BillFitzmaurice.info

Ouch! That wood... Gonna need some good beer after working with that stuff.

The video sounds much improved on the very bottom..Really picks up when you move back over by the consoles. Naturally, we could spend pages and hours tweaking things via proxy, but I think it might be worth a shot to drop Osse a PM and see if he would hook you up with the settings he's currently using to get you in the ball-park.

His last video is quite possibly the best sounding capture of T30's I've listened to at the moment:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10 ... =2&theater

^^^ Publicly viewable link.

Today (so far...)
Have managed to fit panel 2, 3, lab 12 reducer panels and the 'blanking flanges' behind said panels.

This is my reinfocement strip in behind the 44° Lab 12 reducer panel:

Note the 'blanking flange' triangle piece at the base. I have found it much easier fitting flanges at this stage.

Here is one of my reinforcement strips prior to the other lab 12 reducer panel being fitted.


And after fitting panel, it looks something like this:


BB triangle flanges fitted:

Although it went a bit wrong after my BB split when I attached a reinforcing screw into it Nothing a big gob of PL won't fix! That screw isn't that important anyway, it's just adding a bit of extra bite to offset the 'grip' that is lost thanks to the veneer.



Currently waiting for that big goop of PL to dry along the edge of the triangle, so I can install panel 4.

Not a bad day's work so far The build speed increase I attain with every completed cab is a very nice bonus!

Today (...continued)

Panel 4:


Panel 5:

Note the reinforcement blocks of BB. Better safe than sorry!

Panel 6:


End of the day:

Note the strip of BB along the top edge of panel 6. This is where I will be attaching the side to, rather than trusting the void-ridden wood. I will be attaching a load more of these to ensure that the final side is not going anywhere once it is PL'd on! The final photo has all the reinforcement bits in shot, so you can see where I have added extra bits.

Seeing that I started the day with just panel 1 in place, I think I've done pretty well. If tomorrow goes as well as today (not that today was anything special, so I thought), I may well have the side on tomorrow (I won't be rushing to try to achieve this though). After my first cab, I never dreamt I'd be able to assemble one of these cabs in under a week or 2, let alone a day or 2... and yet I can still see improvements in my build process that would speed things up even more! Makes me wonder if a one-day cab is possible?? (not that you'd want to... more haste=less speed of course!)

Thanks for reading I'm off to go and make a sacrifice to the woodworking gods for them blessing me with such a good day building. I even had time today to make really good pasta meatballs for tea!

I like all your reinforcement blocks/cleats. I agree; better safe than sorry. You can never go wrong overbuilding things a little, especially when that thing is going to be transported regularly and knocked around, bumped into, tipped over, etc.

Yesterday & Today:

I worked on the sub a little yesterday, but as I only got up at 5pm and went out at 7:30 to see a mate, I didn't really get much done.

I then managed to miss the last train home, so had to doss down at a mate's. Never made it home until 6pm At least I had a good time and enjoyed myself. Lucky there is no real target to hit (well, not for 10 days and that's AGES away! )

Worked on the sub a bit this evening, but gave up at around 11 as I had to cut panel 9, but couldn't really start up the circular saw at that time of night.

As you can see, I have already installed the 6/12 brace, as I wanted to ensure that it was attached solidly with screws. Fitting the panel before I installed panel 7 was the only point at which I could do this. I actually planned to fit all of my 6/12 braces with screws, but every time have been stumped as the 5/6 brace was in the way... in this build I have opted for 2 braces due to the shockingly bad wood, which left me with access so that I could screw in the 6/12 brace (which is the only single brace, in order that it matches my other T30 slim). You can see the screws going into the 5/6 braces in the following pics.



I have been continuing with the BB reinforcement strips, so that when it is time to seal the sub, I don't have any issues with screws stripping the wood.


The braces are also BB, again so that the screws will grip. This was working well, until I hit the upper 7/x (?) brace - the screws just didn't want to bite! I eventually had to settle with a screw about half way along and then I used some big blobs of PL to close the holes (you can see all this on the very first pic in this post.

I have also been running out of nice big bits of BB, so one of the 7/x braces was made from some BB that had a angled cut running along it. The other was made after using PL to glue two strips of BB together to make the required 3 1/8". I didn't use the method in the plans of cutting the BB at an angle to increase the size of the glue line, as I figured that the braces usually stick to the panels with just 1/2" and that holds, so it follows that a split down one of the braces with a 1/2" glueline should also hold.

There was also a shocking void at the corner of panel 7 (where it joins 6)... again you can see that I have injected it with PL to strengthen it. Not ideal, but this build never was!!



