Building reference studio subwoofer

[Cegor]

Unsure where to post this as I don't see this fit int he studio building.

Anywyas, My dad has a long history in designing all kinds of products from race car engines to cinema lights for about 40-50 years. Him and myself want to undertake making our own reference monitors. I found some information but I want to ask the community for a more in depth answer.

What are some things to take into account that could spoil the whole build? Such as having things a certain way to ensure clarity, etc

Chongor

[Petrus]

I have never built speakers form the ground up, but I have read on the subject a bit and had a large pair designed and built for me some 15 years ago. So try to tackle the subject a bit.

- It is easy to build speakers, but it is extremely difficult to design and build really GOOD speakers, ones which compete head on with the best commercial designs.
- Building a heavy, non resonant box with proper filling is the easy part, with the right tools.
- Choosing the right drivers is not awfully difficult, but there are literally millions of combinations that would work just fine, and limiting the choice to a manageable number is difficult.
- Matching the radiation angles of the drivers at the crossover frequencies is paramount. A new development in this field is the use of waveguides with the mid and high frequency drivers to make the virtual radiation surface larger at the low end of the driver's range, and to raise the efficiency of the driver, which lowers distortions. Genelec was one of the first ones to use this feature, take a look at their large monitors. Many others use the same principle now also. Calculating and machining the shape of the waveguide adds complications to the design.
- There are simulation programs for crossover design, but often a lot of tweaking and testing is needed to get the crossovers just right.
- Without the measurement tools and anechoic chambers all the big players have (and the knowledge of how to use them) DIY builder starts from quite far back in this race.
- If you have the time, curiosity, skills and healthy dose of humbleness as not to expect to beat PCM, ATC and other similar designs at the first strike, by all means DO IT!

First get and read a few recent books on loudspeaker design, then aim at an easy target first, like a basic fairly large 3-way design, and no fancy inventions of your own.

[Cegor]

haha I have enough humbleness to realize I can't step up with the big boys and instantly be at their level. Look's like the speaker build will be alot of fun. My only concern would be testing and tweaking it since I'm a normal room studio.

Would you happen to know how difficult assembling all the XLR and power adapters are? I'd like to make this a speaker I could plug into a socket and hopefully avoid an expensive amp.

But so far thanks for all the input!

Chongor

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by Cegor

haha I have enough humbleness to realize I can't step up with the big boys and instantly be at their level. Look's like the speaker build will be alot of fun. My only concern would be testing and tweaking it since I'm a normal room studio.

Would you happen to know how difficult assembling all the XLR and power adapters are? I'd like to make this a speaker I could plug into a socket and hopefully avoid an expensive amp.

But so far thanks for all the input!

Chongor

All you need to do is dig a hole in the floor for a decent custom sub bass system like this.
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0143/551/520/j891Ki551520-02.jpg[/IMG]
This is a suitably high end hole in the floor for this forum by the way.
[IMG]******//photos4.hi5.com/0138/513/635/T6YrCq513635-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos2.hi5.com/0137/119/869/SIhNxy119869-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0142/746/624/1.knU5746624-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0141/401/528/ZngBYX401528-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos2.hi5.com/0137/964/137/TwyIqy964137-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos3.hi5.com/0139/852/334/UEehHj852334-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos3.hi5.com/0136/772/606/hyUmGI772606-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos4.hi5.com/0140/289/239/CI9awV289239-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0138/391/280/MrF2dN391280-02.jpg[/IMG]
Bit of real time analysis of the finished article + a few well placed helmholtz resonators and your new room is done.

[Cegor]

Originally Posted by Bassmec

All you need to do is dig a hole in the floor for a decent custom sub bass system like this.
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0143/551/520/j891Ki551520-02.jpg[/IMG]
This is a suitably high end hole in the floor for this forum by the way.
[IMG]******//photos4.hi5.com/0138/513/635/T6YrCq513635-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos2.hi5.com/0137/119/869/SIhNxy119869-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0142/746/624/1.knU5746624-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0141/401/528/ZngBYX401528-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos2.hi5.com/0137/964/137/TwyIqy964137-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos3.hi5.com/0139/852/334/UEehHj852334-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos3.hi5.com/0136/772/606/hyUmGI772606-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos4.hi5.com/0140/289/239/CI9awV289239-02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]******//photos1.hi5.com/0138/391/280/MrF2dN391280-02.jpg[/IMG]
Bit of real time analysis of the finished article + a few well placed helmholtz resonators and your new room is done.

haha Guess I should have seen that coming posting in the Hi end section. Anyone got a backhoe I can borrow?