Low-cost DIY practice/coffeehouse tweeterless 110 [long]

[Blind owl bass]

If you want better mids and highs, you'll definitely want to point the 15" forward, not at the floor...I would think that would be self-evident. The box is too small for much low-end response, and, as observed, there isn't enough real estate on the baffle face to accommodate another driver of any sort to address the mid/high shortcomings, so it seems to me that you're at something of an impasse. And this appears to be just a cheezy vinyl-clad, MDF box...how much better do you think you can make it? How much better does it have to be to fulfill the purpose you made it for? Or wouldn't your girlfriend be happier with just a nice tapestry thrown over one of your other, real cabs, rather than this ugly-ass P.O.S.?

also for what it's worth, i have plenty of nice gear. basses, cabinets, preamps........but I have a special place for some of my crappy but good gear. love some frankenbasses I can just beat on and lean in the corner....

 

[Redbrangus]

the crossed over down firing driver with a mid speaker mounted in the front sounds like a fun thing to try!

If I were going to do something like that, I'd be sure that the mid driver is substantial enough to go pretty low and treat the 15 pretty much just as a sub. Like maybe crossover (just HP?) at 120-150 Hz.

I presume you've tried headphones?

 

[Blind owl bass]

If I were going to do something like that, I'd be sure that the mid driver is substantial enough to go pretty low and treat the 15 pretty much just as a sub. Like maybe crossover (just HP?) at 120-150 Hz.

I presume you've tried headphones?

I hate headphones. also it is a 10 inch speaker. can you recommend a crossover? newbie here in the crossover department

 

[Blind owl bass]

tried to record a test for yall but TB wont accept any of my files. using my empress para EQ I was able to make it sound ok, the extra open port has even made upright possible. honestly think its gona be fine as is!

 

[Blind owl bass]

tried to record a test for yall but TB wont accept any of my files. using my empress para EQ I was able to make it sound ok, the extra open port has even made upright possible. honestly think its gona be fine as is!

still sucks with high end but the empress and hpf (set to about 50hz) makes it usable, thumps without the speaker distortion that existed in a sealed and with the 4 inch circular port open. with both ports open it seems to have "eased up" on the speaker.

 

[Blind owl bass]

still sucks with high end but the empress and hpf (set to about 50hz) makes it usable, thumps without the speaker distortion that existed in a sealed and with the 4 inch circular port open. with both ports open it seems to have "eased up" on the speaker.

also this is in the down firing position, with a tweeter could be awespme!
with the extra eq and bass speaker pointing forward like a normal cab, it sounds like a normal cab. with it pointing downward it is much much more bass forward even with the extra eq. (the extra eq and the speaker faced forward it was actually pretty zingy)
so I'm tthinking, downward firing sub and forward facing mid speaker or tweeter could work quite well.

 

[DJ Bebop]

tried to record a test for yall but TB wont accept any of my files. using my empress para EQ I was able to make it sound ok, the extra open port has even made upright possible. honestly think its gona be fine as is!

You have to post it to a site like YouTube or Soundcloud and post a link here. You can't just upload it here

 

[Blind owl bass]

You do still have some interesting options for modifying the cab. Astro's recommendations for adding a mid driver and x-over are very good for a forward firing speaker...if you have room. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite look like you'll have the space on the face of the cabinet beside the woofer, which you would want to make the front of the cab. The problem with downfiring woofers is that they form a horn with the floor, which causes large peaks (resonances) and valleys (cancellation) in the frequency response through the mids. (There's an Acoustic Image white paper somewhere that explains it well. I'll try to find the link later.)

You might be able to make the downfiring woofer work by low passing the woofer pretty low (like 400hz to 800hz?) and then adding a mid driver to the front of the cab, within its own enclosure. You'll need a bigger mid driver than the 3" Faital, though. Maybe the Faital 5fe120 or 6fe100? Not sure. I'm well outside my area of expertise--I'm an aerospace engineer, I just play sound engineer on the internet. The only good reason to really bother with all this is for educational purposes, which is an excellent reason if you ask me.

As far as using the Legend for upright, I wouldn't expect that speaker to ever do that great with an upright. It's got a strong built in voicing: large mid scoop at 500hz and lack of upper mids and highs as mentioned before. You generally want something more neutral and that responds to EQ well for upright.

can you recommend a crossover to cross the downfiring woofer very low, like you stated. I have zero experience with wiring crossovers, from what I see, most crossovers that operate in the 400-800hz range, are 3 way? I would want just a 2 way right? with further testing and eq playing, I think i can use this box. any help is greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[Redbrangus]

can you recommend a crossover to cross the downfiring woofer very low,

I sorta hate to encourage you in this pursuit but I'll offer this much: You don't actually need a true crossover so much as a high-pass filter between the LF driver and whatever mid/high device you're crossing into. So the 10 will still run 'full-range' but the LF will be filtered out of the MF/HF device. There are passive high-pass (HP) filters available out in the internet world with the corner frequency you need--I presume you know about Parts Express, for instance. The potential problem with passive crossovers and filters that are readily available is going to be power-handling ability; a lot of stuff is aimed at DIY home stereo builders and they're not looking for--or paying for--high-power components. But you may not need huge power-handling capacity for your little rig, so you should be able to find something workable on the Web.

