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

#1,021
Jumping back to the thread topic (well almost), I've got this sub (car audio type) ENCLOSURE ONLY lying around . . . so for sheetz and giggles, could I load a FleaBay 12" bass speaker and run it with a class D pocket amp as a bedroom practice tool? I like little projects, but could just as easily fudgetaboudit. Your humble opinion is most appreciated.
subwoofer tube.jpg subwoofer tube2.jpg THANKS.
 
#1,022
Bermuda Ron said:
Jumping back to the thread topic (well almost), I've got this sub (car audio type) ENCLOSURE ONLY lying around . . . so for sheetz and giggles, could I load a FleaBay 12" bass speaker and run it with a class D pocket amp as a bedroom practice tool? I like little projects, but could just as easily fudgetaboudit. Your humble opinion is most appreciated.
View attachment 3782779 View attachment 3782780 THANKS.
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The "crescent moon" on top is the port, I presume? You could stick a speaker in it, sure -- I'd want to know the internal volume (should be easy to calculate, since it's a cylinder) and tuning and compare that to the "happy place" specs for whatever driver I was considering. You could compare the vol/tuning/port specs to the box Duke recommended at the start of this thread (or the various tweaks/DIY boxes that came along later) to see how it would work with the suggested drivers here, but if you're going to go with something else, just check the specs on it.

Could be a neat project -- and you could rig some sort of stand to either stand the tube upright, keep it from rolling on the ground, or point it up at an angle. Depending on the speaker and amp used (and, of course, on how all that matches up with the specs of the cab), it might be capable of more than bedroom practice.

If the tuning is off from what you want, might not be hard to change by putting something in the port -- details of that, though, I leave to those techy-er than I.
 
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#1,024
Bermuda Ron said:
Thanks MarkA for you quick reply. Thinking of a flip out bi-pod type stand, kind of like a mortar.
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That shouldn't be too hard -- I might make sure that I liked the sound of the cab, though, before going to the trouble of rigging something like that up.

As for the rest, I only know enough to know some of the questions I should ask. Not that you need to go too far down the rabbit hole with something like this, but I'd find out what I could about the relevant enclosure and driver specs before proceeding, to make sure I had at least a reasonable chance of getting something pleasing and functional.

Do you have a link to the specific enclosure you've pictured?
 
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#1,026
Like Mark said, it's all about matching the driver with the enclosure volume and port tuning, and that means running the numbers. That being said, the subwoofer cylinder enclosures tend to have pretty low volume relative to what most bass guitar worthy speakers need. A good match might be the Dayton Audio 12" speaker from their Pro speaker line, available at Parts-Express. IIRC, that speakers works well in a small ported enclosure, and it's looks like a very good value for the money too.

Edit: Here's the speaker, the Dayton Audio PA310-8: "Dayton Audio PA310-8 12" Pro Woofer" from www.parts-express.com!
 
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#1,029
JKos said:
Has anyone else found that at low, bedroom practice levels, a whole lot of the tuning falls off the table?

- John
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Can you elaborate on "falls off the table"? Do you mean that cabinet-tuning considerations become less important at low volume, that they have less of an effect on the sound, or both? Something else?

I've certainly found that some (maybe most... maybe all) cabs need to hit a certain threshold to "wake up" and sound right -- that can vary widely from cab to cab, though, and can sometimes happen at a very low volume. At the opposite end of the spectrum, some cabs "hold together" a lot better than others as they approach their volume limits.
 
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#1,031
Bermuda Ron said:
Jumping back to the thread topic (well almost), I've got this sub (car audio type) ENCLOSURE ONLY lying around . . . so for sheetz and giggles, could I load a FleaBay 12" bass speaker and run it with a class D pocket amp as a bedroom practice tool? I like little projects, but could just as easily fudgetaboudit. Your humble opinion is most appreciated.
[ THANKS.
Click to expand...
My honest opinion is this: when you have a box and a speaker, you should NOT just mount it and see how it sounds. You should take that opportunity as a chance to try to apply the design principles and see if you can predict the outcome first, THEN go for it. Since you're not building from scratch, the calculations will be static -- that is, the volume of the "box" (or here, tube) is something you can figure out. then you can do all the math and see if it matches the requirements of your speaker. THEN go for it regardless -- and you'll see how the specs match your experience. Once you get familiar with how to line up those numbers, it kinda unlocks a little secret world where you can look at speakers and boxes and know how to find neat DIY opportunities...and how to tune them into BETTER opportunities. Good luck!
 
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#1,032
lethargytartare said:
My honest opinion is this: when you have a box and a speaker, you should NOT just mount it and see how it sounds. You should take that opportunity as a chance to try to apply the design principles and see if you can predict the outcome first, THEN go for it. Since you're not building from scratch, the calculations will be static -- that is, the volume of the "box" (or here, tube) is something you can figure out. then you can do all the math and see if it matches the requirements of your speaker. THEN go for it regardless -- and you'll see how the specs match your experience. Once you get familiar with how to line up those numbers, it kinda unlocks a little secret world where you can look at speakers and boxes and know how to find neat DIY opportunities...and how to tune them into BETTER opportunities. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Agreed. Tube is about 2.7cu ft. Starting from there. THANKS
 
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#1,033
Bermuda Ron said:
Agreed. Tube is about 2.7cu ft. Starting from there. THANKS
Click to expand...
2.7 cu. ft? That doesn't sound right. The one you linked to says 1.37 cu ft. Make sure you use the inner diameter of the tube, not the outer diameter, and do not include the port volume. Ideally, you should also subtract a bit for the space that the driver itself takes up. A 2.7 cu ft tube with an inner diameter of 12 inches would be about 3'6" long!
 
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#1,034
bassically_eli said:
2.7 cu. ft? That doesn't sound right. The one you linked to says 1.37 cu ft. Make sure you use the inner diameter of the tube, not the outer diameter, and do not include the port volume. Ideally, you should also subtract a bit for the space that the driver itself takes up. A 2.7 cu ft tube with an inner diameter of 12 inches would be about 3'6" long!
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Agreed - Thanks.
 
#1,035
Blind owl bass said:
how do you like the build. I am thinking of following your build, do you have plans or suggestions?
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I am really sorry - I did not see your questions till now. I bought one of the cheaper cabs that Duke talked about in the first listing and built my own wood cabinet from measuring that one.

And then added the 3/4" piece on the front to support a grille. Other than that the speaker from the 2010 to the 2510.

Good luck.
 
#1,038
I’m very late to this party but here’s my entry. I went a little off spec and built the cabs with 1/2” ply to the original cab dimensions so the internal vol is slightly bigger but the port size is the same. They turned out pretty nice, sound good and are both right around 14 lbs per cab
so a very easy to schlep around.


67DDCDF3-D082-4D50-B618-E24B552FAE9D.jpeg
 
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#1,039
JerBear80 said:
I’m very late to this party but here’s my entry. I went a little off spec and built the cabs with 1/2” ply to the original cab dimensions so the internal vol is slightly bigger but the port size is the same. They turned out pretty nice, sound good and are both right around 14 lbs per cab
so a very easy to schlep around.


View attachment 3977964
Click to expand...
So you didn't use car audio cabs, you made your own. Very light and they look very stylish. Well done.
 
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#1,040
JerBear80 said:
I’m very late to this party but here’s my entry. I went a little off spec and built the cabs with 1/2” ply to the original cab dimensions so the internal vol is slightly bigger but the port size is the same. They turned out pretty nice, sound good and are both right around 14 lbs per cab
so a very easy to schlep around.


View attachment 3977964
Click to expand...
Please remind me what the deal is with the blocking port divider.
 
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