noremacyug's sub (eclipse SW8200)

well, i'm one step closer to getting this thing built now. changed my plans of building a sonotube enclosure, i'm too impatient and don't really have the time to put into it. i've had my sub sitting on my bar merely 10ft from my couch starring me down for about the past week or two and i can't take it anymore. i'm working too much right now to even go get the sonotube, let alone the mdf, cutting, painting, sanding ect, ect..... so, i went the lazier and faster route by means of the Dayton prebuilt box from PE. i'd like to have done the sono design for something a bit different, but i have no probs with a nice big cube sitting in the corner.

in any event, i think i will be quite happy with the finished product.

i ordered
-3cuft dayton enclosure
-2 bags of acousta-stuf polyfill
-set of dayton chrome spiked feet
-pair of dayton doubled ended spring loaded binding post

parts i've already got
-driver is a eclipse sw8200 http://www.eclipse-web.com/sw8000/sw8200.html
-amp is a crest cpx900

will keep you guys posted on progress, try to snap a couple pics of the install and of coarse give my impressions on the finished product. thanks a million to all you guys who've guided me thus far in terms of driver selection, enclosures, as well as invaluable knowledge. i wouldnt have made it this far without you and it's much appreciated!!!

thanks guys. steve, what extra bracing would be required and how in the heck would i go about getting it in there? do the PE enclosures dissasemble?

that was my take as well. i just figured you marked your hole, jigsawed it out, stuffed it, ect, ect. hooked it up. to my knowledge the baffle is not removable.

well, good grief, that's a big part of why i bought the PE box. i figured it would be sufficiently braced.

i may try adding some bracing if i can do it without a lot of difficulty. as to the stuffing, i bought 2 lbs of the acoustastuff. that should be enough shouldn't it. i'm going for a volume of 3.6 cuft, which is what kyle (tcsounds) recommended to me. the acousta recommends .5lb per 1cuft.

alrighty, parts are suppose to be in tomorrow. i think i'll stop by the parental units abode and rob my dads cordless drill and his jigsaw. not sure i'll actually get started on it tomorrow night, but i very well may as i'm ready to see what that clips will do.

with that said, any installation advice from you gurus? any commonly overlooked details? anything i should do to make the enclosure airtight? as always, much appreciated fellas.

well, i got the sub all put together today. didn't take too long. as this is my first sealed sub i didn't know exactly what to expect. i might have been happier with a llt or regular vented enclosure as the output of this thing is not as much as i was hoping for. i was really dissapointed at first because the output was less than the 10" onkyo sub that came with the htib system. however, i don't have all the port noise that came with the onkyo.

i dunno, i threw a older 10 band eq in there and boosted the lower a bit which helped some. but still i was expecting a lot more. to achieve the levels i'm looking to get i'd prolly have to build 3 more.

also, i can't hardly even turn up the gain (bout 1/5) on the crest before auto clipping function kicks in. but even at that level i can notice the lights in the kitchen dimming a bit. from what i gather i shouldn't port this sub as it's not suited for it. any ideas guys? i'm either gonna have to build a few more of these, or build a massive critter like stevecallas' and some other members.

heres some pics i took today.
arrival


just unwrapped

making a hole

installing spikes

installing binding post

snugging her down

finishing up

clips sitting next to the onkyo

yup, bridged. unless i have the driver hooked up incorrectly as the manual (what i thought was the manual) doesn't address the proper way to hook it up in bridged mode. i'm pretty sure the amp is in good condition. the GCL led comes on during bass heavy sceenes and the clips is huffing and puffing as if it's getting plenty of power. i've tried it with the GCL turned off, tried it in stereo mode utilizing only one channel. everything i can think of. it does ok, but not what i expected. perhaps i have something set wrong, but i can't imagine what.

(edit) - huh, well, i just actually found the owners manual in a pdf. all this time i must have been looking at the spec sheet pdf thinking it was the owners manual (i sure thought it was a piss poor owners manual, ha. instead, i'm just an idiot).

heres the link, i'm going to peruse it right now to make sure i have everything right.

http://www.crestaudio.com/media/pdf/CPX_manual.pdf

well, i just read it and it looks that i have it all hooked up right. i tried switching the phase, made no difference. i didn't turn on the low cut filter, sounds like that's for pro speakers. i dunno, i still have the gain set to approx 1/5 and the gcl light will still come on durring bass scenes. the eclipse is moving like crazy and the output isn't terrible, just less than i want. perhaps i'm just expecting more than it's capable of.

i have a radioshack analog spl meter. what kind of spl do you get out of your subs? do i set it to A or C weighting? i through away the manual for it long ago when i bought it, not a wise move. i've always set it to C scale with calibrating the sub though.

ht-r530. yeah, i've tried maximum gain on the crest and low output on the lfe of the reciever, visa versa and then a medium. it was set on +10db on the reciever and then the 1/5 on the crest. i just bumped the crest up to 1/2 and recalibrated the reciever which changed to -5db.

i kind of went through this a long time ago, around age 14 when i got my infinity bu-2 sub. at first i thought it sucked, cause i cranked it all the way up and it was distorted and what not. after i set it up a bit, it sounded a lot better.

however, i've grown a bit and didn't start maxed out. this sub is doing ok, but i want a whole lot more. i seriously would probably need 3 or 4 to get where i'm wanting. 2 might cut it, but i dunno. i may just need to start over with a 15" design.

what's the ELF LT circuit?

budget wise, well, i have around $600 wrapped up into this. so somewhere around that total, provided i tackle a different design. one more identical sub powered by my current amp would run me around another $400.

pull it together man!

the driver moves like crazy, i can't imagine it not having greater output. i still have a half of a bag of acousta stuff, but i can't imagine tossing that in there helping much.

(edit) - i kicked the output on the reciever down to -7db and cut back the output on the crest to bout 1/3 cause the amp was shutting down in some bass heavy scenes in batman begins.