[Martycool007]

Since my MFW-15 bit the dust a couple of weeks ago, I am now looking for a new sub, and will probably build my own as I believe that I can get much more bang for my buck. With that being said, I need design idea's. I have read through much of the database here in the DIY forum and while there are lots of designs to choose from, I have no idea which would give me the best bang for my buck in terms of digging down low and having some decent output? I want the sub to go down to a least 18hz, and also be able to have some pretty good output as well. I at least want the sub to equal my MFW-15, if not exceed it.. I also need suggestions on which driver to go with, my budget is $350 for the driver, $300 for the amp. What ever the materials end up costing, is fine. My room is 18 x 14. Suggestions?

 

[Jay1]

Something like a pair of Dayton dvc385's, each in about 6.5-8 ft3 tuned to 18hz, powered by a behringer nu3000dsp would be pretty nice for your $650 budget.

 

[caper_1]

TRIO12 kit is $400 with amp/driver/passive radiators/hardware. I got these numbers in a 24" box at 1 meter, corner loaded. Amp has high-pass built into it approx 18.5 Hz which explains the rolloff below 20. At the LP, SPL were about 4 dB lower (ish)

16 Hz -- 104 dB

18 Hz -- 114 dB

20 Hz -- 118 dB

22 Hz -- 119 dB

25 Hz -- 118 dB

28 Hz -- 117 dB

31.5Hz-- 114 dB

35 Hz - - 109 dB

40 Hz - -105 dB

45 Hz - - 107 dB


So with your budget, you should be able to do better!

 

[Martycool007]



Quote:
Originally Posted by caper_1  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22147168


TRIO12 kit is $400 with amp/driver/passive radiators/hardware. I got these numbers in a 24" box at 1 meter, corner loaded. Amp has high-pass built into it approx 18.5 Hz which explains the rolloff below 20. At the LP, SPL were about 4 dB lower (ish)

16 Hz -- 104 dB

18 Hz -- 114 dB

20 Hz -- 118 dB

22 Hz -- 119 dB

25 Hz -- 118 dB

28 Hz -- 117 dB

31.5Hz-- 114 dB

35 Hz - - 109 dB

40 Hz - -105 dB

45 Hz - - 107 dB

So with your budget, you should be able to do better!

Those are some impressive numbers! Where can I find the info and ordering/pricing info on a TRIO12 kit?

 

[Martycool007]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay1  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22147107


Something like a pair of Dayton dvc385's, each in about 6.5-8 ft3 tuned to 18hz, powered by a behringer nu3000dsp would be pretty nice for your $650 budget.

Thanks for the reply, Jay1!



What about using duel opposed LMS Ultra's in a large box? I am not very familiar with the LMS Ultra's (only know them by name) but they seem to be very well regarded. I could possibly stretch my budget to $800 dollars (not sure if I can get two LMS Ultra's for that?) for the drivers and then put off purchasing the amp for a while. I have absolutely no size or placement limitations for this sub(s) as my significant other doesn't mind a big ugly sub or two in our theater room (actually my man cave!)



What do you guys think of doing perhaps a dual opposed, ported box, with a pair of LMS Ultra's?

What are the advantages of using a dual opposed box instead of a regular (ported, I dislike sealed) box?

Would I get better performance by going with two dual opposed boxes, using a pair of cheaper (perhaps Dayton's?) sub woofer drivers?

 

[kcnitro07]

If you're referring to the 18" TC Sounds LMS Ultra 5400, they are $925 each.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=293-666

 

[Hot Grits]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Martycool007  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22150282


Thanks for the reply, Jay1!

What about using duel opposed LMS Ultra's in a large box? I am not very familiar with the LMS Ultra's (only know them by name) but they seem to be very well regarded. I could possibly stretch my budget to $800 dollars (not sure if I can get two LMS Ultra's for that?) for the drivers and then put off purchasing the amp for a while. I have absolutely no size or placement limitations for this sub(s) as my significant other doesn't mind a big ugly sub or two in our theater room (actually my man cave!)

What do you guys think of doing perhaps a dual opposed, ported box, with a pair of LMS Ultra's?

What are the advantages of using a dual opposed box instead of a regular (ported, I dislike sealed) box?

Would I get better performance by going with two dual opposed boxes, using a pair of cheaper (perhaps Dayton's?) sub woofer drivers?

IMO, going ported is a waste of the LMS. It is really optimized for a sealed box with a ton of power. If you want to go ported with the LMS, consider using passive radators. This is going to put you way over budget.

 

[Martycool007]

Ok so I now realize that the LMS ultra is not do-able due to the price.


What designs should I be looking into in order to get the deep bass and output that I was use to with my stock MFW-15?

 

[caper_1]

what about 2 X TRIO 12 's ?

 

[Oklahoma Wolf]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Martycool007  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22150282


I could possibly stretch my budget to $800 dollars (not sure if I can get two LMS Ultra's for that?) for the drivers and then put off purchasing the amp for a while.

$800 will get you one of my signature and a Bash 500 amp... the highpass would need to be altered on the amp, though, to get the most out of the design. A little bit of a challenging build for a first time project, though.


How big is the room you're looking to fill, and is it open to others?

