# CSS SDX10 Ported Build Thread



## Owen Bartley

I have finally been able to start my second sub build, and it is long overdue. First of all, I have to thank Sonny and the Shack, and Bob and Creative Sound Solutions for the driver, via this past summer's contest thread. I had some early plans, which I mostly stuck to, and the enclosure is a pretty standard ported 1.56 cubic ft., tuned to 24.5 Hz. It ends up with a 3" port, 17" long with a roundover at one end.










The amp I chose was the BASH 300, also from CSS, which I ordered when I won the SDX. I'll have some bracing built in when I see how the internals look, and it does use a double thick front baffle. It looks like this will share LFE duties with my old faithful Tempest, depending how they play together. Enough talk, here are some pics, and I'll keep updating as I go. 

This is a very nicely built driver, with some good looking binding posts.









I almost missed the smell of MDF dust!









This is a pretty small sub, almost like a slightly larger, fatter tower PC case.









It's also packaged pretty tightly, but everything should fit well.









Front firing, and I'll have to do a decent job finishing it since I want it up front in the room.









I got as far as cutting out the amp mounting hole, and rounding over the inside edge.









I know it won't really do anything, but I want to round over all inside edges anyway. Makes me feel better.









More to come soon...


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## Owen Bartley

*** SPECIAL SIDE PROJECT ACTION ***

Since I wanted to do everything a little nicer, a little cleaner, and a little better this time around, I decided to do the driver cutouts with a router, using a jig, instead of hand cutting with a jigsaw and having ugly wavy lines. This necessitated the construction of the jig. thanks to some very informative posts here at the Shack, I think we were able to get off to a good start.

The jig is made from 1/4" plexiglass. Here it is taped to the original router piece for sizing.









Drilling the holes...









...and countersinking.









Test fit went well.


















Out comes the centre hole...


















And we taped a line...









...and marked out the measured locations where the pivot holes would be for standard 8" to 15" drivers (for mounting and flush mounting.









*UPDATE:* Here it is just about finished and ready to try some test cutouts









I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and it worked quite well in the end.


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## Mike P.

Nice cabinet work. :T What will you be setting the high pass filter to?


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## Sonnie

I have one of these that I may use in the great room after I move the Pulse out to the HT room. This will give me a good idea of something I can follow. I look forward to seeing the finished project and the results. :T


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Mike. I actually somehow managed to mess up the length on the sides, which is why there's a 3/4" overlap in the pic with the amp. Then when I saw it, I contemplated leaving it as a "design feature" to help protect the connections at the back.

Based on this spec sheet, it seems to have 1db of boost from 25-30Hz, but I haven't been able to determine if there is a rumble filter or not. If that's true, I'll just leave it alone, but I'd rather not have it cutting any of the signal above tuning.

Sonnie, I'll keep you updated. It seems like you have your hands full with your next big project, which I'll be following too! This little guy's not quite in that league, but so far it seems like it will be a great small sub.


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## Mike P.

The Filter Fc is the frequency of the rumble filter. The default value is 17.7 hz.


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## Owen Bartley

Either I was really sleepy when I was looking that up last night, or incredibly lazy. I'll probably just leave it at the default value, but now that I'm looking over it with fresh eyes, and comparing to the Win ISD model you made in my old thread, it might be pretty nice to have the 3 or 4db boost around 25Hz (green). Would that just wreak havoc on the excursion do you think, or would I be safe at reasonable listening levels with 300w? It's still technically above the designed tuning frequency.


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## Mike P.

With a 22.8 high pass filter and 3 db of boost you'll reach Xmax at 33 hz with 110 watts and have a large hump in the response. With a 20.4 HPF and 1 db of boost Xmax is reached at 33 hz with 300 watts, a much better choice.


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Mike, I guess that makes my choice easy. It's amazing how thoroughly I've forgotten how to model a speaker and check parameters like that after a few months away from it. And I can always tweak the response with the BFD if I want to add a little more low end boost and tame earlier humps.


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## Owen Bartley

Small update today. I decided to order one of the flared port kits from CSS to compliment the CSS amp and driver, so I should have a 3FP kit coming soon. 










