# Design a HT sub with three JL 10w6 V1 ??



## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

I have three old JL audio 10w6 woofers. Two of them need refoaming, one possibly needs a recone. I am contacting several repair places in New Jersey to take a look at the one that I believe needs a recone. 

I want to design a home theatre subwoofer. Just because I have three woofers don't mean I have to use all three, one or two will probably be just fine. 

What direction should the woofer(s) fire, can I use a sealed enclosure to conserve space, what materials should I use, and how do I make it look attractive?


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

bd5034 said:


> I have three old JL audio 10w6 woofers. Two of them need refoaming, one possibly needs a recone. I am contacting several repair places in New Jersey to take a look at the one that I believe needs a recone.
> 
> I want to design a home theatre subwoofer. Just because I have three woofers don't mean I have to use all three, one or two will probably be just fine.
> 
> What direction should the woofer(s) fire, can I use a sealed enclosure to conserve space, what materials should I use, and how do I make it look attractive?


Sounds like a fun little project! What are the impedance ratings of each of the subs? You could do a traditional cube shape enclosure and mount one sub in each side, left right and front, and then put the plate amp in the back. It would look pretty darn cool. If you only wanted to run two of them then you could make the enclosure a little taller and do both in the front face and stack them vertically. You should definitely run them ported for HT use though. Sealed with 3 10's should be good but ported would be better. It's your call though. I've got some ideas that would allow you to make it look nice too but you should worry about that once you get the main design aspects handled first.

How good are your construction skills? Are you going to be building this?


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## its_bacon12 (Aug 16, 2007)

I'd need to check the specs but try ported if they allow it. You might not get the kind of output you want sealed, but it depends.

You can try 2 sealed in different area of the room to try and smooth out response without an EQ, lots of moving around and trial and error though.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

they're all dual 6 ohm. I can wire the set of three for either 1 or 4 ohms which is why I was thinking I should do three. They're 300wrms each, so I'm going to need a boatload of power.

Also, I had these in my car for two years during highschool and they slam hard as hell. They used to vibrate my eyes/teeth. I'm pretty sure if I use all three in a ported box that I'll be knocking pictures off the walls 3 floors away. 

I also don't want the box to be the size of a small sofa lol. I'm thinking of a few designs off the top of my head - three woofers with a woofer on each side and either plate amp on the back or terminals on the back. 

Another possibility I was thinking of is one huge circular baffle with 3 woofers mounted in it, all firing down - I would want to do something really cool with that one, like get a huge wooden ring the same size as the baffle and stabilize it about 2.5' above the baffle, then fiberglass over the whole thing so I have a cylindrical subwoofer with 3 down-firing 10's. 

In terms or two-woofer setups, I was thinking of easier things, like a cube with a woofer on each side and perhaps an ED plate amp on the back, the 550w @ 4 ohms one would be nice for two woofers wired to 6 ohms.

The other design I was thinking of is something a little funky, basically a short stubby box, with the woofers mounted side-by-side on the front baffle, and aero ports right underneath them firing in the same direction. I would want this box to be about 2.5' wide but only 2' tall and maybe 3' deep at most. 

Smaller is better for my application, so I would prefer sealed, though I'm open to aero ports since I'm told they're more efficient and take up much less space.


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## Infinity (Jun 28, 2005)

I'd do passive radiator(s) with the 1000 watt Dayton plate.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

Infinity said:


> I'd do passive radiator(s) with the 1000 watt Dayton plate.


1000 watt dayton plate sounds good. Would match these perfectly assuming it's stable at 4 ohms or 1 ohm. Also, passive radiator isn't a bad idea, how do you think i'd be able to fit it though? the only thing I can think of is maybe a 3' tall hexagon lol. I'm thinking 2 passive radiators and a plate amp on one side, paired with 3 woofers. 

