Starting my DIY build

georgesguitars

Greetings All,
Well, the Fane speakers are finally on the way and the Eighteen Sound's are here. I'm starting the cabinet building process now. Before I even cut the wood I have a question (which will probably reveal yet more newbieness) about the ports in the Fane 125 litre cabs: What about the tubes connected to the port openings? 4" pipe is mentioned. How long are they? I can't tell from the plans or the photo if there's a tube there. It looks like a 4" round hole to me. Gadget, in the DIY subs post talked about using wood blocks and brads to secure the tube. I think I understand the rest of the plans. The Eighteen Sound cab design has no tubes and seems simple enough for the 12 pages of plans they provide.
Next it will be about Smaart...

Gadget

Ah George...the numbers are there...they aren't really HIGHLIGHTED ... but I just built the 125's and they really do kick ass..

Technical Data..
System Components:
Port Length: 162mm...

K?
G

georgesguitars

Ahh, now I see it, right there on the FRONT PAGE. I've only been looking at these plans for months now. What about for the speaker pole insert? Is that a tube as well? Thanks

Gadget

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=245-012

georgesguitars

Now, one last thing: does the fact that our birch plywood here in Roanoke at Lowe's is 3/4" (19.05mm) instead of the 18mm specified in the plans? Will that change the interior volume of the cab enough to make it function improperly? I think the thicker sheet decreases the interior volume be a millimeter and a fraction x 8 sides. Is that correct? Do I want to lengthen the "short" sides by the difference? Thanks for the parts express links and ALL the help!

Gadget

not enough difference to worry about.. did you notice that the cab has three different drivers that it spec's... it works well with a few others as well. 1500 watts worked pretty well with these cabs.. I just built 2 for a guy and got him a Behringer EPX 3000 run in bridged mono. Place both cabs together in a mono block wherever possible... you will get 3dB of free power and and the response of the cabinets is smoothed... the mor cabs the smoother , and lower the response will be.

With 2, I put a 45 hz bw18 HPF and with 12 " tops a 118hz LPF. I added a PEQ @60hz bell Q=~3. cut 4-4.5dB.
another PEQ @ 100hz with a Q of about 1.5 and a cut of 3.6dB.

G

georgesguitars

Oops. Lowe's website lists that their 3/4" plywood as 18mm. Went to my Dad's. He's got a couple of sheets of it, measured it: 18mm. So, please disregard my last STOOPUD post.

georgesguitars

I'm building 4. So, 1500 watts each... Placement? Grouping? Other x-over settings? Will 4 be too much for my tops, QSC HPR153i? (just do it all for me...)

georgesguitars

The 2 Eighteen Sound cabs (18LW1400--1000watt speakers) I plan on putting under my buddy's Yamaha CV115's (500watt passive tops), then giving the tops 1000watts each and the subs 2000watts each. He doesn't have the poweramps yet or a DSP at all so, that upgrade and learning curve is in his future, he's just unaware of it.

Gadget

I'm building 4. So, 1500 watts each... Placement? Grouping? Other x-over settings? Will 4 be too much for my tops, QSC HPR153i? (just do it all for me...)

Those tops and subs should be pretty close, you might want to consider crossing between 100 and 118 hz...that way the tops will have a better chance of keeping up ...wish I could be mouse in the corner when you fire those up for the first time may I recommend "the Eagles" Hell freezes over...Hotel California... :shock: :shock: :shock: That first kick drum hit is EPIC!

I'm building 4. So, 1500 watts each... Placement? Grouping? Other x-over settings? Will 4 be too much for my tops, QSC HPR153i? (just do it all for me...)

:? pretty much did that didn't I.... :?
G

georgesguitars

Thank you, sir. I will share my excitement with you all as soon as they are up. Good suggestion of The Eagles. It will be ceremonial...

Dr. J

Hey George -- I finished my FANE subs last night. Now I have 4 -18's that match! Wow -- it wasn't easy getting it done. Now my system consists of:

Presonus StudioLive 16.4
DriveRack 260 -- the bomb!
DriveRack PA -- for monitors
DriveRack PX -- for drum monitor
D.A.S. RF 12.64 series tops -- very nice!
FANE Sub boxes loaded w/ P-Audio Challenger series C18-650EL
4 - EP2500 Behringer Poweramp (It does the job.....when they don't melt down)
Mac G4 loaded with Smaart
HP Laptop with 260 GUI
Presonus StudioMobile firewire interface used to run Smaart.

