One of the guys at Anandtech set me up with plans / etc for a subwoofer for my home theater system...looking like it will be a 300w Bash amp with a 15" Dayton Reference subwoofer in a ported enclosure.

I've never built anything like this before...I will probably enlist the help of my step-dad (carpenter, prefers high end finish work) and see how nice I can make it look/sound. Ideally I'd like people to think it was purchased, not built.

So far I am in the $400-450 neighborhood for parts, though I will probably do the box first (cheaper) and buy the amp/woofer when I have the money. I was told to expect performance you'd find in a retail product in the $1200-5000 range.

People do this for their cars all the time It was the hot project in woodshop when I was in high school, although most of those ones sucked. It's easy, you're basically just making a box of a certain volume out of your choice of wood. You need a sharp eye for measuring and the ability to make a straight cut. For simple wood projects I like to make a scale drawing in some 3d editor. Since I know Q3 Radiant that's usually the easiest for me. I love making my own stuff, you should have fun.

Don't act so innocent, JLee. You weren't on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you.

Yeah, I understand the concept - this will be a bit more complicated than a normal box though, since it needs internal bracing and a port as well. This is what I have for a diagram. I will also need to flare the port and mount the amp too.

do you plan on front firing or down firing?

another option to consider is going with a passive radiator setup instead of a port

At the moment, front firing. If I had a bigger room I might put legs on it and go down firing. I'm not familiar with passive radiators..gonna have to do some research there.

Goddamn, for that kind of money you should just buy one of these or one of these. Your neighbors will hate you.

Er, those are both way outside his price range.

Oh, I read his post incorrectly.

Also, I have a professional account with them so I get everything at cost +5% so I have grown accustomed to cutting the list price significantly in my head.


edit:
Also, if you end up building your own cabinet, go to a craft store and get some polyester stuffing to fill the empty spaces in your cab. It's just as good as the pro audio stuff they try to sell you, but for much cheaper. Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) works great as cabinet material, and you can order the speaker grill from Raxxess. Cover it with either black texture coat from Acry-tech or carpet/vinyl from an auto upholstery shop. You can probably get the fabric from Amazon as well. Don't spend more than $10/yd.

That's some great advice for his home theater setup, although I didn't realize he was living in his car.