Now I have to adjust the length for the flares on each end to keep my tune, but is there a formula for that, or a general rule of thumb? I was set on a 17" port without the flare.


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## Mike P.

A flared port 19 inches long would tune your box to 24.5 hz. The 17 inch port will tune the box to 25.9 hz. You can order a 2" extension piece and another connecting ring from CSS.


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## Bent

Owen, any chance you can confirm the cutout and heat sink plate measurments on the 300 watt BASH?


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## jmuir

Owen - Excellent work on the cabinet and circle cutting jig. Glad I clicked on it because I never would have taken into consideration the impact of the flared port on the tuning. If you like the 3/4 inch overlap of the side panels to the back panel, just say it was intended in the final design. People will never know the difference. I do like the fact that it kind of blocks the view of the amp terminals from the side. Cannot wait to see the finished sub.

John


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Mike, I sent a quick email over to Bob at CSS, and if he catches it, I'll have a 19" tube (although that may not fit), otherwise I'll just extend it myself to a length that isn't too close to the rear wall.

Bent, off the top of my head it was exactly 6" x 10" measured, but you have some room inside that, and I think I ended up making it about 1/8" smaller in both dimensions. I'm not sure on the outside measurements of the plate, but I can check it for you tomorrow night when I'm home.

John, thank you! I may just leave them as-is, depending on how I decide to finish the sub and if it will make things difficult or not. I like your point about hiding the connections, I hadn't thought about that. Actually, I might even glue one on the top to match!


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## Bent

Thanks Owen, I'm toying with the idea of a SDX-10 and BASH 300 in the convoluted tube Idea I'm playing with on another thread.
I'd stand the amp on edge and install it into a cutout on the side of the tube - a challenging feat in-of-itself.


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## Owen Bartley

I'll have to check out your thread... I'd be interested to see another build with this driver! I know there are a few around somewhere. I would have liked to put it in a larger, lower tuned enclosure, but sometimes you just have a need for a reasonable sized sub (I know some would disagree with me  ). I know I'll have more options for giving this li'l guy a good home.


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## Owen Bartley

Still plugging away a this when I have the time, and we made some more progress tonight. Finished the circle jig (updated above), and cut some holes. It worked pretty well, except at the point of entry, where it left a bit of a groove. It was a bit hard to get started.

First we measured out the mounting location. My original plan called for a centered mounting, but since the Precision Port I ordered flares from 3" to 6 1/4", I had to move it up and over a bit. I THINK I have enough room now... otherwise I'll work something around.









A test cut with the jig.









Here's the inner baffle









And the outer baffle. It fits quite snugly, but I don't think that should be a problem.









And the final baffle positioned together.









Still couldn't get perfect circles, although they're much better than cutting with a saw would have been. That's all for tonight, next time I'll probably set up the port, cut some braces for the side panels, and maybe get started with assembly. I'm still thinking about finish options, but it will probably be pretty simple.


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## Bent

Owen, it looks like your router might be wandering a tad - not a lot though.
it's either the pivot pin or the router base.

What size hole is required for the port?

I used a hole saw and a vacuum to do a few holes for port flares (they happened to be the right size) in 3/4" mdf.
the vacuum would pull the dust out before it could clog the teeth and build up too much heat. Also, if you turn piece over you'll avoid tearing the far side of the hole.


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## Owen Bartley

Yeah, being my first attempt, I'm sure I wiggled it a little bit. I think next time I'll cut 9/10ths of the hole and then go back over the rest of it once or twice quickly to clean up any bumps, and then finish the cut. 

I'm not sure what size the cutout is for this flare, but that's exactly what I did for the cutout in the plexiglass jig, so if I can use it here it would be great. Thanks for the tip.


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## ISLAND1000

Hey Owen,
What do we know about the frequency response of the SDX10 above 40hz? I'm trying to put a 2 or 3 way together for mains starting with a 10" like the SDX10? Looking for ultra-smooth that'll play at 110db.


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## Owen Bartley

Hey Phil, I really have no idea how this driver performs in the upper range, and I couldn't find much when looking around either. I did find one thread about the SDX10 vs SDX7 in a tower speaker, and it sounds like they were leaning towards the 7, or dual 7s. 

