With the last 2 additions of the Arrakis & SubMersive theater and Art Sonneborn's system, I saw that we were lacking some in the fun, extreme stuff, especially in the subwoofer department. As you might imagine, this and a few other projects had greatly cut into the time I had to visit this forum. I intend to be more involved here in the future. Hopefully a few find this of interest...
These pictures show what went into the build and installation of a custom project commissioned by Keith Yates to serve as the "UberSub" in a very impressive room that is a start-to-finish, Keith Yates Design Group project. I posted pictures of this project to our facebook page back in June when I delivered the subwoofer at the white room phase of the project (prior to acoustic treatments and fabric), where they test for construction integrity, noise isolation and modal behavior against the extensive modeling done in the design phase. Next week the project will be complete and the calibration will be done. I will have a few more photos of the final result after next weekend when the owner hosts an open house for all of those who worked on the project.
As more than a few already commented to me... "Finally, a speaker that really CAN blow womens clothes off!"
Really, I'm not a midget, this beast is 7' tall, 600 lbs., assembled from 5 pieces and was then set on a platform remaining from the original foundation in the corner of the basement:
Some perspective of what goes into such a beast:
Quite the assembly of stainless steel hardware for this custom built uber-subwoofer... Just the hardware shown plus the threaded inserts total more than 20 lbs. Of course 20 lbs isn't much in the scope of a ~500 lb subwoofer. One of my employees Mike insisted the PBR gave a better frame of reference than the coffee mug, and they are rather appropriate bookends for the hurdles involved in engineering and assembly this beast. For further scale, the long machine screws above are 1/2" thread, 10" long.
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Starting to put all of the previously pictured stainless steel hardware to use... I had OD'd on the coffee at the time this pic was taken so we have a Cherry Coke in there for scale. This is just one part with 3 others like it and a main housing which assemble into the 600 lb monolith seen above. Around this point I started referring to this design in house as the Devastator.
Here we see 1 of the 4 assembled modules which power this monster... each weighing more than 95 lbs!
Complete modules staged next to the main enclosure.
A quick test fit checking alignment of the first module.
The huge, 10" long, 1/2" diameter machine screws from above are hand threaded to confirm everything aligns.
<insert sigh of relief>
In fact everything lined up just as designed, combining the 5 parts to the massive monolith.
A good friend Tom answered a frantic call for reinforcements, especially outside normal hours when I wouldn't have additional hands around. Here we were admiring our work and how outrageous and comical such a monster seemed fully assembled.
750 miles and a short carry later, we had the UberSub's 4 modules and main enclosure in the room and re-assembled. Erecting the 600 lb monolith felt a bit like an exercise in uprighting a section of Stonehenge. The tall risers for the various rows came in very handy, sparing us a cumbersome dead-lift. Here you can also get a peek at the massive flaring on the port which allows extension to and just below 10Hz.
After up-righting this beast, not only did we have to move the subwoofer into place, but that place was ~16"above the ground on a concrete ledge about the same depth of the sub. This manual crank lift made it possible, but still required some rather resourceful maneuvering to get it placed on top of a non-slip pad and backed up to the wall. Another Stonehenge like moment...
In the above picture you can also get a glimpse of the ramp running across the back of the room and around the right of the rear riser. The owner of this theater is wheelchair bound, and wanted a real theatrical and music sanctuary for him, his family and friends. No one driving by the home would suspect such an engineering effort to be hiding in the basement.
After lots of effort and head scratching, the UberSub is in place and ready for testing. Once testing was completed and the expectations verified, the rest of the room was set to be finished with the many acoustic treatments which will all be hidden behind fabric, including this monster subwoofer.
More to come after the open house party!
These pictures show what went into the build and installation of a custom project commissioned by Keith Yates to serve as the "UberSub" in a very impressive room that is a start-to-finish, Keith Yates Design Group project. I posted pictures of this project to our facebook page back in June when I delivered the subwoofer at the white room phase of the project (prior to acoustic treatments and fabric), where they test for construction integrity, noise isolation and modal behavior against the extensive modeling done in the design phase. Next week the project will be complete and the calibration will be done. I will have a few more photos of the final result after next weekend when the owner hosts an open house for all of those who worked on the project.
As more than a few already commented to me... "Finally, a speaker that really CAN blow womens clothes off!"
Really, I'm not a midget, this beast is 7' tall, 600 lbs., assembled from 5 pieces and was then set on a platform remaining from the original foundation in the corner of the basement:
Some perspective of what goes into such a beast:
Quite the assembly of stainless steel hardware for this custom built uber-subwoofer... Just the hardware shown plus the threaded inserts total more than 20 lbs. Of course 20 lbs isn't much in the scope of a ~500 lb subwoofer. One of my employees Mike insisted the PBR gave a better frame of reference than the coffee mug, and they are rather appropriate bookends for the hurdles involved in engineering and assembly this beast. For further scale, the long machine screws above are 1/2" thread, 10" long.
--
Starting to put all of the previously pictured stainless steel hardware to use... I had OD'd on the coffee at the time this pic was taken so we have a Cherry Coke in there for scale. This is just one part with 3 others like it and a main housing which assemble into the 600 lb monolith seen above. Around this point I started referring to this design in house as the Devastator.
Here we see 1 of the 4 assembled modules which power this monster... each weighing more than 95 lbs!
Complete modules staged next to the main enclosure.
A quick test fit checking alignment of the first module.
The huge, 10" long, 1/2" diameter machine screws from above are hand threaded to confirm everything aligns.
<insert sigh of relief>
In fact everything lined up just as designed, combining the 5 parts to the massive monolith.
A good friend Tom answered a frantic call for reinforcements, especially outside normal hours when I wouldn't have additional hands around. Here we were admiring our work and how outrageous and comical such a monster seemed fully assembled.
750 miles and a short carry later, we had the UberSub's 4 modules and main enclosure in the room and re-assembled. Erecting the 600 lb monolith felt a bit like an exercise in uprighting a section of Stonehenge. The tall risers for the various rows came in very handy, sparing us a cumbersome dead-lift. Here you can also get a peek at the massive flaring on the port which allows extension to and just below 10Hz.
After up-righting this beast, not only did we have to move the subwoofer into place, but that place was ~16"above the ground on a concrete ledge about the same depth of the sub. This manual crank lift made it possible, but still required some rather resourceful maneuvering to get it placed on top of a non-slip pad and backed up to the wall. Another Stonehenge like moment...
In the above picture you can also get a glimpse of the ramp running across the back of the room and around the right of the rear riser. The owner of this theater is wheelchair bound, and wanted a real theatrical and music sanctuary for him, his family and friends. No one driving by the home would suspect such an engineering effort to be hiding in the basement.
After lots of effort and head scratching, the UberSub is in place and ready for testing. Once testing was completed and the expectations verified, the rest of the room was set to be finished with the many acoustic treatments which will all be hidden behind fabric, including this monster subwoofer.
More to come after the open house party!
