Project Home Theater sub

[cwad8505]

Hello all. I am BRAND STINKING NEW to this forum and wanted to first and foremost say a big THANK YOU for everyone's posts and sharing of knowledge. It has helped me tackle my first home speaker project ever. I want to share some photos and info on this project and get any input that anyone would like to share.
This all started with that fact that I had a pair of what I considered to be a pretty awesome set of 10" Crossfire (car audio) subs laying around. I've always wanted deep, rattle your teeth, bass in my home theater set up and thought.. hmm...perhaps. Well, I contacted the manufacturer about what I wanted to do and they were awesome! They sent me the specs and a suggestion on how to build the box, port length, tuning, etc...I wanted it to (for the most part) blend in with existing furniture. As it turns out, it was too light and I am about to paint it black (will include those photos when done). I went with a Dayton SPA 1000 plate amp so as to get the most out of these 500W dual 4ohm voice coil subs. Let me know what you think and thanks again! ~ Chris

[cwad8505]

Also, I now want to get rid of my Bose acousticrap spkrs (mostly due to the fact that they have to go through Bose's sub) and was wondering how any of you felt about Dayton's satellite speakers. Was thinking of going with the setup that includes the 8" sub to add some mids to the equation... Quite honestly, the low price is the only thing scaring me a bit here (my mind thinks.. low price, low quality).. Thanks again!

[Chris Roemer]

Hello all. I am BRAND STINKING NEW to this forum and wanted to first and foremost say a big THANK YOU for everyone's posts and sharing of knowledge. It has helped me tackle my first home speaker project ever. I want to share some photos and info on this project and get any input that anyone would like to share.
This all started with that fact that I had a pair of what I considered to be a pretty awesome set of 10" Crossfire (car audio) subs laying around. I've always wanted deep, rattle your teeth, bass in my home theater set up and thought.. hmm...perhaps. Well, I contacted the manufacturer about what I wanted to do and they were awesome! They sent me the specs and a suggestion on how to build the box, port length, tuning, etc...I wanted it to (for the most part) blend in with existing furniture. As it turns out, it was too light and I am about to paint it black (will include those photos when done). I went with a Dayton SPA 1000 plate amp so as to get the most out of these 500W dual 4ohm voice coil subs. Let me know what you think and thanks again! ~ Chris

Cool looking sub.

Care to share driver T/S parms, and/or box specifics (Vb, Fb, F3)?

[cwad8505]

Ok.. gotta be honest here.. not sure what all of the letters you sent are, but here is what I can tell you (again, manufacturer did most/all the figuring for me). The box per sub volume is 1.5 C.F. (after you take out for the driver, port tube, and inset box for plate amp), the port tube length is 14.8" which according to engineer tunes this setup to 27Hz. Contruction of the box is all 3/4" MDF covered in Red Oak veneer. Went home at lunch today and watched a bit of avatar... awesome!! I'm very pleased with the outcome and don't have it sitting where I want it yet (bose sub is in the way). As soon as I decide which satellites I'm replacing them with, I'll fire the ports into the corner which I believe will make it come alive a little more. Thanks for the kudos!

[ericJ]

Looks good. Veneer work looks nice too. One day I'll try my hand at it.

[cwad8505]

Thank you... I dreaded the veneering the most but found it to be the easiest part of the build!! Contact cement and a flush cut bit for the router.. a little 220 grit sandpaper and that was that..Yeah.. its a real shame it's too light to match my furniture so now I'm about to sand the finish, use a bonding primer, and paint it an oil black with satin finish...oh well...Next time I WILL take a drawer into the paint store for an exact match.

[millertime]

can't you sand it down then varnish it to the color you want then clear coat it ?

[cwad8505]

With the veneer being sooo thin, I'm afraid I'd sand through it. After I've thought about it, I would imagine this sub will outlast my furniture row furniture and black will go with everything.. but thank you for the suggestion!

[5UP3RT0X1N]

I like this design, did you have instructional plans to use for construction or did you design the enclosure yourself?