Above is a shot from the back of the sub. The strip of wood next to panel 8 is the reinforcing strip waiting to go in, but this needs to be installed AFTER panel 9, or I might not give myself enough space. Another advantage of having built some of these before is that you can now usually visualize these problems before they occur. Of course the odd one still gets through and then it's time.

Finally a question or 2. My reinforcing strips are secured with screws through the rubbish wood and into the good wood (BB). I have some in the driver chamber which I have tightened right into the wood (NO pilot holes here as the wood is so soft!). Do you think I need to seal these with a blob of PL, or would they be airtight already? Here's a shot of one of these screws. They seem to be sitting very snug, but is this enough?


I am also worried about using my Berry iNuke for all 4 subs... I understand it isn't the best amp, but it's cheap! I read on a forum where they did a comparison with a Kam class D amp (possibly same internals as the Sync amps) and they found that it may drop the output when running both channels close to the limit. The post is here. I am therefore thinking of running half my subs on channel A of my 1st iNuke, and then the other half on Channel A of my 2nd iNuke. I could then run the tops on the 2 channel Bs. Can you envisage any issues running this way? Any advantages?

Thanks for any input. Looking forward to tomorrow... I think I may be able to get the side on if I have a really good day, although I will be taking time to do some jobs now that will save time later (like duratex the mouth whilst the access is good). Shit 2am AGAIN... late start tomorrow I think

Aren't these finished yet! .......only joking!

It's all looking really good. Since you painted the lower brace already, would it not have made sense to paint the inside of the mouth black before attaching? or do you have a cunning plan on how to paint round it?

I really like the look of your rack (amp rack that is!) nice and clean round the back with all your connectors.

While you doing little tests in you garage for sound, I would stack the Omnis on top of each other. The sound improvement of the DR's when you stack them is just incredible.

Final point. It's really good to see how much your building technique has improved by your 4th T30. I also like how little room they take up in the garage when stacked. My T39 feel to take up loads!

Re: Splitting the subs two apiece on two amps.

As long as the gains on both amps are maxxed (they should be, and you should be limiting with your DSP) there should be no issues. I'm assuming you will run a jumper from Channel A of Amp 1 to Channel A of Amp 2, correct? Got to ensure both amps receive an identical signal.

*edit*
I just looked at this pic of the iNuke (I wasn't familiar w/them). The amp has no provisions for daisy chaining amps. E.G. no parallel 1/4" balanced jack next to the XLR in so you can "go out" to another amp. How will you get the bass signal to the second amp?
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz21 ... Custom.jpg

miked wrote: How will you get the bass signal to the second amp?

Just build a pigtail on the input cable to get to the next amp. I've built several over the years and have at least one in my rack right now. But, use install wire and not rubber jacketed cable.....you'll never get that to fit.

Chris_Allen wrote:It's all looking really good. Since you painted the lower brace already, would it not have made sense to paint the inside of the mouth black before attaching? or do you have a cunning plan on how to paint round it?

No I was figuring if I painted before I attach the brace, then I'll be sticking PL to Duratex and I thought that was bad (although probably not as bad because I was using the screws). I'll probably use masking tape over the brace and then paint... that was how I did it last time, although some duratex leaked under the masking tape, so I had to repaint the brace, and when I repainted the brace, some got on panel 6... & repeat

Chris_Allen wrote:I really like the look of your rack (amp rack that is!) nice and clean round the back with all your connectors.

I need a few more blanking panels to stop any fingers getting in there (belonging to a particular someone who supposedly knows it all (and who takes 3K of bass into a concrete bunker with 300W of Tops )) Sorry, couldn't resist... you just have got laugh... it's that or despair.

Chris_Allen wrote:While you doing little tests in you garage for sound, I would stack the Omnis on top of each other. The sound improvement of the DR's when you stack them is just incredible.

Um... they have v. short top hats in (here at Blue Aran), which I am not confident they will be happy supporting the weight (or more like the torque) of two of these. I have tested with them double stacked, and yes they sounded sweet, but I am not happy leaving them on those top hats for ages. The cabs also have their speakon underneath, so I need to add another one on the rear panel for daisy chaining. I am yet to decide how to make up for this little error. I could try to fit in regular top hats into my current cabs, which would mean cutting through the bottom reflector. I never liked this look when I saw it in the plans, but this was before I realised that the tweeter array covers up the top hat!! The other option is to build the next 2 Otops with the proper top hat, and then switch the arrays, making my current 2 tops the top tops and the next 2 I build the bottom tops! I think that this may well be the easier way to go as I can get a whole lot more access to the arrays than the bottom reflector (which is covered by the array supports anyway). I could just use a skilsaw or similar (I don't have one!) to chop away the array supports and reinstall straight ones. Yeah, I think I'll do that

Chris_Allen wrote:Final point. It's really good to see how much your building technique has improved by your 4th T30. I also like how little room they take up in the garage when stacked. My T39 feel to take up loads!

