DIY Sub

jagadeeshwarank

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Joined
Nov 29, 2018
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Chennai
Hi all,

I have setup my HT recently with 5.0 speakers. I am now saving for my subwoofer/s. I have been exploring (reading about) various subwoofers upto 80k. Just then I started reading the DIY section, saw various sub builds, I got curious about building my own. I felt even with a less budget I could complete 2 Subs. I had a quick discussion with @elangoas whom I met when looking for my HT options to understand a bit about it. I myself started reading about various DIY across internet. I am starting this thread for understanding the good, bad and ugly of DIY builds. Being a beginner I felt this forum can help me understand and make progress in my build.
I learnt few terms
-sealed(clean, smooth, musical bass),
-ported( low power better output, rumbling? theatrical bass)
Here in the forum I have seen Open Baffle H-frame builds, sealed builds.

Amps required can be
- plate amp
- dedicated external amp.

Drivers required.

Apart from these most technical terms discussed are beyond my knowledge or would require some help understanding.

With my current understanding I am thinking of building a ported subwoofer, not so soon, but once I'm confident enough.

I have been reading about Sono subs(cylinder type) and I feel this would suit me better(again this might change). I don't remember seeing any post on the same.
I don't exactly know where or how to begin. Appreciate any kind of inputs.
 
-sealed(clean, smooth, musical bass),
-ported( low power better output, rumbling? theatrical bass)

Among these, sealed is the easiest to do.. You need only volume of the box, and then you can start..

An external amp is more easy IMO, and you can move around the passive subs in the room or mount to walls too if floor space is a concern..
 
I don't exactly know where or how to begin. Appreciate any kind of inputs.
You can start by giving the dimensions of your listening room. This way FMs can suggest appropriate driver size and wattage requirement.
External amplification makes the most sense. Down the line if you have change in plans you can always repurpose the poweramp for other duties.
 
I am attaching the pics I shared when seeking help in the forum earlier. Now I'm in a rented apartment, so I can't help the space around my television and the furniture is fixed. Good thing is my flat has provision for running wires around. I will get more pics on Monday, I'm out of town.

It's the living room half the area is for dining, infact I'm using a corner of dining table for my surround left. On the right of listening area, two shoe racks and I have a surround right on top of a shoe rack.

The space below the front speaker measure 22(H)x15(w)x13.5(d) inches. So my initial idea was to get one XTZ 10.17. Then I realized I can do much better with that budget.
With Sono sub I realized that can be placed on the right corner near the surrounds and one near the entrance of the bedroom without much affecting look and feel.
Sealed sub would work as well, if I can place them on top of the tv rack, but I guess it would be heavy, and I don't want to make it a mess for my friendly house owner. I don't have a sofa or recliner yet, as we have a kid and wanted to have open space. We use a sofa like plastic chairs which are easy to stack and move.
For amplifier I'm ok with used ones as well, but I'm bit wary of how well those would be maintained.
 

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I am attaching the pics I shared when seeking help in the forum earlier. Now I'm in a rented apartment, so I can't help the space around my television and the furniture is fixed. Good thing is my flat has provision for running wires around. I will get more pics on Monday, I'm out of town.

It's the living room half the area is for dining, infact I'm using a corner of dining table for my surround left. On the right of listening area, two shoe racks and I have a surround right on top of a shoe rack.

The space below the front speaker measure 22(H)x15(w)x13.5(d) inches. So my initial idea was to get one XTZ 10.17. Then I realized I can do much better with that budget.
With Sono sub I realized that can be placed on the right corner near the surrounds and one near the entrance of the bedroom without much affecting look and feel.
Sealed sub would work as well, if I can place them on top of the tv rack, but I guess it would be heavy, and I don't want to make it a mess for my friendly house owner. I don't have a sofa or recliner yet, as we have a kid and wanted to have open space. We use a sofa like plastic chairs which are easy to stack and move.
For amplifier I'm ok with used ones as well, but I'm bit wary of how well those would be maintained.
EAGAERLY WAITING TO SEE PROGRESS OF UR DIY SUB AND PERFORMANCE.I am also eager to build DIY sub as soon as possible
 
I am attaching the pics I shared when seeking help in the forum earlier. Now I'm in a rented apartment, so I can't help the space around my television and the furniture is fixed. Good thing is my flat has provision for running wires around. I will get more pics on Monday, I'm out of town.

It's the living room half the area is for dining, infact I'm using a corner of dining table for my surround left. On the right of listening area, two shoe racks and I have a surround right on top of a shoe rack.

