My new semi-DIY 210 Cab

[scootron]

I've recently bought a new SVT3-Pro, so I've been trying to find a good way to use my backup head, an SWR 4004. I decided I wanted something small I could use for very small rooms, house parties, acoustic sets, etc.

I had an old Peavey closed cab that had held 2 10" speakers. Of course, it was built like a bank safe. I also had two Klipsch 10" subwoofers, model k-1049-k (4 ohm). These were used by Klipsch in some of their high end home theater systems. The ones I had had never been used. I don't live far from the Klipsch plant, and knew a guy....

Anyway, I put in a new jack, wired the speakers in series (so the cab would be 8 ohm) put everything together and fired it up.

I was really amazed with the sound. I kept the volume relatively low (12:00 on the gain and master, dimed on my Jazz volume pots) and the sound can be best described as rich and warm. The volume is much less than I get with my 4 ohm 115 of course, but perfect for my purposes.

To be honest, I know absolutely nothing about speakers or cabs or wiring or ohms, and had no idea if this would work at all, but so far it sounds great. I can't really describe how warm and pleasing the tone is...perfect for jazz, blues, or accompanying an acoustic ensemble.

Now, for all I know, this may blow up. The speakers didn't seem to be under any particular stress. I watched to see how much they moved, and the excursion seemed to be very comfortable, but I don't have anything to compare it with, having never seen a bass run through a 10" speaker.

So, some of you guys who know about these things...could this keep working? Or is it likely to blow up tomorrow? Did I do everything wrong?

I guess if it does blow up and catch on fire I'll at least have an interesting story to share with you guys.

[Deacon_Blues]

Congrats for assembling a great sounding cab!

The first thing you want to do now though, is to compare the power ratings of the speakers (peak and RMS) with the power ratings of your amp. Second, is to see what frequency range these speakers are made to handle. As they're subwoofers, they handle low frequencies well of course, but what about mids or treble? Too much mids running into a speaker not made for those frequencies might not be the best idea. Ask the guy at the Klipsch plant about this. He should be able to give you some information about it. Otherwise you can try to check their homepage if they contain any useful info for you.

Anyway, good luck with your cab!

[scootron]

This looks like some specs from the spec sheet on the cabinet that originally used a single k-1049-k in their home theater system. I'm not sure what of this, if any, is relevant.

Auto Power On: 2 second ON delay, 15 minute OFF delay
Dynamic Headroom: 1 dB (190 watts into 4 ohms)
Frequency Response: 31-120 Hz±3 dB
Maximum Output: 104 dB
Audio/Video Switch: +3 dB over entire frequency range
Low Pass Crossover: Continuously variable from 40-120 Hz,
24 dB/octave slope above 120 Hz.
High Pass Crossover: Main speakers: line level outputs with switchable
high pass between 40 and 80 Hz, 6 dB/octave slope above
120 Hz. Speaker level outputs with fixed high pass at 100 Hz,
6 dB/octave slope.
Phase: Switchable 0-180 degrees
Inputs/Outputs: Line level RCA phono jacks. Dedicated LFE
channel input. High level speaker terminals.
Drive Component: K-1049-K 10" (25.4 cm) driver

The SWR 4004 Power Specifications say 260 watts @ 8 ohms.

Any of this helpful?

[Stumbo]

Dynamic Headroom: 1 dB (190 watts into 4 ohms)
Frequency Response: 31-120 Hz±3 dB
Maximum Output: 104 dB

Looks like the pair will handle your SWR w/o a problem.
You won't hurt the speakers by boosting the mids.
The speaker may be +- 3db but there's a whole range of frequencies that it will somewhat reproduce at more than +-3db.

If it sounds good to you, that's what matters.