BUILD yer own rig?

[zycro]

Here is some clarification about another of my crazy ideas.

Buy a 12 inch bass guitar amp speaker NOT an audio subwoofer for a car stereo

Buy a 12 inch subwoofer box

Put them together

Buy a bass amp head

Hook it up and there you go an economical way to build yer own rig.

Is there a reason why this wouldnt work?

 

[Waabs]

I don't think there's any reason why that wouldn't work but it would probably better to make your own cabinet.

 

[DubDubs]

Yea it wouldn't be too hard to make a cab either. You can make a cab that normally costs $900 for about $300-$400.

 

[razboinikoff]

You could buy empty speaker cabinet. I think Avatar, Genz Benz and some other companys sell good quality empty boxes.


If you are in the States try second hand market. You can't save much money buying cab and speaker separately but if you buy second hand cab you will be able to listen to it - really a big plus for me.

 

[Dan Loader]

I've never quite understood this, why buy an empty Avatar box and Eminence or Celestion bass speakers then assemble yourself, when you can just buy the fully assembled Avatar cab for less? Dave gets them at trade price anyway.

Fair do's if you've already got the speakers, but I say if you're going to make your own rig, go for the whole hog - Cab, Speakers and Amp

 

[Mo'Phat]

Is there a reason why this wouldnt work?

The only reason it would sound bad is that the box won't be tuned correctly for the speaker. Believe it or not, car audio boxes are sized and ported for the types of speakers going into them (most of the time... ) Will you get sound? Of course. Will it sound good? Maybe.

 

[zycro]

the primary reason i am thinking of doing this is because of cost:

bass amp speaker: 40

subbox: 40

amp head: 50

all components used but decent condition

result: the whole deal for $90 canadian. i guess how it sounds is really the big question.

how does one "tune" speaker boxes according to particular speakers?

 

[MuzikMan]

For the amount of money you're talking about you can't go wrong. If it works at all (and it should) it is worth the money. There are 3 major concerns when choosing a speaker box. Wood type and thickness, internal bracing, and most importantly cab tuning.

I would make sure the speaker box is 3/4" plywood or MDF (medium density fiberboard). Anything less will be flimsy and will resonate certain notes in a bad way.

Internal bracing is used to stiffen the walls of the cab to help reduce resonant notes. If the cab doesn't have any bracing you could easily add some by installing a solid piece of wood between the front and back walls of the cab.

"Ported" speaker boxes are tuned by allowing a specific volume of air to travel out of the cab into the open air. This is most easily done by installing a tube into the cab. The width and length of the tube (or tubes) is critical to the performance of the speaker. Different speakers require different cab tunings to properly reproduce low frequency, handle power, and sound tight (not boomy). The best free resourse I know of to figure this out is WinISD. It is a speaker box building program that will give you a good primer and it will show you what a particular speaker, box volume, and cab tuning will sound like. You will need to be able to aquire the "Theile Small" parameters of your speaker to use this (or any) cab design resourse.

If you can't or don't want to go the long route you could just install different length tubes into the cab and listen to the results. Just keep in mind that speakers prefer a particular sized cab so without checking into the parameters of the speaker you will not know if the box is too big or too small.

Good luck.

 

[seanm]

the primary reason i am thinking of doing this is because of cost:

bass amp speaker: 40
subbox: 40
amp head: 50

all components used but decent condition

result: the whole deal for $90 canadian. i guess how it sounds is really the big question.

how does one "tune" speaker boxes according to particular speakers?

Most people don't make there own because it almost always costs more than buying a pre-made one. That said, wow, those prices are cheap!

You basically tune the box by

1. building the box to the right size
2. adding a port of the correct size

As long as the subwoofer box is designed for the speaker, you should be fine. Also, make sure the box is for a bass cab and not specifically a subwoofer. Subwoofers and bass cabs are very different.

 

[Petebass]

What MuzikMan said.

I actually built a couple of speakers this way for a vocal PA. It worked well but I took care to chose speakers and pre-made cabs that were properly matched. Then I ported the cab correctly. I even made my own crossovers. It really pays to do your research.

Before you buy any parts, post the speaker specs here and we'll let you know the how to get the best out of it.

 

[Basspolizei]

Life is stressful enough without having to build your own speaker cabs unless your a hobbiest. Want awesome bass speakers at affordable prices? Look to Avatar (carpet covered) or Dr Bass (polymer coated) cabs. Both are equiped with USA Eminence bass speakers and cost half that of other brands. Both would sound great and throw a lot of air for little $. Good luck............