These dual 18” MONSTER home theater subwoofers cost less than you’d think | GSG MartyCube V2.1

[Music] i've been busy again you see this sub this sub is an 18 inch ported monster and i built it and in this video we're gonna go over the build process and how surprisingly easy it was for what it is stick around hey guys it's development here home theater enthusiast and lover of all things tech and i've been thinking about which new sub to get for a while now i mean i have a sp 3000 and it's perfectly fine but i think it's more at home in the old version of my home theater so since i've upgraded several components i think it's time that i did a sub upgrade as well now this is going to be a pretty long video so i've put chapter markers in the description so you can skip around to the areas that interest you if you need to now i've reviewed some great subs in the past and some of them are great options but it's been a while since i've had a really good diy project but i don't have the machinery to build a sub from scratch so enter gsg and the mardi flat packs now i've heard about mardi subs for a while but i always pictured these massive hulking things that are at home behind an acoustically transparent screen because they're so big but that's not necessarily the case there are actually several versions from the full marty which is what i envisioned to the smaller mini marty and the even smaller marty cube which is the one i bought now this is the marley cube roundover version 2.1 with a completely flat base which i know some of you will absolutely love but it certainly did not look like that when i got it i had to build it so let's get into it for the build you'll need some type one three wood glue a scraper glue spreader four 36 inch clamps and four 24 inch clamps four smaller clamps at least 11 wood dowels a cloth for cleaning up excess glue a mallet duratex for spraying a blade and your favorite can of spray paint and a hacksaw blade the video will have three main parts assembly finishing and installation the pieces come in a very unassuming box that's wrapped up tightly and secured with styrofoam once you dig in though you can see the panels which are pretty much all numbered and that's where we begin with panels one two and three having an elevated work area is a good idea because it just makes the process a lot easier at least in the beginning now since it's the glue that will be holding everything together it's really important that you have glue on all the parts of the panels which come in contact with each other i'm really glad i had this glue spreader because it makes the process so much smoother now panels two and three sit on the outside of panel one so they're essentially hugging panel one after we join the three panels and making sure that they're perfectly aligned because that's really important we start the clamping at this point it's also a good idea to glue and insert panel four because it will actually help panels one two and three to be straight and of course you glue the edges of panel four as well as the inserts on panels three and two after that we have to loosen the clamps a little bit so we can actually have some room to maneuver panel four into the slot of panel three and two and then secure them tightly afterwards and of course make sure that panel four is inserted all the way to the end then it's back to clamping and this is where that cloth comes in handy because now you'll have to start cleaning up that excess glue which spills over these four panels so far make up the top sides and back of the sub [Music] once we stand the sub upright then we can work on inserting panel 5 because it won't affect any of the panels that we've attached so far [Music] after that i used two of the shorter 24 inch clamp to help secure panel five [Music] now while those dry we can work on assembling the baffle which are panels 12 13 and an unnumbered o-ring we'll need to have glue on the surface of panel 13 and feel free to get as creative as you want when applying the glue and make whatever doodle you feel like we'll do the same thing to panel 12 but before we combine them we'll have to put in seven dowels into those holes so that they'll be held together firmly and of course we put glue in the dowel holes as well the o-ring can be separated pretty easily by hand and if you want you can also remove the excess material around the edges but that's completely optional because it won't affect anything then we apply some more glue to the baffle and the ring before combining them and once that's done we get the clamping now i clamp the four corners off the baffle but it's also important to clamp the inside portion where the three pieces meet [Music] after that we can put it aside and let it dry so we can move on to the next portion which is working on the base now what's special about the 2.1 version of the marty cube is that the base is entirely flat and doesn't have the u-shaped brackets that used to act as the feet anymore no it's completely flat so if you want to put the sub on the side then you can do that and still have flat edges on all sides the base has holes for four dowels as well which we insert once we apply the glue to panel 10. and the panel that we combine with panel 10 doesn't actually have a number but it looks like the number three so you can't really miss it after that we put these panels to dry as well but since i don't have any extra clams i'll just leave this woofer right here if you'll be using a speak on connection like i will then you'll need the speak on adapter which can be found in the bottom of the box and while you're there you may as well pull out panel number 11 which is the back of the sub then you can put them somewhere for the glue to dry because you won't be needing them for a while once all that's complete now i think it's time to take the sub off the table because it's getting a bit too heavy for it now that we have it here it's a good opportunity to do some cleanup by blowing away all the styrofoam pieces and cleaning up all the excess glue which has spilled over once that's complete it's time to start on the internal bracing with paddles six and seven this is also where dry fitting is starting to get increasingly important [Music] also note the orientation of panels six and seven with the numbers of top facing each other that's really important to get right and again we glue liberally anywhere panels are connecting [Music] good night [Music] [Music] at this point we apply clamps to the ends of the panels we just inserted to keep them in place [Music] and the couple on the back as well to secure the panels together in hindsight i should have attached a couple to the front as well but more on that later then we work on