building a 4x10 cabinet

[bassguitar]

It's finally done. Sounds pretty good so far, but I've yet to really let it rip. The glasses in my kitchen start singing around 3 on the amp.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

It looks nice and the size is right for a decent bottom end, but the cabinet has a basic design flaw. The spacing of the drivers on the horizontal plane should be as tight as possible for maximum dispersion with minimal comb filtering. Ideally they would be vertically aligned, but barring that as close to vertically aligned as is possible. With the drivers laterally spread as far apart as they are response on the horizontal plane is going to be very rough. If at all possible I'd replace the baffle or put an overlay on it and squeeze those drivers in tight.

 

[bassguitar]

Thanks for the response Bill. Unfortunatly the front baffle is dado'ed into the top bottom and sides - not so easy to replace. Seeing as how this is the first cab I've built, maybe I'll work on another one to replace it. So far it sounds better than my borrowed xs400combo (15"), but I'll know better when I take it over to our jam space on Tuesday.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

The dadoes make it tough, but not impossible. Depending on how you have the baffle internally braced you might be able to laminate a piece of 1/2 inch plywood over it and then recut the driver holes. If you do decide to replace it at some point I'd go with two boxes, each with two drivers vertically aligned. That gives you the welcome option of being able to leave one at home when the gig/practice is too small to require it.

 

[angelopb]

. . . The spacing of the drivers on the horizontal plane should be as tight as possible for maximum dispersion with minimal comb filtering. Ideally they would be vertically aligned, but barring that as close to vertically aligned as is possible. With the drivers laterally spread as far apart as they are response on the horizontal plane is going to be very rough. If at all possible I'd replace the baffle or put an overlay on it and squeeze those drivers in tight.

That was what I was going to say.