Newbie building 186 Horns *** Finished *** :-)

So, Yesterday was the time for the last finishing  with the help of my son.

Edited by Fabianm_be - 20 February 2014 at 3:20pm

nice build , but one thing I´d do is the screws holding the grill would have used black ones , 

Fabianm_be wrote: At 50% power, sound was very nice. Around 70%, sound was still nice but it started to snow in the workshop. All wood dust on the walls and the roof started to take down with the vibrations. Around 85%, some tools started to move and fall down from the wall and we stopped there. 100% will be for next week

That bit really made made me laugh



Great build thread. Thanks for sharing

great stuff!

little advice here for your next gig....

those equaliser settings...  the EQ curve of 120-180hz boost would sound terrible on these horns crossed over so high, will honk worse than a rampant goose!!

- So with what you have available here, on the equaliser set the gains at 0db [midday], and flatten the EQ.

- set a highpass at 40hz [if your kit even has the ability?], they won't do much lower as only a pair [especially without the PD186 driver]

- crossover to the midtops at 120hz highest, i liked mine at 100hz to a 15" midtop for DJ stuff - any higher and they are honky and really discolour the sound!

- running the dj tinkertoy at 0db out on the mains [that's the point where green meets yellow lights], turn the bass amp up until it is just below clipping [flashy red lights], set limiter now to limit anything further. Now turn the midtops up to a point which match the output of the bass - they should compliment each other.

- at this point your flat EQ balanced gain system should be sounding as good as it can without help, at this point you can look at the graphic equaliser. Don't try and boost anything below 40hz the cab will over excurse. Stick on a quality song you know well & starting from the top down, try boosting each frequency so you can 'hear it', then decide if it is fine in relation to the rest of the rig, or if it needs more or less. Repeat process through all the frequencies. Once complete, start that song again, and work your way through it again until you finalise on the sound you want. Bare in mind, just because it is there, you very may well not need to change it.


Thoughts for the future...
1: you need a proper processor [crossover] which can handle crossover, delays, and limiting all in one! Mixing horn's and reflex without delay is asking for trouble....
2: your bass amp really isn't big enough IMO, these cabs are power hungry and will be strangled by lack of power. When you upgrade midtops, you could use it on them instead!


Keep up the great work though, your son is a lucky chap, i built my first 186 horns when i was 17... on my own

its looking very nice wanna see a pic of when its painted