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[Taylor Hall]

Hey there everyone. It's been a longtime wish of mine to be able to build one of these cabs, but never had the need or drive to actually do it until now. Between running a small convention and doing some system rental on the side we've noticed that we have a need for some low-end grunt and it looks like this design will work well for us and our applications.

Basically, before we commit the time and money towards building these it would be nice to be able to hear some in action. It's really more for my partner than for me as he's more than skeptical about how a pair of 12" drivers can match the output of something much larger. I've tried reasoning with him about how there's more to doing this than just getting the biggest driver you can and throwing thousands of watts of power at it and it's been an uphill struggle.

I'm hoping that I can slowly phase out some of the equipment we already have with something more tailored to our needs. We're reaching the point where I've pretty much maxed the potential of the gear we have (mostly seismic audio, I know I know, but it wasn't my call, I came into this venture too late to offer other alternatives) and rather than running everything ragged just to get 7/10ths I'd prefer to upgrade a few things and be able to get closer to 9/10ths with breathing room to push to 10/10ths if the need arises.

I have a feeling I've found the perfect community to pull advice from and I've already learned a bunch just in trolling around some older topics. So, hopefully you'll see some more of me around and possibly a build thread in the very near future.

[Sean Hennessey]

you have provisions to lift and transport lab subs?  how many can you possibly lug?

[Tim McCulloch]

Hi Taylor, and welcome to the forums.

The origin of the Tom Danley's design for the LABhorn was to prove that anyone with cabinet making chops could build/own a sub that rivaled or exceeded the performance of a well-known 3-letter (not west coast) company's product that sold for 3x or 4x the price of a nicely done LABhorn build.  Tom got Eminence to make custom drivers for his design and the rest is history.

That all said, there are now commercial systems that will cost 1.5x - 2x the expense of a plush LABhorn build and come closer to the performance.  Most of these are smaller and potentially lighter as well.  Don't get me wrong, I like making sawdust, too, but I think you need to consider what 40 hours of your lives can accomplish on the revenue side rather than being an undocumented and uncompensated expense of the build (hint: factor the value of shop labor into the cost basis).  You might not be saving as much as you think, and often it's more productive to spend 40 hours landing a couple of new clients than "saving" by building a custom product.  Trust me.

More information about the nature of the work you do most often, the amount of area needing coverage, the SPL required, etc will help us guide you to a better determination regarding suitability LABhorns or other products.

And finally, a couple of thoughts that have evolved over the life span of the LAB:  The wrong product at the 'right' price is still the wrong product; and Buy once, cry once.

Don't be afraid to purchase used gear from reliable firms.  It is your ticket to better gear at lower prices.

[Taylor Hall]

you have provisions to lift and transport lab subs?  how many can you possibly lug?

Right now our max would probably be 4 labs before needing a bigger truck and more helper bees. However, our (my) current plan is to start with a pair and see how well they compliment (ie completely overpower) what we have and go from there.

lotsa words

Oops, should have included some of that info in my original posting.

I'm fairly familiar with the history of the labhorn and Mr. Danley's contribution to the live sound scene. It's the intent he put into this design that drew me back to it after several years.

I should add that the rental side of what we do is more primarily aimed at "meeting in a box" type things. There's simply too much competition in Atlanta with larger, well-established names for us to try and get into the market of larger venues, plus it's not what we're wanting to do so it's a win/win for us. This is more of a hobby than a business for us, the convention is where we make the most of all this. With that being said, the Labs would likely only be brought out once, possibly twice a year (for our convention and one other that we partner with for tech) for use so the transportability isn't a big issue, especially since our storage facility is within a couple miles of both venues. I'm well aware of the time and monetary costs of building these cabs.

As far as what we will be using this for, the space is about 8,000 sq ft with 16ft cieling. The room is about 40' x 100', but we don't expect to push past about 50' past the stage given the amount of bodies between the there and back of the room. It's never filled to capacity anyways . It's primarily for EDM (no, not just dubstep) but will probably pull double duty as a live band setup within the next couple years. I'm also more or a quality over quantity guy. Anyone can make something LOUD, I want it to sound GOOD and am willing to sacrifice a few blown eardrums to accomplish that. After attending a show by a duo know as Justice a couple years ago, I was blown away by the quality of the sound that was put out. It was loud, to be sure, but everything was so clear. It was wonderfully balanced and left an impression on me that is still solid. Granted, a lot of that also comes down to tuning the setup to the venue, but having a decent setup to begin with goes a long way. Here's a video of what I'm talking about goes into their live production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk3SHyYGc38

I'm also not against going to a different design if it will better suit what we have laid out. We're on the same page as far as the right tool for the right job, that's why I'm looking to upgrade this equipment (and leaning towards DIY options as time is something we have plenty of, money, not so much) to something that will better suit our needs. So every few dollars we save on cabs is more we can put towards amps and other equipment to build a better foundation for ourselves.

I'm also not against buying used, but it seems most of the gear is pretty heavily picked over by those other companies I mentioned earlier as they have the disposable income to snatch it up at any given price where we do not have such a luxury. If I knew we could sell off a hefty portion of the gear on a moment's notice to fund a deal that came up, I'd likely be in a very different position right now. That being said, moving forward we should have some "play money" once we settle with our venue for the following year, so we might be able to snag some quality used gear, yet.

[Taylor Hall]

After a bit more consideration and consulting with a local gearhead it looks like going with the labhorn won't work like we hoped with our situation. While they would certainly offer increased sub-bass output, we wouldn't have enough real estate at our disposal to make full use of their throw distance. It seems if we were in a larger space or outdoors we'd have a better chance of properly utilizing these cabs.

That said, it looks like we're going to shift to a dual 18" cab as it should better suit our smaller space. I'll probably still build a pair of these just for the halibut in my free time as I've been needing something to tinker with. Time to start shopping again!

[Ivan Beaver]

. While they would certainly offer increased sub-bass output, we wouldn't have enough real estate at our disposal to make full use of their throw distance.

So exactly what does that mean?

[Mac Kerr]

After a bit more consideration and consulting with a local gearhead it looks like going with the labhorn won't work like we hoped with our situation. While they would certainly offer increased sub-bass output, we wouldn't have enough real estate at our disposal to make full use of their throw distance.

Huh? The bullshit meter is in the red.

Mac

[Rob Spence]

That said, it looks like we're going to shift to a dual 18" cab as it should better suit our smaller space. I'll probably still build a pair of these just for the halibut in my free time as I've been needing something to tinker with. Time to start shopping again!

There is a set of plans available for a dual 12 cab using the lab12 drivers that appears to be much easier to build than the Labhorn. Also smaller.

Edit:
There is a thread in the DYI forum at "soundforums.net"

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Sean Hennessey]

Throw distance (headscratch).

I dont think it plays as big a part as you think it does...   

edit:

Oh snap I slept on this one lol .

[Ivan Beaver]

There is a set of plans available for a dual 12 cab using the lab12 drivers that appears to be much easier to build than the Labhorn. Also smaller.

Edit:
There is a thread in the DYI forum at "soundforums.net"

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

And the trade off (there is always one) is the output is much lower-so it takes a lot  more of them to get the same otuput.  I don't remember the freq response and how it compares

[ProSoundWeb Community]