I have nearly ARRIVED!

Well -- I would like to have new amps like some XTi 6000's and another set of D.A.S. Tops -- then I would have to say I have arrived. By then Gadget will have me talked into something else that will shatter glass or rattle ceilings so bad it looks like it is snowing inside all year round! It has been a journey for sure and I love it. I could very easily run sound for a living if it called for it here but the weekends is all I get.

Keep at it George! Well -- I am off to CMA Fest Nashville. Four days of Tennessee titan stadium packed with the most rediculous sound system I have ever seen or heard. Last year the Kick drum just hammered you clear across to the other endzone. Very cool & of course Delay towers positioned just right. Man -- I would love to listen at the mix position and just observe.

Dr. J

Well I am a little bummed that the sound system at CMA Fest didn't kick like last years. The most noticeable thing was NO Delay towers. Some bands sounded great and others sounded really mediocre. I walked away with the impression that I am proud I have been able to tune my system to sound really good thanks to all on here. I was struggling with bands where the kick drum could not be heard or the guitars. I wanted to run down to the mix tower and take over Maybe next year.......

Gadget

Hey J
Ya Mikey was down there and he had on of the acts and he said the rig was a D&B and there just wasn't enough power for the rig...Could have hooked you up with him but it was too late when I found out you were going...
G

Dr. J

That would have been sweet. He gave me his number a long time ago but I never really wanted to bother him. Iwanted to get more Smaart experience under my belt before I asked questions. Then Dennis came along so I started bugging him.

The system in Nashville sounded good with some acts and not so good with others. Jason Aldean's band is awesome live. They really rock up country if you want to call it that. Rascal Flats on the other hand didn't sound like I expected. Kick was mushy and dull. Couldn't hear the guitar and vocals seemed distant. One year they had delay towers to keep it in your face and it sounded really good.

Dennis

Dr. J wrote:

One year they had delay towers to keep it in your face and it sounded really good.

When there are budget cuts at an annual festival, the delays are the first thing to go.

Dennis

Gadget

The news didn't mention that Nashville was hit HARD with flooding. The Grand Ole Opry and most of the venues were under water... digital consoles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars had muddy water running out of them...amp racks and seats were junk... unlike New Orleans, they never complained, didn't call in the government.. ask for the national guard...bitch to the media..they just all pitched in and did what they had to do. But that meant that things were tight this year. As I said there was a d&b rig with not enough horsepower there this year. It sounded ok to Mikey, but as he said there wasn't enough power...It wasn't a Meyer rig, but at least it wasn't a JBL rig...

As for the:

The system in Nashville sounded good with some acts and not so good with others.

The BE is almost everything...some suck eggs...

I'd rather mix on almost anything than a JBL rig... (oh.. or Blose :roll: )
G

Dr. J

Yeah I knew they were doing the best they could. It is funny how you say Nashville never complained but stood up. Trace Adkins said the same thing: Nashville doesn't bitch much they just "Cowboy Up & take care of business -- I am proud of this community"

They did a fantastic job down there and pushing the event forward was the best thing they could have done. There were 300,000 - 400,000 people there that week & 50% of it went to flood relief and the remainder to other various organizations. NONE for the artists.

I also didn't see anyone pushing big screen T.V.'s down the street.

Since getting into sound systems -- I really missed the delay towers. Oh well, maybe next year.

maddog

I've been kicking around building some subs for awhile now and getting ready to take on the task.
I'm pretty good in the wood shop and was going to build some labs.
Should I consider the sub your talking about in this post instead and can you give the link to the specs your using?

Dr. J

Lab subs would probably be the ultimate. They are going to cost way more to build (& time) than the Fane DIY boxes. The Fane boxes are really easy to build & will cost you less than $500 per box finished & loaded. I have four of them and I really like them. You can't build a better quality box for the price than these. I saw a simple 18 sub box on a well known music site the other day for $999.00. I know one FANE would smoke it and better yet -- you get two for the price of one. Build it out of Baltic birch 18mm (13ply) with the right glue & the thing ain't coming apart. Very solid!

