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SUNN 610 into an SVT mini-fridge, pt 2

McNothing

McNothing

Guest
Jun 7, 2015
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#1
I love a squareback SVT, but I love my Corvair more. I needed to find a way to fit that sound in the back seat of my car. Tired of back-lining on tour as well. I started with a standard SUNN 610 guitar cab, based on it's cheapness, internal volume, and quality CTS drivers.

I experimented with different drivers in the cab with some success, but eventually decided to build a real mini-fridge so I could sleep at night. Bought 6 more squareback CTS drivers from a member here, put my stock 810 back together and got to work:




The unloaded SUNN cab.
The internal volume is almost exactly 3/4 of an 810e. In fact, it is slightly MORE than 3/4. Among guitar cabs, this is large. This design doubled as a PA cab in the SUNN catalog. I suspect that and the angled baffle contributed to the large design.

KO3jtbQ.jpg



Demolition.
These cabs are well made, 3/4" ply and glued all over. My plan is to leave the tolex'd shell untouched and build the infinite baffle system inside. Lots of careful chiseling and cutting here. Saved the grille mounts for reuse.

3jrUoVl.jpg
 
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#3
Stripped.
Now the leveling and patching begins. Because SUNN used so much glue, there are voids and wood remnants to deal with. Using a simple block plane and orbital sander.

JTtzZTK.jpg




Bondo.
Nice, true surfaces.

C3S76v2.jpg
 
#4
Building the baffle.
Maybe you noticed in the last image- there is a tolex'd lip surrounding the baffle. Since I don't want to disturb this, I can't use a one-piece front. No way to get it in there. Each 2x10 chamber will have to be individual, with supporting ply front to back (a box within a box). The outer chambers (top and bottom 2x10) will have a slightly taller front baffle to account for extra bracing on the top and bottom that the middle chamber doesn't require.

During my calculations I determined that 1" ply would get me the correct internal volume to match an SVT. If I had used 3/4", the chambers would still have been too large. I'm happy to have the extra rigidity and don't care about weight.

My circle cutting jig was pretty worn out, so I made a new one in plexi. Build it to RADIUS, not diameter, easy to forget. In this case, 4 5/8". The 1" plunge bit on the router cuts its own clearance.

KpAB6X7.jpg



Routing speaker holes.
I marked the baffles in advance. Center pivot for the router jig, hole diameter, speaker frame diameter. Then I laid a speaker basket in the hole and marked the mounting screw locations for predrilling. Helps to visualize everything before cutting, easier to notice mistakes. I used a trim router because I'm a madman.

8U1ybdK.jpg
 
#5
Test Fit
of the front baffle. Looks good and forms an interference fit.

88zlsAA.jpg




Assembly
Forgot to take photos during this part- but pretty straightforward. Used construction adhesive on all mating surfaces... will help seal the chambers. If there is a little squeeze-through, its just right. Used 16G nail gun inserted into the cab through the speaker holes... shot the front baffle into the lip from behind. The inner chamber dividers were toe-nailed to the existing box and shot to the front baffle from the front.

Let the adhesive cure for 48 hours, then caulked all seams. At this point, the thing is a bomb shelter.

Mattress pad cut to size with straightedge and box cutter, installed with 3M 90.

sF5jLHL.jpg
 
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#6
Wiring.
Drilled holes for wiring between chambers and ran 16G tinned copper strand. Soldered connections.

Oh yeah, painted the baffle before this.

rWPXOan.jpg




Final Assembly.
Stuffed with poly-fill in equal amounts each chamber. I believe 3# for the entire cab? Original SUNN mounting was 4 screws per speaker. I will eventually add more, but for now it's fine.

Added standoffs for grille using some teak scraps I had around from a client build.

Final testing with SVT-CL, A/B'd with the actual squareback 810. Sounds exactly as it should, can finally put the SVT away without regret. It's heavy, but slides into the Corvair without issue.


NUS8BUc.jpg
 
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#10
So how are you running it? 5.3Ω with the head set for 4?

Also, for the life of me I don't understand why ampeg doesn't make this very thing, a sealed, traditional 6x10 cab.
 
#18
callofcthulhu said:
Curious why you didn't just build "shelves" behind the stock front face - don't the inward facing speakers produce better off axis frequency dispersion?
Click to expand...

Only reason is that I wanted the EXACT internal volume of a squareback SVT cab. The stock SUNN baffle creates a very small cab in a very big box. There may exist a modern woofer that calls for that internal volume... but I wanted an SVT clone as much as I could manage. The CTS speakers shouldn't know the difference between my cab and a real squareback.

Actually, heres a simpler reason: how would I get the shelves in there?
 

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