Diy Sub Newbie

marvinwright1

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Hi,

I've been looking to upgrade my BK XLS300 sub and I was pretty much decided on a Monolith as I wanted a ported sub similar to my SVS PB10-NSD but seeing this diy forum I thought I'd have a poke around as I always fancy a little project. Many years ago I had a go at making a few enclosures that were used as passive subs, nothing special but they were ok.

Anyway, I think I'd like to give it a go, I don't want to spend loads of money on it as I want to see what it turns out like and by that I mean the enclosure finish :) I want to try an attempt a gloss black finish over the mdf. So as this will be a relatively low cost in comparison to some of the monsters I've seen on here I'd like to know whether I can build an enclosure that I can upgrade as and when (does it even make sense to do that)?

My plan would be to start with something like an Audiobahn AW150T and an iNuke1000, I believe I read here that a sealed enclosure for this driver should be around 150l but I've read so many threads I may be wrong. Would this amp and driver be ok to run together?

I've also downloaded winISD, loaded the drivers parameters and put in the box volume, the sealed optimum size its suggesting is about 59 x 91 x 37 (WxHxD) which seems quite large, certainly the height, I guess I can juggle these around to make it less tall? or maybe I've got my figures wrong somewhere which is quite possible.

I guess my last question is really how would a sub with this driver and amp compare to a monolith?

Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Marvin.
 
I had this driver in a 95l cabinet 20 inch cube and it performed awesomely, I also had an nu1000 and it didn't run the driver in bridged mode as well as a 300w RMS plate amp so my advice look at the bk plate amps or an nu3000.

What's your max budget.
 
I haven't really given a budget too much thought, a new monolith in black gloss is about 550 so I guess that's a good enough place to start as maximum. I do like the idea of the plate amps as they can fit nicely to the back of the enclosure but they do seem to cost much more for the same if not less power.
What do you recommend as an enclosure size for this driver taking into account that I might upgrade it in the future.
 
I would personally build to your top budget.

The nu1000 really ain't that good and I would look at the bk400 plate amp.
but you have to think about driver and amp combo if you decide to upgrade.

I would go smaller like 75l and and nu3000 this way you can get a driver later on like a fi q or a si ht15 which will go nicely in that size cabinet.
 
Can't seem to find the bk400 amp on their site, they have 300 or 500 and two versions of each.
A 75l box would be about an 18" cube?
 
The bk400 isn't on their website, but if you call them they will sell one to you.

I built a su around the aw150 driver, and bought the nu1000 amp, like Scott said, its not really man enough to properly drive the aw150t. I bought an nu3000dsp which has more than enough power to drive that driver, and will be good enough to power my next sub too. (I'll upgrade the driver to an fi at some point).
 
I guess the bk400 will be 400 watts RMS @ 4 ohms. How does this amp compare to the nu3000 and would it also be capable of driving an fi should I want to upgrade in the future?

Where do people put these external amps for their subwoofers, do people generally just sit them on top or build them into the enclosure somehow?
 
It seems that most people run them separately, eiher in an AV/TV unit or in a separate cupboard, but there was someone on here who built a box with a slot to slide the amp in, I just can't remember who... lol
 
No the bk won't run a fi sub to it's potential.
People use PA amps because you get lots of power of less money. Mine is in my av rack.
 
Ok so what terminals do you provide on the back of the enclosure that connects from the amp? A single Neutrik XLR Socket?
 
As you said or I have normal binding posts.
 
ok cool. So the AW150T 15" driver is about £65. For the amp I see there is a NU3000 or NU3000DSP which are about £200 / £250 respectively. Obviously the latter comes with DSP controls, why should I choose that one over the one without?
 
Because the DSP can help give a flatter response .
 
ok and when it comes to settings this up to get a flatter response am I right in saying this is where REW comes in?
 
Great, so that kinda leaves the enclosure to build. You recommended a 75l above, should I just go for a straight cube? Looks like I should use 25mm mdf. I also want to recess mount the driver, I'm trying to find the best way to do that, do you have any pointers? I've seen some people use 2 pieces of wood for the front where the outer hole is bigger than the inner hole allowing the driver to be recessed or some where they've just routed a bigger circle in a single piece of wood. I'll probably get myself a router, I've always fancied having one.
 
Great, so that kinda leaves the enclosure to build. You recommended a 75l above, should I just go for a straight cube? Looks like I should use 25mm mdf. I also want to recess mount the driver, I'm trying to find the best way to do that, do you have any pointers? I've seen some people use 2 pieces of wood for the front where the outer hole is bigger than the inner hole allowing the driver to be recessed or some where they've just routed a bigger circle in a single piece of wood. I'll probably get myself a router, I've always fancied having one.
I would use 25mm MDF and use either a 50mm front 2 pieces with recess or one 25 and an 18mm, size wise you can do what you want as long as it makes the volume internally you want.

I have my AW 150 in a 65l box now and it sounds great not as deep as a bigger box.

So you have 2 options first is to build a cabinet for 130l internal but when it comes to replacing the driver if you want it will be harder unless you opened the hole for an 18 inch driver then you could get a fi q or si 18.

Option 2 build for 75l which will still sound great and will need more eq to bring up the bottom end and if you decide to change the driver there are many that will fit with optimum performance.
 
Great, I think I'll go for option 2 and 2 pieces for the front for recessing.
Thank you so much for your valuable help so far, I really appreciate it. I've got a bit of planning and preparation to do for now, if I have any questions and I'm sure I will I'll let you know. :smashin:
 
Go for it, I've got a JL f113 sub and my 2 DIY 15 subs beat it.
 
With you it all depends in which direct its blowing to which bass note your playing each week / month .
 
With you it all depends in which direct its blowing to which bass note your playing each week / month .
All i am trying to do is get the best sound that i can, isn't that what its all about at the end of the day.
 

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