They are plenty powerful enough for the venues I take them into and when really cranked -- some folks start to get a little nauseated. I can't imagine LabSubs in the venues I run for. I would like to try it though.

Here is the link to the Fanes: http://www.fane-acoustics.com/resources.aspx

I would really research this before dropping a ton of cash on subs. JBL SRX 728's $1,529 plus shipping $69.99 = $1598.99. Sure it is a dual 18 but for a few more bucks you can have four 18's that when coupled together will give you all kinds of free dB.

Gadget

but the LABsubs area comopletely different animal :shock: If weight and size are issues though..maybe a smaller sub like the Fanes would be better.. the LABs are a bitch to build also..
G

maddog

This was wrote earlier in the posts and I'm a little confused.
"FANE Sub boxes loaded w/ P-Audio Challenger series C18-650EL"

I thought the 125 liter subs are 15".
http://www.fane-acoustics.com/downloads ... 25Lres.pdf

maddog

Ok I see now what going on :oops: , this thread has gone a few different directions. So do I go for 15"s or 18"s. :?

Gadget

If size and weight are a consideration.. then go with the 15" if you play for people that ave visually oriented into "Bigger is better" ...then build the 18".. If you want a 2X15 or 2x18 instead simply place two together and eliminate one thickness of side panel...there really isn't any real output difference, or real lower frequency extension.

If you want the best performance... use the Fane woofers. I believe Loudspeakers plus can get them again. OR MCM audio can special order them.
Gadget

maddog

I want to replace these Carvin1802's and bottom line Jbl's with the Fane's. But the venues I do only need what I have already, BUT theirs a few that I need some LABS so I'm saving the money spent on Fane's and just going to through down 6 LABS. The brother in law is a great wood worker/cabinet builder and said he would help (work off a dept) so that's the plan Stan.

I can power these with a Soundesign AM/FM/8 Receiver right?

Gadget

Only 6

That will put a pucker in your sucker for sure...


ya... maybe a pair of those amps might be needed...

maddog

Plans changed after pricing everything, doing 4 for now, Still exciting though .
The speakers are 6 ohm,hmmm. I have 2 XTI 4000's

Parallel wiring each cab (3 ohm) and run 2 cabs (stereo) from each amp :?:
Around 1400 watts per cab :?:

Gadget

Run stereo, because each is more like 3.1 ohms per cab...one lab per channel..yes

2000 watts per cab is just about right.
g

georgesguitars

Hey, I'm the knucklehead that started this whole thing. Glad to see the confab continues. I have completed 2 Eighteensound cabinets. Plans are available on their website for this cabinet. The speaker is an Eighteensound 18LW1400. I have 4 of the Fane Collossus 15XB speakers and all the wood cut for 4 of their 125 litre cabs. Construction begins next week. It's taken so long because I can only give it a couple of hours a week as I am an indentured restaurant employee. Every other minute I devote to learning to play the guitar (after 35 years). It's poweramp time now. The Crown XTI 6000 was on sale at the time this thread started $999.99 from NSL. Now it's $1999.99. I just wasn't ready then. I'd like to use one poweramp to run the 2 Eighteensound cabs or 2 Fane 125 litre cabs or all four Fanes. Is there one ideal poweramp for these separate applications? All of the speakers are 8ohm not like some of the sexy things I've read about as I glanced over this thread. I'll try to post more pics too. I've got a couple showing the boxes open as well as finished.

georgesguitars

Well, the photos are too big to post here it seems. They are my facebook.com page. George Fender is the name. There are a couple of interior views with my 87 year old Dad and younger brother, a couple from home etc. You have to be careful with this stupid iPhone. If it's not lined up straight on top/bot left/right your target, it can distort. There is a picture of Debra standing next to the stack of newly completed subs out in my Dad's driveway. It looks like Jed Clampett built them in those photos, leaning to the left. I haven't put a grill on them yet.

georgesguitars

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... b05d6d5732
There's the link for the Jed Clampett and other photos.