The official PDF isn't much help, and all I know otherwise are the T/S Parameters:

Fs: 26 Hz
Qes: 0.47
Qms: 4.0
Qts: 0.42
Vas: 53 L
Re: 3.5 Ohms
Xmax: 18.4mm
Sd: 300 cm^2
Le: 1.42 mH
BL: 11.8 Tm
Mms: 112 g
Pe: 300 W

I don't think this driver would have the finesse for a 2 way design, but maybe it could work well as a woofer in a 3 way. I'll look around a bit and let you know if I can find anything else, and if you do, shoot me a link. I'd be interested to see it.


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## ISLAND1000

OK, I'll keep an eye peeled for info.
I like your box dimensions and the port placement, I guess you'd call it "classical" shape and placement.
Did you find the plexiglass (see through) an advantage when using the router?


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Phil. I wanted something a little easy on the eyes with this project. I really wanted to do a curved top, but couldn't figure out a practical way to do it, and I really wanted to get going, so I stuck with a pretty standard box shape. It will be interesting to see how the Precision Port fits in (I'm anticipating I might have to trim the port flare a little), but it should be pretty enough to have in the front stage without cringing.


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## Owen Bartley

Haven't had time to get anything done lately, but I have looked at it with my newly arrived precision port, and now I have some more port questions (Mike P., these may be for you). The port lengths I have to work with are as follows:

- centre tube: 17"
- centre tube and front flare: 20"
- centre tube and both flares: 23"

The length I have available for the port from the outside front baffle where it will be mounted to the INSIDE rear wall is 19 3/4". This is even after I add 3/4" with a new top and bottom to fill in the 'lip' I was left with (described in post #5). The _original_ design used a straight 17" port, with no flare, just rounded over at one end. Right now I'm thinking about just using the flare at the front of the box, and cutting the centre tube to about 14", giving me a total length, including flare, of 17". I know it puts me closer than ideal to the rear wall, and I only have 2" of clearance when I should have at least 3", but I really want to keep the tuning as low as possible. Would this be a tragic mistake? Would it be tuned somewhere around 25Hz?


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## Bent

Owen, I realize your port is going to be offset w.r.t. the driver, but is there any chance you can add a re-base to gain an additional 3/4" for rear port spacing ala Thomas' W's AS-15 Klone?










My version (which I never did veneer, is a little more visible)









this effectively moved the port flare forward 3/4 inches to gain me the same in clearance behind the inside flare.


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## Mike P.

Owen, there is a problem. I assumed the 24.5 tuning with a 3 inch port was "designed". I have discovered that with 300 watts and a 20.4 HPF the port air speed will be 40 m/s. :blink: That's well into port noise territory. By increasing the port length to 25 inches, including both flares, the tuning drops to 21.5 hz and the airspeed is 30 m/s, which won't be a problem. Since you don't have the room for a 25 inch port, you'll need to use an elbow and turn the port up. It's the only solution I can think of.


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## Owen Bartley

Ben: I had actually been considering that, and specifically remembering Thomas W's Klone. When test fitting some bits last night I even thought about a rear facing port that I could easily build up 3/4". I think it's still an option, but I would have to get fancy with the grille in that case. If I'll see a large improvement, I think I would do it.

Mike:  That will eat up a lot more interior volume too. I guess I could always go back to the original plan and leave the flares out. Would keeping just the front flare with a total length of 17" be what you calculated to 40 m/s? I'm sure I'll end up running into size constraints with a bend as well, because the amp protrudes into the back wall a little.


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## Mike P.

40 m/s is with the flares. Port noise at that speed will be worse without them, and the end of the port is too close to the sub wall. Your cabinet volume is 2695 cu. inches. An extra 8 inches of port would take up 57 cu. inches. You can try it as you stated, if noise is an issue you can always make some adjustments later.


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## annunaki

In my opinion, even 30m/s is too high of a vent velocity. I prefer to keep the vend velocity around 17m/s. At 30m/s there is a fair amount of port compression that is building, limiting overall output as well as clean output capability.

After seeing the final layout, I would have opted for a slot vent along the bottom of the enclosure. 

Similar to this:


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## Mike P.

