MartyCube... Lets get ready to CRANK THE BASS!!!!!!!!

EndersShadow

MetropolisLake wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

With a 1 year old I want to lower the probability of her poking her finger into the driver

Anybody who is concerned about this ought to check out the Ultimax instead of the Reference sub. On the product page on parts express they stab the thing hard with a screwdriver and it doesn't even scratch.

ZLTFUL wrote: »

He actually has neither...he has a Stereo Integrity sub. And I have hounded him about young pokey fingers for days now. Hehe.

And since I'd considered that at the concept stage it will be downfiring so it's a moot point

EndersShadow

So I have to thank Chris for being patient with me. I tend to over engineer things, and this build is no different.

Despite having furniture inserts which I am sure will do just fine, I realized that the 15" driver I have is similar to the 15" passive in the Polk SDA line....

Many of you familiar with Polks SDA's may know of a special sauce called "Larrys Rings".... I am likely sourcing 2 15" rings to use for my Sub build and then to have another in case I do a second sub later on...

What the rings do is couple the driver evenly to the baffle, but more importantly, they ensure you NEVER strip the holes because instead of **** into a wood baffle and possibly stripping the MDF, you're using a metal insert....

Here are a couple pictures of them (from @DarqueKnight threads) and a link to an explanation of how they are used for Polk SDA's





A BIG THANKS TO @Toolfan66 for creating the rings in general and being a great community member.

EndersShadow

So Chris has been busy getting it all set for me. He's got the legs on after some tweaking via text and pictures (below)



First iteration of legs. 1" from both sides, Legs 4 1/2 tall.





I think that looked too far in, so we tried as close as possible to the edge. Since we had rounded them flush wasn't an option.







So I said lets cut the difference and try 1/2 an inch. Thats what we ended up settling on. We also cut it down to 4" tall as I will be installing spikes of some sort on the legs which should raise it up to around 4 1/2" tall.







Legs are now attached:



Then today he shot 2 coats of primer on it. I will be doing the final finish as the spray duratex is NOT the right kind for his sprayer and I dont want to make him roll the finish on, thats too much. So I'm trying to see if I need to order the full gallon or if I can get by with the smaller stuff. @Conradicles how much did you need for your enclosure? I think ours are the same size or close enough.



AND IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!! First pictures of it downfiring. Still need to install Larry's rings and the final finish, but otherwise I'm good to go.

codyc1ark

I think you'll be unhappy and have to go bigger. Or at least a second sub...

EndersShadow

codyc1ark wrote: »

I think you'll be unhappy and have to go bigger. Or at least a second sub...

Lol. I've got plans to go duals but first things first is locking down a second of the drivers so I have 2 of the same.

Likely a long time before I can go duals.

TNHNDYMAN

There's a black paint thread around here somewhere......

WLDock

Now that's what I'm talking about....You're almost there. Let there be Bass!

EndersShadow

So after some discussions with my buddy, he's got me to agree to let him spray it satin black rather than use duratex. I saw a set of speakers he used the satin on and they looked quite nice and he's assured me the finish will stand up to some kido issues.

So we are gonna go that route as its cheaper, he can spray it with his gun to give me a nice finish.

Worst case, it if has issues, I can go with duratex after the fact, but I trust him so I doubt that will be an issue.

Will get some more pics up when I get them.

I am busy this upcoming weekend with a Home & Garden show the wife and I are going to, so looks like at least next weekend before I could make time to get down there to pick it up.

Larrys ring is still in transit hopefully and will be installed before I arrive with the woofer for final assembly...

EndersShadow

1st coat went on with 2 coats on the bottom. Thats all for tonight, gonna let it sit overnight and do another couple coats over the next few days. He may sand between depending on how it looks...

EndersShadow

3rd coat laid down with some sanding between. It's still tacky

oldrocker

Might have missed it. Where are you at on this beast?

Nightfall

This thread makes me wish I wasn't in an apartment. Your friend does nice work, enjoy!

Maybe it's my reading comprehension skills lacking, what are you going to power it with?

EndersShadow

oldrocker wrote: »

Might have missed it. Where are you at on this beast?

Its done pending Larrys Rings showing up, and he wants to respray as there was some slight banding on the top. The re-spray happens this Sunday (temps are finally good enough for it).

Tentatively I will be picking this up from him on the weekend of the 6th, and hopefully dialing it in that night.

Nightfall wrote: »

This thread makes me wish I wasn't in an apartment. Your friend does nice work, enjoy!

Maybe it's my reading comprehension skills lacking, what are you going to power it with?

Dayton SA-1000 rack-mountable amp. 1000 watts @ 4 ohm.

I keep going back and forth on if I should have (or should) go with a iNuke 6000 as I'd "like" to build a second sub as an endtable that is caddy corner from this one to help with any nulls in the room. And right now the Dayton cant drive 2 subs with the wattage I need and its the wrong ohm load. Plus then I'd have to EQ them as one rather than independently, which is a pretty big deal.

So if I ever upgrade to 2 subs I've got the following options:

1. Replace drivers and use 8 ohm drivers to arrive at 4 ohm load on the Dayton
2. Buy another Dayton amp (not super cheap)
3. Sell existing Dayton and buy a pro amp of decent power (has fan, requires XLR modifications, wont work with my MiniDSP)

Of all of those, #2 is the more likely given that its less work to put into my existing system, but a pro-amp might be a better option depending on what I go with. If I found a quiet pro-amp with decent power (1k @ 4 ohms) with RCA inputs and speaker (rather than speakon) outputs I'd be in debates about it....

