Need help designing a custom cab

[epic!]

I had no idea how difficult (and fun) this was going to be. Pretty much I just want a cab that has earth trembling low end that can handle loads of distortion but also have a clean sound at high volumes. What combination of speakers will work best with this? Im considering a 2x15 2x10 in one unit. Or perhaps a 1x15 4x12 in one unit.

Whats the difference in sound when it comes to ported or sealed? Like I mention I want this to be loud and able to bring down houses.

Suggestion on wattage of speakers that can handle immense volume? Have a GK 700rb now, but will probable get an SVT VR or CL soon and I want to be able to bury the volume knobs if need be. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

[rpsands]

Go look at the fEarful wiki. You're going down the wrong rabbit hole.

 

[epic!]

Could you link me? I couldnt find it

 

[Mystic Michael]

Im considering a 2x15 2x10 in one unit. Or perhaps a 1x15 4x12 in one unit.

No, don't go there...

You're going to get this soon enough anyway, so it might as well start with me: Consider getting yourself a fEarful 15/6 - or two.

Personally, I would also opt for a high-powered solid-state head - like a Carvin B2000 or a Carvin BX1500, or a preamp/power amp combination, rather than a tube head. But that's me...

MM

 

[epic!]

Go look at the fEarful wiki. You're going down the wrong rabbit hole.

disregarding i found it

 

[Mystic Michael]

Go look at the fEarful wiki. You're going down the wrong rabbit hole.

Should have known that RP would beat me to the punch...

MM

 

[zachoff]

Are there designs anywhere that don't have the 6" drivers? I just want a simple 8 ohm 2x12... No crossovers or anything. Just a box, a couple speakers, some handles and a jack. Pref tuned to pretty low.

 

[JimmyM]

Are there designs anywhere that don't have the 6" drivers? I just want a simple 8 ohm 2x12... No crossovers or anything. Just a box, a couple speakers, some handles and a jack. Pref tuned to pretty low.

you could get a box with two kappalite 3012's. that would throw some air and be able to tune pretty low in the right box. or maybe a genz benz neox 212t or uber 212 and just turn the tweeter off. haven't heard them myself but a lot of people on here are nuts about them.

 

[epic!]

how can so much volume come out of such a small cab? maybe im a bit naive when it comes to cab design, but i was always under the impression the more air you are moving the louder it will be ergo my idea of having a relatively large cab.

 

[BassmanPaul]

There is so much more to cabinet design than the speakers in a box approach. You would be amazed at how much noise can come from a small correctly designed box. Do a search on Bill Fitzmaurice's designs or Greenboy's fEARful designs. If you are going to build a cabinet and want a positive result look at proven designs.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Are there designs anywhere that don't have the 6" drivers? I just want a simple 8 ohm 2x12... No crossovers or anything. Just a box, a couple speakers, some handles and a jack. Pref tuned to pretty low.

Very very few woofers have the ability to reproduce low frequencies and high. Most two way cabinets with a woofer(s) plus a tweeter leave a hole in the mid frequencies that is too high for the woofer and too low for the tweeter. The six delivers those in spades and many players feel that the six goes high enough for their needs therefore no tweeter.

Paul

 

[4Mal]

Are there designs anywhere that don't have the 6" drivers? I just want a simple 8 ohm 2x12... No crossovers or anything. Just a box, a couple speakers, some handles and a jack. Pref tuned to pretty low.

build a sub. Feafu 12 or 15 design. After you star missing the mid's & hi's - built a top box with the crossover and the mid driver.

the fEarful crosses into the 6 anywhere from the 500 to 800 range - that's pretty low in comparison to what you've heard before I'll bet. Once you hear it - trust me - you won't go back ...

 

[singlemalt]

That be one big ass can of worms you just opened!

Passingwind's biamp rig, the 1-15 cab with a mid driver/horn and crossover top box, is the best sounding thing I've ever heard, bar none.

A few of us local home cab builders get together for side by side testing of cabs and drivers. (its a geek fest!) It's pretty cool to hear your project against the major brands.

In a room full of high end gear, Charlie's home built stuff outshines everything, stunning power and clarity.

You want scary, that'll do it for ya.