Many thanks Chris It still looks a little 'bodgy' inside, but I haven't had one issue with airtightness (is that a word!). Having built 3 before I can see little areas that I can do slightly more efficiently than the plans using the selection of tools that I have.
Fitting them into that corner of the garage works well. It's all my stuff behind anyway, for which I only need to get access when I am throwing a party... easy

miked wrote:Re: Splitting the subs two apiece on two amps.

As long as the gains on both amps are maxxed (they should be, and you should be limiting with your DSP) there should be no issues. I'm assuming you will run a jumper from Channel A of Amp 1 to Channel A of Amp 2, correct? Got to ensure both amps receive an identical signal.

*edit*
I just looked at this pic of the iNuke (I wasn't familiar w/them). The amp has no provisions for daisy chaining amps. E.G. no parallel 1/4" balanced jack next to the XLR in so you can "go out" to another amp. How will you get the bass signal to the second amp?
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/zz21 ... Custom.jpg

Yeah, forgot about daisy chaining Using the same amp means that I can just parallel the inputs in the menu. I am actually running the subs off the 'sub' XLR from my mixer. I have this set to 200Hz Xover. I then use the HPF and LPF in the iNuke to actually shape the signal. The 200Hz Xover is as high as the mixer would allow, which means that everything 150Hz(?) and lower should be unaffected (can anyone tell me what this figure would actually be... I know that the 200Hz would mean that the signal is -3db at that point, when would it be at 0dB? - does it depend on slope?)

Note: The top outputs can be selected full range or crossed over , so I don't loose anything on my tops.

I don't actually run with my volumes full open , as my limiter is contained in the amp. If I have the volumes all the way open, I have to dial back the mixer (or use the DEQ - an option I may take up). By only opening the input attenuators (yes, I know!) to about 2-3 o'clock, I can run a nice hot signal all the way to the amps. If some nunky (see previous post) then comes up and maxes them out, it simply hits the limiter and sounds shit... everyone will moan at him and I can tell him to stop touching my shit!! TBH if he is at a party, I will probably run full open with the DEQ holding back the signal... if he isn't, I'll let the DEQ run on unity gain and control from the amps (I know that everyone else is cool and respects my kit).

Goddam eedjuts!!! He managed to blow 3 (of his own ) speakers at a small gathering of 10 people...

run with the amps wide open. just please do it. If someone can come in and turn your mixer up, they can certainly turn your amps up as well, at which point they will be fed the same hot signal but it will be harder for you to tell where the signal chain was boosted.

Run the mixer up to unity, but no higher.

sine143 wrote:run with the amps wide open. just please do it. If someone can come in and turn your mixer up, they can certainly turn your amps up as well, at which point they will be fed the same hot signal but it will be harder for you to tell where the signal chain was boosted.

Run the mixer up to unity, but no higher.

I would be able to see where it was boosted as I would know my levels - if I didn't then I shouldn't be operating the rig However saying that, I think I will just use the DEQ to 'pad' the level so that +3 (ish) on the mixer results in just tickling the limiter. Oh... hang on... that's for the tops... the subs don't run through the DEQ I think there is still a sub level output adjustment on the mixer though, I could also use the iNuke's DSP to reduce the level. Either way, I got options

Today (Sat)

A quick one as it's 2:30 already.

Today I have been taking it easy, as I woke up ill Don't know what it was but after 3 hours of shivering whilst under my quilt, I started to feel better (probably the paracetamol working). A few hours later and I felt good enough to get panel 9, the 8/2 braces and panel 10 installed.

Shot of the 8/2 braces:


Pic of panel 10 & 1. Still keeping those reinforcements going :


And so this is how the sub looks now:

Note the reverse formation of the build

That's all for tonight. I reckon I may well get the side on tomorrow
Thanks for reading

Lookin' good, man! You and I have both come a long way in our building skills. There is so much that goes into building these cabs. Building cabs is NOT "building furniture or bookshelves." Sure, some of the skills cross b/t the two, but the specialized experience is only gained by trial and error. Mostly error on my part. LOL!

Hope you feel better.

miked wrote:Lookin' good, man! You and I have both come a long way in our building skills. There is so much that goes into building these cabs. Building cabs is NOT "building furniture or bookshelves." Sure, some of the skills cross b/t the two, but the specialized experience is only gained by trial and error. Mostly error on my part. LOL!

Hope you feel better.

Thanks, we're getting there I know what you mean by the error thing... you don't learn anything if you do it right, it's only through mistakes that you learn.

I'm feeling much better, thanks Off to continue with the sub shortly. Looking forward to a day covered in sawdust and PL... my hands are black yet I've been using rubber gloves