DIY Vertical 4x10" + 1x15" bass cab

That 15 will make this a very deep box.
With the right speakers and porting design just the Vertical 4x10 should be enough for most situations and easier to handle.

 

I think it will be very difficult to handle as there's no good center of gravity. You have weight on two axes and nowhere to put appropriate handles. It's going to be a heavy cumbersome box, or you just never move it.

Adding ports is going to make this a very large cabinet as well. Depending on the 10" speakers, they might be happy in a sealed enclosure. I have no idea how it will sound if the lower two 10" speakers are up against the 15" chamber while the upper two 10" speakers are in "open space" but it doesn't look right.

I think the crossover will be a challenge as well.

While I always appreciate someone willing to rethink the box, in this case I don't believe the design has merit. Merely throwing various speakers into some unique enclosure is rarely a recipe for success.

I'm curious: how did you design the cabinet for your previous standalone 15" speaker? Knowing how to get all the sensitivity possible out of a speaker is a matter of cabinet design.

 

Or a pair of 2x10s in a vertical stack is even easier.

 

I would think the math .... all the math.... would be easier if that 15" speaker were replaced by two 10" speakers. Or, you could make it a vertical 410 and simply turn one driver toward the drummer. (Take your pick.) The simplest solution would be to grab two 210 cabs and turn the bottom one toward the drummer.

The size of your drivers, and trying to get them into one cab, seem to be unnecessary complications. Never mind that if you get this thing built and don't like the results you have dumped a lot of time, effort, and money into a failed project.

 

No matter how popular, a 4x10 is a bad pairing with a 1x15 which has the audio output of about a 2x10.

Why do you want to add a 15 anyway? What are you expecting it to do for you?

 

Aside from the other issues...what happens if you have to set up on the other side of the drummer?

I'd consider at least separating the 15 from the 10's

 

I can see the appeal of a cabinet that takes up relatively small stage real estate compared to a 4x10 plus a wedge for the drummer, but it might be an adventure too far. Have you considered seeing whether you could juggle a pair of vertical 2x10s and a 1x15 so they have the same square cross section viewed from above, thus enabling you to stack all 3 cabs vertically either facing forward or with one at 90degrees? It would give you a lot more scope to experiment with speaker combinations, plus less load in for small venues.

Personally I would worry about interactions between the drivers at 90 degrees too each other. And while I don't know enough about the subtleties of enclosure design to make too many pronouncements, I am not at all sure about having two drivers very close to a wall, and two with free space.

 

If those drawings are to scale, the size is all wrong. The box for the 15 is minuscule. The box for the 4 10s is about half what it probably should be. That's before adding ports.

Then, electrically, presumably you want to cross over the 10s and leave the 15 for the lows. But even a modest crossover around 100 Hz or so means you probably don't need 4 10s to match up to the 15. So 2 might be better. So now you're looking at a 15 and 2x10 cab which is a little more manageable.

As mentioned, the cab only works if you always set up the same way in relation to the drummer. And lows are omnidirectional past a certain point any way. So I don't think pointing the 15 to the side is a great idea. Something "horn loaded" or similar to some of the schroeder cabs (but facing foward, underneat the 2 2 10s and a tweeter). I'm not sure what getting everything to match up phase wise would entail though.

Another experiment could be to put a 10 and tweeter on 3 of the 4 vertical faces of the cab. That way one is facing forward, one is facing left, and one is facing right. There are some AudioKinesis cabs that have a similar concept (just with tweeters though I think). But depending on where you crossover and the dimensions of the cab, that could certainly still bring about phase/timing issues. Might be cool though if you get it right. It kind of turns the dispersion problem on it's head by just changing what "on axis" is.

On a semi-related note, I do think it would be interesting to see someone make a 360 cab. Like maybe 6 10s, all around at 60 degree angles to each other, forming a hexagonal cab, each one with a tweeter above it, or maybe there are even 12 tweeters, on separate baffles 120 degrees apart. So you'll have this sort of round-ish cab, radiating in all directions, and then maybe you have like 4 down firing 15s. Just spitballing.

 

this is not the worst idea i've ever seen but it looks just like it

 

You wouldn't have to build another box for the 15, just build it internally before attaching the back. It'll be a separate cab, with its own dimensions specifically for that speaker. Just, inside the same cab. Then, you can slant the 410 box up and in so its not so dang fat for no reason. It can be done. But, for wiring and weight purposes, why not just go with three tens and a fifteen? 3 tens should be more than enough.

 

Skip the 15”.

 

Here's an idea that might work:
1. Skip the 15". Design a better box just for it. It is solely a subwoofer.
2. Design your cab for 3 x 10" forward-firing and one 10" rear-firing. Your drummer will get the advantage of the rear-mounted sound source. Of course, the general idea is from the Bergantino HG410, but you will need to design it with your specific speaker parameters. I will say that this design is rather advanced.

 

better yet, let the drummer worry about his own monitor situation while you worry about yours

we've reached the age where a $600 digital mixer lets everybody in the band have their own monitor mix and adjust it wirelessly with their phones, the era of trying to shoestring-rig monitoring for other players off your amp is kind of over.

 

Exact - and face the bottom cab towards the drummer / top cab facing audience - I used to do this all the time when I had a pair of 210 cabs. I made the switch to a pair of 112's about 10 years ago. IMO you have to look at modular set-ups for ease of moving them around. That vertical 410 + 15 huge box will not be much fun to cart around.

 

Much like a square 4x10, but better as regards sound distribution into the room. In the dim and distant past the 4x10 column was a normal PA rig.