acoustical stuffing / sound dampening subwoofer cabinet REL BRITANNIA B1 subwoofer


Hello,

 

Quick question on acoustical stuffing / sound dampening in a subwoofer cabinet.

I am the 2nd owner of a REL Brittania B1 subwoofer.

Opened it up, and NO stuffing. A bit surprising. My guess is the original who was a dumb &*(&#$   removed it.

I am guessing there should be some stuffing in the cabinet.

 

IF SO, I am looking for recommendations as to how much to put in the cabinet and where.

THANKS for the help!

Please see pictures for view of interior of cabinet. Bottom-Middle- Top pictures

 

FYI--- Interior of cabinet is approximately 13” x 15” x 19”

 

 https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B01U3HhYR3nZZUJ6U0lzZVNMYkE

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B01U3HhYR3nZbGZNR1ktRHBOMmM

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B01U3HhYR3nZS3kzSWpOaF9ySmM

REL BRITANNIA B1


stevethe4th

Having researched a lot about subs before I built mine, I found that acoustic stuffing in a subwoofer is not as critical as you might think. The cabinet may have been left empty by design of REL. Adding acoustic stuffing can change/reduce the volume inside the cabinet and affect the subwoofer frequency response (if you add too much).

If you want to improve things on your subwoofer (and you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty), I would apply as Dynamat Xtreme to as much of the inner walls as possible. In a subwoofer like this, cabinet resonance is more critical than internal standing waves. You can see that it doesn’t really have much internal bracing to resist flex/vibration, so reducing the resonance of the cabinet walls will be an improvement.

If you really want to add stuffing, then first apply the Dynamat. Then use spray glue to coat the inner walls one at a time. Then immediate apply a 1-2" layer of acoustic stuffing to the wall you are working on. A good product is Acousta-Stuf Polyfill from Parts Express. It is not fiberglass, so you can handle it with bare hands. It is easy to pull apart for any thickness. The spray glue is available from any hardware store or Home Depot. I have used products such as 3M Super 77 or Loktite spray adhesive.

I do not have any acoustic stuffing in my vented subs and they sound great.  Instead, I built very extensive bracing internally, so that there is not one section of wall greater than 8" that is not braced.

Keep in mind that adding/removing stuffing also affects the tuning of the cabinet. That cabinet looks REALLY clean, so not sure it ever had any. Stuffing will raise the effective volume, lowering the Q and lowering the tuning frequency. This Another way to put it is it will damp the response at the bottom.

Also, woofers get hot. The more stuffing, the hotter they will get and the more compression, I’m not entirely sure this cabinet ever had any stuffing at all, it looks way too clean. I would reach out to REL and ask if it used any first.

If you decide to add fill, Acousta-Stuff is a pretty good fill but for damping panels I much prefer the multi-layer Sonic Barrier to any thin membrane stuff. Comes with PSA already applied. I would start by playing music and feeling the cabinet for resonances. Apply the thickest possible Sonic Barrier there.

Then, if appropriate, lightly fill the cabinet. Make sure you do not insulate any hot areas such as internal heat sinks, metal surfaces, and leave room around the woofer for it to breathe. Woofers get hot when used, the better cooling, the less compression.

Best,

E

"Stuffing will raise the effective volume..."

Well, imo, yes and no.  Stuffing will increase system damping, but the measurements I've seen, and the professional-level modeling programs I use, indicate that its effect on low frequency extension is insignificant.  So we can't buy "free bass extension" by adding just the right amount of our favorite stuffing material. 

Ime the slight softening of "impact" from adding stuffing to a subwoofer usually outweighs any benefits (assuming the system is well designed to begin with), BUT not necessarily... 

For example, in a situation where room + sub = boomy, aggressive stuffing of the cabinet can be a net benefit. 

If it's a ported box in our "room + sub = boomy" scenario, often we can make a greater net improvement by lowering the port tuning frequency, which may call for some ingenuity.

Duke

Almost all speakers have too much stuffing. More than say a grapefruit size amount strangles the sound and muffles the bass. I know what you're thinking, "but everyone does it."