The space below the front speaker measure 22(H)x15(w)x13.5(d) inches. So my initial idea was to get one XTZ 10.17. Then I realized I can do much better with that budget.
With Sono sub I realized that can be placed on the right corner near the surrounds and one near the entrance of the bedroom without much affecting look and feel.
Sealed sub would work as well, if I can place them on top of the tv rack, but I guess it would be heavy, and I don't want to make it a mess for my friendly house owner. I don't have a sofa or recliner yet, as we have a kid and wanted to have open space. We use a sofa like plastic chairs which are easy to stack and move.
For amplifier I'm ok with used ones as well, but I'm bit wary of how well those would be maintained.
Its a very nice song. Isn't ? Maestro is always a Maestro.

I would suggest to go for a Sealed 10" or 12" with plate amp designed by our forum members or class D from online stores like diyaudiocart.com or aiyaudioparts.com. External amp is also fine but make sure it has got Speaker level inputs and Phase control.

I have a DIY sealed 12" sub (driver Iwai, India), Ported 10" (Dayton driver) and 12" H frame OB (in progress) and all has their own sound signature but amp plays a huge role. I don't watch movies so my subs are into 100% duty for music. So, while you spend time on driver selection, give more importance to amplification part as well. You will enjoy this journey !!
 
Its a very nice song. Isn't ? Maestro is always a Maestro.

I would suggest to go for a Sealed 10" or 12" with plate amp designed by our forum members or class D from online stores like diyaudiocart.com or aiyaudioparts.com. External amp is also fine but make sure it has got Speaker level inputs and Phase control.

I have a DIY sealed 12" sub (driver Iwai, India), Ported 10" (Dayton driver) and 12" H frame OB (in progress) and all has their own sound signature but amp plays a huge role. I don't watch movies so my subs are into 100% duty for music. So, while you spend time on driver selection, give more importance to amplification part as well. You will enjoy this journey !!
Yup, a great song.Maestro always makes me feel in peace, this song has been my recent craze.
I am a bit lost(newbie:p) when it comes to tech specs. What are the Speaker level inputs and phase control, how do we use it?
Good to know about your subs :) .
 
I never had subwoofer before. Just read about phase control and speaker level inputs.
Learnt following from Google.
Speaker level inputs- to control how the overlapping frequency is shared between speaker and sub
Phase level- to delay incoming signal. Sometimes they help in avoiding bass cancelling out each other.
 
I never had subwoofer before. Just read about phase control and speaker level inputs.
Learnt following from Google.
Speaker level inputs- to control how the overlapping frequency is shared between speaker and sub
Phase level- to delay incoming signal. Sometimes they help in avoiding bass cancelling out each other.

You may not need either of these controls on your sub, as they are built in the AVR.. Sub-out from AVR provides the low freq to the sub, based on crossover settings in AVR, and the delay is also done in AVR during Audyssey calibration..
 
I am attaching the pics I shared when seeking help in the forum earlier. Now I'm in a rented apartment, so I can't help the space around my television and the furniture is fixed. Good thing is my flat has provision for running wires around. I will get more pics on Monday, I'm out of town.

It's the living room half the area is for dining, infact I'm using a corner of dining table for my surround left. On the right of listening area, two shoe racks and I have a surround right on top of a shoe rack.

The space below the front speaker measure 22(H)x15(w)x13.5(d) inches. So my initial idea was to get one XTZ 10.17. Then I realized I can do much better with that budget.
With Sono sub I realized that can be placed on the right corner near the surrounds and one near the entrance of the bedroom without much affecting look and feel.
Sealed sub would work as well, if I can place them on top of the tv rack, but I guess it would be heavy, and I don't want to make it a mess for my friendly house owner. I don't have a sofa or recliner yet, as we have a kid and wanted to have open space. We use a sofa like plastic chairs which are easy to stack and move.
For amplifier I'm ok with used ones as well, but I'm bit wary of how well those would be maintained.
Well I think you have only one option interms of subwoofer placement that is in the right bottom of the shelf. DIY is good and an excellent option but subwoofers demand the right placement. Since you have only one placement option I would highly recommend to arrange a in home demo of the sub that fits in ur place. Check with dealers or ur friends. For me also it was a similar situation as I can place the sub only at the front so I auditioned the xtz for a week and made the purchase as it blended well with my set up
 
Hi all,

I have setup my HT recently with 5.0 speakers. I am now saving for my subwoofer/s. I have been exploring (reading about) various subwoofers upto 80k. Just then I started reading the DIY section, saw various sub builds, I got curious about building my own. I felt even with a less budget I could complete 2 Subs. I had a quick discussion with @elangoas whom I met when looking for my HT options to understand a bit about it. I myself started reading about various DIY across internet. I am starting this thread for understanding the good, bad and ugly of DIY builds. Being a beginner I felt this forum can help me understand and make progress in my build.
I learnt few terms
-sealed(clean, smooth, musical bass),
-ported( low power better output, rumbling? theatrical bass)
Here in the forum I have seen Open Baffle H-frame builds, sealed builds.