But not sure if I will ever be allowed to go with duals, so thats why I went with the Dayton. No fan modifications needed, works with regular RCA inputs and regular speaker wire so I dont need to get anything special for it.

Nightfall

I think after you start knocking dishes out of the cupboards with this thing you might not even want a second one.

...or rather she won't allow you to have a second one.

EndersShadow

Nightfall wrote: »

...or rather she won't allow you to have a second one.

I already do that with my current sub when the volumes up....

Going duals would be more about fixing nulls than increased SPL. I can crank it all I want but if the main LP is in a null or close to one, I'm somewhat limited on moving furniture around, so another sub elsewhere would help alleviate that.... Also provide better off axis bass coverage since I dont always sit in the sweet spot for movies.

Likely both subs would be turned down significantly or EQ'd to a decent house curve.

oldrocker

Weekend of the 6th eh? Now I will know what that frightening rumble across the horizon is from....

EndersShadow

oldrocker wrote: »

Weekend of the 6th eh? Now I will know what that frightening rumble across the horizon is from....

Tehehehehehehehe

oldrocker

And on that day you'll be grinning and the kids cat here will crapping all over the floor...

EndersShadow

It's here. Right now I'm taking a break from messing with it. For now I'm rear firing it because my wife likes that the height almost matches the windowsill height.

That said, if it measures or sounds bad that way it will be downfiring.

Watching Open Season 3 right now with the kido. After she goes to bed I will be EQing the sub with the minidsp.

It's already got a bunch more punch but I haven't really had time for good measurements.

Pics....

Conradicles

Sad man.

EndersShadow

Conradicles wrote: »

Sad man.

Huh?

EndersShadow

So this is my Day 1 eq with REW and the Minidsp.

I've got a room mode at 50-60hz it looks like that I'm not sure how to deal with. Otherwise fairly happy w the response.

I have a high pass of 18hz w a 12db per octave drop to protect the woofer from being overdriven. No low pass via the Minidsp as the AVR is doing that.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

EndersShadow

Well I've got a smile a mile wide for 2 reasons.

1. Finally cranked it a bit to see it flex its muscles.... Was awesome! I only got to 40 out of 75 before I was asked to turn it down because...

2. I was apparently vibrating the master bath floor and flexing the plywood bad hehehe!!!

Oh yeah. I need the place to myself for a couple hours to rematch some of my movies lol...

oldrocker

And the Kracken has FINALLY been released...

Have fun with it....

EndersShadow

oldrocker wrote: »

And the Kracken has FINALLY been released...

Have fun with it....

I'm home with my kido an hour before my wife gets home every night.....

DANCE PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and tonight shes got to run to the store.....


Might have to watch a bit o War of the Worlds......... just the bass heavy parts hehehe......

oldrocker

I am so glad that thing is working out for you...
Rock on!!!!!

oldrocker

I just remembered that my wife is hitting the gym after work tonight, I was invited. I now know why I declined as it just might be time to blow the cobwebs out of my SDA's for a few....

oldrocker

Stay safe in the morning, don't know if you folks have as much fog as we do here. Man it's thick, can hardly see past the front porch.

EndersShadow

Been tweaking things a bit more. Here is where I stand as of tonight after doing the following:

1. Re-Run Audyssey
2. Tweak the levels of the sub to equal things out a bit more
3. Run REW
4. Build custom EQ based on my REW graphs
5. Load into MiniDSP
6. Re-measure

So this is what we are looking at after #6. Keep in mind my AVR only has Audyssey 2EQ, so I'm QUITE limited above 80hz.

Sub only:



Sub + all mains




I'm likely picking up another EQ piece that will allow me to remove the MiniDSP and get a flatter response for now.

Initially I wanted the MiniDSP to set the highpass on the sub and also additional EQ's. This other device will let me get the EQ and additionally the subsonic filter on the Dayton amp matches what I was using with the MiniDSP and keeps the driver safe.

I will still be able to play with a house curve with the other EQ device and its not as flexible to input the numbers yourself, BUUTTT its a better device from what I've read and seen...

Plus I am looking more for a set and forget type deal. This is that.

For my 2 channel I may well utilize the MiniDSP to EQ things, or I've seen folks stack the MiniDSP on top this other item. But I dont plan to do that as it ends up with too many things in the chain, and too much to buy decent cables for all those connections.

EndersShadow

My main issues I see right now which are hard to see in those graphs is the crossover point for the subs and mains is causing a major dip.

Now thats where I may have to come up with some "unique" solutions to fix the dip that occurs there.

The reason I say "Unique" is that the lowest AVR can set the LFE is at 80hz. The LSi 15's are MORE than comfortable down to 60hz as shown by Ryans graphs.

I cant set the LFE that low in the AVR. I can with either the MiniDSP or the manual crossover on the amp.

I think the MiniDSP is going to be the better bet to set it as I can specify how steep of a drop it is (12 db, 24 db, 48 db) which hopefully can help the dip.

So throw out some suggestions. I have a couple more hours to play with things tomorrow while my wife and daughter go see a movie so lets put together some things to try and see what we can come up with.

Currently I need to take some more measurement to double check myself as well.

I am going to take a 3 measurements in "Stereo" tomorrow as follows:

1. Sub Only
2. Mains Only
3. Mains + Sub

That graph should help illustrate better what I am looking at with the Frequency Response.