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Thought I'd share a little project I've been working on. Not sure if it should be here, tech or stereo section, please move as required.
As many of you know, subwoofer performance can be greatly improved by venting the area under the observer seat.
Most of projects I have seen for venting the subwoofer area in mid 00's to early 10's SAN's have been for boats that were not optioned with a cooler access door. I suppose you get the same effect by simply opening the door if you have one. But I got sick of leaving the door open and creating a tripping hazzard in the walk-through, so set about a way to vent the door itself. Of course I could have simply taken the hole saw to it, but that would have created an eye sore.
A good friend of mine just bought a laser cutter and was looking for things to practice on before going into business. He said If I create the basic CNC program and pay for the acrylic then he will cut it up for free.
I came up with a design that (i think) not only looks good but vents a large volume of air at the same time.
So we did a few trial runs on cardboard.
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We found that the factory door is made from HDPE and cannot be laser cut, so unfortunately I had to outsource that cut, no big deal, I already had the program so the shop did it while i waited in about 15 minutes. Here it is installed.
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The insert I have chosen is grey and I have painted it black from the back so the inside walls of the design are black and contrast against the grey. I found that the laser cutter leaves a shinny finish and once you look at it from a bit of an angle it all disappears into a bit of a mess, I really liked the look of a metallic grey/silver painted on the back of clear acrylic, but this was the worst for the problem I just mentioned. I might try painting the back met grey, then cut the design, then paint black from the back.
I will probably cut a few different colours and see how they look.
Some say that with small holes you can get an audible whistle sounds as the subwoofer accelerates the air through the small holes but I have not experienced any of this, I'd say this would only occur when the total vent area is too small.
Anyone got any suggestions for other colors?
As many of you know, subwoofer performance can be greatly improved by venting the area under the observer seat.
Most of projects I have seen for venting the subwoofer area in mid 00's to early 10's SAN's have been for boats that were not optioned with a cooler access door. I suppose you get the same effect by simply opening the door if you have one. But I got sick of leaving the door open and creating a tripping hazzard in the walk-through, so set about a way to vent the door itself. Of course I could have simply taken the hole saw to it, but that would have created an eye sore.
A good friend of mine just bought a laser cutter and was looking for things to practice on before going into business. He said If I create the basic CNC program and pay for the acrylic then he will cut it up for free.
I came up with a design that (i think) not only looks good but vents a large volume of air at the same time.
So we did a few trial runs on cardboard.
We found that the factory door is made from HDPE and cannot be laser cut, so unfortunately I had to outsource that cut, no big deal, I already had the program so the shop did it while i waited in about 15 minutes. Here it is installed.
The insert I have chosen is grey and I have painted it black from the back so the inside walls of the design are black and contrast against the grey. I found that the laser cutter leaves a shinny finish and once you look at it from a bit of an angle it all disappears into a bit of a mess, I really liked the look of a metallic grey/silver painted on the back of clear acrylic, but this was the worst for the problem I just mentioned. I might try painting the back met grey, then cut the design, then paint black from the back.
I will probably cut a few different colours and see how they look.
Some say that with small holes you can get an audible whistle sounds as the subwoofer accelerates the air through the small holes but I have not experienced any of this, I'd say this would only occur when the total vent area is too small.
Anyone got any suggestions for other colors?
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