mfishmike

Doing this will raise the tuning frequency since you now have more PR surface area. It's the same as adding a port. Remove the driver and replace it with an MDF disc of the same size. Just temporarily bolt it in. -Robert Thanks Robert, Good thought...... It's been a while since I've built this one and I forgot about those numbers....

Has anyone in this forum used the RL-S in a home theater sub yet? All I read which is limited, is for car audio applications......looking for some feedback before I spend the big bucks.....

Mike, I've taken my system off of the market. Too hard to replace what I have for the money I was asking. My wife just blew both drivers with Jurassic Park 2. I had the gains on both amps set on full 1450 watts and wasn't in the room when she switched movies. As soon as I heard it, I shut down the gains but it was too late. I just ordered one of the RLS-15's and will replace the top driver with it and leave the bottom driver in. I'll just disconnect the wiring and let it act as a passive radiator along with the other 4 I have in the sides. Bottom line, don't over amp your sub unless you are the only one with the controls. I enjoyed the benefits of having more power than necessary, but one mistake can be costly like this one. Mike

I'm thinking that I might wind up poping fuses all the time even if I only use one 15rls with my Tapco J2500 (supposed to be 2500wrms at 4ohms) Your 2500 watt rms is the rating of the secondary side of the amplifier. Look at the name plate rating on the rear of the amp and where it tells you 120 v, 60 cycles, it should give you "amps" or "watts" That is the number you need to be concerned with, your actual current draw. If the primary load is 1500 Watts divide number that by the voltage of 120, and you will get the total amp draw of 12.5 amps. Anyone know how to figure out how much your outlets can take withouut giving out? other than buyying a huge inefficient sub and trying it. Your standard household receptacles are rated at 120v at 15 amps. Go to Home Depot and buy a commercial grade "120V" "20 amp" receptacle. It is an identical replacement with an extra sideways slot (unused). If you really want to get fancy, go to a electrical wholesale supplier and by a 20 amp hospital grade receptacle for the premium contacts and service. Make sure you have #12 (gauge) wiring for your 20 amp circuit and breaker. #14 guage is only good for 15 amps, max! DON'T STICK IN A BIGGER BREAKER ON A #14 WIRE!!!! I'm running a high current Rotel 1065 with some other misc equipment, and also have two of the QSC 1450 amps bridged together for each of the subwoofer drivers in my sub, so I needed more electricity. I pulled two more dedicated circuits for the amps. Before, my recessed lights were dancing/dimming to the music in the living room with just one QSC. Not a good thing. If you are running a 2500 watt amplifier, the output voltage of the speaker wires may reach up to 100 volts, so be careful in the routing of your speaker wiring through paneling, walls, and combustible materials. You will need to conform to NEC 2005. Read your manual carefully! Have fun, Mike Cason

Here is the link to the finished project and associated construction photos and descriptions of the materials used. Follow the rest of the posts in this thread to see how I blew out the existing passive radiators, then I had to rebuild them again. I am driving this beast with two amplifiers now and have made posts regarding the final outstanding results in this thread. http://photobucket.com/albums/b148/mfishmike/ I'm rebuilding my home theater subwoofer for the 3rd time and am anxious for the delivery of the 2-Premium 15" drivers. I'll be installing them in a 1 1/4" walled cabinet with 4-1500 gram 15" passive radiators. I've been using two 12" Titanic MKIII's, but am not getting the performance in this type of configuration that I really want. The passive radiators eliminated the mid-bass boom and really smoothed out the bass with the Titanics, but the over all performance was not what I was hoping for. This is an expensive way to build a speaker, but you get what you pay for! I'll have two active and 4 passive drivers in a single cabinet. I'll keep the group posted with the results and am open to emails. I see more posts in this forum relating to auto installations, so for those of you that are interested in the home theater use of Mike's Sound Splinter Premium drivers, watch my posts as I'll have them finished by the end of the weekend. Attached is the photo with the Titanics before I disassembled the cabinet last weekend. I hope to be ready for the drivers when they get here Thursday. Mike Cason

