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First cabinet build - sealed or ported?

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by topper, Jan 12, 2009.

  1. Jan 12, 2009 #1
    topper

    topper

    May 22, 2005
    Charlottesville, VA
    I've got a twinkling in my brain about building my own bass cab. Never done it before. I realize there's a lot to learn. It would be something small, probably a single 10 or 12 in a kickback/wedge sort of design.

    My question is, should a noob even consider a ported design? I'm a little intimidated by figuring the port thing out. Figuring out the right volume of air behind a speaker in a sealed cab seems doable with my math skills, but what about a port? Is this as hard as it looks? Is there free (or cheap) software to help with this?
     
  2. Jan 12, 2009 #2
    realbadgroove

    realbadgroove Guest

    Apr 12, 2008
    Kansas
    You can download a free program that will do all the math for you. When questioning sealed or ported you really need to think about what size driver you are going to use and what frequency level you want. Mid drivers are always sealed in a small enclosure because it makes them brighter. Subs are almost always ported. If i were going to build a single 12" ported cab I would use a eminence LAB12. A friend of mine put one in his accugroove cab and it sounds amazing very tight also it is rated down to 25hz with a Resonant Frequency of 22hz you must understand that this is really almost unheard of in any speaker no less a 12" I plan to build the same same thing. although I would add a tweater and crossover but it would truely be amazing. http://www.eminence.com/proaudio_sp...etail_link=LAB12&speaker_size=12&SUB_CAT_ID=1 there is the link. If it were me I would tune port it to 37.5
     
  3. Jan 13, 2009 #3
    topper

    topper

    May 22, 2005
    Charlottesville, VA
    Thanks for the thoughts! That does look like a pretty hot speaker. The website says it's a 6ohm speaker. Is that right? My experience is pretty limited but I'm used to seeing 4 or 8 ohm speakers.

    So you say I can download a free program to do the math. What program?
     
  4. Jan 13, 2009 #4
    spode master

    spode master Guest

    Jan 21, 2007
    Dude I love the Lab 12 driver. I've used it several times.

    But I would never recommend using it as a stand alone bass speaker. Its not really intended to be used above 200Hz.

    It works well in, sealed vented, and horn loaded (What it was designed for).

    It is not a typical 12 and I would NEVER plop it into some random 2 or 3 way cabinet. If anything your friend compromised Acugrooves design.

    I have built 6 cu' cabs using a pair of Lab12's. and a 4cu' sealed lab 12 cab using 4 Lab12's. Great clean sounding low and sub bass.

    But they are not hugely efficient, so a single would be underwhelming as a subwoofer.

    Good luck.

    Let me know if you have any questions.

    Antone