New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

[ultra680]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15


SO thier 12 is priced at 180 wonder what the 15
is priced at.

> Hard to say... they're kind of in different
> price brackets. The RS drivers are primarily
> about low distortion "clean"
> sound, and aren't really designed as extreme
> xmax drivers. This thing has a lot of
> similar design goals, with low(er)
> distortion and good linearity. The pricing
> on these will probably be higher than the RS
> drivers, and probably even higher than the
> Titanics.

[Wolf]

Nope!


> *burly* aesthetic.

> Am I supposed tho think "burl
> wood" here?

> NK
Burly- adj, stout; brawny.

I plan for this sub to look like it's a machine, and does nothing but what it wants, wherever it wants.
That's what I mean,
Wolf

[mikebw]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15


Very good. The multiple layers of 1/4" sheet should work well. Just be prepared to use all your clamps, and then every piece of deadweight you can find...

AS far at the ports go, I was assuming you would go with at least dual 4". I have a Quatro 15" with a 240w plate amp in a 6.2 cubic foot enclosure with dual 4" ports, tuned to about 23Hz. I'm very glad I decided to use the dual port design as there is a LOT of air moving through them. Anything less would be a serious mistake in my opinion. Be sure to round your edges and leave enough internal clearance from the port edges to the enclosure walls.

> I'm actually not too scared about the box.
> For the most part, it's going to be not much
> different than any other box I've built,
> aside from the curved sides. I actually
> picked up a cheap little Ryobi bandsaw for
> cutting the top/bottom/bracing. Basically,
> I'll build the box without the sides,
> including all of the internal bracing, and
> then I'll use 1/4" material for the
> sides in multiple layers. The baffle will be
> 1.5" thick, and the rest will probably
> just be 3/4". We'll see if 3/4" is
> adequate for the sides, and if not, I can
> always add a few extra layers. The pic below
> is the horizontal internal bracing.

> I'm going with dual 4" ports. I won't
> be running a full 1500W into this thing, so
> hopefully port noise won't be too big of a
> problem. I'm still not sure what I'll use
> for an amp. Originally I was just going to
> use one of the 350W "Apex Senior"
> amps from Apex jr., but that seems like WAY
> underpowering this thing. I've got a QSC USA
> 900 available that I'll probably give a try
> first. I think bridged into the ~4 ohm load
> this thing provides, it should put out a
> little over 1000W. We'll see how that does.

[cjb]

DROOOOOOL; Is there something on my chin? *NM*

[Jason]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

Good timing on the new board - now I can take advantage of bringing old threads back to the surface

This project has taken quite the back burner the past few months due to crappy weather and a crazy work schedule. Last weekend I finally found some time to finish laminating the sides. I'll post a few pics of the progress along the way. Needless to say, I think I finally figured out a decent technique for doing the curved sides, and I think it's the kind of thing most people should be able to tackle.

First, here's the basic notion of how to go about this type of cabinet:


You build the box minus the sides, and include adequate bracing internally to give the sides a "shape" to follow.

So I started by cutting out the curved bracing, which also includes the top/bottom pieces. I used a bandsaw to rough cut all of the pieces, but a jig saw or even free-handing it with a router could work OK. Then I used a belt sander to clean up one of the braces to use as a pattern for the others. I used the pattern brace along with a flush-trim bit in my router to clean up the remaining pieces, which also ensured identically shaped pieces.



I'm bracing the heck out of this thing, so all of those dados are to accept more bracing. Here are a couple of shots showing the guts of the thing as I was dry fitting it





Once the initial assembly was complete, I tried a couple of different methods for attaching the side laminations. My first attempt was simply using a bunch of screws as "clamps" to pull the laminations down. There were a couple of problems with this, the biggest being that it produced kind of lumpy results.