The problem I see with three woofer setups is that I won't be able to lift the freaking thing. Also, it wouldn't even fit through the door unless I get really creative. I was thinking about the down-firing design with all three woofers on one baffle because I could make a removable baffle and move the woofers separate from the cabinet. I wouldn't want to remove 3 woofers and re-wire/re-install three woofers every time I had to move it.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

I bid on a 1000w dayton. Should come in the mail soon. I'm taking a vacation day to bring the subs up to a pro repair facility since they need repair badly and I don't trust my shaky hands to refoam the woofers, especially after I screwed one up the last time I tried and now it probably needs a recone 

If I do a vented enclosure, I will have to use aero ports to save space - I don't have room for a huge enclosure.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

OK looks like the dayton is mine. I did the math for aero ports, and the port volume I need is approx 395" - I'm going to use three 4" aero ports, each 10.5" long, for a total of 396.

I'm going to put all three woofers on one baffle facing forward with the ports firing down and the dayton amp on the back. This project is shaping up. If only I had a way to cut all these holes in MDF. My tools for woodworking are far less than adequate. I do have a dremel tool and a roto zip, but I have a feeling they're not going to do the job - especially with my shaky hands.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

bd5034 said:


> OK looks like the dayton is mine. I did the math for aero ports, and the port volume I need is approx 395" - I'm going to use three 4" aero ports, each 10.5" long, for a total of 396.
> 
> I'm going to put all three woofers on one baffle facing forward with the ports firing down and the dayton amp on the back. This project is shaping up. If only I had a way to cut all these holes in MDF. My tools for woodworking are far less than adequate. I do have a dremel tool and a roto zip, but I have a feeling they're not going to do the job - especially with my shaky hands.


The rotozip will work fine but I suggest a router with a jig of course. NOthing even comes close.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

To be honest, I don't even know how to use a router. If there was somebody who lived in my area that could help me out I would appreciate it. I'm going to be building a large amount of things all at once, so help is certainly needed.

My list of projects: 
Fiberglass dash pods for 3" mids and 1" tweeters
Dual 8" vented enclosure for computer stereo
Bookshelf speakers with 6.5" mid and tweeters for computer stereo
H/T subwoofer that's being discussed here
Ported box for two 12" oldschool kicker CVR subwoofers
Bookshelf speakers for a friend with 6.5" woofers and tweeters

Edit: Update - I won the dayton amp. 1000 watts of power to drive these bad boys. This thing is going to be out of control.


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## metanium (Feb 2, 2007)

I built a 1.5 cu ft. sealed home sub with a JL 12W6V1 with a 250W Parts Express plate amp. Then later built a 1.0 sealed with the JL 10W6V1 with same amp. Both had plenty of output for HT duty. I preferred them loading into the back corner of my living room.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

I have a feeling this subwoofer is going to rattle the pictures off the walls of houses two blocks away.

When I had these three woofers in a sealed box powered with 900wrms in the trunk of a 1996 mustang they were absurdly loud. I can't even imagine what they're going to sound like in a vented box with 1000wrms. 

To be honest, I think I might find it arousing.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Does sound like a fun project... I have a different opinion on it though if being used on a single home theater. 

Room modes are the nastiest thing that happens in a home theater room.. Fighting standing waves from all angles throughout the room are a tough tough thing to battle.. Would make freq plots in various spots of the room all different and all a jagged mess.

Corner absorption / bass traps help, but I'd recommend, why not build three single driver subs, then place them in varying spots / angles in the room... That will help alleviate the room modes and flatten your low-freq response, I'm thinking. 

Then it's just a matter of building a 1-driver spec enclosure with a big old plate amp on it.. Done.. badda bing, badda boom.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

Babs said:


> Does sound like a fun project... I have a different opinion on it though if being used on a single home theater.
> 
> Room modes are the nastiest thing that happens in a home theater room.. Fighting standing waves from all angles throughout the room are a tough tough thing to battle.. Would make freq plots in various spots of the room all different and all a jagged mess.
> 
> ...


Two reasons I don't do that - first: too many wires all over the place
second: I'm trying to conserve space. I don't live in my own place, so I have to be considerate of the others living here. Three boxes spread out takes up more floor space than one marginally larger box. When I have better living arrangements I will likely make a multi-point IB setup with these woofers - one on each side of the listener, and one behind the source. IMO that would rock. 


For now though, they're all going in one cabinet.


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## soundlevel (Feb 17, 2009)

those og w6's are great subs


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

The infamous 10W6 trio. That must be one of my favorite set-ups of all time. The three of those subs in a sealed box with a 500w plate amp would rock just about any HT setup down to the foundation of the building.

