DIY Mid Bass tower speakers

(hatepain) · (hatepain) **Join Date: Aug 2006** 03-27-2009, 2:51 PM

I've been thinking about betting some bullet cans that would match my Hollow Points and making a set of mid bass (think WS MB-8). Any recommendations on some mid bass drivers and a x over? I'd prefer to use the 7.7 cans but could go with the 6.5's

(05mobiuslsv) · (05mobiuslsv) **Join Date: Apr 2006** 03-27-2009, 2:56 PM

I thought those 7.7's put out a ton of midbass?

(jonyb) · (jonyb) **Join Date: Nov 2008** 03-27-2009, 5:38 PM

I've got 4 JL Audio 6W0's that would look pretty good up there.

(wake1823) · (wake1823) **Join Date: Dec 2005** 03-27-2009, 6:48 PM

emminece or b&d

(wakebrdr38) · (wakebrdr38) **Join Date: Sep 2006** 03-27-2009, 7:36 PM

If you are gonna put 6 inch subs up there for like 40 bucks more you could put 6w3v3s up there. Im really curious to see how a sub or mid-base would work on a tower, my guess is not good enough to hear while riding.

(chpthril) · (chpthril) **Join Date: Oct 2007** 03-27-2009, 7:40 PM

^^^ boarding, no, but surfing and sandbar, YES!

(wakebrdr38) · (wakebrdr38) **Join Date: Sep 2006** 03-27-2009, 7:44 PM

good point didnt think about surfing! That would be sweeeeet!

(hatepain) · (hatepain) **Join Date: Aug 2006** 03-27-2009, 9:41 PM

Nu, they do put out a lot of mid bass but I'm American.

TM, exactly what I'm after I pretty much just surf now and chill after. Any ideas on X over's?

I probably am gonna swap out my amp to the recommended GT-28 and check out the Q tune first but I'm not sure it'll be exactly what I'm after. I run a nice amp at em now just a little less power.

(muckinaround) · (muckinaround) **Join Date: Dec 2008** 03-28-2009, 10:00 PM

Check out the Digital Designs 6.5 subs. They'd be perfector what you're wanting to do

(david_e_m) · (david_e_m) **Join Date: Jul 2008** 03-31-2009, 11:33 AM

Hate,

A couple of considerations.

A small driver that can produce midbass in a small displacement is likely to be too insensitive to keep pace with an HLCD tower speaker. Off the shelf raw drivers from the world of pro sound may be efficient enough but the resonance will shoot through the roof in a tiny pod. The 7-inch diameter Bullet pods are too small for much midbass contribution regardless of the driver used.

The larger Bullet 770s have impressive midbass because the 7.7 inch driver was built specifically for a tower pod application. So I would run two or three pair of 770s and depend on equalization to warm up the sound for near field use. I like the Boston Acoustics Q-Tune feature. Also, the GT-28 is one-ohm stereo stable so it will handle the 1.3-ohm load of three pair. Similarly the MaxxBass processor by Waves Car Audio has real potential in that it adds midbass restoration without sacrificing power handling.

David, Earmark Marine

(duffymahoney) · (duffymahoney) **Join Date: Sep 2008** 03-31-2009, 12:07 PM

I thought that these would sound great in the boat and for surfing. I know the bass wouldn't travel far enough for wakeboarding. They get good reviews and might sound great.

http://www.kicker.com/comp_vt

(hatepain) · (hatepain) **Join Date: Aug 2006** 03-31-2009, 12:13 PM

Thanks David I appreciate the response. I'm gonna get a GT-28 for now and go from there. I run them (2 pair 7.7's) right now with a JBL PX300.4 which is a nice amp but a little under powered for this application although they do scream as it is.

How does the MB-8 work in such a small pod?

(david_e_m) · (david_e_m) **Join Date: Jul 2008** 03-31-2009, 1:27 PM

Hate,

Because like your Bullets, the WetSounds driver was engineered specifically for its application.

The MB-8 doesn't necessarily go lower than a Pro80. Its more a matter of offsetting the HLCDs with the addition of a pure midbass driver. And certainly the larger MB-8 driver and pod goes lower with more midbass amplitude than the Pro60 mate.

As a sidenote, its a difficult task to make a midbass driver that can keep up with a horn and reach up to the passive crossover point while also going low in a small pod. These are absolute contradictions in terms of design parameters so any improvement in one characteristic creates a compromise in the other.

David
Earmark Marine

(hatepain) · (hatepain) **Join Date: Aug 2006** 03-31-2009, 1:48 PM

I see, thanks again.

(tanner) · (tanner) **Join Date: Oct 2005** 03-31-2009, 3:55 PM

I know a guy who tried this very thing on a custom setup he made, using the JL woofers. His horns are awesome, they blow just about anything I've ever heard out of the water. However, he has absolultely no midbass!

(david_e_m) · (david_e_m) **Join Date: Jul 2008** 04-01-2009, 9:58 AM

Tanner,

So true.
Sure, it's a no brainer to obtain a massive compression driver and horn in route to getting stupid loud treble. But mating it to a midbass driver is another story.

Building a functional passive crossover is even a bigger challenge. Off the shelf crossovers are made to be universal which would be okay if all high and low-pass speakers were of equal efficiency, if the low frequency cut-off of all horns were equal, if all drivers had a linear impedance and amplitude curve and so on and so forth. The novice has no idea the layers and depth of knowledge required to do what manufacturers like WetSounds and Bullet HollowPoint have done. And, I've talked to many a speaker manufacturer who doesn't get it either.

David
Earmark Marine