Replacement driver for existing sub (1 Viewer)

[Matt DeVillier]

I have an old 10" Opitimus (radio shack) sub and was considering replacing the driver, since the current one is cheap and crappy, but the 120W amp is still good.

The box the sub is in now is ported. The box is 13"W x 13"H x 14.5"D, and the port is 4" dia. and about 8.5 long, located on the bottom. The driver faces forward. I figure the max depth I can support is about 5" (maybe 5.25").

I was looking at the 10" woofers on partsexpress, but there are a variety of models / prices so I'm pretty lost as to what would be adequate for my needs. Ideally, I'd like to have this sub perform similarly to my Sony SAWM40. I'm open to any recommendations.

Thanks in advance

 

[Dave Poehlman]

I was just thumbing through PE's 10" woofers and found this one that would fit closely in that size of box: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd..._ID=7876&DID=7
However, I can't say if it will perform better or worse than you have. In fact, it's hard to match a driver to an enclosure.. particularly a ported one. It's much easier to match an enclosure to a driver (ie: build one)
You might be better off either selling the Optimus and putting the $ towards another Sony, or if you are at all handy with powertools/woodworking, consider building a kit or design of your own.

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

that box is somewhere on the order of ~27L. a 4" port 8.5" long has a tunning of ~55hz!!!!....those numbers are rough, but damn!..that is a high port tuning...or did I do the math wrong?

 

[Matt DeVillier]

I realize that it is difficult to match a driver to a box - I was just thinking there might be an easy way to salvage it. The box itself is very strudy/well made, which is the primary reason I'm trying not to just toss it.

I'm not sure on the tuning of it (don't have the formulas handy), but given the quality of the driver, I wouldn't be totally surprised (I would have guessed closer to 40Hz though). The port is only made of cardboard (with plastic rings at both ends) so the length could be modified easily.

I don't really need another sub, though I could find a use for it; I was just trying to salvage what I had here. I wouldn't mind that one driver you linked to, but I wouldn't want to spend the $80 and have it sound like crap...

 

[Peter Jessee]

I have an old 10" Opitimus (radio shack) sub and was considering replacing the driver, since the current one is cheap and crappy, but the 120W amp is still good.

The box the sub is in now is ported. The box is 13"W x 13"H x 14.5"D, and the port is 4" dia. and about 8.5 long, located on the bottom. The driver faces forward. I figure the max depth I can support is about 5" (maybe 5.25").

I was looking at the 10" woofers on partsexpress, but there are a variety of models / prices so I'm pretty lost as to what would be adequate for my needs. Ideally, I'd like to have this sub perform similarly to my Sony SAWM40. I'm open to any recommendations.

I'd suggest plugging the port and using a PE Titanic 10" or ACI SV10 in a sealed configuration. It will probably sound quite a bit better than the Sony for music, assuming the amp is any good. If you can enlarge the woofer hole, you could use the PE DVC 12" for more SPL and a similar F3. All of these drivers should work well in the ~1.2 cu ft box you have.

For less cash outlay, look at the PE 10" Thruster. I think it will work OK in this size box, and is quite a bit cheaper than my other suggestions.

Peter

 

[Matt DeVillier]

I'd suggest plugging the port and using a PE Titanic 10" or ACI SV10 in a sealed configuration. It will probably sound quite a bit better than the Sony for music, assuming the amp is any good. If you can enlarge the woofer hole, you could use the PE DVC 12" for more SPL and a similar F3. All of these drivers should work well in the ~1.2 cu ft box you have.

Peter,

I'm guessing that the amp in my Sony is slightly better, but that's a guess based strictly on the #'s. Do you think it would be practical to put the PE 12" DVC driver in the Sony box, then enlarge the hole (what would I use to do this?) and move the sony driver to my other box? I realize that 2 drivers aren't interchangable just because they are the same size; I just haven't quite figured out how to match a driver to a box (still have a lot of reading to do)

thanks

-Matt

 

[Peter Jessee]

I'm guessing that the amp in my Sony is slightly better, but that's a guess based strictly on the #'s. Do you think it would be practical to put the PE 12" DVC driver in the Sony box, then enlarge the hole (what would I use to do this?) and move the sony driver to my other box? I realize that 2 drivers aren't interchangable just because they are the same size; I just haven't quite figured out how to match a driver to a box (still have a lot of reading to do)

I don't know how big the enclosure for the Sony sub is, and I think it's ported, right? I recommended the drivers I did because they would work well with the volume of the box you had. Now you're opening a different can of worms.

Download a copy of WinISD or Unibox from one of the DIY sites and you can model your choice of driver in the box volume you have available. Or go to the Parts Express site (or printed catalog) and look at the table of recommended box sizes for all the woofers they sell. You can quickly see which ones might work and which ones to avoid.

I recommended plugging the port to make it easier to get a good-sounding sub. Designing a good ported sub is more complicated than a sealed one, so for your first project I'd suggest keeping things as simple as possible. I think you'd be surprised at how good the SV10 sounds in the box you have.

Peter

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

If it really is easy to change port lengths then why not try making it longer (tuning it lower)? You'll get a lower Q alignment and possibly get rid of a mid-bass hump.

 

[Matt DeVillier]

edit: found the SV10 on subwoofers.com

Peter,

given that I'm not building a box from scratch, do you think the SV10 or the PE Thruster 10" would be better, given the price differential ($59 vs $99 currently)? I'm not adverse to spending the extra money if it will produce a noticable return =)

thanks

-Matt

 

[Peter Jessee]

given that I'm not building a box from scratch, do you think the SV10 or the PE Thruster 10" would be better, given the price differential ($59 vs $99 currently)? I'm not adverse to spending the extra money if it will produce a noticable return =)

The SV10 has more Xmax and power handling, and will give a lower F3 in this box, so it would be a better sub. Whether the amp you have can drive either of these drivers hard enough for you to notice a difference is another question I can't answer.

How good a sub are you looking for? How much trial and error do you feel like going through? The Thruster would be an improvement, I'm sure, and the price is right. The enclosure might not be worth spending more on. In the end, you have to decide how far to take this.

Good Luck, and have fun!

Peter