Port compression starts at 26 m/s from what I/ve read. You can get port noise at 30 m/s with test tones, but it's not an issue with program material in most cases. At this point his options are limited without doing a rebuild.


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## annunaki

Mike P. said:


> Port compression starts at 26 m/s from what I/ve read. You can get port noise at 30 m/s with test tones, but it's not an issue with program material in most cases. At this point his options are limited without doing a rebuild.


Mike,

I would assume that if the port hole has not been cut into the baffle, it is still an option. A folded slot internally may still be viable, though the displacement may be counterintuitive. I am surprised no one suggested it earlier. :sad2:


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## joorge

I am dealing with a small ported box, too. I wanted to use those pretty flared ports, but just didn't have room to meet all the guidelines for port placement.

I finally decided on a folded, square port. All the fitting problems disappeared and construction was simple.

You may find that a 4 1/2" x 23-24" with a max speed of 17 m/s will work. That's just a guess. I'm sure it will turn out nice whatever you decide to do.


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks everyone, I hadn't considered a slot port, but at this point it could still be an option. I haven't cut the mounting hole for the flare, so it could work. I can always find another project to use the flares in, so no problem there. 

George, would I really need it 4 1/2" ?? That seems huge! Can I reduce that to shoot for a tune in the low-mid 20's, with airspeed closer to 30 m/s? I'm with Mike, thinking that on program material I'll be fine, especially since this will be the smaller of 2 subs I'll be using for a while. It won't be cranked to the max.

When I get home tonight I'll post the actual dimensions I have to work with. I assume I can use 1/4" or 1/2" MDF or something thin so it eats up less volume?


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## Bent

Owen, I haven't run the numbers for your project in unibox, how short are you for clearance at the rear of the port?

I don't know for sure, but I'd think with a rear flare you could go a "bit" closer to the rear wall than with a straight but-end of a pipe.


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## annunaki

What is the internal width of the cabinet? .5" mdf would be allowable to help keep displacement down. I would try to brace the port though to help strengthen it. That, or build the port from some spare .5" 13 ply birch (from a cabinet maker?). It is stiffer & stronger than MDF.


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## Bent

Owen, is this a possibility?


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## Owen Bartley

Ben, that's what I was thinking about doing. I'd have to make the grille fill out the rest of the face, which could look kind of cool. Also it would keep the port out from behind the cloth which I like.

That would give me 20 1/2" of total room, which means about 18" of port length including both flares. I'm still an inch short of the length Mike calculated, but that might be acceptable.


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## Bent

You could prolly flush trim an entire new front cover - remove the flare base with a jig saw, which would ensure a symmetrical match-up and then cut the big piece out to make the grill.

or do it the way I sketchup'ed, and use the flare base as a cut-out template for something like a 1'2" thick piece for the grill


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## joorge

Owen,

I just took a stab at the numbers, but here's one way to do it accurately for your actual numbers. I use UniBox and just arbitrarily increase the size of the port until everything looks good. The port size is no longer limited to commercially available tube sizes.

Once ya get the number that works best, determine the area of that size opening (UniBox provides it). Take the square root of the area and you have the length of one side of the square port.

The advise I received was to use the port length as calculated in your program. Some advise a small correction factor, but I am going with the advise provided here.

You measure the length of the port to the center of the 90* turn in both directions. As to the volume used by this method, it doesn't change much from using a round tube. Only 2 sides of the square tube count towards the volume calculation. You also gain back the volume used for the round tube braces.

Edited to add: There is no need for bracing if you start in a bottom corner. It will be the strongest part of the box. I am stopping the port just over 1 diameter from the rear panel and starting up toward the top.


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## Owen Bartley

Quick update... I had time to do a little planning and a little work tonight. I decided to go ahead and add the extra 3/4" panel to the front corner and mount the port to it, as Ben suggested. This just ended up being the best compromise for me.

Lining up the new panel and transferring the lines to cut









The two pieces









I think I got a little carried away with the smoothing, and my pieces don't match EXACTLY, but by the time the fabric is overtop, I'm sure it will be fine. Tomorrow if all goes well I'll get the grille piece finished, and maybe even get the box braced and assembled.


