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After years of dreaming and wishing I finally did something about it. I have a pair of DIY Cable XJ-15s - prototypes that came out a bit high Qts for boxed subwoofer duty at .578 with an Fs of 24.5 Hz. Nice parameters for IB or OB, though. I had planned them to be the bottom of an OB project, but moved to a space that wasn't appropriate for large OB speakers, so they have been sitting in their boxes for a few years.
Another move and I have an open under stair closet that is roughly 100 cubic feet in my 14 x 24 space. I bought a hollow core door and "solidified" it with an inch of MDF. (I know not up to Jon Marsh standards, maybe the next time). Mounted the XJ-15s in it and hooked them up to my DH-500. It's not quite IB, since the space is small enough to raise the Qts up to .65 according to WinISD, but better than any box I could come up with. I replaced a JBL 2245H sub EQ'd to a 24 Hz F3 with a Q=2 high pass filter (1983 Audio magazine project). So with an IB sub with about the same F3, it's interesting to hear the difference between a low Q 12dB/octave roll off and a high Q quasi 5th order cutoff.
So far I have just tweaked the level by ear and it's easy to see what the fuss is about. Now the bass is significantly more distinct with music and LFE sounds more realistic. Now to set the levels by measuring and play with a bit of EQ and see how it goes. In theory I can get 100+ db down to 10 Hz with the pair.
As CJD said in another thread, it's going to be hard to go back to the box if I ever have to. My girlfriend complains about the 8 cubic foot JBL box, but her only reaction to "look how I am getting rid of that box" was "You cut holes in the closet door?"
Project proof picture attached.
Another move and I have an open under stair closet that is roughly 100 cubic feet in my 14 x 24 space. I bought a hollow core door and "solidified" it with an inch of MDF. (I know not up to Jon Marsh standards, maybe the next time). Mounted the XJ-15s in it and hooked them up to my DH-500. It's not quite IB, since the space is small enough to raise the Qts up to .65 according to WinISD, but better than any box I could come up with. I replaced a JBL 2245H sub EQ'd to a 24 Hz F3 with a Q=2 high pass filter (1983 Audio magazine project). So with an IB sub with about the same F3, it's interesting to hear the difference between a low Q 12dB/octave roll off and a high Q quasi 5th order cutoff.
So far I have just tweaked the level by ear and it's easy to see what the fuss is about. Now the bass is significantly more distinct with music and LFE sounds more realistic. Now to set the levels by measuring and play with a bit of EQ and see how it goes. In theory I can get 100+ db down to 10 Hz with the pair.
As CJD said in another thread, it's going to be hard to go back to the box if I ever have to. My girlfriend complains about the 8 cubic foot JBL box, but her only reaction to "look how I am getting rid of that box" was "You cut holes in the closet door?"
Project proof picture attached.
Who'se counting? This is where those albums with detail in the bass (this is one reason I really enjoy Bela Fleck for showing off subwoofers) really start to shine. Or rather, let the system shine.
:twisted:
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