Bass cab....help

[maroman86]

Hello to all. I'm new to the forum, and have been operating a dj business for a few years now. I understand most of the pro audio to an extent, but I am a very good diy type of guy, and want to build a bass cab and load it with some subwoofers. I currently only have a folded horn unit, and want more bass. How do i get the best bass for the money. I want the ability to rattle the lights out if i want to per say. The one folded horn just dont cut it for me, I want to feel the bass more. What is the best way to accomplish this?

[jcrobso]

What kind of folded horn are you using? What kind of speaker?
There are a lot of options!

[maroman86]

I currently run a b-52 LX18 V2. Its not bad, but no ways near where I run it. I also have 2 JBL JRX125's running through a dbx driverack and two Crown xs900 amplifiers. (one for JBL's and one for B-52). I just want some more bass, and want to get the best bang for my buck.

[clubman]

First off subs are always better when paired together. And just my .02 a crown xs900 is not a sub amplifier. It will be fine for tops but if your wanting more low end you need more subs and more power.

For dj aplications I perfer a direct radiator box over horn loaded. I would get two double 18 front fired boxes and a Crown MA3600VZ for them. Keep the xs900's for your tops. Watch the horn on the jrx cabinet they smoke out easy.

[maroman86]

A dual front loaded enclosure was actually my next step. (I cheat, every time we do a gig we use the money to buy more equipment instead of pocketing it, atleast until i get the full setup I want) Question is what is the best sub to go with? I understand the fact that the Xs900 isn't sufficient enough power so I knew I would have to be getting another amp, but just didnt know what direction to head with the sub. I'd really like to stay JBL (because everything I own is Harmon products), but if there's something better out there i'd be game. As far as the JRX's, I've not had any problem with them yet (cross my fingers). I eventually plan to upgrade to a higher level JBL series, but we purchased them only because of money when we started out. Thanks for the advice and keep it coming, its extremely helpful!

[eso]

If you're into DIY you might want to join this site and look around:

http://www.freespeakerplans.com/

I haven't looked lately, but the site has been around a long time and used to be mostly rave/techno guys building PA systems.

eso

[jcrobso]

A dual front loaded enclosure was actually my next step. (I cheat, every time we do a gig we use the money to buy more equipment instead of pocketing it, atleast until i get the full setup I want) Question is what is the best sub to go with? I understand the fact that the Xs900 isn't sufficient enough power so I knew I would have to be getting another amp, but just didnt know what direction to head with the sub. I'd really like to stay JBL (because everything I own is Harmon products), but if there's something better out there i'd be game. As far as the JRX's, I've not had any problem with them yet (cross my fingers). I eventually plan to upgrade to a higher level JBL series, but we purchased them only because of money when we started out. Thanks for the advice and keep it coming, its extremely helpful!

The problem with horns is that once you go below the cutoff frequency of the horn the output drops off very fast and they tend to be very big.
Two cabinets loaded with JBL 2226 would do the job very nicely.;)

If you do smoke the HF diver in the JRX115 replace the JBL driver with this one.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=264-270
JBL does not make a replacement diaphragm for the 2412, a new driver from JBL is about $85 or you can by aftermarket ones. You can get two of Seleinum(now a part of Harman) for the price of one JBL 2412 and the Selenium is a better driver than JBL 2412.

[maroman86]

So what is the best place to get these subwoofers at the best price? partsexpress?

[eso]

What frequency range are you looking to cover?

For bass horns that are not too big there is the LAB horn, driven to 2 special 12" drivers each. They will take 1K watts, and will put out 125db. It's a really great design.

There is also an amazing 21" driver from B&C that can take a nominal 1700W and moves plenty of air. I've used them in a 9.5 cu. ft. sealed cab for hifi. The drivers are not cheap but they will put out serious bass. I have a basic design for a vented cab that is punchier and would be good for PA use.

http://www.bcspeakers.com/product.php?id=160

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4500648/Audio/Sub.jpg

How low do you want/need to go? How big can you deal with? What sort of budget?

All of these questions would help to determine what would be the best answer for your immediate needs.

eso

[maroman86]

In our dj business we play a lot of hip-hop/rap music for weddings and school dances, etc. Basically what i'm trying to please a little more is the school kids who hears the rap music in their vehicles with their car audio subwoofers and compares that to my dj system. As far as frequency range goes, my driverack is setup to run the JRX 125 cabinets with the midrange and highs, and the rest through the B-52. From what I have been reading, to get a more crisp, punchier design i'm going to have to steer clear of the folded horn design. As far as size goes, It honestly dont matter. All our equipment is transported in an enclosed trailer so size isnt a problem. Budget usually depends upon our previous gigs we have racked up because the money we make we just put back into the system, so im looking around 1 to 2k, but as cheap as possible of course. A bass cabinet is something i'm willing to spend good money on to get good results.