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## ISLAND1000

Hey Owen,
You guys are getting just a little too slick for your own good. That's a mighty fine answer to a tough question. What're you going to name that front panel . . . . I mean what technical jargon are you going to use in the "Audiophile" discussion group to describe your product? :innocent:


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## Owen Bartley

Heh... well it was called a "front baffle port spacer" HERE, so let's just stick with that. I'm happy with the way things are going so far, and I can't wait to start assembling. 

I had another thought when mocking up the enclosure this afternoon. Would stuffing with some polyfill give me an effective increase in volume? I was planning to use some foam on the front and rear walls to help deaden reflections, but didn't think about stuffing until today.


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## ISLAND1000

Theoretically, stuffing the box, including foam and/or polyfill, will increase the "apparent" box size as much as 10-15%. To get the maximum apparent size increase will require several pounds of fill. The box will be filled but not necessarily having to squeeze the stuffing in.


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## Mike P.

Rule of thumb is one pound poly fill per cubic foot of box space. Along with making the box appear 10% or so bigger, it also has the effect of making the port appear longer so the tuning point will drop. The downside of poly fill in a ported cabinet is port output is reduced.


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Mike. I couldn't remember what the drill was in a ported enclosure. I will definitely be stuffing this project, and it sounds like with the effective increase in volume and port length I'll be back to (or slightly ahead of) the numbers I designed for. :T


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## Mike P.

I'm definitely waiting to hear your impressions when the sub is done. Your port air speed and proximity to the cabinet wall is going to make or break some port "theories". Nothing better then real world results.


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## Owen Bartley

Yeah, I'm starting to get a little nervous about that port now... but it's too late to change it anymore! I didn't quite get fully assembled today, but only the back and top are still to be glued on. I can get those taken care of tomorrow night, and then when I'm back home on Saturday, I should be able to at least get a coat of primer on, possibly after a quick test.

Progress since last update:

Cutting out the grille corners with a hole saw









Holes drilled for the plastic mounting cups to attach the grille









Edges rounded over for a nice smooth look, and so the cloth won't tear









A quick mock-up to make sure everything fits









A look inside at my staggered side wall braces









The braces were attached with glue, and screws, done with the pocket hole jig. The same was used on the front and back walls, to really anchor everything together.









Clamping the front baffle (it got screws shortly after the test fit)









I guess I forgot to take a pic of the rest of the clamping, but after a little tinkering, we got the front, sides, and bottom all attached. There were a few minor problems along the way, mostly because I've never built such a tightly packed box before, but overall things are still looking good. Hopefully more tomorrow.


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## Bent

It's funny, but this thread about the little 10"er has my interest held like nothing before.
It's looking really good so far.
I can't see the little deviations from "optimum" design altering the final result too much, I doubt the slightly crowded port flare will be audible either. Consider it this way, your attention to detail is at least double what any commercial manufacturer might use - so you can expect similar results.

Have you considered finishing options?


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## ISLAND1000

A, "Pocket hole jig" ? . . . . . alright everybody that owns and uses their pocket hole jig to assemble their sub enclosure raise your hand!! No, not you Owen, I mean everybody else . . . . . anybody???
Wow! Owen . . . . I guess you're kinda unique.


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## Owen Bartley

LOL... thanks guys.

I'm still not sure about the finish, but I think I'm leaning towards a satin or semi-gloss black, with a couple of clear coats (also satin). The front baffle I'd like to do something fun with, and I'll probably apply fabric of some kind, which will only be visible when the grille is off.


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## Owen Bartley

Alright, the box is all assembled and clamped up. Here are a few pics of tonight's work.

My port securing solution. Weather stripping tape and a metal strap.









An overhead shot before the top went on, where you can see the random bits of foam I stuck on (left over from my rear surround project)









All clamped up holding the top on









View from the front


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## ISLAND1000

What's that white rug or towel hanging between the two clamp rods in pic no.3 in this last post? Is that functional?


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## Rodny Alvarez

Looking good Owen!!:T:T


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## Bent

I bet it's there to allow better visibility of the clamps - do I win the cookie?


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## ISLAND1000

LOL, Cooooookeeeees!


