. I think my room just sucks. Maybe I should do a close-mic measurement.

Starting point (ugh)



Here's how EQ turned out.



I think I can do a little bit better with more time, but I get tired of working on my tiny 11" screen laptop. I think below 5 or 6hz can be disregarded, as the mic isn't calibrated that low. Between 5-10hz, the cal file shows near consistently greater -dB at each frequency going down. Perhaps I could determine what the logical cal for 4 and 3hz would be and add them to the cal file based on the slop from 10-5? Eh, who knows.

Anyway, here are some compression sweeps:



I could do more runs, and higher levels, but ran out of time before my workout partners came over. I have no clue what's going on at 5&6hz. It was super windy today, though, so maybe some ULF from wind going through the ductwork to the swamp cooler? Who knows.
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post #113 of 115
4/15/13 at 6:10pm
What driver is this again? Fi SSD 15"?
I don't see the Fi logo though, so I'm not sure.
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post #114 of 115
4/15/13 at 7:12pm
What a terrible room!
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post #115 of 115
4/15/13 at 7:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by yelnatsch517 View Post

What driver is this again? Fi SSD 15"?
I don't see the Fi logo though, so I'm not sure.

Yes, it's the older version of the Fi SSD-15 when it had the huge single pole vent and no logo, prior to them changing tooling in ~early 2012?

Quote:
Originally Posted by tuxedocivic View Post

What a terrible room!

Yeah, at the peaky frequencies I can hear all the windows, the terrible light fixtures, and every bit of plaster and lath in these old walls rattling terribly. It's not much of an issue after EQ, and everything sounds good once again, but having to cut a 25dB peak to get close to +/- 3db sucks.
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