Finished the sub, well almost (1 Viewer)

[eric nyhof]

I thought I would post some pics of my sub. Its a AE thunder 12.3 configuration. The box is 3 cu. ft. internal and has dual 1400 gr. PR's. I bought the 1050 gr. PR's on sale and then added some blocks of mdf to the back side of them to get the right weight. I also veneered the front of the PR's. I'm just waiting for the AV12 to dump in it. Its got the PE 500 watt amp to power it.
The external dimensions are 20x20x22. All I can say is that things look smaller on paper. For the 3 baffles with drivers I doubled up .75", and also put in some decent bracing. I almost got all of the cuts from a single 4x8 sheet except for one of the braces. My dad had some baltic birch ply lying around that I used, and he's got a mill that I used to make the brace cuts.
Right now with out the driver the things tips the scales at 91 lbs.
For the veneer I used peel & stick red oak. I coated it with minwax golden oak stain and then some poly-urethane varnish. The top of the box has black laminate, in case I dare set anything on it.
All I need to do now is make a grill, although hiding that av12 might be a sin...

 

[ColinM]

Nice.

 

[MarkRoberts]

Really nice! Make sure you do a follow up when you get the driver Let us know how it sounds.

 

[Geoff L]

Hi Eric:

First, very nice looking box. Got a couple questions with the products/components you used.

1). The peel and stick veneer you used, how did that go on for you, and did you prep the surface after filling/sanding with anything special on both the box and PR flats.???

2). Where did you pick up the peel and stick veneer and how thick is it.???

3). The 1050 PR's, (I assume Strykes) don't they have a center threaded rod for weighting on them.???
(Never used the 1050's so curious)

4). Any problems laying down the veneer when you started, like trpped air pockets, splitting & or cracking while rounding the corners.???

5). Is the adhesive on the peel and stick holding fine around corners and on the PR's flats.???

From your pic's, everythng looks super clean, nice edges, and very purdy...!
Beautiful work, and that Shiny AV-Alum will certainly look darn sweet stroken up front!

Cab size:
Big, well yes 3-cubes can seem bigger once finished, but just imagine some of the big ass cabs/tubes some of these guys build. 5-7-9 cf^3 plus, try getting that by the WAF if you have one! :d

Regards
Geoff ¥

 

[eric nyhof]

Geoff,

The veneer went on great, but I think its a 2 man job. You need one to hold one edge up while the other works the other side onto the box. This keeps out any air pockets. For the corners I cut a 5/8 rabbet, but didn't have a router bit so I used the table saw (another 2 man job and it worked really good). Once the corners were cut I veneered all the sides and sanded the edges. After that I put in solid red oak squares in the corners and clamped them one by one. I used a 1/2" radius bit and routered all the corners and sanded them smooth.
When I built my tower speakers I rounded the corners with a 3/8" radius and rounded the veneer over. It worked good and with no cracks but to be on the safe side I would recommend a 1/2" radius. (my towers weren't wide enough with the driver recesses for a 1/2")
The veneer on the PR's is sticking great all around, and its been about a month since they been applied. I don't know what will happen when those things get rocking though

 

[Geoff L]

Eric:

Thanks for the detailed explanation on the questions.

Hopefully you'll see a driver soon, in the mean time it will give the PR's more time to set up. Hope they stay stuck for you and don't start to lift. If they do there is a number of things that would work to get them stuck back down.

Never been to the GR/MI. store you mentioned and have not even heard of it.

====>
The veneers they carry, hows the selection in the peel and stick and do they handle the more exotic woods by chance.???
====>

If they do, I'm sure you have to special order it and also pay a preimium for a smallish order. I'll call and check now that I have a store name. GR is about 45 miles from me or more, depending on what side I have to go to.

Again, very nice looking encloser, like it when people do something with the PR flats.
Stryke had some PR-15's or 18's & 1400 or 1800, can't remember, with polished alum flats but I have not seen them at Johns site in some time. Maybe a special order now if one wants them.

Jack G. built a black beauty last year I belive, (early 2004 ?) with dual High Gloss Black PR flats...

Regards
Geoff ¥

 

[Wayne Ernst]

That's a great looking sub. I'm sure the performance will be great, too.

Once your friend see and hear it, I'm sure they'll want you to build one of them too.

 

[Bryan.T]

That looks great.

I currently have a singe AV12 running off 350 Watts and it shakes the house. However, I have to PR waiting for a new box to be made. Let us know how it turns out. Oh by the way, after seeing the AV12 in person you might not worry about making a grill for it.

Bryan

 

[Paul Spencer]

You are right, brother, it is a SIN!
All those who are found guilty of this sin should do some penance. Suitable penance might be to take up a second job to be able to then buy at least one more AV12

I didn't commit this sin,
but just in case I ever did,
I got the 2nd AV12 in advance

Two travel so much easier than one!

 

[Rory Buszka]

I'll put my vote up for that AV12/Th12.3/PE500W configuration. It works extremely well.

 

[Paul Spencer]

I'm not too sure about you guys in the US but over here in Australia ...

in $AUD
~$300 ... AV12
~$230 ... 2x15" passive
~$380 ... 350w plate amplifier
$910 total AUD

This is what I did:

~$600 ... 2x AV12
~$630 ... Behringer EP2500 - 650w @ 4 ohms x 2
$1230 total AUD

For a little extra you get ~9db more output, an amp with more authority (I've compared PA vs plate amps and the former are noticeably better) and much more design freedom with your box - you don't have to worry about passives and amps in the walls of your box so you can use curves.

Of course, things might be a little different in the US

 

[eric nyhof]

Well,
time to resurrect an old thread. I ended up ordering an old b-stock lambda PB-12 to pacify me until the AV-12's become available.
[url=http://img179.echo.cx/img179/522/subcomplete3fy.jpg] [/url]
So far it sounds excellent. I borrowed a friends SPL meter and was able to get 109 dB at 20 Hz. I think I could push it a little further, but I don't want something to go 'pop'

The walls in my room really go nuts with a 20 Hz sine wave.
I also ended up making a grill to match my other speakers.
[url=http://img179.echo.cx/img179/1872/subtower2ec.jpg] [/url]
So far I couldn't be happier. I did some modeling with WinISD, and the PB-12 drops off quite a bit quicker than the AV-12. If I did it right I should get about 10 dB more at 20 Hz with the AV-12.
Paul, here's a breakdown of the cost:
$90 - 2 PR's
$250 - 500 W plate amp
$70 - B-stock PB-12
$~100 - MDF and veneer
$510 total, or about $640 AUD

 

[Rory Buszka]

Well, isn't the Partsexpress 500w amp a nice amp? I really enjoy my AV12 with that amp.

 

[VinhT]

Just curious, do the MDF blocks reduce the max excursion of the passive radiators at all? From the pictures it kind of looks like they might get in the way.

 

[Rory Buszka]

Actually, the surrounds of the PRs will limit the excursion well before those blocks will. I have actually taken my passive radiators to overexcursion with a high-power 20Hz sine wave.

 

[eric nyhof]

yup, the PR has less travel than the distance between the blocks and the basket or spider, so unless they come loose they won't crash