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## Sonnie

He's drying out his sweat rag... onder:

It is coming together nicely Owen... :T


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## ISLAND1000

LOL, I agree, Owen IS doing a nice job. His photos are well thought out, clamps are cleverly positioned, and work shop has plenty of everything . . . . including that . . . . .rag?


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## ISLAND1000

Owen I apologize for being so light hearted and irreverent today, I've run out of valium and I can't get a hold of my shrink.


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## Owen Bartley

I have to hand out cookies now?? Well as long as it keeps you guys coming back to read, I'll see what I can do. And that towel IS functional... it's a state of the art anti-impalement device. Since my father almost skewered himself walking into one of the clamps last time, we thought it was a safety conscious addition. Ben, you win! And Phil, this is actually my father's workshop, and he does seem to have just about everything (just for you... take a look at the overhead shot where you can see a few of the pocket holes used to attach the baffle and brace to tie into the side wall). I hope you can get a new supply by the weekend! I'll be off duty until then, GF and I are going to look at our new house tonight, and take measurements (yep, I'll mostly be concerned with the HT setup), and then I'm off to do some snowboarding. I'll be back to this project on the weekend, updates to come!

And thank you all for staying tuned, and all the kind words.


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## ISLAND1000

HAH! I just KNEW that towel had a purpose. I showed all the guys in my reading class the picture and they said it was a rag just temporarily thrown on an easy to see hanger.
Alright you have some time off. Enjoy yourself . . . . . uhmmmm . . . . . I'll just uhmmm . . . . putter around the kitchen for a while until you post some new info. Oh, I know . . . to while away some time, I'll put some shoe polish on a couple pair of my old sneakers. I put black polish on my old white sneakers just to aggravate my kids. I always threaten to wear them to the mall. I tell em, " they smell worse than they look!!".


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## jmuir

Nice work, OJ. Looks great. Looking forward to seeing the finished sub.


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## ISLAND1000

Owen Bartley said:


> And Phil, this is actually my father's workshop, and he does seem to have just about everything (just for you... take a look at the overhead shot where you can see a few of the pocket holes used to attach the baffle and brace to tie into the side wall).


 That's what caught my eye in the first place. Excellent cabinet construction techniques!


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## Owen Bartley

Quick update... sanding, filling, priming, and more sanding and priming.




























More tomorrow.


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## Rodny Alvarez

Hurry up its taking tooooo looooooooong!!:dumbcrazy:


:whistling:


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## jmuir

Very nice! :T


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## Ricci

It is starting to look very good. Nice job!


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## Owen Bartley

All finished priming, and I got 2 coats of black on. This is a flat black, but I'll probably top it with a satin clear. It's pretty much in the final stages now, I'd like to give it a few good coats of the black, with sanding in between, and then a few coats of clear as well. I'll make some very simple feet and paint them separately, and just glue and screw them to the bottom from the inside. In the meantime, I'll wrap the grille, and then once everything has set up for a day or two, I'll install the driver and amp and test it out. 

First coat applied, and still wet... it looks thicker than it actually is.









First coat dry (almost). Can see a few streaks on the first coat, but I'll clean it all up.









So I'll keep painting and sanding this week, and hopefully get it to the point where I'm happy with it and can start the clearcoat.


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## ISLAND1000

First it's White, then it's Black . . . . . is that the long and short of your life Owen . . . . either black or white?? :heehee:



Naw . . . . it's looking excellent!


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Phil... and hey, I'm indecisive! What can I say?


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## collo

Can't wait to see it with the grille on and port exposed. Should look great!


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## NEO Dan

Owen, 
nice work :T

And nice camera skills on the close ups of the router jig. Looks like you know the macro maneuver, lol. If possible, or not too much of a pain could you take a couple pics of the back of the BASH 300, I'm curious as to the differences between the 300 and 500. It looks like the rear mounted heat sinking is a bit different.


Thanks 
Dan


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## Owen Bartley

Update for Friday... painting is complete, and even though there are a few little imperfections, I'm just going to move on to the clear coat. Finally the joints are almost invisible after several coats of filler, primer, roll-on paint, and finally a few coats of spraypaint.

Final coat of paint, you can see the finish is quite flat









Here's a closeup of one of the corners, with no visible joint cracks, and a very slight orange peel texture. I'm hoping that will help add a little depth after the clear.









