How Do You Make Your Own Home Theater Subwoofer?
The capstone to a home theater is often the installation of a subwoofer. The subwoofer delivers the subsonic thrills that are experienced in a movie theater by low-end effects that are felt as much as heard, and the subwoofer is what brings these to life.
Though it is a challenging undertaking, making your own home theater subwoofer is among the most satisfying tasks for a do-it-yourself-er. While there are many considerations, from the shape of the enclosure to the size of the loudspeaker, there are abundant plans online, and with the cost savings you realize, you will end up with a thrilling result.
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Things You'll Need
- Speaker driver
- 3/4-inch to 1-inch MDF
- 3/4-inch plywood
- PVC pipe
- Hacksaw
- Power drill
- Router or circular saw attachment
- Speaker wire
- Binding posts
- Connection terminals
Instructions
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Pick the size of loudspeaker that will be housed in the cabinet. Popular sizes range from 8 to 20 inches. Most probably, "real" home theater or recording studio bass response will be produced by 12-, 15- or 18-inch loudspeakers. Then, armed with the Thiele/Small parameters that dictate the enclosure size for a bass reflex speaker design, pick your cabinet materials.
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MDF (Medium Density Fiberboards) is preferred over plywood because of its higher density, but whatever is chosen, a thickness of 3/4 to 1 inch is advised. Often in DIY enclosures, the top and bottom of the cabinet will be MDF and the sides, back and front will be plywood.
If the shape of the design is cylindrical rather than square, Sonotube is good for the enclosure, with the top and bottom being MDF.
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PVC pipe is often very good for creating the port. The port or vent greatly aids in the reproduction of low-frequency sound by extending the low-frequency range of a speaker box. Bass reflex/ported designs therefore feature a lower cutoff frequency than a sealed enclosure system using the same driver, and also offer lower distortion and higher power handling. Instead, their sound can be more "boomy" than that of enclosed boxes, and that is where greater science and engineering come into play.
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Thiele/Small parameters are the mechanical and electrical measurements that determine the ideal design for the speaker cabinet. They are also know as T/S, and exist for any driver/loudspeaker. If such information is not provided with the loudspeaker (the driver + the cone), it is available online for every size component. Having those components and the T/S parameters dictates the interior volume of the enclosure, or box, and also dictates the resonating frequency that the enclosure is "tuned" to, the amount of damping for the enclosure, and the amount of bracing that might enhance the rigidity of the "box" inside.
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Tips & Warnings
If this sounds a bit involved and technical, that's because it is. There is definitely science at work in creating any bass reflex subwoofer design.
Ported designs are "tuned" to a resonating frequency of the driver, and are also adjusted in their interior volume by the size of the driver and the port. For this reason, ported subwoofers tend to be larger than a sealed enclosure, but deliver greater low-end response.
Always use generous amounts of glue and silicone sealant in constructing the cabinet. Positively no air should escape the cabinet except through the port.
