Great new subwoofer idea

Milehighguy · « **on:** 27 Sep 2005, 01:14 am »

I have thought up a new subwoofer enclosure idea that I believe has several advantages. I am going to make one myself as soon as the parts arrive. As far as I know nobody has made one like this yet (correct me if I'm wrong).

Simply stated, I'm making a sw-12 type sub out of a new 20 gallon oak barrel. The barrel will sit on a matching oak stand in a horizontal position. The 12" driver will be at one end and the PR at the other. 20 gallons = 2.67 cubic feet. I talked to Danny and he said that that volume should work fine. The barrel is 18 inches in diameter and 23.25 inches in length and weighs about 60 lbs.

What are the advantages?

1) The enclosure is pre-made and sanded. You just need to cut 2 holes for the drivers, and drill holes for the wires.

2) The solid oak enclosure costs $155, and the matching stand is $30.

3) The enclosure is solid and strong. The shape naturally resists flexing and vibration, as do the multiple 1 inch thick staves.

4) The barrel idea is unique and I think it's attractive ( some will disagree of course)

5) There are no parrellel surfaces except the small area where the drivers are mounted.

6) It's a barrel of fun.

The barrels can be had from www.barrelsunlimited.com. Look under specialty barrels, furniture type, which have no bung hole (must be painful).

I already own a GR Research sub, which is most excellant, so I'm sure this one will be also.Soon the competition will be "over a barrel".

The "Barrelwoofer" is in gestation. I wil let you know more when it is born.

Naturally, larger or smaller versions can be made. Large, used whiskey barrels in good shape can be had for about $75 ( check out www.kentuckybarrels.com). In fact my brother and I are making one of those with a down-firing 15" woofer at the present time as well(more on that later).

Someday I or someone else may make one with an active driver in each end, either mono or stereo. That will be the " Double Barrel".

BradJudy · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 01:28 am »

An interesting idea for folks with rustic interior designs. You might have to do some sealing of all of the joints since a barrel designed for furniture is likely not air-tight. Note that the water-tight barrels they sell are parafin lined - perhaps you can get a parafin lined one without bunghole from them.

We used to use old whiskey barrels for dog houses when I was a kid.

Before anyone buys a bourbon barrel, know that the smell can be rather strong and I don't know how to get rid of it. I would recommend unused barrels if you're building a sub.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 04:47 am »

That's a pretty original idea! I'm curious to hear how it works for you.

Milehighguy · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 05:22 am »

Quote from: BradJudy

You might have to do some sealing of all of the joints since a barrel designed for furniture is likely not air-tight. Note that the water-tight barrels they sell are parafin lined - perhaps you can get a parafin lined one without bunghole from them.

Before anyone buys a bourbon barrel, know that the smell can be rather strong and I don't know how to get rid of it. I would recommend unused barrels if you're building a sub.

I talked to Barrels unlimited about the furniture barrels and they said that they are the same as the wine barrels. They were diferent in the past when they got them from an outside supplier, but they now make them themselves the same as the wine barrels. The weight and cost listed on the website is wrong. Also, for some reason they don't have parifin lined barrels in the 20 gallon size. I'm thinking of using roofing tar, or auto undercoating, or truckbed liner, or silicone instead.

The used whiskey barrel We bought from home depot smelled of whiskey , but the smell faded fairly quickly,and after several months in the garage, the smell has gone away. The problem with that barrel is that it was in poor condition and beat-up some. The bottom metal strap is a little dented and loose from being dropped too much. But it was a $40 'impulse ' buy.
So I guess the new or once-used, best-condition barrels are the way to go.

BradJudy · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 01:17 pm »

I'm glad to hear that the smell went away in your experience. I just remember those doghouses still smelling like whiskey after a couple of years outside.

JohnR · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 02:31 pm »

I would be very interested in hearing how the barrel woofer turns out! A place near here sells used wine barrels, but they said that when the wood dries out the oak shrinks and the hoops fall off. They mostly sell them cut in half for use as plant pots. (I bought one).

klh · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 04:22 pm »

I like the idea a lot. It would be easy and unique... and it would especially fit in if you had a bar in the room. It's one of those things you wonder why somebody didn't think of it earlier.

Milehighguy · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 05:02 pm »

Quote from: JohnR

they said that when the wood dries out the oak shrinks and the hoops fall off. ).

I talked to barrels unlimited about the drying out problem. They said furniture barrel wooden staves were dried before being made, to avoid that problem. They also said that an oriental group of musicians use them for drums, and haven't had the shrinkage problem. The reason they have no bung hole is so they can be used to make drums.

Barrels that are used to hold liquids are made from wood that is kept in humidified warehouses. To keep those kinds intact they recommend screwing the staves to the hoops and applying laquer to the wood.

So for subwoofer use, furniture type barrels are definetly the way to go.

JohnR · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Sep 2005, 10:10 pm »

Quote from: Milehighguy

I talked to barrels unlimited about the drying out problem. They said furniture barrel wooden staves were dried before being made, to avoid that problem.

