Pics of my DIY sub (if anyone is interested)

[General Skanky]

Ramius,

I'm a believer.
I've been hunting out all DIY things and found loads of info. The best source, so far, has been in Hi Fi World, for most DIY things.
I'm intent on doing cabling first, ie, mains power. I'd find it hard to upgrade what I've got in the speaker department just yet, but I do have full faith that DIYing it is the way to go to get big money performance at a good price.
I've been just reading (pulling apart!) the Russ Andrews catalogue as to mains stuff. Good but I think it was written with some 'poetic license'.
Have you tried DIY cables with any of your equipment?
I'm going to make a 'Top Of The Range' mains cable for my hifi amp as a tester.
It will all transplant eventually into the AV side of things, and I expect an upgrade equivalent as to having bought better equipment.
So far the best cabling link I've got is http://.virgin.net/cad.cables/home.htm.
They have got some good priced things, maybe something for you.

I don't have a tester. If I started to wave one around, I think my wife would think I'd really gone OTT.
She'd suspect it as the 'shall-we-upgrade-something-cos-my-meter-says-so....' gadget.
I can get away with cabling as it's small as it were. But for now I'm doomed to buying girlie stuff, at least until she relaxes a bit.

------------------
Douch!!......Wot's da madder, da CIA got you pushing too many penzils?

Work: www.hughes-tv.co.uk

[This message has been edited by General Skanky (edited 14-11-2000).]

[Ramius]

General,

I finally found your link working. ;-) It's- http://freespace.virgin.net/cad.cables/home.htm
Very interesting. There's so much to spend my money on! ;-) I never really considered power cables, however they will be handy for my next project/upgrade. I have e-mailed you a couple of questions regarding power amps as I 'm sure I saw on one of your posts how you were 'into amps' or something.
Thanks for Hi-Fi World, that's excellent resource.
Get youself a SPL, it's an essential tool.

Cheers

Ramius,

Is the Sine Wave generator on the net?? If so any URLs would be great.
Cheers
Dan

------------------ www.danwright.atfreeweb.com

[This message has been edited by monkfish (edited 06-12-2000).]

[Ramius]

Here you go monkfish-
http://www.nch.com.au/action/index.html
(Two thirds of the way down the page)

A word a warning. You can damage drivers with prolonged "test-tones" at high SPL!
And ONLY use sine waves. Squares waves and the like WILL cause damage.

Cheers.

[ReTrO]

Ramius: Love the signal generator. I am going to use it to check how well my speakers are integrated.

Rick

------------------
'I am just a figment of your imagination.'
MiB 1997

Work Site: The Sound Gallery
Home Site: WD A.V.

[Ramius]

If you're taking SPL measurements with the Tandy (RadioShack) sound level meter, here are the "correction" values to adjust for the inaccuracies of the meter. These are for the analogue version only.

10Hz add 20
12.5Hz add 16.5
16Hz add 11.5
20Hz add 7.5
25Hz add 5
31.5Hz add 3
40Hz add 2.5
50Hz add 1.5
63Hz add 1.5
80Hz add 1.5
100Hz add 2
125Hz add .5
160Hz add -.5
200Hz add -.5
250Hz add +.5
315Hz add -.5
400Hz add 0
500Hz add -.5
630Hz add 0
800Hz add 0
1kHz add 0
1.25kHz add 0
1.6kHz add -.5
2kHz add -1.5
2.5kHz add -1.5
3.15kHz add -1.5
4kHz add -2
5kHz add -2
6.3kHz add -2
8kHz add -2
10kHz add -1
12.5kHz add +.5
16kHz add 0
20kHz add +1

[Mr A]

Ramius,

i came back to this thread having followed up some of your links. I am interesetd in constructing a sub but it will have to wait until funds permit and the S.A.F. has increased.

I am curious as to how you have set up the Active sub bass panel from BKelec. Have you got it set for Hifi or theatre as the frequency response for theatre is 60 to 240 hz and hifi 30 to 120 which would seem more appropriate. Am I missing something here?

Also is there any particular reason you opted for the Shiva driver rather than the one BK offer taht works in a 1 cubic foot enclosure, seems to go against all the theory I have picked up on other websites.

Final question for this time round, does the active panel allow permanent connection of high and low level and default to low level AC3 in preference or how is it set up? My main speakers for cinema and also hifi are driven through my hifi amp.

Any answers would be appreciated. I am also considering the IPl acoustics route!!

Look forward to hearing the answers

[Ramius]

Mr A

Those frequency ranges (30-120Hz hifi, 60-240Hz theatre) are for the crossover settings. The theory is that for hifi you may want to be able to have the sub coming in lower and for home cinema you may want it higher. (They're not the response of the filter).
I have mine set wide open and I let my amp perform the crossover function, all speakers set to small and bass mixed into the LFE.

I'm not too sure if the panel defaults. I have mine only connected low level (I think it's an either/or connection choice).
Ring BK they'll tell you.


Why I used the shiva?
I originally owned a Paradigm PS1000 from Richer Sounds. I was happy, however the transformer on the amp was buzzing, loudly.
Richer Sounds would replace the unit but they had none in stock. In the meantime I discovered the DIY route, amazing performance for comparatively not much money.
The Adire Shiva is a driver used by thousands in America and all over the world, a good price (even with shipping and importing costs) and there's tried and tested designs on the net.
So I got a refund from Richer Sounds and built my own using a design by Adire Audio themselves (plans on their site).


I did have a look at the BK driver. IMO it's not suited for very low bass extension. High Fs (37Hz), not really good for home cinema use- being difficult to tune low.
Besides, you wont be cutting it with a 10" driver in cubic foot box, physics wont allow. It'll need heavy equalisation down low which will require bags of amp power. Just look at the Sunfire True Subwoofer.

Any further questions just ask.

Cheers

[This message has been edited by Ramius (edited 31-01-2001).]