Ripole subwoofer build

[Jazzman53]

Hi all,

I've built several pairs of Ripole subs in recent years, and about a week ago I completed this new pair, which are a bit more compact than any I’ve built before using 12-inch woofers (Peerless SLS). I love their compact size and they mate seamlessly with my DIY hybrid ESL's.


I've been giving them a workout with some demanding bass tracks-- like Malia & Boris' album Convergence and Bela Fleck's Flight of the Cosmic Hippo.

As with my previous Ripole builds, I can't localize them in space-- their sound arises from nowhere and recedes back to nowhere-- and they sound ridiculously good!

A unique feature of a Ripole is that it forces the woofer's resonance downward-- as much as 10Hz below its resonance in free air. No other baffle type that I know of can do that. It's astounding that dipole subs this small can play this low (<20Hz near field), and their tonal quality is tight and clean and beautiful !

Very happy !

BTW; I'm happy to share my CAD drawings and parts lists for two versions of my Ripol subs (with and without the added edge members) which I will share with anyone wants them-- just PM an email address.

Description:
The woofer cabs are 3/4 red oak plywood with red oak edge members inserted and rounded over, which looks much better than exposed plywood edges but is a LOT MORE work.

The center section is solid brown oak indexed to the woofer cabs with oak dowel pins. The three piece assembly is held together with all-thread rods and cap nuts.

 Sections of brass tubing cover and hide all-thread rods that pass thru the exposed open chambers.

The light-colored oak cabs were oil stained with a mixture of 1/3 golden oak, 2/3 natural, and a generous pinch of powdered turmeric root for the yellow tint. The darker oak center section was oil stained with red oak, for contrast. The finish is sprayed coats of clear satin polyurethane with a #320 sanding step between coats.


Below - Rabbeted plywood cab pieces bank together to aid gluing:
Woofer cab glued and clamped:

Cab edges were notched on the table saw to accept the oak edge members:



Red oak edge members fitted and held in place with tensioned painter's tape during glue-up:

Woofer cab with mitered edge members installed:
3-piece subwoofer assembly:

Subs temporarily assembled to route edges to 3/8” radius on the router table:

Fully completed subwoofers:

Backside view:

 

[Kroghs]

Hi Jazzman53

I would like to have your CAD drawings for the Ripole.

Kind Regards
Kroghs

 

[yogibear]

Ever tried PPSL too ? Just curious. Been on my list for long but never really got started.