Bucket Sub Revisited

Another bucket sub picture

P5080051.jpg
 
Nice idea.

After all, my SVS non-powered subwoofer is simply a 12" driver bolted onto the bottom of a sonotube, which was then covered in fabric. Certainly nothing magical about it.

I got the large one, the 16-46 CS. 46" high, goes down to 16Hz. Very clean. There are a number of DIY projects on-line for building a sonotube subwoofer.
 
Once again, I prepped a much longer message, which got deleted by the time I hit "post"... so at the risk of being rude:

Poultry,

could you please post more details about that additional "ring" i.e.
- 1 or 2 per sub (your post said you made 2)?
- what is it made of &/or how did you make it?
- What is glued together? (and what is not?)
- is the driver removable (if you remove screws?

Thanks
Ron
 
Once again, I prepped a much longer message, which got deleted by the time I hit "post"... so at the risk of being rude:

Poultry,

could you please post more details about that additional "ring" i.e.
- 1 or 2 per sub (your post said you made 2)?
- what is it made of &/or how did you make it?
- What is glued together? (and what is not?)
- is the driver removable (if you remove screws?

Thanks
Ron

Ron,

the mounting ring is made from a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood using one per sub. The inside ring diameter is 7" and I can't recall the outside measurement of the ring but it should be the same as the inside diameter of the bucket. I cut the rings with a plunge router and Jasper hole cutting guide but you could get by with a jig saw and compass.

I used a silicone adhesive to glue the ring to the inside of the bucket underneath the plastic baffle so it's not visible. The ring doesn't have to be glued to the plastic baffle.

The #8 x 3/4" ( SPAX brand ) construction screws from Home Depot mount the drivers and go through the plastic baffle into the plywood ring.

The screws are the only thing holding the driver in place so the drivers can easily be removed.

Hope this helps.
 
Thank you, Poultry. Now I get it.

Always appreciate the interesting twist you seem to be able to provide (on this, and other posts/threads/forums). Thanks again.
 
Love your take on the bucket subs Poultrygeist. Do you think it would be easy to put a grille on top for kid proofing?
 
The only thing I did that differed from the original plan was to make two mounting rings. The inside of the ring uses the woofer's cut out dimension and the outside of the ring is the measurement of the bucket's inside.

I did this as I reasoned that once I siliconed the woofer to the plastic it would be permanent and I could never remove it.

I siliconed the mounting ring to the inside of the bucket and behind the plastic baffle. I used the clamps to hold the plastic baffle to the mounting ring but that was not necessary and I skipped this step on the second bucket sub.

P4170016.jpg
What did you use for the two mounting rings? did you just cut them from another bucket? They look kinda of thick for that. Sorry, I just saw that question answered above...
 
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The 10" grill fits nicely over the woofer and just inside the bucket rim. A friend who used it sent me a picture and it looks nice.

Not sure how he attached it but options would be gluing it down, blue tac or black velcro.
 
Is the purpose of the concrete to provide some ballast so the things don't tip over, or is it to take up space in order to optimize the volume of the bucket?
 
Is the purpose of the concrete to provide some ballast so the things don't tip over, or is it to take up space in order to optimize the volume of the bucket?

The concrete adds incredible mass and solidarity to the whole structure and there's no flex or give like one might expect from a plastic bucket.

Those long deck screws just above the bottom lid as well as the long bolts attaching the feet act like rebar and re-enforce the concrete.
 
That 8" grill doesn't fit over the Peerless as I have one. The 10" grill ( part # 260 373 ) does.

If you call PE before it ships they're send you the 10".

I called but they said the order had already printed or whatever and couldn't change it. All I could do was cancel and reorder...so I just let it go as-is.

As long as it fits on top of the woofer, not necessarily around it, I'll put a couple small dabs of silicone or whatever to hold it in place. It'll be largely hidden so it doesn't have to be real pretty, just functional to keep out big chunks.
 
By rough calculation of volume I'll need 15-20 lb (dry) of cement mix for one sub for fill of ~3"

Sound about right?
 
By rough calculation of volume I'll need 15-20 lb (dry) of cement mix for one sub for fill of ~3"

Sound about right?

I calc as follows. A=PI * R². Radius of a typical 5 gallon bucket is around 0.46 feet, yielding an area of ~0.66 feet². A depth of 3" makes ~ 0.166 feet³, times ~145 lb/ft³=24 lb, wet, per bucket. Dry is going to be pretty close to same since this small a quantity shouldn't need 2 qts of water (I think it's 144.4 lb/ft³, dry.)
 
I came up with 0.17 ft3 as well (for 3" fill).

Dunno what the standard is for concrete, only saw that one 50lb bag of quick cure Quikrete will yield 0.45 ft3 of material. So, .17/.45 = .38, .38*50 = 19lb.
 
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