inserting panels eight and nine in the same manner with the numbers on the left facing each other with eight on the bottom and nine up top [Music] [Music] do [Music] then we clamp those together and wait for them to dry the sub is really starting to take shape now while those panels dry we can clean up the excess glue on the baffle assembly now is a good time to do it before the glue gets really dry and really hard trust me you'll really appreciate it later [Music] we can also cut off the portions of the dowels that protrude on the base assembly and since we have panel 10 handy then we might as well attach the base to the sub dry fitting again is very important because it helps you to see if there are any issues you have when you attach the pieces together we apply glue to the left and right edges of the base and the sub [Music] after that we combine them making sure the front edges are especially flush [Music] then we clamp and let it dry now we add the port braces which serve to add extra rigidity to the structure [Music] and because of how close the two panels that it sits between are in my build i had a hard time actually getting the brace in there so i had to use a mallet and this is the part of the video where pregnant women kids and those squeamish may want to look away [Music] don't look at me you can see me immediately starting to go to work improvise adapt overcome right so what happened what caused this i mentioned it before but in hindsight i think i should have put two clamps on the front of the sub so i could pull panels one and four just a millimeter closer to the braces six and seven that would have given me more space between panels four and ten but you know what they say about hindsight never calls you back until it's too late just so i'm clear this was entirely my fault because if i was paying attention to the other edge of the panel i was putting in and the dado that it actually fit in between then i would have seen that it didn't line up and the problem could have been avoided like i did with the other one but i'm hoping you can learn from my error and not make the same mistake there are other people who have built their subs without breaking critical pieces of it like giles for example from home theater fanatics and i've linked his video in the description as any avid diyer knows mistakes and mishaps happen but what's important is how you deal with them now in this case there's a whole facebook group of people who have built and who are interested in building maori subs so if you have any issues then you can check them out and ask questions there i've linked that in the description as well the guys over at gsg are really helpful as well and i have to thank kevin for all of the advice and tips he gave me even before i started building that's how the first one should have gone [Music] now we work on attaching the side port brace which goes much smoother there's one on the left and right side [Music] after that we clamp the parts which are at the front and then we can move on to some painting before the sub is fully assembled you have to paint the port because it would be really difficult to access once the sub is fully assembled so we use painters tape on the parts which will have glue in the future leaving only the parts that we want to paint exposed the first person i saw with a colored port was brian from woodysoundup and i thought it was a great idea the color contrast on the black sub adds a bit of visual interest a flare even but i don't think it has a name so i think i'll dub it the mardi flair let me know in the comments what you think next step is to attach the baffle and in the time it took for the paint to dry we lost the sunlight so now we're inside the garage to attach the baffle we apply glue to the dados as well as the inside and outside edges [Music] [Music] so [Music] after that we really clamp it down and wait for it to dry [Music] i also painted the back of panel 11 the rear as well and now it's time to install it we apply glue to the dados as well as the inside and outside edges as well as the edges of the sub and port braces then we look at the finish line approaching from the distance and then add some clamps [Music] next is one of those really important detail steps and the thing that gives the sub its name the round over baffle now on the front where you'll be attaching the baffle it's really important to make sure that it's completely flat meaning there are no protruding glue beads or anything it should be completely flush then it's important to dry fit the baffle to make sure that it aligns perfectly with the sub now this is where you use your fingers to go around the edges to make sure that you align it perfectly and make sure that there are no overhanging edges whether on the top left right or the bottom if there is then that will be something you'll have to sand down in the future and plan accordingly on how you'll rectify it if you follow the instructions and built yourself perfectly then you shouldn't have any issues when you get to this step once you verify that everything lines up correctly then you can apply some glue to the baffle and to the sub clamping here is really delicate work because you have to make sure that you don't create any overhangs and that all the edges remain flush as they should be so take your time and make sure that you get the step correct because it's one of the most important steps after that's done make sure to clamp the bottoms the tops the middles basically everywhere you can then go have a drink and wait till morning you've earned it [Music] after a night of dreaming of styrofoam sculptures and permanently glued fingers we can check out how the glue has dried on our sub and every dollop of glue we see here has to be cleaned off before we can paint the sub because it would not look good painted as someone who makes videos on youtube i get perks that the average person doesn't for example i have another package here and instead of having to go through the build process again i can just do this once we clean up all the excess glue then we apply some sparkle to the edges to fill in all the gaps and crevices it doesn't really matter how much you apply really all that matters is that you cover all the creases and that's because most of it will be sanded off i used an orbital sander with 400 grit sandpaper which resulted in a very smooth finish [Music] you don't really need that orbital sander you could use sandpaper or sanding sponge but i used this because it made it so much easier the aim is to sand it until it's smooth to the touch where you can't feel any seams also make sure to wear a mask because mdf dust and lungs have had a historically bad relationship [Music] this is how it