Amps required can be
- plate amp
- dedicated external amp.

Drivers required.

Apart from these most technical terms discussed are beyond my knowledge or would require some help understanding.

With my current understanding I am thinking of building a ported subwoofer, not so soon, but once I'm confident enough.

I have been reading about Sono subs(cylinder type) and I feel this would suit me better(again this might change). I don't remember seeing any post on the same.
I don't exactly know where or how to begin. Appreciate any kind of inputs.
IMO DIY subs are very cost effective..but if you are well aware of the things go for your own build...otherwise get help from our FM who are expert in DIY.Otherwise stay away from it and get a branded sub.Coz I have seen some FM's who got screwed up in DIY subs..
 
IMO DIY subs are very cost effective..but if you are well aware of the things go for your own build...otherwise get help from our FM who are expert in DIY.Otherwise stay away from it and get a branded sub.Coz I have seen some FM's who got screwed up in DIY subs..

Yup, I am not well aware and hence the reason for the post. Since I have some time,I wish to understand the goods and bads of DIY, what better place than here?
 
Well I think you have only one option interms of subwoofer placement that is in the right bottom of the shelf. DIY is good and an excellent option but subwoofers demand the right placement. Since you have only one placement option I would highly recommend to arrange a in home demo of the sub that fits in ur place. Check with dealers or ur friends. For me also it was a similar situation as I can place the sub only at the front so I auditioned the xtz for a week and made the purchase as it blended well with my set up
@Love4sound I am exploring DIY option as well. On the branded ones like I said earlier I like xtz, if I ever feel overwhelmed with things then I would go that way. Really appreciate your concern:).
I am not making any purchases until I have confidence.
 
@Love4sound I am exploring DIY option as well. On the branded ones like I said earlier I like xtz, if I ever feel overwhelmed with things then I would go that way. Really appreciate your concern:).
I am not making any purchases until I have confidence.
Sure DIY would work if you can find some one who can help you out. I wouldn’t recommend it as you said you are clueless with DIY. No matter how much inputs you get here from the forum it won’t be easy getting the desired results in DIY unless u know your stuff.
 
Sure DIY would work if you can find some one who can help you out. I wouldn’t recommend it as you said you are clueless with DIY. No matter how much inputs you get here from the forum it won’t be easy getting the desired results in DIY unless u know your stuff.

True, after researching for almost a month, I was a complete noob in woodworking and that screwed up my ported cabinet design resulting in a sub-par Subwoofer with port noise. If I were to do it again, I would probably hire a professional for the carpentry.
 
True, after researching for almost a month, I was a complete noob in woodworking and that screwed up my ported cabinet design resulting in a sub-par Subwoofer with port noise. If I were to do it again, I would probably hire a professional for the carpentry.
Will hire a carpenter for sure, once I decide to go ahead with the purchases.
 
DIY is simple in some ways if your doing a sealed/ported sub, get the driver T/S and model in software like WinISD or HornResp. Some understanding of the T/S parameters will help. After that once you have a box size, tune and port dimensions (if ported), its a simple matter of making the cabinet, properly. That means well braced, no leaks and with half decent quality materials. You may choose to stuff it or not with polyfill. If you stuff it, generally speaking top end response and time domain behaviour is better but efficiency is lower, the reverse is true if you don't stuff it. And that's pretty much it.

In terms of DIY vs store bought I think some very important differences are that firstly if the store bought sub has DSP then the manufacturer has tried to make the response smoother on the top end, rolled it off as it gets higher and tried to shape it to something the manufacturer deems is what customers want. Some might prefer this while others might have preferred an uneqed natural response, either to use raw or to EQ to their own preference. Secondly and probably most importantly, manufacturers use the DSP (if it is present) to set limiters to limit the subs output, both short term and long term and this means it is more difficult to destroy the sub. With a DIY sub you must be aware of the subs limits, choose an amp that matches it as per your knowledge and stay within the subs limits, for ported subs especially a HPF is mandatory if you plan to use it for movies with low bass. Using DSP on your DIY sub is a good idea if you know how to use it. For store bought, most people just keep pushing higher on the volume until some obvious sensory perception lets them know "enough" and then they usually back down, with a DIY sub it is more likely that you might damage the sub accidentally. Apart from the protections built into the store bought sub, they also come with a warranty. Lastly, if it matters to you, store bought subs tend to have nicer finishes in general.

I hope this helps, its rather simplified but it should convey the general idea and points of note. As a last point of note for people in India, if you are not a professional carpenter then it is a very good idea to hire a local professional carpenter. Just my humble opinion.
 
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