And here it is with the first coat of clear still wet.


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Dan!

No trouble at all. I hope this helps you... The heat sinks seem to just be plain black metal plates.


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## NEO Dan

WOW OJ, 
that was quick. Thanks! Those heatsinks look to be taller, & big enough that they would require planning around. 

Thanks again, 
Dan


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## Owen Bartley

Not much of an update tonight, just wrapping up the finish. I decided that it worked best to do a fairly heavy coat of the clear, on the flat horizontal surface, so the top is done, and this side was just done, and hopefully over the next 2 nights I'll finish the other side and the front.


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## Owen Bartley

I did, however, finish up a side project I was working on... my RCA splitter, going from 1 male to 4 female, so I can split the sub out to my 2 subs and buttkicker, and one for expansion if I need it later.
































































I tested it with a meter, and all the connections seem right, but I haven't tried it in my system yet. I'm thinking I will probably have to boost the sub level from the receiver, but I guess we'll see. Frankly, I'll be happy if it works properly and doesn't introduce any hum.


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## jmuir

Looks great Owen. 

What primer and paint did you use on the finish and how did you apply it?


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks John, I started out with some basic filler putty, and went along all the joints then sanded with an orbital palm sander to try to smooth them out as much as possible. 

I can't remember what primer I used, but MDF will take pretty much anything, although it soaks up a lot, especially the end cuts. A few coats of primer, lightly sanded in between, and you're ready for your finish. * _The primer was Sico GoPrime acrylic latex_

Mine was just plain old flat black from a can, with the first few coats rolled on and sanded. The roller will leave a bit of the "orange peel" texture, which I don't mind in this case. * _Armor Coat flat black rust paint_

After sanding lightly again (mostly just to get rid of any dust or specs) I used flat black spraypaint and gave each face 2 coats, with time to fully dry in between. It just gave a little more coverage, and smoothed things out a little. * _Tremclad flat black rust paint (spray can)_

Once that had dried for a day or so, I used Para Woodcare varnish in satin (I think) finish, because I wanted to give a little depth to the final look of the sub, but still not have it too shiny or reflective. 2 coats all over, sanding with 220 grit lightly in between, and then I gave each of the front, top, and sides a final thicker coat. To do this, I had to lie the sub flat with the face horizontal, or else the varnish would start to sheet and drip. * _Para Woodcare satin polyurethane (but my dad would have preferred the Minwax polyacrylic clear satin for a bit smoother and less glossy finish)_

I should be all finished that last step this week, and then I'll give it a day or two to fully dry, and pop in the driver and amp!

(I'll try to update this post with specifics on the products used when I'm home tomorrow night)
*EDIT:* * _Updated with details in italic_


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## Owen Bartley

Tonight I just managed to get to the feet, and put the last coat of poly on the front. Now it will have till Friday to dry, and I'll get to the final assembly!


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## Mike P.

Sounds good. Can't wait for the final pics!


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## Owen Bartley

OK, all finished!

We got the feet put on









...the amp mounted









...and the driver and port mounted. Also set the cups that will hold the grille on









The grille is almost done, I'll get more into that this week. I did fire it up for a test, and it works, that's for sure. It was in a poor location, and still using the BFD settings for the Tempest, so it didn't sound great, but for a quick test run, it wasn't bad at all. I won't really fire it up until I've had a chance to break it in a bit, but I'll work on the setup this week.


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## ISLAND1000

Now THAT"S what I call a DIY project!! Boy I'm proud of THAT ONE.


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks a lot Phil! There are a few places where I'll know I screwed up, like the little part on the front where the clear didn't quite cover properly, or the corner that I bumped moving it around and had to go over with a sharpie, but overall I am very happy with the results here.


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## jmuir

Owen – the sub really turned out great. Congrats on a job well done.:T

Unless you point them out, no one will ever know about the blemishes.


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks John! I really am pretty happy with it.

