Large 16" PVC for Sonosub??? (1 Viewer)

[Joey_R]

Very nice woodwork, Timn8ter! I've seen several of the end table type designs on the 'Net. None discuss practicality of the design. I also see your comment, Just don't leave glasses on it during a movie.

That leads me to my next question, how PRACTICAL is the table? Can you set a drink on it during spirited passages in a movie? Normal television? If not, how bad is the vibration? If you will, discuss the shortcomings of such a design (not to imply, of course, that your particular design has any ).

Steve, I saw the Flexi Sonosub Link in the Sonosub Links Section that is similar to what you mentioned. I queried the writer about his design, but I have had no response regarding the above practicality question. That design, too, is a real candidate for my project.

 

[TimForman]

Originally I thought I could replace my coffee table with a sub that looked like a table because I saw someone create a sonotube side table. The rattling of the coasters was one thing but the worst part was that sitting so close to it you couldn't hear many of the lower frequencies. I should change the picture to show where the Tempest is now which is near the corner where my equipment shelves are. Yep, it looks like a table and sounds like a sub, but it's definitely not a table. The cool part about your idea is that it won't look like a water heater.

 

[Joey_R]

Tim:

This is just the type of response I need! I will experiment with my current sub at the proposed location of the planned sonosub to see if I run into the same frequency/tuning problem you did. Thanks for the frank response!

As for the rattling coasters, maybe a marble tabletop with leather or thick-cloth coasters would be a necessity.

 

[Mike{0}]

Who says you can't cut a port in the side of the tube? Maybe you want to think about cutting a hole in the side of the tube (maybe towards the top) and sticking the port into that. You'll likely need a 90 degree bend unless the port length is less than 12 inches or so... You may have to get creative in mounting the port tube to the opening, but you should be able to come up with something... When you go to place the sub, just rotate it so the port hole is conveniently not visible...

- Mike

 

[Dennis XYZ]

A sealed 15 with some bottom end EQ should handily outperform a ported 12. Try modeling up a sealed AV15 and see what you get. I'd think, given the weight of the tube, that vibrations wouldn't be a big deal. You could always get some sorbathane to isolate a floating top if you needed to but it probably wouldn't be necessary. That's one beefy piece of PVC. Nice!

 

[Joey_R]

Mike{O}, porting out the side has its possibilities. Assuming I could cut a nice hole, I could use plain old PVC cement to cement in the port. Talk about easy! Hmmm...

Dennis, the sealed 15" also has something going for it. Having not done a lot of reading on sealed enclosures, I'm not sure where the ported 12 stacks up against the sealed 15. When you say bottom end EQ, are you referring to a Linkwitz Transformer?

 

[Joey_R]

I tried to use WinISD last night. I am very much a rookie at this. The modeling I did showed the ported 12" Dayton DVC doing significantly better at the low end than the sealed 15" Dayton DVC. However, I may be doing something wrong. The drivers are listed in the program. I used an enclsure of 160 liters and a tune of 20Hz.

Even when I ported the 15" Dayton DVC, the 12" still had a better low end in this enclosure. Am I missing something???

 

[TimForman]

No, you're right. The larger speaker wants a larger enclosure. FWIW, the Adire Shiva MkIII models better than the DVC 12 and it's only $6 more.

 

[Joey_R]

Tim:

While I'm certainly not wedded to it, but I have a 12" Dayton DVC in-hand. Since I didn't have the Shiva specs handy, I couldn't compare the Dayton vs. Shiva.

Does the Shiva model better by a significant margin?

 

[TimForman]

Ahh...didn't realize you had one already. No, it's not a huge difference. The DVC 12 rolls off faster following a weird little hump but it's not worth buying another driver for.

 

[Joey_R]

Assuming you ran the model with the DVC, how do the results look to you. Granted, I am a beginner, but the results looked pretty impressive to me. Are those results what experienced builders call poor, average or good?

 

[TimForman]

Looks pretty good to me if you can tune it to 20.7 Hz with a 11 inch long 4 inch port. Stays relatively flat to 22 Hz. That's not bad at all.

 

[Jonathan M]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the cut-out for the Shiva/Dayton drivers is around 11" right? If you have 17.5" inside diameter to play with, you can mount the driver so the cutout is 0.5" off the inside diameter of the tube, thus leaving 6" of inside space left on the other side. Now, the mounting flange might possibly need another 0.5" or so, leaving around 5.5" or so to play with. You can easily get away with a 4" non-flared port, or a couple of 3" ports.

All this is assuming you do the bottom MDF plate so that it fits flush with the end of the tube (Likely what you want)

Ofcourse, if you design the bottom end cap to be 1 layer of MDF inside the tube, and 1 layer flush with the outside of the tube, then you'll easily have enough room, as the port and driver cutouts can be flush with the insides of the tube.

Putting the port elsewhere may be easier to fit, but putting it on the side IMO will be a pain (How do you plan on routing the hole?) and I foresee lots of bog up being used...

Just a thought.

 

[TimForman]

The cutout may be 11" but the frame is going to be 12" or slightly more. Also, it's beneficial to use a flare on the end of the port. On a 4" tube the flared end will be close to 6". It might fit. Draw it out on paper but use the actual tube, driver and port as your templates. The dimensions provided by manufacturers aren't necessarily the correct ones.