15/6 Cost - DIY fEARful vs. LDS

[Jim C]

Know I've seen pricing but the threads are so large that a 15 minute search got me nowhere. Thought a thread with this title would be helpful.
What is the current costing for buying a 15/6 from Don vs building Greenboy's fEARful?
Let's assume the basic crossover and mid driver (w/ carpet covering from LDS).

Both time and money are in short supply and would also consider buying pre-cut parts for a fEARful as a time saving DIY option.

Just trying to get a ball park cost differential
TIA

[bass4me]

This is just from my experience with my build...I have no idea what Don can build one for.

4x8 1/2" Arauco Ply (spelling?) $40
3015LF: $159 (beach audio) I THINK that was the price at the time

18 sound mid: $100 (ebay), online I believe they are typically around 139.

Crossover: Exactly what the prices in the cheap but good instructions were, from various places

wiring, glue, connectors, speakon jacks, plates, handles, grills...had to be close to 100.

Things I had to buy either from messing up or not realizing I needed them 20-30, maybe more.

My total build ended up being in the 400-450 range I think. I only used a minwax stain on it. Although I'm thinking about going with a bedliner type paint soon.

[singlemalt]

My fEarful 15/6/1 came in right at $500 for all the materials and parts. I had maybe 20 hours of labor in to it, including ordering and building the crossover. So, its either a killer cab for $500, or I've got way too much into it, depends how you like to spend your time. I love building stuff in the shop, so it was a huge win/win for me.

The crossover was like a science project that took me into new territory, but I was really happy with the whole thing.

I'll build a 12/6 and a 15 sub when the weather warms up again.

A breakdown of the big items: $130 for the 3015LF, $120 for the 18 sound, $40 for the horn and wave guide, about $150 for the crossover parts, a chunk of that in shipping, and the rest for plywood, glue, biscuits, grills, handles, corners, polyfill, beer, ect.

I have seen several of the fEarfuls in the TB classifieds for what looks like the cost of parts and shipping, maybe that's the way to go if you don't have the time of inclination to DIY.

I don't have any idea about the LDS, but I have seen and heard one of Duke's cabs, it was very cool.

[Passinwind]

What woodworking tools do you already own? What is your time worth to you? DIY is a huge financial loser unless you treat the tool costs as an incidental long term investment and put no value at all on your time, or just enjoy the work. For some of us there's just no other way to get what we want though...

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by Jim C

What is the current costing for buying a 15/6 from Don vs building Greenboy's fEARful?
Let's assume the basic crossover and mid driver (w/ carpet covering from LDS).

For a 15/6 "nEARful" with carpet covering, Don will charge you something in the ballpark of $600 - give or take about $25 or so...

MM

[Foz]

My $0.02 don't waste your money on a nEarful - there is no savings.

TB'er Vlad335 built a true 15/6 fEarful box for me to which I added drivers and an xover... came out so nice I have him building me a 15sub fEarful.

If he does your box + hardware [grill, handles, paint, jackplate, et cetera] and you do the xover and load the drivers yourself [snap up one of the $150 a pair 6nd410's mids at CL], then I reckon you can get a real fEarful with a proper xover, proper plywood, and a premium mid driver for 1 hours work + about $600. That's the way to go IMO.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Eighteen-Sound-6...-/310277637176

Check the fEarful thread if you need a partner to split a 2-pack of 6nd410's. If Vlad is to busy to help you, there are a couple of other fEarful box builders whom others on that thread may be able to recommend.

[Brick Top]

I had LDS build me a 15/6 based on the fEARful design. Cost was $600. I now want a matching 15sub....but can't decide whether to have LDS make it or find an alternative builder. Probably end up with LDS cause I'm so happy with the first build....and I won't have to worry about hiccups along the way.

The other thing to consider is the wait time for LDS. Pretty lengthy from what I understand.

[Jeremy Allen]

Do you have access to the tools, and enjoy building things? If so, it would probably be worth trading that $100 for your 20 hours and you would have your cab a lot sooner than ordering one from LDS.

I, on the other hand, would spend as much time figuring out how to build the dang thing as I would waiting for Don, and then the final product would still not be as good (although it would give me much satisfaction). That's why I have an LDS/fEarful 15/6, and it is simply excellent. Construction quality is outstanding, and it sounds amazing (as long as you have a lot of power to put into it--a serious consideration).

(Well, and I also bought it used, so it was under $500 and came to my door within a week...)

[Jim C]

I do enjoy fabrication and co-built a pretty cool drag car as well as the bike in my avatar which came in boxes and then had more modern brakes and suspension added to it's 1972 platform. Unfortuneately, time is at a premium right now and the satisfaction won't be as great as days will go by between time to build. It does seem amazing that the pre-built (with a nicer finish than I could apply) only costs $150 - 200 more.
My current fav amps are a SVT or Walkabout. Sounds like 300 watts may not be enough to drive this box. Is this a universal opinion?
Only option would be to ditch my lead sled and get something like to use with my SVP-CL.