I'm gearing up to build a modified 606 type cab to work with the Eminence 3015LF and a more economical top box with 6" mid, horn and crossover.

The TL 606 (1-15) is an easy first build, to get your feet wet. I like the modular plug and play idea of multiple great sounding cabs that can work together. One cab for practice and small gigs, two for outdoors or bigger rooms. Neo 3015's save on weight and sound great.

I can get two 606's and the rest of my rig in my corolla with room for a passenger and some more gear. No way I could do that with my old 2-15 cab.

 

[johnk_10]

if a large sized cab isn't an issue, and if you really do want a big cab, i'd recommend that you build the 151566. IMO, it would give you more than you'd ever need.

 

[zachoff]

Very very few woofers have the ability to reproduce low frequencies and high. Most two way cabinets with a woofer(s) plus a tweeter leave a hole in the mid frequencies that is too high for the woofer and too low for the tweeter. The six delivers those in spades and many players feel that the six goes high enough for their needs therefore no tweeter.

Paul

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll build a 2x12 but split it and tune the top box higher than the lower & port it both on top and bottom. I don't know though... Have to get my head around it all.

 

[JimmyM]

how can so much volume come out of such a small cab? maybe im a bit naive when it comes to cab design, but i was always under the impression the more air you are moving the louder it will be ergo my idea of having a relatively large cab.

this used to be true, and really, it still is the rule that with bass, bigger is always better. that's why cabs with more than one speaker always sound better than cabs with only one.

however, with the relatively recent innovation of using neodymium for magnets instead of ceramic or alnico, you can build speakers with tiny magnets that weigh much less and throw ungodly amounts of air. that how markbass and genz benz (among others) can build single 12" combos that have some pretty serious thrust to them.

but using the bigger is better rule, stack two of them together and it gets louder and better sounding in every way. stack 4 together vertically and that will sound doubly better. might be a little dangerous, though

in addition to regular full range neos that move a lot of air for full range speakers, you can get them made to only work in the low ranges and then the speaker devotes all of its energy into doing only the lows, and you can get them to do way more air movement than they have a right to. and again, two of them will sound even more massive. that's why my new audio kinesis cabs i have ordered will have two 3012lf's in it and a mid horn. pretty small cab only a little bigger than a b-15 cab but has almost as much concussion as an svt 810. and if i stack two of them, i could get as much concussion as a 14x10

 

[uglyrumor]

2 cabinets sound better and louder than one, in a normal configuration. The rule is less than one half wave length apart, which is why vertical stacking is better for multiple cabs. Greater distance and you lose the volume benefit of multiple cabinets. Also, floor coupling gives smoother bass with less frequency peaks, like the old Acoustic Research cabinets. Place one cabinet on a brace or stand facing the floor, or build a cabinet like the one Sundogue built. Porting will give you greater sound volume, because you get the advantage of the response from the rear of the speaker. A sealed cab gives great sound (tone), but is inefficient and actually uses the air pressure building up in the cab to dampen the speaker cone, making it less efficient, therefore requiring a bigger box to minimize the dampening effect. Port placement is voluntary...makes no difference where the port is. It will still do its job. Brace your cabinet well to eliminate resonance, and you can essentially get away with building a cubic box with good material that will perform well. Dampen with batting or fiberglass insulation. The highest frequency that most basses reproduce is under 700 Hz, so a low crossover setting should be adequate, if you use one, but not necessary. A high quality speaker such as Bag End, EV, JBL,Eminence (be careful, because Eminence also builds low end stuff), or if you can get iit, Meyer (check ebay for used), should be used. The Chinese stuff is iffy. Keep studying and learn the difference between bass reflex, horn, transmission line, bandpass, and quarterwave cabinets. There are cabinet builders on this site who have their own prejudices and ideas, and there are afficionados of those guys. They probably make good stuff, but I have found their responses to be minimally helpful and guarded, and have spent quite a bit of time perusing speaker company websites, designers, talked to speaker manufacturers including EV, Eminence, Bag End, Thunderfunk (recently building cabinets now), Meyer (not very helpful, but great speakers) and several others, including some of the guys here, to get the information that I am passing on to you. Good luck, have fun, and hope your project works out well.