DIY Subwoofer

I'm very happy with my Monitor Audio's 20 SE loudspeakers. But what does a man want - more! So I'm looking for a DIY subwoofer. It must be tried and tested because I'm an abolute non technician and do not want to experimente. It's important to know that I have got a wooden floor.

Suggestions?

Carl

 

the bits you want are at bkelec.com . But why not just buy their Monolith sub at £400?

 

Take a look at visaton kits

http://www.lautsprechershop.de/hifi/index_en.htm?/hifi/visaton_en.htm

they do some intresting designs .....I've a magazine/catalogue all in german but intresting all the same...I fancied the cassablancas......but built the cheap trick 145 which doesn't show on this web page.

 

found it ....

http://www.visaton.de/vb/showthread.php?threadid=5293

http://www.visaton.com/english/artikel/art_866_6_86.html

 

Have a look at this:

http://www.vikash.info/audio/xls10/

Looks pretty good except I think the plate amp could be improved on (pletty of reasonable priced ones from the good ol' US).

Also check out the sub section on www.diyaudio.com loads of designs and idea's there.

 

And you can buy the XLS 10 from bkelec.com as in Rory's link above for £89 each [and British made plate amps]. I have 2 and they are super-chuffy-tastic..

 

One of the drivers is a radiator and I think they're about £35??? So all in I reckon £250 will get you some dam fine subwoofery action!

 

Also highly recommended:

www.apexjr.com

Thorsten (3Dsonics) has been advising me on a few speaker designs and he recommended the above for some bass units and amps. Worth a look.

 

i'm going to be building a DIY sub soon, canabilising some parts from a Paradigm PDR10 and fitting a Peerless PBR in it. The theory is the Paradigm box is crap and it'll work better in a box made of 25mm MDF . If not, buy a decent 10" driver

Any ideas how to calculate the volume needed and how the PBRs work? Couldn't find anything on the net about them?

Thanks

 

You can get free software to do most of it for you. I'll have a look through my lists and find something suitable....

 

winISD is a food freeware programme, just google for it. Check out this list:

http://web.telia.com/~u87124019/softwares.html you should find plenty on the subject there.

dont forget www.diyaudio.com

One thing you will need to do is find out the thiel/small parameters of your paradigm speaker, these should be on the net somewhere.

I'll have a proper look for what you need when Ive abit more time later.

 

Indeed, the plate amp used is flabby, but when I get round to it (ie. after if and when I get round to finish spraying the enclosure) I'll replace it with a LM4780 chip amp that's lying around.

The XLS10 + PR is quite a nice puppy.

 

i'm afraid i can't find any ts parameters for the Paradigm sub. I did also ring BK Electronics regarding the passive resonators. They said they'd ring back...and haven't. Not impressed.

 

What info are you after Rory? I might be able to help.

I prefer using Unibox for modelling PR enclosures (infact I prefer Unibox period). BKelec sell only the 265g PR variety, but you can add mass if you like. IIRC anything between 25 and 32 litres is good for an XLS10+PR combo. Brace like hell.

 

BK Elec just rung me back. And Vikash, you have mail from your site

 

Hi Rory,

As I said, between 25 and 32 litres is good for the XLS10 + PR combo and this is driver and PR mass specific. I've assumed the 265 g PR. You can model this all in Unibox: http://www.pvconsultants.com/audio/boxmodel/unibox.htm to see the effect of a differently tuned PR.

Enclosures and port/PR tuning is driver specific so you won't be able to just interchange drivers without getting different results. However, I've done enough modelling to know that variation between actual driver paramteres (vs manufacturer specs), plus room influence has far more net effect than worrying about exact enclosure sizes and tuning. Brace like hell, and aim for an enclosure volume between my suggested ballpark and you won't be dissappointed

 

ok is there anywhere where I can design a subwoofer box given the suggested cubic measurement please Vikash? I really am very very new to this DIY thing! As mentioned i'll design the sub box for the XLS10 but use the paradigm 10" sub and paradigm amp at the start.

 

ok, I've updated the webpage with the dimensions I used at the bottom of the page: http://www.vikash.info/audio/xls10/design.asp

You can calculate target litreage using this calc which will allow you try other dimensions if you wish: http://www.vikash.info/audio/standi...c&height=320&width=320&depth=320&threshold=50

 

thats fantastic, thanks Vikash.

You did come highly recommended by BK Elec "yes, we know a lot about Vikash"

 

Hi Rory, you are making an active sub are you? A passive sub has series resistance in the xover [inductor], and this will increase the volume required [say, 10 - 50%].

It's not hard to redo the calcs to include this, but you do need the T/S values: Re, Qe and Qm