# DIYMA R12 Subwoofer... A history lesson.



## johnmasters (Mar 30, 2009)

OK, someone started a thread recently seeking information regarding the much loved DIYMA R12 sub. Unfortunatley the thread went off topic and we didnt really get to learn much.

For me, the DIYMAr12 represents the best a forum can be. People working together because they not only find pleasure in their hobby but also find pleasure in helping others enjoy their hobby.

Luckily, I own two of these beauties. One of which i got directly from npdang during the initial offering so I know some of the basic history of this sub.

However, it would be very interesting to hear from some of the people who actually had something to do with its creation...

Whos idea was it? Who engineered it? Who worked on it? Where was it built? How much did it cost as a project? Was it ever profitable? Wheres the first one? Were there any other DIYMA projects? etc. etc.

Let the nostalgic waxing begin... 



Here is some good info in case your not familiar with this sub... 
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...yma-12-sub-clearance-until-supplies-last.html


----------



## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

Dang, seeing that original $100 shipped makes me tear up a little. How did I not buy one of these new when I had the chance?.. :tear:


----------



## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

94VG30DE said:


> Dang, seeing that original $100 shipped makes me tear up a little. How did I not buy one of these new when I had the chance?.. :tear:


Why do you think I have 4 of them?  2 of them have never seen power. The other 2 have been used in my car for nearly 2 years now and are about to be moved into my home listening room.


----------



## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

npdang is the man to snag to learn about it. It is his baby.


----------



## gymrat2005 (Oct 4, 2009)

Boostedrex said:


> 2 of them have never seen power.


hmmmm...about those two that haven't seen power


----------



## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

gymrat2005 said:


> hmmmm...about those two that haven't seen power


No way. They'll be on hand in case the 2 I do use ever fail. No plans to ever sell them. Though these subs do pop up in the classifieds quite often. IIRC, there are 2 threads on them open right now.


----------



## Gary Mac (May 12, 2009)

Speaking of the DIYMA 12, i have one, currently using it, love it, dont know a thing about the history, but need a grill for it. 

What are you guys using? I got one from parts express and it does not fit??


----------



## johnmasters (Mar 30, 2009)

I totally missed this post from the other thread...



thehatedguy said:


> Huey Tung Electronic Company manufactured the sub.
> 
> HUEY TUNG ELECTRONIC CO., LTD; ??????????,HiFi Speaker,Subwoofer,PA Plastic BOx,Tweeter,PA Speaker,Professional Audio Speaker,Car Speaker,Ceiling Speaker,In-Wall Speaker,Public address system,Components,Midrange,Multimedia Speaker
> HUEY TUNG ELECTRONIC CO., LTD; ??????????,HiFi Speaker,Subwoofer,PA Plastic BOx,Tweeter,PA Speaker,Professional Audio Speaker,Car Speaker,Ceiling Speaker,In-Wall Speaker,Public address system,Components,Midrange,Multimedia Speaker


And from beatsdownlow...

similar motor structure:
http://php2.twinner.com.tw/site/fil...&Product_SN=27294&Field_Name=Product_2_LImage


----------



## Sansuie Louie (Feb 3, 2010)

I recently picked up a couple used. Part of the appeal to me is the story of how/why they got made, neat stuff! It's a shame so many products are built with the first priority being bottom line/profit margin. I'm not against making a buck & I always say let the buyer decide what companies thrive or fail, but it's telling to see that with attention to design something can be made that outperforms much more expensive speakers from big powerhouse companies. Who doesn't love an underdog & what better example of the DIY spirit! 




I have a couple tech questions about the sub if anyone could help - maybe pm me so as not to derail this thread from the story of the speaker itself. 

1. who's doing recones and are there any reports about them after the new cone? Any significant changes in enclosure requirements? obviously tuning (I know effectively nothing of what that entails) a ported enclosure would change, but for sealed 1.4 cu foot seems to be the volume to go with. Would that desired volume change much for what I'd assume would be either a heavier and/or more flexible cone to adress the ripping/distorting issue?

