My .5 Aligned Sealed 610 Build

[NKBassman]

Thanks for the input. The drivers are all 32 ohm (wiring diagram above). Nominal impedance is 5.33 ohms below the filter and 10.67 above it.

Has there ever been any kind of consensus on TB about whether or not this would be bad for an all tube SVT set to 4 ohms?

 

[kringle77]

3 highpassed, 3 fullrange. I'd highpass a mod10 at around 200hz with a single order highpass, an in line capacitor (don't remember which value) but I'd use a 16 ohm mod10 to keep up with 5 b810's. The mod would need to be in it's own driver. The webers aren't really brighter, just voiced alittle differently. Or just go with 6 B810's. I just like the added clarity of the guitar drivers. Each guitar driver has it's own character and will greatly change the sound of the cab so, keep that in mind. The 3 I listed are all pretty good though, just different.

 

[5StringPocket]

The cab behaves as a nominal 5.3 ohm load but impedance varies somewhat with frequency for all cabs. I'd think it would be within tolerance for an all tube SVT but I'd check with tech support or someone in the know on this to be sure.

On using a guitar driver; I think it is high passed in its own subenclosure. Great mids and highs but doesn't contribute much to the bass response because it won't handle the power down low. I really dig my cab but five B810's and a Celestion guitar driver also sound like a very good mix and might be your best option with your existing four B810's. 3 low passed on one side, 2 full range and the guitar driver high passed on the other side. This could be done with a 2-way crossover for the top horizontal pair and a low pass filter for the lower two on the .5 side. Kringle77 could give you more details - definitely have the .5 switchable. Two different voicings adds flexibility. The lightweight 610 is a good form factor and makes a good DIY build.

edit: Chris you beat me to the enter key...

 

[NKBassman]

I think I'd probably start with the 4 B810 + 2 Weber and go from there if it's not to my taste. Even building the box will be good experience for me, so can't really go wrong with any starting point here.

As far as my tone goes, I usually don't keep much of anything above 4-5k anyway.

 

[kringle77]

Yeah, you could do what 5string said with a regular 500hz two way crossover (for the cab with a guitar driver). You may want to just go with the 2 webers. They go well with the b810's. Definitely a good cab and I agree, the 6x10 is a good form factor to roll around.

 

[NKBassman]

Isn't the Jensen MOD 10 supposed to be a brighter "drop in" replacement for an SVT cab? or would you high pass that as well?

EDIT, I see Kringles comment on the MOD 10 above. Apparently you can't delete posts from the new mobile app?

 

[5StringPocket]

I ordered a LeCover padded cover to protect this during transport.

... also upgraded the pickups and electronics in my Spector Rebop 5DLX from the stock EMG Hz with Tone Pump to EMG DC40 neck and CS40 bridge pickups with the BQC 3-band system. This took the clank out of the treble and added a sweepable mid control. This bass rocks and really punches through this cab.

I wanted to measure the frequency response so I ran some pink noise through this and used True RTA on my iPhone taken 1 meter from the cab to get this spectrum. It's not lab quality but does show that sealed cab slope on the low end and a usable response to 5kHz as you'd expect from most typical 10" drivers. The bars jump around a bit but it's 1/12 octave resolution and you can e-mail yourself screenshots - not bad for a $4.95 app.

 

[kringle77]

Thanks for posting the graph man! Pretty much how I expected it to look. You did a really good build on that one.

 

[5StringPocket]

Thanks, it was a fun project. Wouldn't have tried it without the info you provided on those drivers. Glad that sealed 1515/6 from LDS worked out for you.

 

[NKBassman]

A similar 610 is still on my to-do list, but I won't be able to get to it till this fall. Working 60 hr weeks really puts a damper on any non-essential household projects.

 

[will33]

I ordered a LeCover padded cover to protect this during transport.

... also upgraded the pickups and electronics in my Spector Rebop 5DLX from the stock EMG Hz with Tone Pump to EMG DC40 neck and CS40 bridge pickups with the BQC 3-band system. This took the clank out of the treble and added a sweepable mid control. This bass rocks and really punches through this cab.

I wanted to measure the frequency response so I ran some pink noise through this and used True RTA on my iPhone taken 1 meter from the cab to get this spectrum. It's not lab quality but does show that sealed cab slope on the low end and a usable response to 5kHz as you'd expect from most typical 10" drivers. The bars jump around a bit but it's 1/12 octave resolution and you can e-mail yourself screenshots - not bad for a $4.95 app.

