Subwoofer Decision

The Salk subs aolmrd1241 mentioned are really nice. Jim Salk designed and builds incredible enclosures into which he installs a Rythmik 12" or 15" woofer and servo-feedback plate amp. Go to the Salk site just to see what a really well-braced sub enclosure looks like. He then covers the enclosure with rear wood veneers, just beautiful.

Salk also builds the enclosures to Rythmik’s suggested internal volume, which is greater than those used by Rythmik itself. Rythmik uses a 3 cu.ft. enclosure for it’s sealed 15" model (F15), Salk 4 cu.ft. The added cubic foot affords slightly greater efficiency and output. Brian Ding went with 3 cu.ft to keep the enclosure to a size more affordable to ship. The bracing in the Salk enclosures is absolutely insane, the best I’ve ever seen. Check it out!

Absolutely tomic601. I designed and built my own 4 cu.ft. (internal) enclosures for the Rythmik 15" sub kit, and incorporated Danny Richie’s idea of a "sandbox" (it is viewable on the GR Research website). It is an enclosure within an enclosure, the 1/2" space between them (supported by "ribs") filled with sand. Deader (non-resonant) than a doornail, and very heavy. The inner box has a cross-brace every 6" in all three planes (top-to-bottom, side-to-side, and front-to-back), and the baffle is three layers of MDF (2-1/4" thick). I drew up the plans, and had a local cabinet maker cut the MDF into a flat pack, which I then assembled (glue and clamps) and painted.

I also made some constrained-layer platforms for the tops of my Solid Steel equipment stands, putting a layer of ASC Wall Damp (similar to E-A-R Isodamp) between two of the top shelves. While Maple boards are popular for their pleasing "musical" sound, I prefer no sound from support platforms, same as speaker enclosures.