[rpsands]

Vt bass deluxe and a power amp is how I'd roll - but on the flipside, if your SVT is 8 ohm capable I think it would sound great with the 15/6.

[Foz]

I use a 400+ with a 15/6 from time to time - sounds fantastic but is definitely output limited - will only reach moderate volume before the head runs out of gas. Its a trade off of 400+ tone for lesser potential volume. Perfect for some recordings and low volume gigs - but a large diminution of capability [especially on the low end]. I imagine your SVT would give similar results - the Walkabout [165 watts into 8 ohms?] would, I fear, be anemic to the extreme.

IMO everyone with a fEarful owes themselves the experience of running the cab wide open - just so they know what they got under the hood and what the cab can do versus traditional kit. FWIW I reckon your SVP-CL hooked to a power amp that'll do +/-750 watts B/M into 8 ohms would put a **** eating grin on your mug.

[Jeremy Allen]

I use a Carvin B1500 with mine, and the 15/6 totally shines with gobs of power. 350 watts into the cab from an EA Doubler is a joke (although the joke may be that amp's power rating); and a 100 watt V4 SOUNDS cool into it but it bottoms out. (By contrast, the V4 and a Berg HT115 were almost too loud to play indoors!)

I don't want to think that an SVT would not handle the job very happily, though.

[Jim C]

Thanks guys, great advice based on the facts and your experiences and the comparisons are very helpful
Would have never guessed that a V4 / HT115 would play that loud.

[M0ses]

Originally Posted by Foz

http://cgi.ebay.com/Eighteen-Sound-6...-/310277637176

Check the fEarful thread if you need a partner to split a 2-pack of 6nd410's. If Vlad is to busy to help you, there are a couple of other fEarful box builders whom others on that thread may be able to recommend.

That is the CRAZIEST price I have ever seen!!!! I have been watching the prices on these things for months and this is what you usually need to pay for just one! I just paid for my pair. Got a great price on the 15", too. $130 plus a few bucks shipping, you just have to wait until they're on sale.

[Jeremy Allen]

Originally Posted by Jim C

Would have never guessed that a V4 / HT115 would play that loud.

Me neither. But, that's a cab that's designed more for the low-midrange kind of thing rather than the super-low-frequency thing, and as such it's pretty efficient. (All of his cabs are, actually; I have an HT322 and the EA Doubler drives it with no problems.) The 15/6 has MUCH more low end than an HT115 (which doesn't change the fact that the HT115 is to my ears one of the all-time great cabs).

[dug dog]

I'm running a Yorkville Y400B into a 15/6. It's spec'd to put 300 watts out at 8 ohms and it's as loud as I'd ever need to play with a heavy hitting drummer. Of course, that would be for a small / medium room with no PA support and my idea of a heavy hitter may not be the same as some else's.

There seems to be a fair bit of discrepancy between the reported power specs of various manufacturers, which is why, for example, I'm not sure if something like a CarvinBX500 would be as loud as my Yorkie even though, on paper, they should be the same.

Edit: I know that's getting a bit off the original topic. Sorry.

[kesslari]

Don's prices have gone up a bit - my nEarful (just got it) was $650 plus shipping. Came out just around $700. That's also with a tweeter and waveguide, which might bump up the price of parts for a DIY fEarful.

The question to me is "what is your time worth, and how good are you at DIY?"
It's about $150 to have Don build one instead of building it yourself (and the difference is less if you pay more for your DIY parts than what was listed here).
Given how little time I have in my life, spending $150 to get a better build cab than I could build myself, and having someone else build it (rather than trying to squeeze in time for a project - let alone borrowing friends' tools, etc.) was a no brainer.

Different folks have different amounts of time/money available. There was a time when, no question, spending the extra $ would have been the wrong choice for me, and I would have gone DIY.

[Foz]

Would have never guessed that a V4 / HT115 would play that loud.

My experience exploring the full power capability of a fEarful using an amp able to push it to its excursion limits isn't really about playing louder per se - its about being able to play as loud as required - an octave lower than normal rig - and still have head room on the amp and never fear clipping the amp or the coming of the dreaded woofer fart out.

It aint about being loud its about having the capability to fully utilize the very bottom of the bandwidth the instrument can produce when the tune calls for such. If you got a fEarful - do yourself a favor and hook it up to a power source with enough ass to it to allow you to know just how low it can go.

[lomo]

I neither have the tools nor enjoy the work. My time is worth a lot. LDS nEarful (15/6 no tweet) was perfect for me. 700 delivered and I love it.