Ack's DIY Subwoofer Build Idea Thread - Newbie Alert! - Page 5

Okay, I think I got it... I will probably throw together a diagram and make sure I do before I proceed, but you have been a huge help as always..

One more question.. Speaker terminals. I have four of these:



Will this work for #1 or #2 options above (I am leaning towards #1 above "wire the dvc's coils in series (16 ohm speaker) and then wire the 4 speakers in parallel for a 4 ohm load to the bridged amplifier.")

Otherwise, I am curious would would be a good alternative. I am going to start assembling boxes now...

A few more pics of the adventure. The first box is on the bench clamped and drying. I went ahead and used finish nails and my nailer once I put down the PL Premium. I also hit all the seams with more PL Premium and a small paint brush... Will let this sit for about 4 hours and then will assemble the next box. Two today, two tomorrow, and if the weather holds up (snowing now) will start sanding and filling in nail holes. Duratex recommends drywall spackle to fill the holes so will give that a shot...

Brian, I used some old plastic drop clothes and it worked well. The outside looks pretty good, not much cleanup.

Each baffle took two passes through the 3/4" wood. Towards the end I did three on a few of the baffles because I was getting tired (I went sledding with the kids before working and it wiped me out). The MDF makes a huge mess. If I had to do it over, I would have just used 3/4 birch for the inside baffles or maybe a lower grade 3/4 plywood.

The first box is pretty square, just a few things to touchup before sanding and Duratex.

Thank you, I will just use what I have, although the speakons would be nice..

Let me know if you are ever near the Minneapolis area, I owe you a meal or at least a beverage of your choice.

Thanks Chad, will have to have you over once I get everything setup. Hope you are having a good holiday.

Well, I was making good progress and then got hit hard by some sort of cold/flu and have not been able to do anything since Saturday (and now my wife has the same bug). Hope to get back to this later this week into this coming weekend. I have three boxes pretty much assembled and the last box is about 70% done. After I assemble the last box I am going to you my flush router bit and flush up all four cabinets and then use a round over bit on the edges.

I have been reading up on Duratex and the company recommends using drywall spackle to fill any voids or nail holes. After that, I will sand and then paint the boxes. Duratex seems pretty straight forward to apply, but I don't want too much of a textured finish so I am hoping an ultra smooth roller will keep the texture to a minimum.

I thought drywall sparkle to be an odd choice too, but te Duratex rep swears by it and they have used it on some massive high output enclosures with no issue. I think the sparkle, once dried and sanded, gets sealed in with the Duratex and is not going to go anywhere. I am going to give it a shot since it is what Duratex recommends.

Some action shots from my phone:

Yeah, all my holes are very small (I used finish nails). Thanks for recommending PL Premium, with gloves it really was not too messy and you can really see how it expands after it dries.

I wish I owned more clamps, I could have had this done sooner, but building four boxes uses a lot of clamps and more steps. I think once I get the boxes flushed and rounded I will be very happy with their look. Just measured and the boxes are right around 3.8 cu ft including the driver volume and bracing and double front baffle. Size wise, I like the size and going bigger was not going to be an option unless I went with only two ported subs around 6-7 cu ft. Just don't have the WAF for dual 9-10cu ft ported boxes. Perhaps with the next build

I am feeling better today so should be back up and running this weekend. Hopefully will all boxes trimed and rounded, filled and sanded and then can start paining during the week or following weekend. Thing that sucks is that it is about 5-10 degrees here, so I will have to paint indoors. How bad does Duratex smell?

Thanks for the offer, but the last sub is all glued up and drying now. Weather and flu permitting, I will be flush trimming, rounding, and sanding tomorrow.

You should dive into the DIY waters. I have lots of tools and can help you with what limited knlowledge I do have.

I got some work done today.. Was able to use a flush trim router bit and get all the boxes flush trimmed. I also used a round over bit and rounded all the straight edges and the baffle opening. Really made a difference in terms of cleaning up the boxes and making them look more professional. I just wanted a slight round over so I used a 3/16" bit. I also sanded all four boxes really well.. I took a number of hours since I did all four boxes. Here are some action shots:

Three boxes flush trimmed and waiting for the next step (and yeah it was bitter cold out there):


Here is one after being trimmed and rounded:


Here are all four waiting for the next step:



Next step will be filling all the holes and voids and doing a final sanding coat in preparation for painting. The next two days are booked solid, but should have time in the middle of the week after work to get everything ready to start painting Friday night and into Saturday... Almost there... Should be listening to them next weekend if all goes well...

Okay, I get how to wire each sub in parallel, but I came across this on the net:



Per this site this will wire 4 8ohm subs into a 4ohm load:
http://www.klausaudio.com/subwoofer-box-articles/quad-dvc-subwoofer-wiring-diagram.php

If this diagram is correct, then I just wire them all into bridge mode on the iNuke?
Edited by ack_bk - 1/8/13 at 4:42pm

Haha, you read my mind. I was going to pickup a multimeter and test the load

But if the pic is correct, that helps me as I am a visual person and it is the easiest way for me to learn.

Couple more questions. On the iNuke, I want to bridge it correct? In addition, do I need a high pass filter since I went sealed vs ported? Or should I use one? Aside from that I plan on picking up a mic and using REW to start measuring so I can apply EQ as needed. At a minimum I planned on rerunning Audyssey once everything is setup.

I have been eyeing the Dayton and the Minidsp mics. I am very limited with Windows right now (I can only run it within a Mac or Linux VM) and I know folks have had good luck with the minidsp USB mic and a Mac using REW, so I am leaning towards that. Let me know what you think of the Dayton. And thanks for the other answers. I know I need a mic and REW to get everything dialed in, and I love that you can upload REW filters right into the iNuke... Very cool.

Yeah... My post was probably not real clear, I have Linux and Mac and no Windows (unless it is running on a Mac in a VM). REW is a pain on a Mac trying to use the sound card and a different mic. The mindsp and new PE mic's are plug and play with Mac and have their own sound card built in making measuring with REW much easier

I ordered the Minidsp mic yesterday, but they are backordered until the end of the month so I won't receive it until early February at the earliest.

I did make some progress on my boxes. I filled in all the nail holes and voids in the wood. So tomorrow I just need to do a final sanding coat and cut the holes for the wire terminals. Should be painting sometime tomorrow and into Sunday....

Action shot: