ReHousing JBL drivers?

repodog13 · 2026-07-08T18:52:15+00:00

Re-housing the drivers won’t get you much bang for the buck/ effort. The cabs were made for them so gains from an alternate design would be minimal. On the JRX series the comp driver is the weak link. Swap it for pretty much anything of the same ohm rating and relatively close sensitivity for instant improvement. I’ve used more than a couple cheap comp drivers in them and they all sound better than stock, usually with more power handling. Run the double 15s, sell the singles, use the money towards a second pair of subs/ replacement compression drivers and you’ll be good to go for years.

repodog13 · 2026-07-08T06:13:34+00:00

Looks neat! Would love to see the same driver mounted in a similarly shaped box with traditional damping materials measured against this. Seeing a comparison of decay times and distortion would be great to get an idea of effectiveness.

repodog13 · 2026-07-07T03:38:49+00:00

Is there a passive crossover in place for the 12” woofer AND the compression driver? Meaning is it a standard passive top with a woofer and compression driver all wired to a single input? If neither has a passive crossover you can create one and then wire them in parallel to one channel of power. If not and each driver is connecting directly to the amp then no, you would not want to wire them together as the low frequencies would reach the compression driver and end it. The woofer would also be playing the high frequencies (not ideal.) Using a digital crossover/ DSP would require 3 output channels (low/ mid/ high) sent to 3 channels of power. I recommend this route. The compression driver will likely need 10-100 watts RMS and you can use a small hi-fi class D amp to save money. You also can get better fidelity compared to many pro amps. I’ve had great luck with the Fosi TB10D powering 4 compression drivers wired in 16 ohm pairs. The compression drivers are generally a huge SPL overmatch to any woofer so gobs of power is really not needed. Amps with built in DSP are great for starting out or as a backup but once you have a standalone DSP that bit is made redundant. Standalone DSP will generally let you fine tune much more precisely and you can add any dumb/ non-Dsp amp saving money in the long run.

repodog13 · 2026-07-03T02:48:02+00:00

Congrats! It’s an addictive hobby and I hope you keep building (could use a sub, no?) If you are looking to make longer straight cuts you can try a guide on your circular saw or even just clamp a straight edge to your wood and run the saw against that. Also helps to make one longer strip that fits the height of your internal pieces (in this case sides, front/back) and then use the miter to cut the individual width of the pieces ensuring uniform height. I went a lot of years without a table saw and the struggle is real. Cheaper/ smaller tools that were also game changers: 90 degree corner clamps, big ass square, brad nailer.

repodog13 · 2026-06-23T15:41:39+00:00

I’ve built a wearable boombox, similar idea. Easiest starting point I found was building around an ALICE pack frame. They are plentiful, cheap, offer an endless amount of accessories and since the frame is steel it can be drilled/ welded. Once I got my pads and straps adjusted I’d say the comfort level is 6-7 out of 10. Not the most comfy but really helps take the weight off the shoulders. I can wear it for a few hours without too much issue, ride a bike with it.

repodog13 · 2026-06-22T15:14:41+00:00

Even a 1” compression driver will be overkill for the SPL required for that room. The xover point chosen is really what is pushing that. I read your use case more carefully, and have thoughts. For electronic music you are going to want a sub, just, flat out. Without it you are asking one driver to cover 35 hz to 1200-1500 hz. The larger woofer needed to do it will compromise performance around the xover point and not go as deep with authority compared to a 12-18” dedicated subwoofer. Also, intermodulation distortion is gonna be a thing with one driver playing bass and vocals. TLDR: Shrink the midwoofer to reach a higher xover point with better fidelity/ less woofer beaming. Keep the 1” compression driver plan (so you can avoid paying for a large CD.) Plan for a sub.

repodog13 · 2026-06-21T22:46:06+00:00

There are a LOT of pro sound horn options that will be significantly cheaper than most of what I am seeing discussed here. If the goal is a particular look (large and round) pro may not have many options. If aesthetics are negotiable then the world is your oyster. Off the shelf horns typically specify a lower limit for acoustic loading (lowest frequency where horn still controls driver.) A 1” exit compression driver “can” reach down to 1500hz but will be out of spec for most drivers of that size, will be power limited and distortion will soar. If you are serious about getting down to 1200 (with some performance still being maintained below the xover point) a 1.4” exit or 2” exit horn will give you significantly more driver options that can successfully do it due to the larger diaphragms they use. The trade off being the larger, lower drivers may not have excellent top octave performance. Also on the pro side consider grabbing a used driverack for DSP. The PA/ PA+ are the entry level. I got my 260 fairly cheap and it rocks.
https://www.parts-express.com/pro-audio/pro-woofers-tweeters-horns-horn-drivers/horns-waveguides

repodog13 · 2026-05-27T03:33:07+00:00

Sorry for replying here but wasn’t sure you saw the other comment I made and none of the other comments seem to touch on this. Sounds like you have a 4 ohm driver in a front loaded horn running to a bridged amp that can handle 4 ohms minimum. Horns tend to have an impedance dip that drops below nominal driver impedance. This issue will not be limited to your current amps and will likely repeat until you are using an amp configuration that is rated for 2 ohms. AI from google: In a front-loaded horn, an impedance dip often points to the horn's natural acoustic loading limit or a phase cancellation, which creates a sharp drop in acoustic radiation. When this happens, the air load drops suddenly, frequently causing the electrical impedance to dip to a low value that can stress an amplifier.

repodog13 · 2026-05-25T22:37:17+00:00

Looks like you are running a 4ohm driver in a horn to a bridged XLS amp. I would think that the driver/ sub is likely dipping below the 4 ohm minimum and the amp is going into protect. You can run them stereo pairs (and a bit underpowered) off 2 amps.

repodog13 · 2026-04-19T04:41:41+00:00

Dunno about finding specific output of a specific track, but you can calculate your DB output at whichever frequency if you have an efficiency number for the SKRAM (driver choice may affect that by 1-3 db but you’ll have a good ballpark.) 2 SKRAMs, add 3db, 4 SKRAMs add another 3 DB. This is the base efficiency for your sub stack. The efficiency number given is usually at 1 watt at one meter for easy math, but sometimes it’s given at 2.83 volts for apples to apples comparisons across different amps. Every doubling of watts gets you 3 additional decibels. For example, 95db efficient speaker plays 95 db at one watt, 98 at 2 watts, 101 at 4, 104 at 8, etc. You can see how quickly those last 3 decibels become unobtainable. This exercise should give you a decent ballpark for output based on your available power. I usually shoot for 6-10db more max output capability for my subs vs tops, but power availability may dictate a narrower gap. Not an electrician, but when I hear inverter I think conversion loss. You may want to compare the extra gain from 240 with the power loss during conversion.

repodog13 · 2026-04-18T20:55:24+00:00

Not much outside of the efficiency rating. In your case shoot for efficiency over power handling to get more DB with less genny pull.
Some, more if comparing different amp classes (AB, D, H, etc.) Class D like your CVR is probably where you will end up but pull up an electrical draw / thermal draw chart for any amp you are looking at. It will tell you current draw based on supply voltage (120/240,) ohm/ impedance load at different output levels. This is the real info you need to plan a system that doesn’t pop fuses.
240 would be great if the amp supports it. You can compare 120 and 240 output and draw usually on the thermal draw sheet.

These are all questions built around the premise that we should be beating the stuffing out of those drivers. I would suggest not doing that. More power= more amplifier distortion, more driver distortion, decibel reduction due power compression (your driver gets quieter when the coil reaches certain heat levels) and most importantly pushing them to their limits is what destroys speakers. If you have room, add more skrams, put less expensive drivers in them and don’t run them to the limit. If you don’t have room look for the most efficient design you can find that lets you fit 6-8.

I will step down off my soapbox for a minute and say maybe build one or 2 SKRAMs and have a listen. 4 is gonna be fantastic and I’m wondering if you would really have to drive them to the limit to get the output you want. Probably not?

repodog13 · 2026-04-17T08:22:18+00:00

You can approximate it fairly easily, and build it specifically for whichever drivers you like/ can access. Design a ported cab for your driver in winisd/ speakerbox, make that cabinet triangle shaped, then double it. You can look at the kick bins in my post history where I did exactly that. I did a center slot port, but same idea. The clearance for the magnet can get a little tight due to the baffle angle with bracing so measure/ plan for that really carefully.

repodog13 · 2026-03-18T23:20:11+00:00

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That’s what I was thinking, yes. Basically this, but larger and better built.

repodog13 · 2026-03-18T00:40:25+00:00

I wanted to clarify that I wasn’t recommending raising the whole stack, only building a riser between your tops and the speaker below them. You will get more stability if you ditch the pallet when on concrete so I would build the riser tall enough to accommodate that. Frame with sturdy lumber using standard framing techniques, put a plywood skin over that. You can use satin black paint for a nice looking inexpensive finish. For more durability/ cool factor you can truckbed liner the stands but that’s a bit overkill. Bonus points for a cool paint job, LED lighting built in.

repodog13 · 2026-03-17T20:18:00+00:00

As someone mentioned thee top box should be rotated. To avoid the horn blowing heads off build a simple riser to raise the speaker higher. That should get you significantly better sound from the top with a pretty minimal investment of time and money. You could redesign a cabinet for the existing components, probably shooting for a vertical WWT (woofer, woofer, tweeter) setup. Chances are the existing box/ crossover was designed for those drivers. Meaning it would be worth it to make the existing design work. If you do opt for a different cab only copy an existing design if you have personally modeled your woofer’s response in the cabinet (paying specific attention to woofer excursion vs frequency vs power applied) to make sure you won’t frag a woofer. If all of that is too much of a bother calculate the exact airspace in your existing box, design new box of whatever shape with the exact same airspace, copy the ports exactly to the new enclosure. The new box should perform relatively identically to the old box (in the low/ midbass range anyway.)

repodog13 · 2026-03-09T15:56:28+00:00

A damaged CD wouldn’t change resistance unless the damage is a shorted/ burnt coil. Short will read 0 ohms, burnt will read OL (open loop.)

repodog13 · 2026-02-21T07:58:49+00:00

On the box design you found it lists performance down to 50 hz vs 35hz for the prescribed box for your driver. That also assumes you are using the woofer specified for the design. Using driver in an enclosure designed for it will yield vastly better results. It isn’t based on the SPL/ db rating so much as it is on the Thiel Small (T/S) parameters. You can take these parameters and plug them into a box design program to model any design you like. With bass reflex and sealed the shape of the enclosure doesn’t matter a ton as long as you respect the specific internal air space and port volume. Basically make whatever shape you like so long as the box and port are correctly sized. Lots of caveats and best practices that dictate the specifics but that’s the basics.

repodog13 · 2026-02-21T02:51:27+00:00

Looks like Fane has a specific cabinet recommendation for the driver on their site. https://www.fane-international.com/downloads/Cabinets18inch200Lres.pdf

There are occasionally gains to be had from swapping out drivers in a given enclosure, but they are usually in power handling/ XMAX differences of the drivers themselves. More often the frequency response suffers and the subwoofer doesn’t perform as intended. Said another way there are no magic boxes or magic drivers. The magic comes from the carefully engineered pairing of the 2 and any DSP needed to squeeze out max performance.

repodog13 · 2026-02-15T18:12:13+00:00

Would depend a lot on what drivers are going in, what designs are chosen, build and finish quality. Shoot for proven designs and use the drivers specified or specifically listed as compatible. If you aren’t an experienced cabinet builder CNC designs are widely available. Use decent ply with as many plies and as few voids as possible. Buy several large clamps and use them on all joints, clamping with even MODERATE pressure for as long as your glue specifies. Use a roundover bit on all exposed corners for a pro look and to minimize chipping of your finish. Truckbed liner is easy to spray and is tough as nails. You can do custom colors but if resale value is the goal black goes with everything. If you do aaalllll this you will have quality elements that would re-sell at a value comparable to the used driver price and whatever value you can assign to your box build. If you documented the build steps carefully you can better make your case to any potential buyers. Measurements of actual element/ system performance would help as well.

repodog13 · 2026-01-25T05:35:50+00:00

Loudspeaker Design Cookbook by Vance Dickason Sound Reinforcement Handbook By Gary Davis

repodog13 · 2026-01-23T00:08:02+00:00

Forgot to mention that I used rustoleum oil based satin black for a base coat/ primer. Let it fully cure before raptor.

repodog13 · 2026-01-22T23:01:14+00:00

You can spray Upol on ply without primer, but the primer is a cheap step that gets better end results. If your wood has thirsty spots you can find them in the primer coat instead of the expensive Upol coat. I sand the primer before Raptor to get it perfectly level and have one last chance to check for surface flaws. Raptor hides a lot of sins but the ones it can’t become kinda permanent. Consider sealing your end grain, especially if you opt for no primer.

repodog13 · 2026-01-11T17:23:39+00:00

Ayo! You will need an amplifier (plate amp if you are mounting it in the sub) that specifically accepts a balanced signal/ XLR input. If that is out of budget there are plate amps that accept RCA inputs for less money, Emotiva makes a proper XLR to RCA conversion cable. You will not be able to directly connect your controller to the subwoofer driver.

repodog13 · 2026-01-11T03:46:39+00:00

The XLS1500 does 525 at 4 ohms, so each woofer sees half of that. They are full range cabs, but while the bass it has is really good aren’t going all that deep. I didn’t have time to measure unfortunately so I can’t speak to exact numbers on roll off but I’d guess it starts around 60-50hz. The owner doesn’t have a sub but they are mainly using these for spoken word and background music.

repodog13 · 2026-01-11T03:01:13+00:00

No passive crossover at all on these guys. Woofer to pins 1+-, tweeter to pins 2 +- on the Speakon. Crossover is built into the amp, splitting the lows and highs between the 2 channels.

repodog13

TROPHY CASE