If it were me, I would mount all three on a triangular baffle with rounded corners and downfire them in one corner of the room. You could do it by bending MDF very easily, or even fiberglass if you were so inclined. Put some feet under each corner, and that would look really cool.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

Chaos said:


> The infamous 10W6 trio. That must be one of my favorite set-ups of all time. The three of those subs in a sealed box with a 500w plate amp would rock just about any HT setup down to the foundation of the building.
> 
> If it were me, I would mount all three on a triangular baffle with rounded corners and downfire them in one corner of the room. You could do it by bending MDF very easily, or even fiberglass if you were so inclined. Put some feet under each corner, and that would look really cool.


It's funny you say that... that was one of the configurations I was thinking about. Another was a cylinder-shaped subwoofer, with the three woofers firing down and mounted on a circular baffle, then (either fiberglass or bent wood) a tube extending up to another circular cap on the other end.

I also thought about trying my hand at a dome-shaped subwoofer with the circular baffle on the bottom and then supports in the middle with a rounded top (perhaps use a beach-ball to get the shape?)

I don't really think my fabrication skills are up to par for those two but MAN they would look cool. Especially if it was wet sanded and painted shimmery black with alot of clear coats, then had a nice white decal on it.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

^This thing is beyond me, but damn does it look cool.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

Chaos said:


> ^This thing is beyond me, but damn does it look cool.


 That thing gets me aroused :surprised:

I wish I had the skill to build something like that. As it is I'm thinking of doing either one large vented enclosure or perhaps three small ones (as I've managed to sweet-talk my way into permission for that)


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

oh. I forgot to mention I bought a plate amp already - 1kw dayton, I'm going to run these woofers down to 1 ohm.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

bd5034 said:


> oh. I forgot to mention I bought a plate amp already - 1kw dayton, I'm going to run these woofers down to 1 ohm.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

Chaos said:


>



is that a good cool or a sarcastic cool?

I bet this setup is going to get outrageously loud.... just the way I like it


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

that dayton plate amp can do a 1 ohm load man, I am pretty sure the lowest is 4 ohm


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

you're right, I was getting confused. I can run these woofers for a 4 ohm load as well, I knew I picked out the right amp for sure, but I forgot which load it liked


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

I decided to do three seperate enclosures that I can stack on top of each other, all three with L-slot ports. Powered enclosure will go on the bottom since it will be largest, then the two passives will go on top.

I came up with these designs using the RE enclosure calculator.

Powered box, the woofer and port facing forward, tuned to roughly 33hz and with an extra 0.3 ft^3 of box volume to account for the plate amp's displacement.










Passive boxes, also tuned to roughly 33hz.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

bd5034 said:


> is that a good cool or a sarcastic cool?
> 
> I bet this setup is going to get outrageously loud.... just the way I like it



I just meant it was cool that you have a 1Kw amp.

With three ported boxes, that ought to be obscenely loud.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

=)
I'm worried about cancelling while they're stacked on top of each other, but once I move them around the room the dispersion should be great, with minimal cancellation.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today a friend came over and we made all the cuts for the three boxes.

I still have to borrow a router and do all the speaker mounting holes, but all the cuts are done for the three boxes.


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## X Ray (Oct 29, 2007)

metanium said:


> I built a 1.5 cu ft. sealed home sub with a JL 12W6V1 with a 250W Parts Express plate amp. Then later built a 1.0 sealed with the JL 10W6V1 with same amp. Both had plenty of output for HT duty. I preferred them loading into the back corner of my living room.


I had the same setup for years. 12W6v1 in a 1.5 cubic foot sealed cab, corner loaded. It saw 200 watts from an old Pioneer receiver. 100 into each VC. My mains were Polk RT55's. The setup was triamped. It got plenty loud. I even DJ'd at a few parties with it.


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## Wheres The Butta (Jun 6, 2009)

X Ray said:


> I had the same setup for years. 12W6v1 in a 1.5 cubic foot sealed cab, corner loaded. It saw 200 watts from an old Pioneer receiver. 100 into each VC. My mains were Polk RT55's. The setup was triamped. It got plenty loud. I even DJ'd at a few parties with it.


I have pics of this that I need to upload. I'm going to merge this and my bookshelf build though, so look for them over there!


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