2. Any advice or examples of ported enclosures for this particualr sub? I know ZERO about designing anything beyond sealed. I'll probably just go with a 1.4 cu foot sealed, but if I can get more volume and keep a comparably accurate frequency response I might be up for a challenge. It seems like there should be a few box builds for these subs on the boards, but I'm not having much luck finding any.


----------



## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Sansuie Louie,

Your in luck !! 

But ... and here's the hard part >>> what does "S.E.A.R.C.H" mean ?

1] How can I use this function ?
2] What would I type into this search function if I could find it ?
3] etc..,

Good luck on your mission to discover the secrets of this subwoofer , which was built for this site !!


----------



## Sansuie Louie (Feb 3, 2010)

a$$hole said:


> Sansuie Louie,
> 
> Your in luck !!
> 
> ...


The search function is great, I found everything I wanted to about the woofer except for ported enclosure builds or talk about dimensions of anything but sealed. I'm sure what I'm looking for is out there and I don't doubt that the fault lies in my ability to master the search function, but I didn't figure any harm in asking.


----------



## yermolovd (Oct 10, 2005)

You mean these?
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...a-vented-box-design-please-check-my-work.html
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...a-vented-box-design-please-check-my-work.html
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...iyma-x-mas-present-brand-new-diyma-sub-p.html


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Back on topic now...


I had a DIYMA R12 in a home audio sub and it was great. I originally built it for a friend but ended up keeping it because he needed something ported for home theater; which worked out perfect because I loved it so much. I ended up selling it when I was strapped for cash. I'm thinking about building another one one day.


----------



## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

ItalynStylion said:


>


This is one of my favorite pictures in this entire forum. The build pics of this project are beautiful.


----------



## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

That's some damn nice work Italyn Stylion. I'm wordlesss!


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Thanks! 

When you have a speaker that is that sexy you can't hide it's behind! If I were to do it again I'd use glass instead of plexi on the top and I might try ported. I always wondered what type of response it would have had in a ported enclosure. I'd really like to toy around with one again, try some test ported enclosures, and then do another one similar to this one.


----------



## sqoverspl (Aug 17, 2009)

ItalynStylion said:


> Thanks!
> 
> When you have a speaker that is that sexy you can't hide it's behind! If I were to do it again I'd use glass instead of plexi on the top and I might try ported. I always wondered what type of response it would have had in a ported enclosure. I'd really like to toy around with one again, try some test ported enclosures, and then do another one similar to this one.


It sounds great ported and you can forget the fragile cone issue with a ported enclosure.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

sqoverspl said:


> It sounds great ported and you can forget the fragile cone issue with a ported enclosure.


Great....just what I need....another project lol


----------



## kvndoom (Nov 13, 2009)

Wow, 100 dollars shipped...

I really picked the wrong month to *start *sniffing glue. :disappointed:


----------



## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Can I ask, where did you get the copper rods at? Great looking box btw


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

CulinaryGod said:


> Can I ask, where did you get the copper rods at? Great looking box btw


It actually comes on a large roll at Lowes. You have to straighten it out first. Once you have it totally straight you can cut two pieces the same length. Then zip tie them together so you can bend them uniformly. I show in the build thread how to do it.


----------



## dodgeman70592 (Jun 16, 2009)

ItalynStylion said:


> Back on topic now...
> 
> 
> I had a DIYMA R12 in a home audio sub and it was great. I originally built it for a friend but ended up keeping it because he needed something ported for home theater; which worked out perfect because I loved it so much. I ended up selling it when I was strapped for cash. I'm thinking about building another one one day.


I've looked at this at least 10 times....very, very, nice!


----------



## johnmasters (Mar 30, 2009)

sqoverspl said:


> It sounds great ported and you can forget the fragile cone issue with a ported enclosure.


