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Author Topic: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs  (Read 31864 times)

Josh Shetter

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2012, 05:46:31 AM »

Xtro or a version of it is really your only DIY route for meeting labs.  You might even need some USB's between them. 
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Tim Weaver

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2012, 02:12:49 PM »

Since you already own a bunch of RCF drivers that are in your existing cabs, I think I would go old school and build some big square boxes that house two 15's, two 10's, and a 2" compression driver in each. You could start out with one per side and grow from there. Make it a 60 degree horn on the CD and you can put 2 of these monsters side by side, kinda. You can put 4 per side by doing a 2 by 2 stack as well.

This allows you to use some of the drivers you already own and put them to use in a big heavy sledgehammer type PA.

Boxes like these MADE money for EVERYBODY back in the 90's. They were easy to build, loud as hell, could be stacked a dozen different ways, and sounded reasonably good in most situations.

Here's what I'm talking about.



If you are really slick you'll build mirror image pairs and put an angle on the horn side so that you can tight pack them with the horns and mids together.

Then hire somebody that knows how to tune a rig and have them build a preset for your crossover.
« Last Edit: October 09, 2012, 02:15:34 PM by Tim Weaver »
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Bullwinkle: This is the amplifier, which amplifies the sound. This is the Preamplifier which, of course, amplifies the pree's.

tom reardon

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #22 on: October 12, 2012, 10:33:43 AM »

theres some EV MT-4 on ebay that would be perfect
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Chris Hindle

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #23 on: October 15, 2012, 01:03:34 PM »

theres some EV MT-4 on ebay that would be perfect
Perfect ?
You're kidding, right ?
Have you ever actually used, or better yet, lifted a MTH-4 ??
Yes, they will make noise. BUT, at what cost ??
4 amp channels per top. A pile of 4 ohm loads if I remember correctly.
I'd take any modern box in an instant.
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Ya, Whatever. Just throw a '57 on it, and get off my stage.

Tim Weaver

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #24 on: October 16, 2012, 12:29:57 AM »

Perfect ?
You're kidding, right ?
Have you ever actually used, or better yet, lifted a MTH-4 ??
Yes, they will make noise. BUT, at what cost ??
4 amp channels per top. A pile of 4 ohm loads if I remember correctly.
I'd take any modern box in an instant.

Hey, the OP just wants to keep up with Labsubs. The MT4 will do it. Plus he said he had a helper to lift it with....  ;D
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DaveSlater

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #25 on: October 18, 2012, 03:15:33 PM »

So a better option for you is a separate kick cab. The mark 1 USB cab was designed specifically for this, Rog Mogale's HD15 is very popular and there is also a few different designs to choose from on Marc O's speaker site http://hornplans.free.fr/index.html.

From here you can them move up to a dedicated Mid-Top Cab.  The designs that spring out are Rog's MT-122 or Marc O's MT-130.

Can highly recommend the HD15 having built and run a raft of them over the years
In fact it's myself that's responsible for the HD215 variant and my colleague who's responsible for the letterbox X1 variant (which was done to match the HD215 width dimensions)

We've built numerous top boxes starting with the MT122's which are an absolute pig to build and to be honest sound pretty honky

We also had Rog's MkI 12" Porn Horn's coupled with a fibreglass 6.5" + 1" top section from a company in Germany

These sounded really nice and in comparison to a Turbo TMS3 where one fell down the other picked up (would've been nice to merge them together)

Unfortunately these were 60x40's and with the Porn Horn box requirements we couldn't get a box to array properly. As a result we were limited to one box a side and never went any further with them

I toyed with the idea of an Akabak assault on the problem and got some promising starts but frankly the cost involved in prototyping outweighed the rewards

Bottom line is we took a commercial decision to buy Funktion because of the return on our investment

Honestly we've never looked back and having brand name goods does much to sell your company (whatever that name is) the rest is proving you know what you're on about at the gig so they ask you back and recommend you to others!