Cool! They should be a brilliant sub enclosure then, very sturdy indeed. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out

Milehighguy · « **Reply #9 on:** 28 Sep 2005, 07:07 am »

Since I came up with this idea, I think I should be able to name it. I would like to call these types of woofers "Sub Barrels" or"SuBarrels, or SB's. Two of them stacked vertically would be a "Double Barrel". One of them with an active driver at each end in a stereo configuration is a dual barrel (that type would require a partition in the middle of the barrel) or a stereo SB. One of them with an active driver at each end in a mono configuration is a bi-polar SB.I know that previously I called a unit with two active woofers a double barrel, but I changed my mind. I think "Double Barrel" should designate a configuration with two barrels. And I also think " SuBarrel "sounds better than "barrel Woofer".

mpm32 · « **Reply #10 on:** 28 Sep 2005, 03:32 pm »

Barrel of Boom

Milehighguy · « **Reply #11 on:** 28 Sep 2005, 06:48 pm »

That's a good one!

There are good names incorporating" Boom", like "Barrel Boomer", but to me "Boom" has a negetive conotation as in loose, one-note, low quality bass.

By the way, if anyone needs to convert gallons to cu. ft. or liter, or for other conversions, go to www.convert-me.com.

1gallon =.1336806 cu. ft.
= 3.785412 liter

1 liter=.03531467 cu. ft. =.264172 gallon

1 cu. ft.=28.31685 liter
=7.480519 gallon

BradJudy · « **Reply #12 on:** 28 Sep 2005, 07:20 pm »

Somewhat off-topic, but I find this freeware units conversion tool indispensible - http://www.joshmadison.com/software/convert/

watersb · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Oct 2005, 05:20 pm »

The rain barrels are paraffin-lined, but the smallest is a 5 Gallon:

http://www.barrelsunlimited.com./specialtybarrelproducts/rainbarrels.html

Milehighguy · « **Reply #14 on:** 2 Oct 2005, 06:01 pm »

The rain barrels are wax lined except the 20 gallon. Coincidentally, the 20 gallon is the one I need. Also the rain barrels have one end removed, which would require puting the end back on, and I don't know how hard that would be.

My furniture type 20 gallon barrel has arrived, but it's at my brother's house and I have been busy at the audiio show here in Denver. In fact I will be picking up a pair of RAW RA-8 speakers today that I bought at the show. Those are incredible speakers. They are still on the pre-order price until tomorrow, 10-03-05. Check the RAW Acoustics website quickly if interested. I also talked with Al Wooley about ways to make the barrel stronger. More on that later. The GR woofer/PR have also arrived, so as time permits, and if I can pull myself away from the RA-8's, I will be start ing on the SuBarrel project.

Geoff ¥ · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Oct 2005, 08:31 pm »

Nice to see a place to find such an item/encloser.

A couple years ago we built vented sub using a full size beer Keg. A close friend worked for Bud•iser and I was able to get one that was near perfect, if not new. While it looked neat after a full polishing, clear coat, and all the d•mn work put into it, plasma cutter, MDF caps, special silver/polished Alum looking paint for them, and also lined with BH-5, "never" would build one again. The BH-5 likely could have been replaced with simple spray deadener but worried of possible ringing.

A nice wood U type stand was built to allow it to set long ways not upright as a normal Keg would stand.

This idea and (place you found for wood barrels sounds) pretty neat and can only picture it being much simpler to achive the end result.

The keg sub was sold long ago to a guy/friend going to collage as it just did fit in anywhere except the garage. Do not know if it's still alive.
I checked into some old wine and other type wood based barrels first, but found what you did after reseaching them. This sounds like a winner from (the info you have posted to this point) and certainly something you dont/won't see everyday.

I have not checked/looked into the linked site "yet", which is where I'm headed now.

If this works out as well as it sounds it might/should, it certainly won't fit everyones decore, but is another type encloser one can look into instead of the typical sono or box.

Cheers
Geoff ¥

Milehighguy · « **Reply #16 on:** 3 Oct 2005, 07:30 pm »

Thanks for your support of the idea. I had thought about a keg subwoofer, but as you noted, it appears to be too much aggravation. Especially for a relatively unskilled guy like me. Plus a wood barrel is more attractive than a metal keg IMO.

Al Wooley (of RAW Acoustics) is convinced that the wood is going to seperate and vibrate. He advised puting a layer of yellow wood glue inside the barrel, then sanding it a little, then putting a layer of bondo or fiberglass over that. I'm going to try the unmodified barrel first and see how it holds up, then use the bondo if necessary. As I said , people use these barrels for drums, and apparently don't have any problems. I have other ideas to reinforce the barrel if necessary also.

By the way , how did the keg sub sound? Did you use an engineered design as far as correct volume or not?

Hank · « **Reply #17 on:** 4 Oct 2005, 05:04 pm »

You might consider spraying a fairly thick layer of truck bed liner inside the kegs, then lining that with the new multi-layer acoustic dampening foam from Parts Express.

Milehighguy · « **Reply #18 on:** 5 Oct 2005, 05:48 am »

Yes, I had considered spray-in truck-bed liner, and even called a company that does that. They were reluctant because I was talking to them about the large whiskey barrel which only had one open end. I guess they didn't want the spray to come back out of the barrel and spray on them. They said to bring it by to evaluate, and the price would be at least $150. So I passed on that.
It may be cheaper to get it done to a smaller barrel with both ends open, and I may consider that option if the untreated barrel has issues.

chris3377 · « **Reply #19 on:** 5 Oct 2005, 06:17 am »

I know they sell a liner at GI Joe's that you can roll on yourself instead of spraying, have you thought of that? It just comes in a gallon paint can and you get a nappy roller brush. I don't know how well it would work, but it's worth a thought anyway.