Mike, It's been about 6 to 7 months now since the sub has been finished which represents plenty of break in time, and the bass quality is so realistic and appears to have improved more with this break in time. I have recently upgraded my satellite system to the 5 LNB Direct TV High Definition dish and the HD H20 receiver. The digital sounds have been improved with the HD channels, and really shows off your drivers in my sub. It can't get any better! If I build another sub, I won't use the plate amps because what I keep hearing in the audio stores, is that they must have a bass boost that overdrives the bass punches and they almost sound trashey and boxey, unlike the QSC's which only amplifies the actual output signal from the receiver presented to the amplifier's circuit. I still plan on upgrading to the Rotel RB 1090 when I can afford it and get rid of the fan noise I hear from the QSC's. I'll have a pair of the QSC 1450's for sale then. I see you still haven't added my photo series yet. I don't know how long Photobucket will let me keep those photos online. If you need any other pics, feel free to email me and I can either send them to you or post them at Photobucket if you still intend to post them. Hope you are having a good year...... Thanks, Mike

Hey Matt.... I'd tell the car wash folks they messed up your driver and ask them to give the whole speaker cabinet a free car wash. That way the cone would look uniform!

Be sure to use dual flared ports. PSP sells them through Parts Express.com. They have attachable flares for the inside and outside mounting to eliminate or reduce port huffing and noise. I used to use PVC pipe and toilet jacks in the old days, but the flared ports are the way to go. Watch your clearances from the sides, bottom, and rear of the cabinet too. If the port seems to be toooooo long, go to a larger diameter port and shorten it up to get the desired cu inches. Mike

I think you would be defeating the intention of the design you are referring to. The passives would probably take away the effects that particular configuration was design to excel in. You probably won't find the passive radiators in the M & K line of subs. Send Daniel an email with your idea. I've shared thoughts with him in the past and find him to very knowledgable and a very fine fellow. He's been around a long time and has worked primarily with the subwoofer designs. He will email you back. aktiondan@yahoo.com Mike

Eldorado....the rear of his driver is up against the rear of the box. We're talking pole port air displacement, not cabinet porting....

Jeremy, I pulled up a pic that Mike sent me when I bought my two drivers and that pole vent hole is larger than I remembered. It looks about 3/4" to 1". It is probably the air compressing against the back of the cabinet making the port noise? Crazy, crazy thought, but maybe you could use a 1 1/4" hole saw and drill a hole directly behind that pole vent and insert a pvc tube flush or almost flush with the back of the driver to test it. You shouldn't hear the pole piece air displacement in the trunk. Then if it works, glue in the tube to the cabinet and cut it off flush. You won't have to expand your box anymore either. If it doesn't work, plug the hole because you won't see it anyway when the cabinet is installed. It shouldn't affect your cabinet's design performance and might save you a lot of work. This idea is way out in left field, but this is DIY with one of it's many challenges and it might work! :ph34r: Mike

email me at mfishmike@mindspring.com with your phone number and I'll call you right now. It's free for me. Mike

Notice the ports I have on my front lower baffel. I had to cut off the bottoms due to my eggcrate liner, but you can see what I'm talking about. You should have two left over flared ports from your project. You may have to remove the driver to get it inside the cabinet. Your three inch tubes should have dual flares too. Just cut off an inch from the tube and glue the flare on. Make sure that each flare = one inch of flare length. Mike

Give it a shot.....be sure to have the ports flared inside the cabinet too... Good luck!

i wanna fix my car up to one day be a show car... when my trunk is open, i want things to be near flawless i guess ill have to mod my box or something then, add a baffle, cut the holes bigger or SOMETHING... ill try to figure it out. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I would go from 3" to 4" ports. That would be the easiest and cheapest way to go. Be sure to re-calculate the port size lengths with your cabinet volume. They would look cool too.... Make sure you use the flared ends both inside and outside the cabinet that came with your Precision Ports. You may also want to have a small amount of dampening material in the sub to absorb any pole venting noise. I would keep it to a minimum so your box calculations aren't affected. Man that's what this DIY stuff is all about....It can sometimes be a challenge to get it right! Mike

Vance Dickason reccomends that ports should not extend any closer than 3" from the rear of the cabinet. You may need to go to larger porting to reduce the length. Personally, I wouldn't try to put a 90 degree elbow in them. Mike

Some of your internal bracing may be restricting the lower port. If your driver is closer to the upper port, you may want to install some sort of interior baffel or partition material to balance the rear driver reflections to both ports equally. I would have someone with Bass Box Pro or a similar program to check your box calculations too. I beleive the Precision Products website has a simple calculator you can use. I had port noise problems with my original sub design and switched to passive radiators, probably not feasable in automotive use. If the noise gets any worse in the mean time, I would keep a roll of t-p handy..... Mike