Bass is easy to DIY. Tops on the other hand take years of trial and error and a lot of money to prototype which is why you find a myriad of sub designs but very few tops that actually work properly

The advice to buy used tops is sensible and shrewd.

If you choose a decent company to go with they will carry stock of spares, provide helpful advice and the resale value will remain stable which means you can buy now at one price run them for a few years until they've paid for themselves and then sell them if you need to and get your money back

The other advantage is you can keep an eye on eBay and as you earn money buy more of the same box over and over again which is far easier, more cost effective and less time consuming than building your own

Your 'free' labour costs you money if your time is better spent earning you more money elsewhere
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Richard Turner

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #26 on: October 28, 2012, 10:52:49 AM »

There must be scads of EAW KF850 lying around in warehouses, even  at close to 15 years old they will run night in hight out. If youre ground stacking the weight isn't an issue, also the sb250 dual 15 is a nice compact punch box theat would full in between the full range and labsub. They might be getting older butI'd dare say you could buy 8 of them for less than the components and good quality hardware and urethane coatings needed to home brew 4 of your own. Last time I was looking (3 yeas ago) there were scads of them in warehoudes / C rigs of guys who were moving up in the line array, constant curve array world
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Looking at retiring. Local PA market has shrank to 2 guys with guitars and bose l1 compacts or expecting full line array and 16 movers on stage for $300... no middle left going back to event DJ stuff, half the work for twice the pay.

Randy Pence

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #27 on: October 28, 2012, 10:31:48 PM »

So fill me in. You are doing shows for rave promoters with limited budgets? Around here the rave promoters are cleaning up and making huge profits. Is that not the norm? Sounds like a lot of gear for not a lot of money. Just trying to keep a watch on how the market gets sucked down so professionals can't make any money.

All depends on the style of event.  In my area, there are huge productions and advertising budgets for highly profitable events catering to more mainstream audiences and those where the production expectations, entrance fees, and desired audiences are smaller.  Large providers and a-level gear handle the big stuff, smaller companies handle the smaller, and more "underground/limited audience" scenes often feature home built stuff.

Unless you really have a grasp on designing your own stuff, I'd also recommend finding some 2nd hand top end gear.  Anything which has featured the bms coax hf driver has sounded good to me.

I personally am frustrated by funktion one speakers.  The highs start sounding like scissors (a phenomenon I've heard on a lot of line array deployments) once the box gets up and going and before any sort of limiters. It can be helped with eq, but i thought the point of those boxes is that eq was not necesary.  ;)
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joelee

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #28 on: November 12, 2012, 04:25:26 AM »

Hi everyone--

I'm attempting to get into the large scale EDM sound system game on a limited budget, and with my solid knowledge of carpentry and cabinetry I've begun construction on what will eventually be ten Labsubs.  My question is, what DIY topboxes have been used successfully to compliment the Labsub?

I have plenty of time and a well-equipped shop and access to a CNC router so I can bang out some pretty complicated stuff relatively fast.  Horn loaded mains make the most sense to me, but what the heck do I know?  Answer: very little.

I'm going to be working gigs that center around the bass music movement so I need to build an over-the-top rig.  The talk on the dance floor centers on the amazingness of Funktion One and PK gear but I feel like I can build something as good or better for a fraction of the cost.

Help please.

CNC router? buy drivers from other factory. okay, then you can make your own speaker using your brand. lol...
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Marjan Milosevic

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Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #29 on: November 14, 2012, 10:56:06 AM »

CNC router? buy drivers from other factory. okay, then you can make your own speaker using your brand. lol...

Joelee, change you name to your real name as per the forum rules.
Also, if i were you, i will do my best not to let people here know who i am, or who do i work for. We do not appreciate here Chinese companies that are making money by stealing other peoples intellectual property.

Have a nice day.

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: DIY topboxes to match Labsubs
« Reply #29 on: November 14, 2012, 10:56:06 AM »


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