Presuming you can find an appropriate passive HP filter at 100, 150 or 200 Hz, the next question becomes what sort of driver are you going to use for the HF portion of this rig? As I mentioned, it would need to be substantial enough to handle quite a bit of the signal. Are you considering a 6" or so driver? Any cone driver would need to be in a sub-enclosure to prevent it being impacted by the LF driver, so that will sacrifice some more of your already minimal internal volume. Plus, that driver and the HP filter will both cost something. Just how much more do you want to invest in this concept? Just sayin'....

 

[Redbrangus]

Also...I'm just realizing that this is hi-jack of a thread that continues to hold interest for it's original subject. Maybe it would be better to start a different thread with a title that more fully reflects what you're interested in; that would also increase the likelihood of attracting some more (and better) input from the TB community.

 

[Blind owl bass]

I sorta hate to encourage you in this pursuit but I'll offer this much: You don't actually need a true crossover so much as a high-pass filter between the LF driver and whatever mid/high device you're crossing into. So the 10 will still run 'full-range' but the LF will be filtered out of the MF/HF device. There are passive high-pass (HP) filters available out in the internet world with the corner frequency you need--I presume you know about Parts Express, for instance. The potential problem with passive crossovers and filters that are readily available is going to be power-handling ability; a lot of stuff is aimed at DIY home stereo builders and they're not looking for--or paying for--high-power components. But you may not need huge power-handling capacity for your little rig, so you should be able to find something workable on the Web.

Presuming you can find an appropriate passive HP filter at 100, 150 or 200 Hz, the next question becomes what sort of driver are you going to use for the HF portion of this rig? As I mentioned, it would need to be substantial enough to handle quite a bit of the signal. Are you considering a 6" or so driver? Any cone driver would need to be in a sub-enclosure to prevent it being impacted by the LF driver, so that will sacrifice some more of your already minimal internal volume. Plus, that driver and the HP filter will both cost something. Just how much more do you want to invest in this concept? Just sayin'....

would crossing it over in the 300-500hz range and adding the self contained (needing no separate enclosure, said it isn't affected by other woofers, i think) Dayton driver that was recently posted in this thread work to add a just a bit more top end? just enough so I dont have to go crazy with eq.
also money isn't the issue, I'm trying to have fun with a project and these parts aren't very costly... so pop that Dayton self contained driver (or a different better self contained driver for the highs and mids) keep the 10 in a downfiring position and cross it over 200-400 hz. anyone think this will work? or box mid is only way to make it work

 

[Redbrangus]

I think that concept is workable enough. I'd still opt for a plain ol' HP filter rather than a 2-way crossover.

 

[Blind owl bass]

thank you so much for this info and indulging me in this silly project. the goal is to just not piss off my partner with loud cabs in our small home. if u you dont mind, I will look up a few hp filters and see if you think they would work

I think that concept is workable enough. I'd still opt for a plain ol' HP filter rather than a 2-way crossover.

 

[yodedude2]

Also...I'm just realizing that this is hi-jack of a thread that continues to hold interest for it's original subject. Maybe it would be better to start a different thread with a title that more fully reflects what you're interested in; that would also increase the likelihood of attracting some more (and better) input from the TB community.

great idea!

 

[lethargytartare]

...Maybe it would be better to start a different thread with a title that more fully reflects what you're interested in...

Yeah, not to be a curmudgeon, but the thread was about the super quick, cheap, usable build. This tangent is more straight-up cab design and building. The point being -- he'll surely get more feedback and suggestions in an actual build forum than here (not to discount the assistance you're giving him!). I'd like to see this thread keep the quick-and-cheap build up-to-date -- since we're now 9 years on from the OP!!

 

[lethargytartare]

To my previous point, it looks like the S2010 is up to $100 now, so the OP build is up about 23% to $135. Might be interesting to see if anyone can find a comparable driver for $75 to get the build back to $110.

 

[Blind owl bass]

To my previous point, it looks like the S2010 is up to $100 now, so the OP build is up about 23% to $135. Might be interesting to see if anyone can find a comparable driver for $75 to get the build back to $110.

9 years old and still a great deal

 

[bassically_eli]

I have a few more thoughts on @Blind owl bass 's project, but I'll wait for you to start a new thread.

 

[Blind owl bass]

I wont be starting that thread, as my questions have been answered by you guys and I have a plan. but I promise to repost elsewhere if I have more questions. thanks again TB

 

[bassically_eli]

To my previous point, it looks like the S2010 is up to $100 now, so the OP build is up about 23% to $135. Might be interesting to see if anyone can find a comparable driver for $75 to get the build back to $110.

The Beta 10 should work for 4-string bass and is $70 at Eminence's website. It needs a bigger enclosure for deep bass, so I wouldn't use it for 5-string. The Faital 10FE200 is another candidate that's probably already been discussed. It's $57 at Parts Express.