donmathew90
Active Member
Hey Everyone - So the subgrade bug bit me sometime last year and while I was quite happy with my Taga Harmony 212SE (12", ported, 240W, 23hz) subwoofer, I wanted to upgrade to something insane and future-proof. As usual, I started my research by posting on here and checking Youtube reviews. Looked at the mainstream brands such as SVS, Ascendo, Tonewinner etc. Then @greendream told me about how he got a custom subwoofer built and how it was a better proposition especially in terms of price and power. I also had a great consultation with @prateekatasniya which enlightened a novice like me quite a bit.
All of my research pointed me towards a custom built subwoofer. I went through a lot of DIY posts on AVS Forum and was amazed by some of the DIY builds showcased on there. I posted on there asking if an 18" subwoofer would be too big for my 130sqft room and they said no
Started discussing my requirements with some brilliant folks on there and my plan to build an 18" ported subwoofer based on GSG's Ported MartyCube Roundover desgin changed to a 21" sealed sub.21" Sealed Sub Enclosure Plan
In the meantime, I started my search for a speaker builder. For me personally, DIY stands for Destroy It Yourself because that's what's happened whenever I tried to DIY something
I saw a bunch of talented folks that make speaker enclosures in India but wasn't happy with the finishing of their work. That's when I came across Albin Audio on Youtube. I quickly noticed that his quality of work and the finishing of the speaker/subwoofer enclosures that he builds is a class apart. And, he's also not your typical speaker builder in the sense that he uses UMIK-1, MiniDSP, calibration softwares etc. I called him for the very first time and I remember that we spoke for almost 2 hours talking about speakers and audio in general. You could tell that this wasn't just a business for him and that he's extremely passionate about what he does. I was so impressed that I decided then and there that he's going to build this subwoofer for me.We decided on the Lavoce SAF214.50 driver and I bought it from Narain Audio who are the official distributors for Lavoce in India. I had it delivered to Albin's workshop.
Driver's specs:
Lavoce SAF214.50
I also had to decide on a power amp and landed on the Crown XLS 2502 which can do 1550W at 8ohms Bridged. The SAF214.50 has an AES Power Rating of 2000W but amps that can drive that kind of power was out of my budget. I figured when I do upgrade in the future, I'll also feel like I got a new subwoofer
Another reason for choosing the 2502 is because you can toggle the input sensitivity between 1.4Vrms and .775Vrms. The subwoofer pre-outs on my Denon X1800H apparently only supplies 1.2V and I read that people had to get an ART CleanBox Pro to boost the signal which would have added to the overall cost.
Bought the amp from AVL Marketing in Kerala
AVL also made the Neutrik SpeakOn cable for me (HDMI cable next to it)
Albin cut the MDF sheets using his CNC machine:
Initial Assembly with bracing
A member from the AVS Forum quickly pointed out that it would be good to add bracing between the window brace to the baffle.
I wanted the subwoofer to also have a magnetic grill to hopefully protect it from curious people and from dust
Primer applied
I wanted the sub to have a specific finish after watching some of the American DIY subwoofer videos. They apply Duratex which isn't easily available over here and plus it's expensive. So I opted for Granotone's Sand Finish which I think looks similar to Duratex. Albin has used texture paint in the past and applies it with a roller but I wasn't happy with the finish. So he went and got a paint spray gun for this project.
Continuing the thread in the comments.
. This will swallow probably 10 of the wimpy small ones masquerading as subwoofers at my place. And...I cant even get that size out of my head. This is so mind bendingly huge. Better strap down everyone with seat belts before firing this beast up.
