Good morning all!

Seeing as I'm likely to have a bit more time on my hands over the coming months, I thought I might start doing some research into a suitable (home-made) cabinet for this driver! Note: I have searched the forum. There is some discussion about this series of driver. From what I can see, forum members recommend somewhere between 40-60ltr box capacity, sealed for a reasonably low cutoff frequency. I am not looking for the lowest of lows, so I'm not going to port it. I already have my bass cabinet and plan to make something in the future to supersede my current box.

Here's what I have:

Bass - Fane 15" 600XB, on bass duties, 40-100hz (ish) (Cabinet to be update in the future)

Mid - Fane 12-200LT - Currently unboxed, waiting to be used. Aiming for 90/100hz up

Top - B&C DE400TN - 2.5khz and up.

I am currently using a home-brew mid/top section. Recycled from an old ping-pong table. It's rough and ready. Not very well sealed etc. More of an exercise in terrible carpentry skills and recycling Hi-Fi components. Looks great to the uneducated eye, but would not stand up to serious inspection! I'll include a pic below for curious eyes. I am using the B&C, mounted to a horn - but it is currently resting on top of the mids! I'd like to build a box with the 12" and the Horn, all in one. I'll include a quick sketch to illustrate my rough plan.

I guess I'm looking for input from anyone who has experience with this or other similar speaker/cabinet designs.

What should I watch out for?

Anything specifically I should look at or consider?

How do I figure out the volume of the comp and horn in the box?

Fane suggests a box with a volume of 30-75 liters. I'm pretty confident I can calculate the various dimensions needed to match my design, but I know there's going to be something I haven't thought about! Any and all recommendations welcome.

Thanks in advance, Ben.

Pics for your viewing pleasure:

Rough plan:

But in terms of the box, if you are looking for a full range box, for domestic use, then a sealed box will have more merit than a reflex box. Sealed boxes are very forgiving in terms of volume and tuning as they are inherently simple devices, however keeping box proportions correct, introducing good bracing and plenty of internal dampening material will all improve performance. Sealed boxes roll off in a much more gentle way at the bottom end than a reflex enclosure so you may well be surprised how low you could get the box to play. Efficiency down there will be limited however and you also need to pay attention to excursion at higher powers. 

LED's are purely aesthetic. I've already built a set into the current box - basically to show the signal level in a very crude/rudimentary way. Thinking I'll make a circuit for each of the top and mid sections. Really just some fun and a nod towards some of my favourite Dub systems such as JTS and Earthquake. Consider it a vanity project haha.

Was fairly certain that a sealed unit would be best - especially considering my limited knowledge and experience! The ported box on the drawing is just a reflection of the existing 15" bass cab. I included it for visual reference. Hoping to design something to march the front facing dimensions, so it can sit on top nicely.

Any "real world" thoughts (rather than simulations) on a suggested volume for the box, or for figuring out the space the horn would take up? 

I'll get in touch with ya privately... Had occurred to me that finding materials may be an issue atm...

Once I've wrapped up some proper plans and dimensions I'll tap you up for those off cuts!

Edit - Downloading now... will see how I get on!

So, I've had a bit of play around...

Inputted all of the parameters that I can see/find/match up from the spec sheet. Saved the driver... Gone to open the driver, but I do get a prompt that it fails all integrity tests... Kinda ignored that for the moment out of curiosity. Here's some of what I'm getting out of WinISD.

Does any of it look right or wrong - what am I missing?

Orange - 30 L

Blue - 40 L

Red - 60 L

Green - 75 L

Assuming that my data inputs are correct and the warning doesn't count for anything(??)

It looks like a 40 L box would give me a tiny peak around 100hz with a nice smooth roll off.

Not worried particularly about top-end performance as I have the compression driver to deal with those frequencies.

Using most of the presets/defaults whilst I get my head around what I'm looking for!

** Data sheet posted separately now I've figured out an Imgur link - see next post!

Better image link... still wrapping my head around how best to post these things!

Made the most of my afternoon... Mocked up a baffle to get an idea for size, proportions & appearance. I really thought the speaker was smaller than this! Glad I got it out of the box for a "test run", as my original idea wouldn't have worked quite as I'd visualized - It's close enough and the width was restricted.

I still plan on putting LED's in and I haven't figured out the bracing just yet. Slowly but surely.

If anyone notices any glaring mistakes with the drawing please please shout!

In other thoughts - what do people suggest for filling screw caps/holes if one intends to stain or varnish (most likely a darker varnish) the box. If memory serves me well, general purpose Polyfiler won't hold the stain and I'll have a bunch of white dots all over the place! I've read that bee's wax or a similar specialist product could work. Honestly, I'd rather find a home-brew solution (if there's one out there?) as I suspect I may have trouble colour matching, especially now that I can't get into a hardware store for myself - click and collect only at most stores!

Enjoying the build and happy with the progress so far. Only remaining panel to glue and screw is the back and the accompanying braces. I have a bunch of fittings and wadding on order from Blue Aran, so I'll be able to pick the project up again after work next week. 

Lots more to do, but no rush and plenty of (not too steep) learning curves!

As promised, here's some pics of the build:

My stack of plans and thoughts:

Early on in the construction stages. Glue, then screw all round

One of the joints. All the panels were cut with a circular saw. Learnt a few tricks during/after that will be handy next time!

A bit further along the construction. Adding the bracing here. All the joints were given 24-36ish hours of time to cure. Learnt the hard way with one side... Slow down and give each section time!!

Bonus assistant pic

Bracing in and glued up. Feeling sturdy! Definitely removing some of that resonance in the wood

Further along again. No finishing yet, still construction - back panel still to add here.

Back panel getting the glue treatment. I'd be lost without these clamps! By this stage, it was clear that there was some twisting or non-squareness to some of the panels. Nothing was off by too much, but there was an evening of sanding to get it to sit flush, before I could commit to the glue. Worth the effort! You can see the cabling plate I've made up too - only direct wiring for now. Soldering iron's tip bit the bullet half way through unfortunately.

Closer look at the Speakon plate

That's all for now folks! Got a couple more uploading, but having trouble with the image path.

Any suggestions, advice, criticism or questions welcome!

If any of you are on Instagram, I go by the same username as I am on SP. Feel free to follow me, I've been posting updates of the build on there.

Have a great day all!

Dubshot

Here's the cabinet with some finishing. I'm rounding the edges (very carefully) with sandpaper as I don't have a router. Hard, but not impossible! Still need to add a bead of sealant to the back panel (inside) and take apart an old cushion for sound wadding! Attempted to order some proper gear, but everyone's outta stock right now.

Here's a shot of the box, sat atop the bass cabinet. Wasn't too sure if I'd end up with a black finish at the start - so much time and effort's gone into the woodwork, it seems criminal to cover it up now. Couldn't resist seeing how she looked, in place, even if unfinished. Happy with the results so far. Still plenty more to do! I have all of the fixings ready to install and the "prep for stain/varnish" process has begun. You'll notice on the previous pic that I have the wrong colour filler. It's a little too light against the ply. Decided against any more unnecessary trips to B&Q and I'm now calling them a feature!

Enjoy!