looks after i finished sanding and as you can tell most of the sparkling is gone after prepping the sub it was time for some spraying and i'm using spray-on duratex which is different from the roll-on duratex it comes pretty thick so you'll have to thin it out if you want to use it with a sprayer the mixture consisted of about thirty percent of the finest bottled water i'm just kidding or am i now i've only seen people use hopper guns and hvlp sprayers which is high velocity low pressure sprayers but i have a high efficiency airless prayer and i really didn't want to have to go and get another kind so i used that instead and it worked [Music] perfectly [Music] after the first coat i could see all the dollops of glue that i missed during my sanding so i'll have to sand them down again if i want a smooth finish which i'll do after the second coat [Music] [Applause] [Music] i used a 100 grit sandpaper handheld to really dig in there and get out all the glue which i then used a 400 grit sandpaper on to smooth it out i think the 100 grit was a bit too abrasive so 200 grit may have been a better choice but i made it work after i finished sanding it really looks like a rustic design sub which i really dig but at last it was not meant to be after two more coats of paint it was time to let it dry for a few hours so you could start with the woofer installation so for the installation we'll need two speak on connector chassis mount a 10 331 female disconnect 50 feet of 12 gauge wire for both subs a wire stripper the screws to secure the sub some cable sleeve tubes two speak on cable amp connectors gasking tape a heat source in this case a lighter and the drill now the first thing we'll make is the internal wiring to connect the driver to the speakon connector on the back of the sub and for this we need about four feet of wiring if when we're done we see that that's too long then we can always cut it shorter we attach the female disconnects to the wires and crimp them down so they're secure and that's so we can attach the wire to the speakon connector easily and these cable sleeves are kind of like the opposite of those franks that plump when you cook them they actually shrink this adds an extra bit of protection and helps the aesthetic it also helps prevent the leads from touching at any point [Music] we then apply the red wire to one positive and the black wire to the one negative leads after that we insert the wire through the hole in the back of the sub and use the m5 by 30 millimeter screw to secure the speak on connector when dealing with mdf it's better to drill pilot holes first so that when you insert the screws it doesn't split nowhere in the home stretch it's time to lay the gasking tape on the baffle off the woofer so that when we install the driver it's air tight this dayton driver has an aluminum cone and a single 4 ohm voice coil so it has a single pair of connection terminals [Music] since this driver is so big and unwieldy we use zip ties through the screw holes so we can better maneuver it to insert it into the cabinet once it's inserted we can make some final adjustments to make sure that the spacing around the entire sub is even then we drill some more pilot holes for the screws surrounding the sub and then take our final step these are cap head screws by the way which gives it a very professional look and done the sub ends up being 28 inches tall 23 and a half inches deep and 24 inches wide almost like a cube hence the name it's also being powered by a behringer nx 6000 rack mounted amp with a mini dsp 2x4 hd and uses a daeton audio rss 460 ho 18 inch driver it has a 19 hertz poor tune and weighs more than i care to find out [Music] so now i have the sub set up in my home theater i've measured and calibrated them aru as well as calibrating them with my avr and can i just say that these subs are absolute monsters not only do they have a really imposing presence and look really good mind you but they have a ridiculous amount of output now big subs like this isn't necessarily about the quantity of bass it's about the quality of the bass that they produce the first movie i watched with these subs was fury and if you've seen that movie then you know it is really intense and after i finished watching the movie i had pictures and paintings on my wall that were now crooked i could really feel the bass more so that any subwoofer i've tested but that's also not that surprising since these are also the biggest subs i've ever had in this room but they did all that without barely breaking a sweat i have the subs paired with a behringer nx6000 rack mounted amp not the 6000d version which has the built-in dsp this version doesn't have the dsp because i also got a mini dsp 2x4 hd which i used to act as a dsp for the sub let me know in the comments if you want to see a video of how i use the mini dsp to tune the subs to my room and how i used it to implement my house curve one of the big drawbacks of having a rack mounted amp like this behringer is that they're not necessarily meant for a home setting so they don't have convenience features like a 12-volt trigger which would then turn the amp on when your receiver or processor turns on but there are workarounds for that like this power strip i got which works extremely well and i've left links to that and everything i used in my build in the description the grey mighty flare i put on myself looks really good in my room but if for example these fluences that i'm reviewing with their white cones was my permanent speaker then i think i'd put in a white mardi flare which i think would look really good and make a really good combo but that said i think my arundo speakers and the dayton driver in the sub make an absolutely beautiful combo more so than the um 18 which is the other popular driver for a mardi sub build but yeah let me know what you think about the video and my new setup in the comments below thanks for watching and don't forget to like the video if you liked it and subscribe if you haven't until next time this has been your friend in neighbourhood villaman saying be safe and peace you

Channel: Tha_VillaMan

Views: 1,809,794

Keywords: home theater, diy subwoofer, how to, subwoofer diy, how to build a speaker box, diy speaker, marty cube, full marty, um18-22 subwoofer, home theater tour, subwoofer build, home theater subwoofer, SVS, klipsch subwoofer, SVS speakers, monolith subwoofer, svs pb16 ultra, home theater speakers, home theater room, home theater build, TVM, parts express speaker build, best home theater system 2021, best home theater speakers, best home theater setup, best home theater subwoofer

Id: OSofz0TIOu8

Length: 26min 58sec (1618 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 30 2021