and noticed many of the sonosubs that were built use a down firing port with a larger diameter sonotube. Has this been tested to be a better design than an up firing port?
Things might fall into the top-firing port, so if you can handle the width of the sonotube with a down-firing driver and port, then that's much better to live with.
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Can't you cover the port with a grill or speaker cloth? I was just asking if there are any sonic differences. The sub I want to build will have to be top mounted because I want a small footprint.
"Things might fall into the top-firing port, so if you can handle the width of the
sonotube with a down-firing driver and port, then that's much better to live
with."
And little white kitties might sit on top of top mounted drivers, huh Pat?
Brian
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Jeff,
I just finished building my first sub. A 24" sonotube with a Tempest on bottom and an 8" port on top. I covered the port with a 12" diameter metal grill from PartsExpress (The 10" was out of stock and I wanted bigger than 8" for coving the top MDF layer- more breathing area too). I used 3 layers of 3/4 inch MDF top and bottom and flush mounted both the driver and top grill. It looks really nice. The black metal grill inset on top gives it a cool high-tech look. As far as sound goes, I really have nothing to compare it with. But sounds great to me. Shakes the whole room, rattles all the doors. Can't wait to get its twin built (half way finished).
By the way - Black lacquer finishing is a BIG PAIN IN THE BUTT!
Scott,
Do you have any pics? I'm thinking about how I want to finish mine when I get around to building it. I was thinking about using the black sock. Was it ribbing material? With oak or black laminate for the caps and base. I'll probably use 16" or 14" (if avalible)sonotube and have a 4" port on top. I'll still need to figure out all the numbers though.
I don't have any pics yet but I'm planning to get and post some. Yes, I used 20" black ribbing material to cover the 24" tube. Looks really good. I did make a mistake and cut the ribbing too short, not realizing that when it stretches wider it loses length. So I had to 2-piece the covering until I can buy another longer piece.
What driver are you going to use? If you are going with a Adire driver, I suggest a larger port; 6 inch for the Shiva and an 8 inch for the Tempest.
I used 8 inch sonotube for the port which was much cheaper than PVC.
I was looking around for a 10" circular grille to cover my top port (6" dia). Where can I find this online?. Thanks,
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I agree with the need for larger porting then a single 4" even for a shiva. The best part about DIY subs is that we get to remove bottlenecks in performance and underporting subs is a serious bottleneck when you start pushing a sub. Besides there's really no reason not to use a single larger or mutliple smaller ports other then at some point the lenght of the ports start to become a concern. Basically though go with as large a port as you can within reason. Adding flares to a 4" will help but given the choice i'd take a true 6" port vs a flared 4"
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