Truck Tuba by a Teenager

[bassmonster]

Howdy folks!

Been awhile since I built a BFM horn subwoofer. For those who remember, I started building speakers back in late 2011 with my infamous dual GTO804 Table Tuba: Dual Loaded Table Tuba by a Teenager. I built a pair of T24s for my Eagle Scout project as well. Well, I'm at college now, and my dorm is too small to fit the dual TT. So for the past few weeks I've been stuck with an awful cheap 8" ported subwoofer that only puts out 40w and dies rapidly below 60hz. That's obviously unsatisfactory, so I've decided to build another horn sub.

I chose the Truck Tuba because I want good low end output but also don't want it to take up too much space. The long/tall/slim profile will fit well behind the desk in my dorm room. I'm not going to be breaking windows with this one, so I'm building it 8" wide and loading it with the recommended 8" MCM 55-2421 (now loaded with the Infinity 860W, with excellent results). I'm also reusing the 40w amplifier from my current 8" ported subwoofer.

Horn path drawn:



And yeah, I'm using MDF. I'm on a college student budget. Bite me.

[bassmonster]

My roommate is gonna hate me.

[Bruce Weldy]

And yeah, I'm using MDF. I'm on a college student budget. Bite me.

Honey, our boy has grown up.....

[bassmonster]

Right? I can't believe it's been almost 3 years since I built my first horn-loaded box. I think the TrT is going to be a good all-around sub. Not for HT and not for an outdoor concert, but perfect for daily listening and small house parties.

[bassmonster]

Got 3 panels cut today. I don't have a table saw at my disposal, so I'm just going with a circular saw and jigsaw. Since I'm building it with 7" wide internals, I don't need braces.

[bassmonster]

Got some more work done this morning; cut out the remaining panels and the driver baffle. I do need to recut Panel 6 as it's a few inches too long. The driver should arrive Thursday, so I will finish the cabinet before this weekend.

Panels laid out where they will approximately be:





Sure is great not having to mess with bracing since I'm only going with 7" internals. I've also found MDF to be pretty easy to work with. Definitely can't get it wet or drop it, and it is pretty heavy, but it's easy to cut and doesn't warp.

[Titanium Hand]

College???

You need to join a frat (Is that the right word) and get into one of those gnarly houses, have them finance some T48's or T60's, then your skills can 'properly' be utilised.

Who know's, you may even bypass hazing once you demo your dually

Thanks for posting the build pics, I wondered how you were going to build a cab narrower than the driver, but now I know.

M.D.F. ? ? ? What-ever Back Freckle! On a more serious note, you are using PL right?

[bassmonster]

I'm pledging a fraternity in the spring, and yes I have already told them that I fully plan on building a dual loaded T60 for the house if they fund it. The house isn't too big, I can't imagine what a dual T60 will do to the 100+ year old structure.

Yes, I am using PL. I used MDF because it was all they had at the Lowes closest to my school. Plus it's cheap and doesn't warp. I don't need to move this cabinet around much anyway. I only have about $60 into this whole build since I'm reusing the amp from my ported sub.

[Titanium Hand]

I'm reusing the amp from my ported sub.

I heart hearing about the demise of the ported sub

Enjoy your build bud

[whines]

Goodwill has old active subs with rotted out surrounds for cheap, so I'm curious to hear how well it works for you!

[howiez]

There was a cheep 60w amp on MCM or PE recently as well. My son is off to college this weekend. Maybe I'll follow your lead and build him a dorm tuba, great looking so far!

[bassmonster]

I heart hearing about the demise of the ported sub

Enjoy your build bud

Yeahhh about that. The old driver was 8 ohms and the MCM is 4 ohms. The amp pretty much immediately thermals out when pushed, so I ordered a Yung 300w plate amp from Parts Express.

I finished the sub up today. Installing the panels only took about an hour. I still have some finishing touches like corner protectors, paint (like that'll happen ), and a banana plug terminal.

[bassmonster]

While waiting for the banana plug terminal and new amp to come in, I couldn't help myself but to just seat the driver in its baffle and give it a few volts. I put about 3v through it and it sounds great. It's perfect for my dorm room.

[MissileCrisis]

Right? I can't believe it's been almost 3 years since I built my first horn-loaded box. I think the TrT is going to be a good all-around sub. Not for HT and not for an outdoor concert, but perfect for daily listening and small house parties.

I've lived in the dorms, two different ones-- been in a house the last two years and well there's nothing like waking up and blasting your T60 because you can--, a 8 inch POS velodyne impact mini got me in trouble, don't get your hopes up with a TrT. Depends on the college, RA, and neighbors but I'd bring your gear to a friends place before turning it up, ask me how I know. Oh and yeah, not sure how big your room is but where I lived there was hardly room to walk through much less throw a mini house party.


Grats on the speaker build BTW, looking forward to impressions and comparisons. I just built a pair of 13.5x13.5x31 inch subs for a friend for "small house parties" and well they can get to rock concert levels in a small room --> not even horns, some sort of MLTP hybrid thing. My guess is you'll be tempted to turn your TT up a bit, and will be great friends with your neighbors.

[bassmonster]

Right? I can't believe it's been almost 3 years since I built my first horn-loaded box. I think the TrT is going to be a good all-around sub. Not for HT and not for an outdoor concert, but perfect for daily listening and small house parties.

I've lived in the dorms, two different ones-- been in a house the last two years and well there's nothing like waking up and blasting your T60 because you can--, a 8 inch POS velodyne impact mini got me in trouble, don't get your hopes up with a TrT. Depends on the college, RA, and neighbors but I'd bring your gear to a friends place before turning it up, ask me how I know. Oh and yeah, not sure how big your room is but where I lived there was hardly room to walk through much less throw a mini house party.

We have a good sized "lounge" on each floor, but we don't throw dorm parties here. My guess is that the TrT will live permanently in my room once I move into the frat house, and my dual TT will become the mini party sub until I built a T60. I got complaints on a sound check, but people are generally cool with it as long as I don't turn it obnoxiously loud.