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Subwoofer side tables

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Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 29 Sep 2020, 12:05

I made most of these about 6 months ago, but never got round to the finishing touches of adding fabric grilles; so having finally done that it's worth posting...

About 20 years ago I made a prototype dual driver subwoofer, using Peerless XLS10 10" sub drivers. That was a short term test, with the intention being to build two cabinets. Well, it only took me two decades to get round to actually building the proper units...

I cut and mitered some oak worktop material:

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Then ripped and planed some veneers for the baffles:

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The veneers were glued to MRMDF panels, and smoothed:

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Rebates and holes for the drivers were cut:

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Next I routed dadoes into the main body panels for the baffles, and finished all but the outsides of the cabinets in Osmo Top Oil:

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An MRMDF brace was added, and fixed off center, to reduce vibrations and harmonics:

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Once glued, the outsides were scraped and planed:

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Then finished with more Top Oil (the figuring in the oak is more pronounced in the photo than it is to the eye):

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Sealant, damping membrane, drivers, and bases going in:

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Done:

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That was about 6 months ago (hence the last photo being pretty grainy due to the grotty light).

I finally got time to make some thin oak grille frames, and covered them with fabric:

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Before and after photos:

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Front details:

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Honestly dear, it's really just a side table for coffee:

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Using "real" wood for a loudspeaker cabinet is not such a smart idea, due to the wood movement being the enemy of achieving an air tight seal. In this design, all solid wood components have their grain direction matched, and there's gasket material around the bottom panels. So far (March to September) they seem to be holding up pretty well.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby Malc2098 » 29 Sep 2020, 13:14

Nice.

Bet they'll make my fillings rattle! :)
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby billybuntus » 29 Sep 2020, 13:29

Nice job. They look great. Very stealthy
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby DaveL » 29 Sep 2020, 13:50

And you do need somewhere to put your coffee, nicely done.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 29 Sep 2020, 13:55

Many thanks all.

The primary intention is quality rather than outright magnitude of bass (by taking the really low bass load from the main speakers you give them an easier time, and reduce a bit of distortion). That said, they do provide plenty of "thump" when required - though I suspect a large ported sub would be better for LFE movie duties.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby Andyp » 29 Sep 2020, 16:32

Neat. I think I prefer them without the fabric fronts.

Have you ever placed an unopened, but wire removed, bottle of champagne on the top a speaker and waited for it to pop. Great fun.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 29 Sep 2020, 16:41

Andyp wrote:Neat. I think I prefer them without the fabric fronts.

Have you ever placed an unopened, but wire removed, bottle of champagne on the top a speaker and waited for it to pop. Great fun.

Oddly, so does the wife. Usually I prefer the "look at my drivers" aesthetic, but in this instance I prefer the softer visual from the grilles.

I try to avoid champagne and speaker drivers :mrgreen:. Though, with two drivers working in a "boxer" configuration, any movement by one is cancelled by the other; such that there's very little vibration in these, even when under heavy load.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby Woodbloke » 29 Sep 2020, 16:57

Nice looking job. Being from home of Naim I've got a small set up (amp and CD player) in the lounge with some respectable Monitor Audio speakers on pretty chunky stands, but sad to say we hardly ever use it. I think so far this year we've had a few tunes out of it about twice - Rob
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 29 Sep 2020, 17:03

Woodbloke wrote:Nice looking job. Being from home of Naim I've got a small set up (amp and CD player) in the lounge with some respectable Monitor Audio speakers on pretty chunky stands, but sad to say we hardly ever use it. I think so far this year we've had a few tunes out of it about twice - Rob

Yea, that is the biggest problem for me too - time.

I'm fortunate enough to have a fairly well insulated garage, so have a pair of small (but decent) DIY speakers in there, along with a tiny amp fed by an ancient iPod. That probably accounts for 99% of my music listening these days.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby Mike G » 29 Sep 2020, 18:28

Mitres! Aaaargh........ rather you than me. :) Looks fantastic.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby AJB Temple » 29 Sep 2020, 19:55

That is a lovely job.

I run a couple of big (3 speaker) sub woofers. Genelec. They are ugly as sin and I might copy your design and clad them in oak. Maybe 2" thick.

Very nice work.

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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby RogerS » 29 Sep 2020, 22:10

Digressing slightly...does anyone remember John Crabbe...Editor of HiFi News? His concrete horn loudspeakers...the ultimate in efficiency ? I had the balls to ask him if I could come and listen. They were stunning! I have a pair of early Spendor BC1's. I must turn them upside down again. They've not been connected to an amp in over 3 years.