Either way will you be posting more detailed information about how to build this?
What are the specs brand/size/model of the speakers used?

[bambino]

Great looking sub. Your right about black going with anything too.

[cwad8505]

For the enclosure plan, the only thing I knew was that I wanted it to be 1.5 C.F. for each driver. The subs are Crossfire BMF Wd10's. They are about a 4 year old design from Crossfire (don't believe they make them anymore). Crossfire is a smaller company dealing mostly in car audio, but hold several records in different classes. I emailed their tech dept. to tell them what I was wanting to do with the speakers and they helped me a ton, suggesting size, port size, length, etc. Each enclosure measures internally 18" deep, 12" wide, and 13.6" tall. Don't have it all in front of me now, but removing the volume for the port, driver, and inset box for plate amp, this got it to right at 1.5 C.F. I used a Dayton SPA 1000 plate amp and veneered it in red oak (which is currently being painted). I used the double flared port (cut at 14.8") from PE and egg crate foam on the opposite walls of the driver and port (not sure if I help or hurt here).. just seemed like a good idea at the time.. lol. Hope this helps! BTW.. it surpassed every expectation.. it's right down nasty. I have to keep the gain turned down to about 20% to watch movies.. the bass goes through you like I've never experienced. thanks!

[cwad8505]

OK.. well, she's all painted up now.. gotta say it certainly blends with the room better. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Much deeper and intense bass than I would have ever imagined..A-team was the first try on her combined with the Dayton HST-1200 satellites I just installed (amazing what these little, inexpensive satellites will do!). Also, I've just ordered the tritrix kit (couldn't resist) and am going to have to figure out how to power them. I wish I had a different room set-up, I'd have the tritrix as the front, then the dayton satellites to round out the 7.1 but no room behind the couch as it is against the wall.. had another thread going on this, but still don't know what I'm going to do about this problem (feel free to chime in!) AVR is Onkyo TX SR505. I've also included a couple of photos of the layout (pardon the mess!). I've ordered a media console that will be here next week that is 60" wide and will replace the current A/V console and more importantly allow me to hide all those disgusting wires! Whoever said this is addicting was dead on.. and that might be an understatement! Thanks for your posts!

[Minkeyman]

Looks great man! Good idea to reuse some good car audio subs. Glad they're working well for ya!

[jcpahman77]

My name is Jesse Pahman, and I approve of this project lol. Very nice looking project, Chris. At some point I'll be building a new HT sub as well (mine is left over and poorly modded from a HTiB system).

[ericJ]

Nice work; I liked it with the veneer but I agree that the black is a better look in your room (what am I? Some HGTV designer!?) I was torn between the little Dayton satellites and in walls. I went with three 5.25" in walls directly over my 42" LCD (wall mounted as well). For HT they do fine. Now I am yearning to build a set of mains for the front. You could always run the tritrix on the B channel of your receiver and use them for music only. Will they fit up front with the new media console?

[cwad8505]

Yes.. they will fit and actually can spread them a little, I'm just concerned that they won't be far enough apart for my liking... now that I've tested the tri-trix.. I think the pure awesome sound from them will more than compensate for my want to have the sound more spread.. Thanks for your input on that!! I posted my dilemma on the gallery instead of the tech forum and have not had any input on this yet... I'm also about to build Overnight Sensations once I get the finish on the tri-trix's...This hobby is very addictive!! lol.. Thanks again - Chris

[ericJ]

Wow, you move quick! Already have the Tritrix at the listening stages and ready to move on to the ONS?!

Yeah, my wife makes fun of me b/c I'm checking this forum daily. Lots of good reading. Addicting for sure. Enjoy!

[Chris Roemer]

Wow, you move quick! Already have the Tritrix at the listening stages and ready to move on to the ONS?!

Yeah, my wife makes fun of me b/c I'm checking this forum daily. Lots of good reading. Addicting for sure. Enjoy!

only ONCE a day?

[ericJ]

only ONCE a day?

That's all I will admit to.

