Thinking about a DIY Sub

[kejolly]

I am currently looking into building a sub (maybe 2 if the first one works well). My plan is to build a sub that doubles as a speaker stand for my front speakers(RTi6s). I like this idea since it would save floor space and the WAF should be okay....or at least better then now.

I have been looking around and really like the TC sound 10" subs. My first question is, is this suitable for a sealed downfiring design around 1.2-1.5 cuft? I know that this is the driver SVS uses but with a ported enclosure. The plate amp that I am looking to use is the rythmik 350. I also figure that I will need to build a LT for it.

This would be used 50-50 for music/ht. I know a bigger sub would provide much better output but I like the idea of the small foot print and as said before, if the first one works out well, stereo subs would be in order.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated as I am just starting to design and mull things over. I have all the equipment and skills to build the enclosure and with summer approaching, I think it would be a good project.

Thanks
Kevin

[tryrrthg]

I'd suggest going over to the HT Guide DIY Forum (http://www.htguide.com/forum/forumdisplay.php4?f=6) those guys really know there stuff.

I don't know much about the driver you're thinking about using, but the best thing for you to do would be to download a box modeling program like WinISD, or if you really know what you're doing give Unibox a try. Unibox is an Excel spreadsheet, but it's a bit more accurate and advanced than WinISD. Anyway, after you download one of those programs you'll need to input the TS parameters of the driver and model it in various sized enclosures. You'll want to keep an eye on what you want your response to look like and cone excursion, air velocity in the port if you decide to go ported.

The best thing for you to do if you don't know much about building subs is to play around with one of those softwares so that you see how different variables affect the response.

one more thing. You might want to take a look at Ascendant Audio (http://ascendantaudio.com/) for drivers. They just released some new ones, they should be good. I just finished a project with one of their old drivers. I posted a graph of its in-room repsonse in my thread.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36556

[Early B.]

Since bass is very dependent on placement, don't consider using your DIY subs as speaker stands because you'll limit yourself and you may not be able to take advantage of room gain due to corner placement. If you're using the sub for 50% HT, you'll want to build a nice one which typically calls for a larger box, ported design and 12" driver depending upon your room size.

Good choice on the plate amp, BTW.