I would be honored to have my project posted on your main website. :dancingsmilie: I watched a portion of a submarine movie last evening, and the audio effects were stunning! This subwoofer has a deep whole very realistic sound, not like a box thumped with a rubber mallet! I've decided never to be in a submarine when there might be depth charges going off! What those guys must have endured! Mike, have a great year in '06 and keep up the good work! I think you will do well. You've set a new standard in service, reliability, and honesty....referring to prompt emails, shipping when promised, and the disclosure of the Supreme series setback...... Mike Cason

i got my new components in the car this a.m. its good when the latest upgrade works im with you on that, id like to watch 'little nicky' on your h.t.rig..or anything for that matter i still encorage you to build a 'housewrecker' one day when you have a few hours to kill.steve deckert who desighned it is a very very clever man, the housewrecker is a very very serious sub, desighned to fill very large spaces with very serious bass. it doesnt sound like you 'need' one but i would love to hear your thoughts on the differences between the two? www.decware.com <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I've studied the isobarik designs, and plan on staying with what I'm familiar with for the moment. I just might want to try something different later though. Send me a private email with photos of what you have and how you've configured yours as the plans from Decaware have different configurations. mfishmike@mindspring.com

Mike, It's here, hooked up and is some kind of powerful! After hooking up the second QSC RMX 1450 bridged/mono to 1400 watts @ 4ohms (one amplifier per driver), I was very cautious with the controls. I set all of the Rotel's internal subwoofer settings to a final +2 db setting. I started out again with Michael Murray's organ performance on Telarc's SACD at high volumes, and gradually increased the amp's gains to about 90% without hearing or seeing any indication of straining or overdriving the RL-P 15" drivers and the two amps never clipped. I have all of the QSC's filters turned off for home theater because I want to hear those low end rumbles and effects. My last music DVD was Clapton's Crossroads and again, the gains were not moved. I have a test dvd with a short piece from The Haunting. I had pictures falling down on the shelves, doors rattling, pictures on the other side of the house sounded like teeth chattering as they were bouncing against the walls. I had to turn the gains down on that one! It was an entirely awesome experience! I have interior hollow 6 panel doors throughout the house, and you can put each hand on both sides of the door, and you can feel them swell from the bass. I need to leave the closet doors in the living room and hallways cracked open to keep them from rattling in the strike plates. The low frequency shakes them using the space inside the closet spaces. For the very serious and "responsible" home theater or music buff, I would recommend this type of subwoofer. I routinely visit the high end and retail audio stores and listen to the little cubes, some with cute little blue lites and remotes. They are small and don't take up much room, but they sound just like little cubes! Some are sealed, some are flared ported, and some are slot loaded ports, but they all still sound like boxey, thin walled cubed subwoofers. Perfect for apartment homes and condos, but not for a home with the listning area that can support larger systems. I have listened to B & W, Vandersteen, Legacy, Klipsch, Velodyne, and many others, and I like mine better, and not just because I built it. Legacy was the closest contender and they do indeed have a great product. Some speaker manufacturers use passive radiators to make the speaker look better and like there are more woofers. The average retail stuff doesn't sound any better with the small cheap passive radiators. They can be found in the "white van speakers" too, but are junk. These four passive radiators mass loaded to 1100 grams are an awsome compliment to the Sound Splinter drivers, and they do their job well. When I say "responsible", I mean if you are going to listen to rap or audio that is geared just to making a ton of continuous bass, you can't drive these RLP's at full 1400 watts without burning up everything. You need to set those gains to what you are going to listen to for the evening. The extra power really added more headroom for those richer bass notes, percussion, and home theater effects. You could probably get the same results with dual subwoofer plate amps mounted on the back of the sub, but getting to the controls would be difficult to adjust every time you changed uses of your system, ie movies or music tracks. My amps are in the equipment rack, so when I change a CD or DVD, I can adjust accordingly. Thanks again Mike, Mike Cason

Now Fed Ex won't deliver my 2nd amp till monday the 19th. I won't have the results till Tuesday.....I hope.....but it is still a beast with just one!!!!!!!! I'll post the results when they are both hooked up!!