Hmmm? 

I've just started another fiberglass box for 2 DIYMAs sealed. I wonder what the difference in sound would be between 2 sealed and 1 ported. It does appear that many folks have had good luck ported. It sure would be nice to save the weight. 

Also, there seems to be a trend whereas the DIYMA(s) start out in the car but end up finally being used in the home.

Another question I have that i cant find the answer to is "can a magnet be powder coated. These would look pretty cool with the magnets powdercoated some cool color/texture.


----------



## yermolovd (Oct 10, 2005)

There was a question about magnets. You'd have to take it apart. Can be done.

Imo, the reason they go from car to home often times I think is weight. I mean think about it, just 2 of them and you're in 75lb area, plus factor in the construction materials.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

^Yeah man, no joke. They were HEAVY mo-fos! One of my favorite woofers to work with though. Well built and gorgeous.


----------



## johnmasters (Mar 30, 2009)

yermolovd said:


> There was a question about magnets. You'd have to take it apart. Can be done.
> 
> Imo, the reason they go from car to home often times I think is weight. I mean think about it, just 2 of them and you're in 75lb area, plus factor in the construction materials.


Its interesting because people seem to like them quit a bit at home but I believe that I recall initially because of mechanical noise that npdang actually steered people away from using them at home. That must not have turned out to be much of a problem.

It may also be interesting to take a poll regarding who has warped the cone and whether they were sealed or ported. I believe those of us that are a bit timid about going ported , may be worried for no reason.


----------



## Ziggy (Nov 29, 2007)

Heck, I remember some SPL guy had one in a T-line... had a video on it somewhere around here (in a thread long ago).

Here it is, heheheh!: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy-mobile-audio-sq-forum/61089-thank-you-npdang-diy-sub.html


----------



## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

That would be a supremely useful thread, although it has the potential to seem negative b/c you are looking at failure data. That leaves a nasty taste in people's mouths, although I'm not it matters at this point since the driver is no longer being marketed.


----------



## johnmasters (Mar 30, 2009)

Yeh, I remember having the paralysis of analysis when I was trying to decide whether to buy my first DIYMA because of all of the talk of the exploding cone and the mechanical noise. 

It was as if you would read one post and get all excited and then read the next post and get scared again. I think that we can all agree, even those that have warped the cone, that there is nothing to be scared about. This thing can take a beating and sound good doing it. Its just not made for everyone.


----------



## npdang (Jul 29, 2005)

I think Johnmasters you described the situation perfectly. That was one of the reasons why I decided to just cut my losses and get out. I'll come back and give you a bit of the history later. 

Not sure how many subs ultimately failed... but I sold 1000 subs in the end. Most online, but a lot in person as well. I replaced about two or three dozen if I recall correctly. It was alot easier to sell in person... since I could spend about 15 mins doing a setup and tuning and never had any problems and people left satisfied. Over the internet... you get all kinds of people and its difficult to describe the tuning and setup process.

Not sure how many were affected by QC issues such as noise or higher than expected Q parameters (caused by using the incorrect spec'd aluminum pole cap). In one instance the cap was too thick... in the other the cap was too thin. Only a handful of people have come forward with this problem.


----------



## johnmasters (Mar 30, 2009)

I can certainly see the appeal of doing your business in person. Especially when you factor in the weight and size of these things. Another cost that we dont discuss much here was the box. It was very well suited for this sub and must have not been cheap.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Speaking of....I think I still have the box mine came in


----------



## jearhart (Jul 28, 2006)

ItalynStylion said:


> Back on topic now...
> 
> 
> I had a DIYMA R12 in a home audio sub and it was great. I originally built it for a friend but ended up keeping it because he needed something ported for home theater; which worked out perfect because I loved it so much. I ended up selling it when I was strapped for cash. I'm thinking about building another one one day.


Hey, that beauty is sitting in my living room. LOVE it!


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Glad to see you still enjoying it!


----------

