So I live in a community in the north of Scotland (Findhorn Foundation), work in the maintance department and have access to a pretty decent workshop. I was asked to build a sub-woofer for our community centre, we discussed lots of possibilities and eventually settled on making it a bench, that could be used in this way most the time but also providing low end power for our parties and events. My first attempt to build a speaker but I have a degree in mechanical engineering, plus a good amount of woodworking experience, and was keen to give it a go. We have 4 existing JBL Control 1 Pro's in the space already, around the corners, which are excellent but dont have enough bass and we were starting to get drivers failing. Fitzmaurice designs were recommended by a sound engineer friend and we settled on the Table Tuba LS as the size fits perfectly against existing benches, and it is in the right price range.
So pictures. First with the sub cabinet just before the last panel put on. You can see a couple of additions to the original design - have placed a metal mesh screen inside, just before the final flair of the horn. Part of the design spec as this is a pretty public place, and we didnt want kids throwing food or balls inside the horn itself. I figured the mesh probably wouldnt interfere with the low frequency sound waves, and I think I remember seeing Bill say in another thread that the bass can travel through cloth with ease. It's a pretty coarse mesh. However I would be interested in getting some *informed* opinions on this subject! Also a couple of reinforcements I made, you can see in the end on picture a thin strip of dark wood under what will be the seat (bottom left) and a T shaped reinforcement under the final horn flare, to support where the legs will attach.
From memory I think I made the width 13", just a bit wider than the benches it sits next to.
I clad it with white oak and jarrah - both from railway sleepers I chopped into 6mm planks and trim. The oak being a reject unused sleeper, the jarrah used on tracks already and reclaimed - old, and tough as 6" dracula coffin nails. Sinks in water dense. Unreasonably strong. Nice deep dark red verging on purple colour. You can see interesting finish at the bottom of the legs... I figure a design mistake is just a feature that hasnt been realised yet... as was the case here
. Slightly different colour of jarrah for main section of legs, from a different sleeper. Inside end of horn dyed original plywood. All finished with Ronseal satin ultra tough varnish. Security cable coming out of one leg, not visible in pictures though.The plans were great, putting together the horn and everything was pretty easy. Turning it into a bench and finishing it however took bloody ages!! Didnt help that I am a perfectionist..
Happy with the finished product
. Only a few things I would do differently were I to do it again - eg part of the spec was being able to plug in a speakon connector at the end. However we should have realised this is a weak point and far too kickable. Would have been better if it were set on the inside wall of the the open section that houses the driver. Anyway, generally very happy, and happy it is finished...Oh yeah, and it sounds great! Debuted last night when we held a halloween party, it was fantastic. We may need to built another further down the line though as it is quite a big space, and although the bass is seriously pumping next to it, other side of the room it is not so powerful. Hardly a fault of the sub though. It can easily overwhelm the JBL's in term of power.
Questions welcome!
EDIT: JBL driver, was concerned the cheaper one might have a higher failure rate.
Eeeexcellent job. Looks real nice!