 

[Jinjuku]



Quote:
Originally Posted by caper_1  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub/0_100#post_22147168


TRIO12 kit is $400 with amp/driver/passive radiators/hardware. I got these numbers in a 24" box at 1 meter, corner loaded. Amp has high-pass built into it approx 18.5 Hz which explains the rolloff below 20. At the LP, SPL were about 4 dB lower (ish)

16 Hz -- 104 dB

18 Hz -- 114 dB

20 Hz -- 118 dB

22 Hz -- 119 dB

25 Hz -- 118 dB

28 Hz -- 117 dB

31.5Hz-- 114 dB

35 Hz - - 109 dB

40 Hz - -105 dB

45 Hz - - 107 dB

So with your budget, you should be able to do better!

Those are estimated room gain #''s (?)

 

[Jay1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Martycool007  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22151650


Ok so I now realize that the LMS ultra is not do-able due to the price.

What designs should I be looking into in order to get the deep bass and output that I was use to with my stock MFW-15?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay1  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22147107


Something like a pair of Dayton dvc385's, each in about 6.5-8 ft3 tuned to 18hz, powered by a behringer nu3000dsp would be pretty nice for your $650 budget.

Well, my original recommendation was for a pair of subs that would each be more capable then an MFW (larger enclosure and more power, with a similar woofer). If you want something a little more intense sounding, how about

18 Sound 21LW1400

O Audio 500 watt amp (use 25hz setting on amp)

6" Port


An 11 ft3 enclosure will be tuned to 18hz with that port.





These would be some of the cleanest subs you could get up until the amp runs out of steam. The driver is very high quality.

 

[caper_1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jinjuku  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22152285


Those are estimated room gain #''s (?)

No estimates. I used a Radio Shack SPL meter at 1 meter on a tripod, on axis. The values are corrected using the proper values for the meter I used.

 

[Martycool007]



Quote:
Originally Posted by caper_1  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22152222


what about 2 X TRIO 12 's ?

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the TRIO 12's? Can you tell me a little bit about them?

 

[Martycool007]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay1  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22152622


Well, my original recommendation was for a pair of subs that would each be more capable then an MFW (larger enclosure and more power, with a similar woofer). If you want something a little more intense sounding, how about
18 Sound 21LW1400
O Audio 500 watt amp (use 25hz setting on amp)
6" Port

An 11 ft3 enclosure will be tuned to 18hz with that port.


These would be some of the cleanest subs you could get up until the amp runs out of steam. The driver is very high quality.

That is one huge driver! Looks interesting. Do you know of any existing designs using that driver? If so, please let me know.

 

[Martycool007]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Oklahoma Wolf  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22152283


$800 will get you one of my signature and a Bash 500 amp... the highpass would need to be altered on the amp, though, to get the most out of the design. A little bit of a challenging build for a first time project, though.

How big is the room you're looking to fill, and is it open to others?

I am highly interested in one of the bigger subs you built. Does that bigger sub perform significantly better than the smaller version that is linked in your signature? I am about to send you a pm with some questions.




Oh and btw- if anyone else has any driver and design ideas, by all means, please post them up!

 

[caper_1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Martycool007  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22153712


Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the TRIO 12's? Can you tell me a little bit about them?

The TRIO is more of a budget driver that performs well.


TRIO12 features:

• pressed carbon fibre reinforced paper cone
• NBR surround, Nomex and cotton spider
• XBL double-gap motor structure
• high-excursion low-inductance design (20 mm Xmax one-way)
• high power 2.25” aluminium voice coil on black anodized split aluminum former
• 350 watts RMS, 700 watts peak
• brass shorting ring in the top plate, aluminum inside the magnet
• proven cost effective stamped steel basket
• designed to match and work with the CSS APR passive radiators

TRIO12 Data Sheet [ LINK ]



Designs: [ Link ]

 

[NicksHitachi]

The Dayton DVC 15($129)is a great bang for your buck driver. Is your MFW driver OK? If so the MFW and Dayton DVC model nearly identical and could be used together in a dual build or build independent boxes and spread out to help with room modes.


The Mach 5 drivers get good reviews too for their money.


Hey whats the excursion look like on that 18 sound in that box with 500w? That driver only has like 9mm of excursion its gotta be gettin close...


I like the Behringer DSP amps a lot! They have high passing and Eq built into them and a slick pc interface. Plate amps are much more plug and play but are more expensive per watt after you need more than like 500w.

 

[Oklahoma Wolf]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Martycool007  /t/1416478/design-recommendations-for-my-diy-sub#post_22153750


I am highly interested in one of the bigger subs you built. Does that bigger sub perform significantly better than the smaller version that is linked in your signature? I am about to send you a pm with some questions.

Oh and btw- if anyone else has any driver and design ideas, by all means, please post them up!

Responded to your PM

There's no bigger or smaller version, just the dual SDX10 design. I do have a few others sitting in Hornresp, but with no way to validate driver parameters properly nothing is in the works right now. There are alternate drivers that should work in the design if the SDX10 isn't your cup of tea.


One thing I should note - if you were to grab a MiniDSP and EP4000, it would cost a bit more but you'd have the amp for a second one of these. Not too many rooms would be a problem for SPL then.

 

[omegaslast]

Wait how is your MFW-15 broken?


the amp is broken?


Why let your perfectly good MFW-15 go to waste? Just get a new amp for that sucker