I picked up a couple of strap clamps which did a little nicer job of keeping the curve smooth, but it wasn't adequate to put full pressure across the entire surface. I started with 2 strap clamps and quickly found that a 3rd was necessary for adequate pressure. I also found that a few screws strategically placed helped suck everything together properly.





So that's the current state of things. Tonight I'm hoping to have some time to trim off the overhang and get the second layer of MDF applied to the front. Then it's cutting the driver and port holes, filling joints, and then veneer and finish. Still a long ways to go, but I thought I'd share my experiences with curved/laminated sides.

[AJ]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

Thats going to look great. Well done!

[charlielaub]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

I am just wondering... how are you planning on cutting off the overhang? If you use a router with an edge trimming bit, won't the angle on the cut be wrong because the router will be somewhere along the curved side surface???

-Charlie

[Jason]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

I am just wondering... how are you planning on cutting off the overhang? If you use a router with an edge trimming bit, won't the angle on the cut be wrong because the router will be somewhere along the curved side surface???

-Charlie

Yeah, that part will actually require some hand work. For the parts that hang over the top/bottom, I'll be able to use the router with a flush-trim bit. For the part that overhangs the front/back i'll probably rough-cut it with a hand saw or maybe my little circular saw at an angle to get it "close". It will probably require some work with a hand plane, belt sander, etc to get it perfect. The front will get another layer of MDF which will help conceal what I'm expecting to be a crappy edge but the back I'll have to be a little more careful with.

[Mr.Thomas Aaron Hero]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

That's pretty much exactly how I build my cabinets, I use screws to hold the layers down, pull the screws out when the glue on the first layer drys, then apply the next layer. After the layers are done I use a power plane to flush the edges, then attach the second of two 3/4" baffle layers. I havent had to use any clamps to hold the curved sides down, I use 1/4 Masonite for the curved sides. After all layers have been applied I remove the screws and sand the sides smooth.

[tomzarbo]

Re: Hey Jason...

That first pic looks an awful lot like my D-3 build from last year.

I'd recognize that messy basement anywhere!

TomZ

[Jason]

Re: Hey Jason...

That first pic looks an awful lot like my D-3 build from last year.

I'd recognize that messy basement anywhere!

TomZ

I should probably annotate that post to give you credit for your picture It happens to be a great picture for illustrating the basic premise of how these sorts of cabinets can be built.

[Jason]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

I did manage to get all of the overhang trimmed off. I was able to use the router for the front, top and bottom. For the back I used my little mini-circular saw with the plate set at an angle to trim it off pretty close. The front and back edges had to be attacked with a hand plane, but that went relatively well. Here's where things are at as of tonight:





It still needs a lot of filling and sanding to get everything "perfect", but it's getting there. I'm planning on doing a cherry veneer with a high gloss lacquer finish. I bought a gallon of gloss a while ago to paint a guitar, and only used about a quart :o, so I have a lot to use up.

Note to Tom - my garage is messier than your basement!

(by the way, I'm a big fan of this forum software. I love that we can put multiple pictures in each post)

[philiparcario]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

photo posting is great. edit feature is great. takes a little bit to learn but it is way better. your sub cabinet looks great. what does it weigh? phil

[tomzarbo]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

That really looks good, Jason.
By the way, I was just kidding about the previous post, I've got pics in my 'puter I don't know where they came from either.

It's hard to get a feel for how big that is, but if it holds a 15" sub on the front, it's got to be pretty substantial looking!

I'm with you, most of my cabinets will be "curvy" from now on. I build so few things that it's worth taking the extra time to have more of a "wow" factor when it's finished!

Lookin' good, man!

TomZ

[Jason]

Re: New Sub Project - AV15 *PIC*

I would put the sub in the medium-large category. As far as commercial subs go, it's probably on the large side, but for a DIY thing it's really not a monstrosity.



Without the driver (and minus the front layter of MFD) it's really not that heavy - maybe 50lb at most. Using plywood helped immensely there. If the thing were made of MDF it would probably be nearly double the weight.