Jump to content
Triticum Agricolam

Series tuned 6th order bandpass experiment

Recommended Posts

I posted this over on SMD, I figured I'd put it up here as well.


 


So I've been wanting to experiment with a series tuned 6th order bandpass design for quite a while.  A conversation I've been having with another SMD member has finally motivated me to proceed with this experiment.  First a little background.


 


You don't see a lot of series tuned BP6 boxes out there and there is even less information on how to design them.  What I have been able to find has mostly been conflicting information as to if and how the tunings for the different chambers interact with each other.  Some info said they don't interact all all, some said the rear chamber will be tuned lower than if it was vented to the outside, and other info said both chambers will affect each other's tuning.  I really want to know what happens so I built a test box to see what's going on.


 


Here are some pictures of the box construction.  Its mostly made out of 3/4" OSB.  I used OSB because I don't care how the box looks, it actually stiffer and holds screws a little better than MDF, and its $14 a sheet.  The box has a 3 cube rear chamber that I was shooting for a 24 hz tuning, the front chamber is 2.4 cubes with a target 54 Hz tuning.  The sub is a Dayton Titanic 15" I picked up a while back for a song.  


 


ECqB1ug.jpg


Here is the basic layout of the box.  The shorter port panel in the rear chamber is removable so that I can adjust the tuning.


 


dwewVSU.jpg


This is the box, ready to go.  The front chamber ports are completely external so I can change them without affecting chamber volume.  The three 4" ports are just press fit into the panel so I can pull them out and cut them down easily.  There is a small window looking into the front chamber so I can see what the cone excursion looks like.  With a little bit of sawdust on the cone it's very easy to see what frequency it stops moving and thus is the tuning frequency. 


 


yrxUBnB.jpg


Here I put a bunch of foam board insulation in the rear chamber to decrease its volume and further raise the tuning.  You can see my Behringer NU3000DSP amp off the left that I was powering the thing with.


 


The question:


The question I'm trying to answer with this project is "how does the tuning of one chamber affect the other?"


 


The experiment:


To answer the question I individually changed the tuning of each chamber and measured if/how it affected the other chamber.


 


The results:


The results were pretty conclusive, the tunings of the two chambers are both linked together.  This was not the result I was hoping for or expected.  I expected that changes in the front chamber tuning would affect the rear chamber, but not vice-versa.  However what I found was when I lowered the rear chamber tuning it lowered the front as well.  Conversely, when I raised the rear chamber the front chamber's tuning was raised as well.  When I sealed off the rear chamber, making it a 4th order bandpass, I then measured the front chamber and its tuning frequency was significantly lower than when the rear chamber was allowed to vent into it like normal.  As I expected, changes to the front chamber's tuning frequency also affected the rear chamber in a similar fashion.  This means anyone who tries to design one of these boxes using the regular methods for tuning a ported box or 4th order bandpass is in for a big and unfortunate surprise. 


 


Conclusion:


This was definitely a worthwhile project for me.  While I did not get the answer I was hoping for, at least I did get an answer.  Unfortunately this means that designing a series tuned 6th order bandpass is a total pain in the ass.  Everything is fine until you want move the two chambers tuning frequencies closer together or farther apart.  Then it becomes like a dog chasing its own tail, you may be moving, but you aren't getting anywhere.  


 


Based on what I've learned I would venture a guess that the vast majority of series tuned 6th order boxes other people have built are not functioning like the builder's think they are.  I know boxes don't always have to work as intended for people to be happy with them. I just wonder what kind of performance they are leaving on the table. 


 


When I was done playing around with the thing I threw it in my Jeep to see how it sounds.  It actually sounded really good, quite punchy.  I still need to drag the box outside to measure the frequency response and efficiency.  When I do I'll be sure to post the results to this thread.


 


For anyone that is interested, the Hornresp software can model series tuned 6th orders and it turns out it models them correctly.  That's where I got the data indicating that the front and rear chamber will both affect each other, so I guess whoever wrote that piece of software knew what they were doing. 


Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Veey nice test

Thanks!  It was fun to do.  Hopefully someone else will find the info useful too.

Edited by Triticum Agricolam

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you man =] These are the kinds of posts that drew me to SSA back in the day, I love a good write up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is why I model.  I built some 6th order series tuned in the early 90's, modeling saved my butt...  I think I was using Macspeakers by Clear Image Audio back then...  Anyway, I knew nothing about dual vented bandpass designs (I was actually using a passive radiator on one side) and modeling really helped me understand how everything effects all aspects...  The same is true today...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is why I model.  I built some 6th order series tuned in the early 90's, modeling saved my butt...  I think I was using Macspeakers by Clear Image Audio back then...  Anyway, I knew nothing about dual vented bandpass designs (I was actually using a passive radiator on one side) and modeling really helped me understand how everything effects all aspects...  The same is true today...

True ****.

 

I never build an enclosure without modeling it.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×