I got it hooked up this evening, and had a chance to run some very brief test scenes (Balrog in LOTR, ambient "space" effects in Sunshine, and some WOTW). I'm quite impressed. This is a hard pumping little 10 incher. I turned off my usual Tempest for a bit to set the levels, and although it does give up a noticable amount to the Tempest in the low bass impact, it is still a very capable sub, and still adds some tactile shake to the room. I have a feeling that in a less compromised (read: larger) enclosure, this driver would do very well, and would satisfy most average HT enthusiasts. Even my small box would be great for most people who wanted a good solid sub, better than a boomy HTiaB kit sub, or the low end ones available at most big box stores. I'd say it quite easily outpaces many of the commercial 12" subs I've heard, although it's been a while since I've listened to many.

Unfortunately, I do have some port noise at certain frequencies and at high volume. I don't think it will be loud enough to be noticeable during regular playback, but when I was testing and sitting on the floor next to it, it was easy to hear. Thankfully, this sub won't have to be played at max volume, since it will be used with my big EBS Tempest. It does do a fantastic job of evening out the soundstage, and where I could always localize the sub in the front left corner before, adding this sub to the front right has evened it out considerably. I'll need to do some test tone tinkering, and play a bit with phase and levels, but I will probably just leave the Tempest at its already optimized settings and fit the SDX in as well as I can. In July we'll be moving into our new house, so I'm not far from a completely new HT setup to calibrate, and it is more than adequate for that time.

Thanks again to everyone for all the help with the design, and to Sonnie and Bob for the awesome contests and the driver. I'll try to do some more critical listening of just the SDX and post some impressions. For now... :T

PS, Rodny, I have a very good feeling about yours!

Here it is in its new home (for the next 4 months at least)


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## Creative Sound

Looks, great Owen.

It would be of interest to compare it to the Quartet10 with the APR10s that Mike will be building soon. Too bad we don't all live closer together.

Bob


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## Mike P.

It turned out excellent! Will you still be putting a grill on it?


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Bob! I'd love to sample some more subs, but you're right, I think we might be a little too spread out, especially to lug some of these projects around. :rolleyesno:

Mike, I am putting a grille on, it's about 80% finished, I just have to tidy up the cloth around the curve and the corners and pop the connectors on. Maybe Friday or Saturday I'll get it finished off and post some pics.


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## Bent

Bob - Canada Post Expedited makes us all neighbors.

(from the ADA 1200 guy)


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## Ricci

Way to go Owen. That is a very proffessional looking package and a great use of the SDX10.


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## Owen Bartley

Oops, forgot to post... I finished off the grille. It isn't as nice as Rodny's fancypants one, but it does the job. 










Also, I figured out that some air was leaking out around the port, because I somehow didn't silicone around it when I mounted it. Since I couldn't reach all the way in to do it now, I used some expanding spray foam insulation around the cavity where the flare enters the box, and it tightened and sealed things up perfectly. I trimmed the excess off the next day, closed everything back up... and no more port noise! Well, maybe a tiny little bit, but only noticeable when I was lying on the floor a foot from the sub listening for it.

Project: Complete.
Reaction: Satisfaction. 

:T


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## Rodny Alvarez

nice Owen!!:T

Now its Mike's turn to finish his box!!:wave:


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## Owen Bartley

Thanks Rodny... hurry up Mike! :neener:


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## Rodny Alvarez

Owen Bartley said:


> Thanks Rodny... hurry up Mike! :neener:


:yawn:


:heehee:


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## Mike P.

Looking good, Owen! I'll have mine done soon.


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## Veltinorian

Looks great Owen ! I know it is somewhat an old thread ..:scratchhead:, would you tell me please what is the brand name of the cups fitting the grille, and the male ones was it difficult to fix them on that fancy grille?


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## Prize78

How long would you say it took to do the finishing from start to finish, i.e., filling, sanding, priming, painting etc? As this is just the sort of finish i'm after for my build, but i've never done anything like it before. Is there anything i need to know that may trip me up....i understand you can get an mdf sealant to apply after the filling and sanding and before priming?? Looks great by the way.


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## Theresa

They say to add an inch to compensate for the flares.


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## Stuck Pixel

I just went through this build thread for the first time and I LOVE what you did here Owen. Whenever I get done with my mach5 project, I just might have to build me one of these 10's for my higher end bass. It's crazy, once you start building, it almost turns into an addiction. Anyways, I know this thread is a little old, but nice job buddy!


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