Calling all speaker building gurus!

3rdcurve · #1 04-01-2011, 01:25 PM

Ok fellas, I need a little help.

I am on the home stretch of my Ampeg 810 refurb and need some advice. I rebuilt the shell, replaced all the hardware with the help of fliptops.net, got some fresh Eminence b810 drivers, and I am getting ready to apply my 4th and final coat of Duratex.

My first question is about acoustic dampening. The original stuff was about an inch thick and stapled to all sides except for the baffle. It looked identical to carpet padding or underlayment. Eminence specs "normal" box fill, and they are closed till Monday so I can't have them clarify what that means. Should I stuff it completely with polyfill, line the walls with egg crate style foam, or is there a better solution that I am unaware of?

My second question is on wiring. I now how to wire the speakers, I just don't know the color codes for the wiring harness. It was an 04 model with dual speakon and 1/4 inch inputs. The wiring harness has 2 pairs of wires - Red/Black and White/Blue. Normally the Red is positive and the black is negative, Does anyone know how the Blue and white would be designated?

Thanks in advance for any help!

JimmyM · #2 04-01-2011, 01:30 PM

i wouldn't stuff it with loose polyfill. i'd take that bedliner stuff that bill always recommends and fold it until each section is stuffed. stuff a sealed cab, line a ported cab is the rule here.

billfitzmaurice · #3 04-01-2011, 02:22 PM

A sealed box with a Q of 1.0 or higher usually will sound better stuffed with poly fill. The SVT loaded with B810 has a Q of .99, so just lining it is probably adequate.

greenboy · #4 04-01-2011, 02:25 PM

Also, that's the way you'll find a lot of them. So if you like the sound of those particular boxes... Just by lining you've focused the sound.

JimmyM · #5 04-01-2011, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

A sealed box with a Q of 1.0 or higher usually will sound better stuffed with poly fill. The SVT loaded with B810 has a Q of .99, so just lining it is probably adequate.

am i confusing the term "polyfill" with something else? i'm imagining it to be broken up pieces of foam. if i'm wrong, apologies.

3rdcurve · #6 04-01-2011, 02:33 PM

Thanks so much fellas!!!

billfitzmaurice · #7 04-01-2011, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

am i confusing the term "polyfill" with something else? i'm imagining it to be broken up pieces of foam. if i'm wrong, apologies.

Polyfill=pillow stuffing.

greenboy · #8 04-01-2011, 03:04 PM

That's the stuff you can pick up in batting form or in pillow bags at Jo-Anne fabrics, Jimmy (as mentioned on the fEARful website in the DAMPING section). It's very important to look all through the store as some young lady you might have missed might be able to aid you in finding some for all the enclosures you wish to... stuff.

3rdcurve · #9 04-01-2011, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenboy

It's very important to look all through the store as some young lady you might have missed might be able to aid you in finding some for all the enclosures you wish to... stuff.

LOL

Any ideas on the wiring harness?

**mikeddd** · #10 04-01-2011, 04:04 PM

Are you only concerned about the wiring harness color coding for resale/historic purposes? Seems that way. You've already stated that you know how to wire the cab. So, it doesn't matter which color wires go where, as long you wire all the speakers correctly. I.E. keep your +'s and -'s going where they need to be.

3rdcurve · #11 04-01-2011, 04:31 PM

The wiring harness snaps into a circuit board so the colors must remain the same. Luckily I was able to get through to tech support - Red +/Black - , White +/ Blue -. Let it be known!

JimmyM · #12 04-01-2011, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenboy

That's the stuff you can pick up in batting form or in pillow bags at Jo-Anne fabrics, Jimmy (as mentioned on the fEARful website in the DAMPING section). It's very important to look all through the store as some young lady you might have missed might be able to aid you in finding some for all the enclosures you wish to... stuff.

and this stuff doesn't get stuck in the drivers or anything?

JSK5String · #13 04-02-2011, 12:02 AM

I bought a memory foam matress cover at Walmart, cut it up and used Liquid Nails to put it on all sides but the front of my DIY rig. It's the stuff with an egg shell on one side and flat on the other. The stuff works great and it's pretty cheap, I think I paid $17 or $18 and still had some of the single matress size left over.

Here's a shot of it:

billfitzmaurice · #14 04-02-2011, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

and this stuff doesn't get stuck in the drivers or anything?

So as long as you put it behind the cross bracing in your cab so that it doesn't block the magnets and frames, which could cause the drivers to overheat and in rare cases even catch the polyfill on fire, there's no worries. Of course, if your cab doesn't have cross bracing...

3rdcurve · #15 04-11-2011, 11:44 AM

I ended up using the memory foam matress topper from walmart. This cab sounds incredible......now on to the amp.