Really FRFR

[swarfrat]

Got my design (or first attempt anyway) done. I had to use the triangular corner cab for the mid box - 24x24x13 is a TIGHT cabinet for a 3 way involving a 15 and an 8, regardless of the box volume requirements, it's not a lot of face space. Hoping to get the pieces cut tomorrow at my brother's (he's got the table saw). I'm not sure I want to rely on Lowes for this many cuts, and I'm not crazy about them doing any horizontal rips anyway. It might not be much, but the weight of the unsupported piece as the cut finishes just has to cause some deflection.

It's 1/2" ply, with a doubled up fascia on the front to give the lip some body. Not sure how I want to protect the cones yet.  Also not shown but planned are some internal "deflector" baffles at random angles to try to minimize bounce back in the relatively shallow cabinet.

 

[swarfrat]

Got my plywood cut. Those were some big pieces to cut on the table saw. I was able to use my crosscut sled for most of it once we got it broken down a bit - but cut the top/bottom out of square when I missed getting one of the fence bolts in the T-track on my sled. I was able to square it up and save it but the outside dimensions are now 25 x 24 5/8 x 15.  Sucks, but it doesn't really affect the volume significantly.

 

[swarfrat]

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XLS1002
Crown XLS1002 on sale right now $260. 

Hmmm...

 

[mayfly]

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XLS1002
Crown XLS1002 on sale right now $260. 

Hmmm...

I just picked up an XLS 2502.  Note that although the Crown has a digital crossover, it does not have separate EQ.  If your box is not flat, you can't use it to fix the response.

 

[swarfrat]

Hmm - thanks. The Crown manual doesn't imply that you can recall presets either. While the Behringer does. That could come in handy with dragging around different cabs - ie full range vs biamp.

 

[mayfly]

I'll be able to tell you more once I have it (it's due any day), but I don't think that a separate EQ is in the cards with the Crown.

Got my wood cut for my CX10 cab take II!  Going to use the Simplex 10 as a subwoofer cab.  Had rehearsal with the re-tuned CX8 cab and it was lovely!

 

[mayfly]

The Crown just arrived.  Confirmed!  There is no separate filtering in addition to the crossover.

Nice looking amp other wise.  No idea how it sounds yet (I'm at work)

 

[swarfrat]

I've done plenty of boxes in the past, but never one this big. Screwed some stuff up trying to put the box together, largely for lack of a large enough workspace and workholding on a box this big.

Thinking about ditching the traditional butt joint w/ corner blocks  and using pocket screws on triangle pieces cut for corners.  I definitely need some improved geometry to hold the thing together for glue up. (Didn't try to glue last night, just screwing the box together first, make sure everything goes as planned, then glue up.)

 

[Cagey]

I used to do cabinet work back when I had a full-blown wood shop, and can sympathize. You really need about a jillion clamps to put a larger rectangular piece together so it's square. A collection of pipe clamp ends and an even bigger collection of various lengths of pipe are indispensable.

 

[mayfly]

Update on my end - got the simplex10 cab loaded with an Eminence Kapa Pro 2010LF.  I fired This along with my CX8 and the crown last night.  I could not crank it, but it did seem to sound like a full range PA.  I've got the crossover set at 200Hz currently, but will play with that as well.

 

[pabloman]

A brad nailer can be a great friend when assembling unwieldy cabinets.  ccasion14:

 

[swarfrat]

Yeah, I've done that before. This was more a support while fastening issue. Work/Bedtime schedules haven't been kind this week. With the weekend coming I hope to go back at it (after yard/house projects are done.) And oh yeah - finally got my own table saw! Whew. My bro lives about 1hr away. It's as good an excuse as any to go see him, and my son loves going, but now hopefully we can chat/eat more and work less when we do go.

 

[pabloman]

That's what I'm talking about....use the brads to hold your panels then install screws for structural integrity. I wouldn't trust brads for final assembly. Temporary braces are good too. You gotta get creative to tame some unwieldy panels.

 

[swarfrat]

brads are awesome for tacking stuff together while glue dries. But I don't have a compressor or brad nailer, and doing it by hand doesn't have the same flow. bam bam bam.  Right now no project stuff is getting done for a while - between work, house work, and toddler bedtime struggles... doesn't leave much time for hobbies. With the recent acquisition of a table saw - I also decided it was time to swap the tiny shed and the garage for workshop/storage functions. I need the space.

 

[pabloman]

I hear Ya. It's a constant battle to hang on to my workshop space. I'm not sure how or why but I'm constantly hauling stuff to the shed. I get my space back then more stuff creeps in.  ccasion14:

 

[swarfrat]

Found a floor model iNuke DSP 3000 for $250. Deal enough to start the ball rolling again.

 

[swarfrat]

So apparently, not only will the iNuke 3000 DSP do simultaneous crossover and EQ (and a limiter and dynamic eq - so you could say notch the bass at resonance once you started approaching the excursion limit, or start dipping the 4khz icepick over 100dbSPL), but it also has presets. 

The presets convinced me to split the 8CX into a separate cabinet from the 15. I could take just one (or build a second) 8CX for guitar, limited to 113db and HPF'd to avoid overexcursion below the cabinet's range. And  a separate preset for biamp mode when carting the 15, crossing over at 200 Hz, EQ the smaller than optimal 15, and set the output limiter to 118db.  So now I just have a 4 space rack weighing about 24 lbs with a speaker that's potentially 14 x 11 x 9 (in guitar only mode)

 

[swarfrat]

Think I finally came up with a built-in solution I like.

2u case for the 11r.  That means about 20" w x 4.5" h x yeah big deep.

Build the inuke in to the top of the 8cx cab. That plus the constraints of the "head" and the "sub" (not a true sub since crossover is @ 200hz) means the amp+ mids is 20" w x 15" d x 13" h. That's just tall enough for a 2u, an 8" speaker, and 3 slabs of 1/2" ply. The speaker box is only 0.56 cu ft, so its got some wasted space, but the "head +cab" mode (no sub) is about the size of a compact 12" guitar combo (or about 20" w x 19" h x 15" d, allowing for feet between head and cab)

The "sub" would then be about 20" w x 15" d x 27" h.  That gets 4 cu ft in a form factor that will hold a 15, not exceed the 15" trunk depth, and fits the width of the rack pieces and cabs.

For guitar into the board, take just the head. For guitar amp, take the head and 8cx. For bass take all pieces. For drums, same but we don't need the 11R.

I was thinking about just using a lip to guard the knobs on the racks, but I might want to think about an actual lid. Will mull that over some this weekend.  I have some case hardware from an isobox I never got around to building (overtaken by 11r). Will have to inventory what I have and see how it can be used. Wonder if my lid latch will lock the head down to the cab...

 

[swarfrat]

Amp shows up tomorrow, but I won't have time for a little while to get back into the shop. The full stack is pretty big because of the narrow rackmount width (relative to the 24" wide cab), but the guitar only mode (8CX, good down to 80Hz, 113db)  is compact enough.

 

[swarfrat]

iNuke DSP is here. Will report back after fiddling with it on my existing cabinets (115 bass no tweeter and a Celestion G12-70M)