[cwad8505]

Yeah.. once I set my mind to something, I pretty much start tackling it. I've played around with wordworking since I was a kid, so I feel like I get the cabinet portion of these projects quickly (tritrix was the total kit, so that was really easy), was a radar tech in the Marine Corps for 5 yrs, so the soldering came easy and I half way (ok..maybe 1/4 way) understand what's going on with the electronics (have forgotten most of that stuff from 15 yrs ago). I went basically off of the vid on PE for building the crossovers and built them both in about 45 mins.. waiting for the glue on the cabs to set with the clamps was the most time consuming.. I'm in San Diego for a few days for some R & R and won't get back to begin finishing the cabs until I get home on Wed.. and after reading all I've read about trying to finish the MDF, I've decided to just veneer them too and stain them with Ebony and pop about 5 coats of satin eurethane on them.. should pop well. I'm not gonna start a thread on those or the OS for 2 reasons, 1.. there have been many, 2. there have been many built with more skill than I can even imagine (i.e..Bill Schneider's OS's.. incredible) I probably will post a couple photos on this thread of both.
Also, Mr. Roemer.. I have done much reading since my original post on here and have found the numbers that you had asked for at the beginning of this thread. If you want them, I can email you the Word Doc or attempt to post it on here. I haven't figured out the simplest of things on posting yet.. still learning. In a nutshell, here's where I am so far with speaker building as a whole..I realize that there are a lot of calculations that go into making a configuration that sounds oh so sweet, but I have no clue how to use the info yet.. lol. My sub build was a direct result of the manufacturer more or less telling me exactly what to do from enclosure size to port length.. the only thing I went out on my own with was the egg crate foam I've used and the fact that I went with flared (both sides) ports..oh and the amp, but weren't too many options in that dept..
As for the OS's I've yet to start construction on, I'm basically using Bill's platform, with the removeable back and flush mounted drivers, only with about 1/5 of the know how and skill that dude posesses..I'm sure it will turn out ok. Well.. I've rambled enough, until next time.. and thx again fellas! - Chris

[cwad8505]

Couple photos of the tritrix project thus far.... thx!
Oh.. wanted to point out a filler that I've not seen on the forum yet. I ran across this when my painter was using this on my stairwell parts before painting.. He says its the best stuff since sliced bread!! I've used it for several apps since and love the stuff. Who knows, it may actually be the answer everyone is looking for when it comes to those pesky paint lines on finished MDF. I've only used it to even edges, corners, etc. Stuff dries very hard and sands well.

[cwad8505]

Also, wanted to include a photo of how I use the MH ready patch.. and also, CR, attached is the info on the Crossfire W10D.. Thanks again guys!
Specifications
Model W10D
Driver description 10” Subwoofer, Dual Voice Coil
Mounting depth, in./mm 4.96/126
Cutout dimensions, in./mm 9.21/234
Impedance 4 ohms per coil
Nominal power handling 300 watts
Maximum power handling (PE) 500 watts
Dynamic power handling 1200 watts
Voice coil – size 2.5”, 4 layer
Magnet weight 84 oz.
Frequency response 22Hz to 250Hz
Resonance frequency (fs) 23Hz
QTS .363
QMS 6.93
QES .383
VAS, ft./liter 1.69/45.84
X-max, in./mm .57/14.5
Peak to peak, in./mm 1.6/40.6
Efficiency (2.83V/1M) 85dB

[ericJ]

Chris, is the veneer you are using paper backed? I want to skin the nano neos in some veneer but am too afraid to try the raw stuff. Your projects look like they turned out very good. Where did you get it at?

[cwad8505]

The sub was raw veneer.. the others were paper backed. The raw I got at a local lumber company and the others I got from PE. It went very easily all but the crap router bit that "burnt" the edges of the veneer. Make sure to buy a quality flush cut bit. Good Luck.. Chris

[ericJ]

Thanks, just picked up some flat cut maple NBL veneer from formwood closeouts for $16. It is a 2x8 sheet. That should easily wrap my nano sides, tops and bottoms. Might leave the rear panel flat black, too.

Wish me luck