Neat app. That curve looks like how I expect a good bass cab to sound...a little lean in the subwoofy stuff, nice and fat where it counts and good representation of the upper harmonics and still falls off in a good spot for gritty, grindy stuff. I take it after some time spent with it you're still happy.....looks like I would be.

A similar 610 is still on my to-do list, but I won't be able to get to it till this fall. Working 60 hr weeks really puts a damper on any non-essential household projects.

You and me both...too much work (which you really can't complain about these days) and not enough fun work.

 

[5StringPocket]

I think you'd have better performance overall if you put a guitar driver in the top left, sealed it into a smaller box, and replaced the second weber with a CTS, but just this man's opinion

I've decided to add a partition to isolate the upper left position of my sealed 610 and replace the Weber 10FL there with a Patriot Series Copperhead high passed around 200 Hz. http://www.eminence.com/speakers/speaker-detail/?model=Copperhead
Full sound with a classic smooth breakup, pretty even response, and good support between 1-5 kHz seems like just what that cab needs to finish it. Using the .5 alignment sacrifices about -3db from the mid/high response and makes the sound a bit dark. The Webers also seem to have a fair amount of inherent growl. I think this swap will improve the clarity and provide better balance to the sound while adding a nice bit of breakup when pushed. I've got several beefy 50 watt non-inductive resistors from a previous project that I can use in a voltage divider for impedance matching. I'll redo the circuit drawing and post when time permits. This cab works well with my STM900 and new MB Fusion 800 so I'm really looking forward to how this mod works out.

 

[kringle77]

Make sure those resistors have some air. They will get hot. Good luck.

 

[5StringPocket]

Here is the current and power distribution for the current cab with 6 - 150 watt bass drivers versus what it would look like with 5 - 150 watt drivers and 1 - 75 watt guitar speaker. Things get a bit more complex with one speaker different than the others. Since the guitar speaker is high-passed it needs its own parallel branch and since it's only 8 ohms it needs some pad resistors in a voltage divider to limit the current through that driver so it doesn't exceed its thermal limit.

An amp delivering 900 watts into a 4 ohm load has an output voltage of 60 volts. This is just for design max so as not to exceed thermal limits. The excursion limited max is about 450 watts for five Eminence Fliptop neos which peak at about 130dB, 160 Hz so normal operating power is substantially less than this. I've got six - 8 ohm 50 watt non-inductive resistors to use for this voltage divider so their theoretical max power would be 18 watts each, but might run between 5 to 9 watts each during normal use. That's still enough to generate some heat.

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I picked up some interlocking flooring planks which can be cut to size for isolating the chamber and the 250V, 90uF capacitor for the high pass costs $25 and weighs about .3 lbs. Heat buildup in a sealed box is the one thing I need to get a better understanding of before going further.

 

[rpsands]

Wow, nice stuff man

 

[JimmyM]

Ya, really! Very cool.

 

[5StringPocket]

Thanks for those kind words.
Side note: Clean Channel A on the GK MBFusion 800 at 12:00 with bass flat, low/hi mids, and treble at 1:00 just punches with my PJ5 bass. Little bit of growl but good clarity and overtones.

Make sure those resistors have some air. They will get hot. Good luck.

In a vented box there is air movement to dissipate heat but in a closed system with wood and insulation there is nowhere for the heat to escape. Maybe hooking up a variac to those resistors under an inverted insulated bucket with a thermometer and supplying about 50 watts to the network would give me an idea where the temperature might line out. If it's hot enough to melt foam or damage a speaker then game over but it may not be that bad since there are already cabs with this type of configuration in service.

 

[astack]

Here's my (first) stupid idea of the day: Could you make it an open back chamber? You're already passing above where I think the box would have much effect. You could make it a removable panel like on typical guitar cabinets so you could go screw it back on to seal it in the future.

Another alternative is you might go back and find a driver with a lower sensitivity to avoid the resistor.

Anyway, glad to see you're still messing with DIY stuff.

 

[1n3]

Here's my (first) stupid idea of the day: Could you make it an open back chamber? You're already passing above where I think the box would have much effect.

Not a stupid idea, IMO, and has been done. Presumably, some bassists will prefer the effects of an open-back cab, just as some guitarists do. Drummers may also appreciate it.

 

[bassboysam]

I've always wondered about the .5 alignment. I understand that by lowpassing half the speakers you improve dispersion but don't you also lose a lot of volume/response from all the frequencies above the filter?