# Quick and easy Test Enclosures !



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

So you have some speakers laying around that you want to try out, or your interested in testing out a new pair of drivers but dont want to deinstall everything to do it? Well this is a solution that will hopefully make trying out the latest DIY drivers a much less daunting task for you. This is a quick and easy way to build some test enclosures that are reuseable, light weight, and best of all- CHEAP ! 

I wanted to try some new midrange drivers (Fountek FR88), and also try different mounting locations and angles for the ones I already have (HAT L4).
I wanted something quick, easy to assemble without too many tools, and cheap. Here's what I decided on...

Pick up a few 90 degree or 45 degree street elbow PVC pieces from your local Home Depot or Lowe's. I recommend these type because they allow you to lay the enclosure flat, or sit them up for more versatility when testing. They also have a slightly different diameter opening at each end. One end fits a PVC "cap" while the other is a tad larger. This alows a little flexibility for a given driver size. (It may fit better at one end than the other)

For this tutorial, I will show you a 3" size elbow and the drivers are the Fountek FR88's.

What you'll need:

-PVC 90 or 45 degree street elbows in the diameter of your driver
-Hot glue/gun
-PVC end caps
-non hardening modeling clay (optional)
-Wood veneer edging
-Heat gun or iron (or a candle if your brave)
-Drill

Start out by test fitting your driver at both ends of the pvc elbow to see which side it fits better at. After that, you will want to use the PVC end cap on the opposite end. Hot glue it in place with a bead around the edge. This will seal it and hold it tight.


















After that I lined the inside edges around the cap with non hardening modeling clay. This ensures a good airtight seal and also adds some mass to the enclosure (important for later)

Next you will need to make your inner rings (optional) with the wood veneer edging. This stuff has an adhesive on one side of it which you need to heat. Once you heat it (a little at a time) you can press fit it and wrap it around to the circle size and thickness needed. I used a wine bottle that was pretty close to the cutout diameter for the FR88 and wrapped it around the bottle overlapping layers until I reached the desired thickness. After I was done, I pushed the ring into the end of the PVC elbow until it fit snugly and flush.





































Does the driver fit in ok? Sure does. Okay, take it out.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Next its time to drill a hole to allow your speaker wiring to pass through.



















Feed your wire through 










Time to hook up the speaker that I want to use for testing...I decided to solder because Im anal like that. Its verry little mess and easy to remove if you tin the wire first, then just heat the wire and terminal together quickly and remove the iron. The wire will hold just fine. Make sure you leave yourself a nice amount of cable attached to each enclosure so that you can conect them to an amp and have the length to move them around whereever you'd liek to test. ( I have about 25 feet or so for each one)



















After that just push the speaker into the makeshift baffle ring. (Mine fit in snugly so I didnt even have to screw them in. I did however wrap a piece of tape around the edge where the PVC meets the speaker just to be safe.











Testing on the dash...





























Another thing to mention...I said above that I recommended using some non hardening modeling clay on the inside of the enclosure around and on top of the PVC cap. This adds weight which is beneficial, needed in fact, if you want to stand the enclosures up like you see in the pics. Otherwise, they will be top heavy for the weight of the drivers when they are installed.
Another option is to tape or glue something small and heavy to the back of the base of the enclosure. I did this as well for some added weight.

They work excellent, and the speaker is easily removed to allow me to install another 3" driver to test. Good stuff 





.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Wow, very creative! I could see this becoming a permanent solution for some applications as well.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

chithead said:


> Wow, very creative! I could see this becoming a permanent solution for some applications as well.


Not super aesthitically pleasing, but it could work 

I was thinking that drilling a bunch of small holes at the back of the base or on the bottom might aid in giving a more "IB" type enclosure. They could be covered with a piece of acoustic foam for more suppression of the rear wave. This might be a good choice for testing IB optimized drivers.

I may try this route and test the L4's on the dash next.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Made another set for 4" drivers. A few additional pics:
One tip: Since it can be tricky to make the rings the correct size for th cutout diameter of the speaker, try using a roll of masking tape and roll off the excess until your at the right diameter. If your like me, you probably already have several half used rolls laying around that make this convenient.


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## m3gunner (Aug 6, 2008)

Wow... awesome, cheap and useful... rockin' good!

Might also put some acoustic foam inside the enclosure to damp the backwave...

Off to Home Depot tomorrow.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

^ Yeah, you can absolutely work them a bit more to be even better. Especially for simulating an IB enclosure...holes drilled at the back of the base with some acoustic foam/open cell foam wrapped around would probably help.


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## digital (Sep 12, 2008)

Did you ended up stuffing the inside with foam?


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

I did not, no. I do have a bag of Polyfill that I can use however. For the Test of the HAT L4, it was not really needed as they performed very well without it. However, it may be a good idea for drivers that require a bit more airspace to simulate a larger enclosure with some polyfill. (Like my test of the FR88's. Probably could have used some there)


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## m3gunner (Aug 6, 2008)

Yes indeed. The best part is that I'll be playing on the dash of my wife's Expedition, so I've got MILES of space. Heck, I can probably mount Jon Whitledge’s enclosures on the dash if I wanted to... and if my wife wouldn't kill me. 




captainobvious said:


> ^ Yeah, you can absolutely work them a bit more to be even better. Especially for simulating an IB enclosure...holes drilled at the back of the base with some acoustic foam/open cell foam wrapped around would probably help.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Decided to add a quick update and suggestion here.

When doing your test enclosures and wiring, terminate a small pigtail on the back of the enclosure instead of a full 15ft pair of wires. Also, use quick disconnects to connect to the driver inside the enclosure, as well as on the end of the pigtail so that you can use just one long run of wires to the trunk and be able to swap out the enclosures to a different size, and swap out drivers inside an enclosure.

A few pics:




























*Tweeters too ? Sure, why not...*










Spade terminals to connect to the amp:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3028789

Quick Disconnects:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104018


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