I'm interested in building.

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

Hey guys. I've been doing a lot of research lately and it seems that the more I read, the more I want to learn about subwoofers and how they truly work. Most people know the general guidelines about how a subwoofer actually works, but I've been getting into the tiny details about what makes everything the way it is, or do whatever it does. I've started watching a lot of videos and I've done a few recones of my own, but I think it'd actually be cool to get into the business of building, and possibly even selling, subwoofers. I know there are guys like @SPLaudio out there who have been doing it for a while, and I was just wondering how everything goes from top to bottom. How'd you get into the business? Where do you order parts like spiders, terminals, baskets, magnets, or even your own custom dustcaps? How can you tell where a sub's RMS rating is at? What's the difference between a 2 ohm coil and a 4 ohm coil? I've just got a bunch of questions like this for any of you builders who have started building and selling your own subwoofers. SPL is only one of many people who build on here, so if any vendors or anybody else who simply knows anything about building can chime in, it'd be awesome! Thanks everybody!

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[SPLaudio 5,000+ posts]

there is alot to get into. how i got started was had a small audio shop but did most competition quality installs. at the time yrs ago there wasnt a 10" that would stay together from any manufacture in my car so i built my own. had other comp guys i was building for and they bugged me to sell to everyone because there wasnt anybody out there with good customer service or made a sub that would handle alot of power. also im a toolmaker by trade which gives me a advantage.

getting vendors is a hard and tricky part because you MUST use high quality parts and know them very well. i dont give out my vendors cause i have several but look around you can find.

if you need any help with woofer design, or need help in general im always here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[ciaonzo 5,000+ posts]

Please don't be another 'me too' builder, marketing a copy of a copy of a copy of a mediocre subwoofer that handles 'way more than rated', and has multiple stiff noisy spiders and horrible Qts figure. Focus your attention toward designing a low distortion motor and let the soft parts fall into place to suit the intended applications. Wide bandwidth! Look into FEA, various motor topologies, and flux geometry. Shorting rings and quiet, low turbulence pole vents. Moving mass and compliance. Low Q, medium Q, highish Q. For the love of audio, build something that makes music and not flatulence.

 

[Full Tilt 10+ year member]

Please don't be another 'me too' builder, marketing a copy of a copy of a copy of a mediocre subwoofer that handles 'way more than rated', and has multiple stiff noisy spiders and horrible Qts figure. Focus your attention toward designing a low distortion motor and let the soft parts fall into place to suit the intended applications. Wide bandwidth! Look into FEA, various motor topologies, and flux geometry. Shorting rings and quiet, low turbulence pole vents. Moving mass and compliance. Low Q, medium Q, highish Q. For the love of audio, build something that makes music and not flatulence.

I definitely wouldn't aim towards building a fart machine, if that's what you're implying. If I ever were to miraculously start producing my own line of subwoofer, I'm definitely ready for all of the testing/trial and error that goes into it. I'd like to eventually get a list of vendors that sell these parts, and go through them all to find which setup can give a musical sound while still retaining it's SPL qualities. I know the trade is a very delicate balance of parts, and I'm willing to do the testing necessary in order to be able to eventually sell a quality product.