How to build a nice looking sub enclosure

[grampi]

My current DIY sub works just fine, but it's an eyesore. It's built completely out of MDF, and has a black matte finish. It just looks like a black box sitting in the living room. All of our wood furnature is oak and I'd like to build a sub enclosure to match it.

I'd like to build an enclosure that looks just like an end table/cabinet with fake doors on the front. You'd never know by looking at it that it was a sub, unless you saw the plate amp on the back.

I'd like to build the enclosure itself out of double walled MDF. This will make it incredably stiff without having to use internal bracing. The part I lack experience with would be finishing the outside to make it look like real oak. I'd probably want to cover it with some type of veneer, plywood, or formica. What's the best way to go about this? Thanks.

[jamison]

I have a Velodyne HGS18 sub with a gloss black finish. it was shiny but always look dusty, i put some cherry veneer on the sides and i made a custom table top out of cherry for it so i can use it for a endtable by my couch. I put a layer of dynamat down to help with vibrations. ( I have the top screwed to the subwoofer box from the inside out.
i get no vibrations whatsoever on the tabletop and the sub disappears in my living room. I used 6 coats of danish oil on it and wow does it look pretty. matches up with my klipsch reference series cherry finish nicely
just keep in mind you void your warrenty when you do stuff like this.
I got the HGS off a rich married couple that didnt know what they had.
i got the SUB for only 500 bucks. deal of the century or what.

[DaveHK]

Honestly, get a pro to do it. For about a 100 bucks, you could get a pro cabinet maker to make you the best looking sub enclosure around. Look for someone that does side jobs and ask them. Most of the time they will have extra wood lying around the shop from other jobs and they will use that, thus you don't have to pay for wood. If you went to home depot and bougth all the wood, screws, tools etc, you'd spend a lot more than if you gave a pro 100- 150 bucks to make something that will last forever. just make accurate plans and look someone up.


dave

[happy ears]

If the only problem with the sub is it's look why not cover it with some veneer and stick on some fake doors. You can use oak but it will be hard to get an exact match. Now if you can get this done for less than the price of materials I too would hire a pro. But this would require some luck but you never know.

[grampi]

I can't use the same enclosure because I plan on buying a new driver which will require a larger enclosure.

[happy ears]

Good Day Grampi

I presume that you have the tools to build the basic box out of MDF. Although have not done any veneers in several years I have used contact cement in the past. Cut the veneer larger than the size required applied contact cement to both surfaces and applied. For larger pieces I placed a piece of plywood over the veneer and loaded with weight, Allow to dry and trim excess. Stain finishing is easy but it takes more and time and effort to apply the top coat, I would use one of the poly type of finishes, they even make water base types nowadays. Check out Herzog Veneers or B&B rare woods both have a large selection and one of the talks about applying veneers. The doors can also be made out of hardwood or veneered plywood, I would check with a cabinet shop as well. Getting someone to cut the wood will be cheap but assembly and finish would drive up the cost.

Good Lick