Sorry, Sploo...nice work, BTW.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 29 Sep 2020, 23:07

Mike G wrote:Mitres! Aaaargh........ rather you than me. :) Looks fantastic.

Thanks Mike. You know why they're called mitre joints... because every time you do one it "mitre" been better.

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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 29 Sep 2020, 23:08

AJB Temple wrote:That is a lovely job.

I run a couple of big (3 speaker) sub woofers. Genelec. They are ugly as sin and I might copy your design and clad them in oak. Maybe 2" thick.

Very nice work.

Adrian

The oak worktops I used were (from memory) 40mm thick, so a (fair) bit under 2".

I'll bet those Genelecs can chuck out a fair bit of bass.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 29 Sep 2020, 23:12

RogerS wrote:Digressing slightly...does anyone remember John Crabbe...Editor of HiFi News? His concrete horn loudspeakers...the ultimate in efficiency ? I had the balls to ask him if I could come and listen. They were stunning! I have a pair of early Spendor BC1's. I must turn them upside down again. They've not been connected to an amp in over 3 years.

Sorry, Sploo...nice work, BTW.

It's been a while since I (frequently) frequented the DIY Audio forum, but horns came up occasionally. IRC there was a crazy guy in Brazil that used to turn huge horns on a lathe from MDF. They're one of those designs that looks very interesting, but take up a lot of room and divide opinion on the sound. I think there's a few horn loaded tweeter designs about, but I can't recall the benefits.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby BigMonka » 30 Sep 2020, 22:12

They look fantastic 8-)
I bet you get that classic Jurassic park scene if you put a glass of water on top whilst they’re turned on :lol:
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby Phil » 06 Oct 2020, 06:50

Very nice. The oak looks great and the mitres 8-) :eusa-clap:
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 06 Oct 2020, 09:27

Phil wrote:Very nice. The oak looks great and the mitres 8-) :eusa-clap:

I'm going to thank an old Startrite table saw for that; I completely stripped it down and restored it a couple of years ago, and now that it's dialled in it does give me some pretty accurate cuts.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby Woodster » 06 Oct 2020, 19:43

I read many years ago that concrete was the best material for speaker cabinets. Is this still the perceived wisdom?
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 07 Oct 2020, 00:08

Woodster wrote:I read many years ago that concrete was the best material for speaker cabinets. Is this still the perceived wisdom?

I guess that depends on the purpose of the cabinet; for most speakers designs (i.e. not open baffle) the cabinet should be air tight (port/vent excepted), and effectively absorb any signal produced by the rear of the driver(s). You also don't want the walls of the cabinet resonating.

Concrete would be a good material to achieve most of the above; obviously with some absorbent material on the inside.

For a subwoofer, the mass could be useful too - I have seen a few (too) lightweight DIY sub cabinets go for a "walk" under high excursion :D
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby Woodster » 07 Oct 2020, 10:27

Some of them look better than others but I suppose it’s just the sound we’re interested in! :lol:

https://www.homecrux.com/25-concrete-sp ... ity/78665/

These days folks are also making stuff colloquially called Epoxycrete for some demanding applications.
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby RogerS » 07 Oct 2020, 10:40

If you'd like to know how John Crabbe (ex- Editor of Hi-Fi news) built his concrete horn loudspeakers (they sounded superb and were ultra-efficient) then check out how he did it here

http://www.saturn-sound.com/history/hi- ... ojects.htm
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sammy.se » 07 Oct 2020, 11:36

That looks really good. I love the idea of having it built into a piece of furniture. I've been thinking about getting a sounds bar and woofer for the TV, but have been put off by extra objects in the room. This might be the way to go!
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Re: Subwoofer side tables

Postby sploo » 07 Oct 2020, 13:32

Woodster wrote:Some of them look better than others but I suppose it’s just the sound we’re interested in! :lol:

https://www.homecrux.com/25-concrete-sp ... ity/78665/

These days folks are also making stuff colloquially called Epoxycrete for some demanding applications.

The spherical and curved speakers are the ones that interest me; there are a number of good acoustic reasons (both internally and externally) for having a cabinet that's a "torpedo" shape - and obviously that's easier with a material that can be cast.

About 20 years ago I experimented with making MDF moulds, with the intention of resin casting such shapes, but never got the time to really take it that far.
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