I recently bought a Hsu Research VTF-2 MK4 to replace my deceased 12" RCA sub (and it's been great), but I can't stop thinking about that lonely RCA cabinet in storage. Although 10 years old, the cabinet is in excellent condition and only the grille screen would have to be replaced. I'd like to repurpose the cabinet, but admittedly the size doesn't give me much to work with:
Layout: front firing, bottom single ported
Construction: 3/4" MDF
Length: 16"
Width: 16"
Height: 16"
Volume: 1.76 CFT
Bracing: none (will have to be added)
Port diameter: 3.5"
Port length: 10"
Previous tuned frequency ~34Hz
. . . with this small of a box, I'm thinking my best bet will probably be to remove the port and seal the cabinet. Its purpose will be solely music reproduction, so I'm thinking that loosing the port won't be the end of the world. Thoughts?
As far as the new components, the Dayton Titanic 12" and Dayton SPA 500 look to be decent inexpensive pieces. At this point I haven't decided whether the cabinet is even worth repurposing, let alone worthy of more expensive guts. If I'm convinced I can do a good job of sealing and bracing the cabinet, I may take a step up in components and mimic some of Murrel's Simply Sound Rumba. My cabinet is the same size as the Rumba after all.
So, repurpose the cabinet? Seal it? Cheap or nicer parts? Anything else I should be considering? Thanks!
Edit: Added WinISD plots of the Dayton Titanic 12" and Dayton SPA 500 mounted in my enclosure. Yellow plot is if I just installed the components in my enclosure as-is with the current port, red plot is if I remove the port and seal the box. Looks like a pretty easy decision to me to seal it . . .
Edited by SIGcollector - 10/5/12 at 8:44am
Layout: front firing, bottom single ported
Construction: 3/4" MDF
Length: 16"
Width: 16"
Height: 16"
Volume: 1.76 CFT
Bracing: none (will have to be added)
Port diameter: 3.5"
Port length: 10"
Previous tuned frequency ~34Hz
. . . with this small of a box, I'm thinking my best bet will probably be to remove the port and seal the cabinet. Its purpose will be solely music reproduction, so I'm thinking that loosing the port won't be the end of the world. Thoughts?
As far as the new components, the Dayton Titanic 12" and Dayton SPA 500 look to be decent inexpensive pieces. At this point I haven't decided whether the cabinet is even worth repurposing, let alone worthy of more expensive guts. If I'm convinced I can do a good job of sealing and bracing the cabinet, I may take a step up in components and mimic some of Murrel's Simply Sound Rumba. My cabinet is the same size as the Rumba after all.
So, repurpose the cabinet? Seal it? Cheap or nicer parts? Anything else I should be considering? Thanks!
Edit: Added WinISD plots of the Dayton Titanic 12" and Dayton SPA 500 mounted in my enclosure. Yellow plot is if I just installed the components in my enclosure as-is with the current port, red plot is if I remove the port and seal the box. Looks like a pretty easy decision to me to seal it . . .
Edited by SIGcollector - 10/5/12 at 8:44am
