Speaker rebuild

I've got a speaker cabinet that originally had 6 8" full range drivers in it which I repurposed with four 8" woofers

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-DC200-8-8-Classic-Woofer-295-310?quantity=1

A sealed back 8" midrange and an Eminence APT-80 tweeter mounted on a piece of wood to make it fit the 8" driver hole.

The cabinet is barely wider than the 8" drivers are which I know kills bass response.

I'd like to design a new box. It will either be:

1. Wider and deeper with drivers still in a vertical row.
2. Wider and deeper with woofers in a vertical row and midrange and tweeter in their own box.
3. Woofers in a square pattern like some guitar cabs have them with the midrange and tweeter in their own box.

I am also toying around with the idea of using four of these in a square arrangement

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-DC250-8-10-Classic-Woofer-295-315?quantity=1

as they have better bass response than the 8" and possibly doing the same with the 8" and having the midrange and tweeter in their own box.

For these designs I will be using an open back midrange which for the vertical arrangement with the mid and tweeter in the same box will require a chamber for the midrange.

Now my thought is to use the 10" for the lower bass and I initially thought of a passive crossover about 80Hz, but that requires expensive components due to the values they have to be so I'd possibly go active.

Here's a photo showing the designs.

Speaker 1.png




Speaker 2.png


If I decided to go through with this what would each box size need to be for the listed drivers? Also what would be a good midrange driver to use and what should the cabinets be made out of?

That said would a 4 10" guitar speaker cabinet (provided I can find one that is sealed) be good enough for 4 10" woofers?

I honestly like the 8" and 10" driver arrangement as it just looks cool, but if 1, 2 or 3 will get me the bass response I want then I'd go with the best of those designs.

For a cabinet covering I was thinking maybe truck bedliner coating along with metal corner protectors and for the 10" cabinets I might install casters. For the separate cabinet designs I would include something to keep the speakers from sliding around on each other at high volume levels.
 
If I decided to go through with this what would each box size need to be for the listed drivers?
The range of volume per driver you could use is huge- .4 cubic feet to over two for the 8", .7 to over three cubic feet for the 10". The smaller the box, the higher the 12dB per octave roll off begins, and the more power needed for a given output.
Decide what you want: deepest response, most efficient, smallest size..
As far as response below 80Hz, the three arrangements won't make a difference, but you will want the APT tweeter and mid driver near ear height at the listening position.
Also what would be a good midrange driver to use and what should the cabinets be made out of?
The Eminence Alpha 8A is a good choice for use with the APT.
For road use the cabinets should be made of void-free plywood.
That said would a 4 10" guitar speaker cabinet (provided I can find one that is sealed) be good enough for 4 10" woofers?
Guitar speaker cabinets range from flimsy crap that may fall apart after a few moves to well built boxes that can withstand fifty or more years on the road.
 
I'll definitely look at the Eminence Alpha 8A.

For the box with the 8" woofers, I would like deep bass, but isn't 100% necessary. I'm at least looking for the same response I have with the existing cabinets.

Somewhere I have the internal volume measurement for the original cabinets. I may do the same vertical arrangement only with the four 8" in the cabinet and will make the cabinets wider. I'll then make or buy cabinets for the 8" midrange and APT-80, but that will require a connector and I can use a four pole speakon for that.

Concerning the guitar cabinets, I suspect the better quality ones are in high demand which means they sell for $$$ so I'd come out better building one or two.

For the 10" woofers, instead of getting the Dayton Audio woofers why don't I get four of these.

https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-1...-Excursion-Subwoofer-4-Ohm-292-818?quantity=1

I used one recently to update a powered sub I use at work and it sounds good.

Plus I'd have 800 watts power handling versus the 280 watts of the Dayton Audio 10" woofer.

I'd have one built for now then later on add a second if needed.

The Eminence Alpha 8A speaker couldn't have been a better choice. It's got the same sensitivity as the Pyle Pro sealed back midrange I used so I don't even need to change the l-pad for the midrange.

Here's the existing cabinet dimensions.

Height 49"
Width 9 1/2"
Depth 5 1/2"
Wood thickness 1/2"

Which gives me 1.063 cu ft.

The new dimensions when I would have kept the midrange and tweeter int he same box would be.

H 45"
W 11"
D 7"

Which will be 1.315 cubic feet if I use 3/4" thick wood.

Is that fine for the Dayton 8" Classic Series woofer or too much?

If I go with

H 37"
W 13"
D 7"

with 3/4" thick wood.

I will have 1.299 cu ft for the cabinet with four 8" woofers.

Only thing I need to do is figure the proper cabinet size for the subwoofers.
 
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Which will be 1.315 cubic feet if I use 3/4" thick wood.

Is that fine for the Dayton 8" Classic Series woofer or too much?
The Dayton 8" Classic Series response would end up being ~halfway between it in a sealed .4cubic foot box and the black response curve:
Screen Shot 2024-06-29 at 5.19.12 PM.png

The GRS10" are much better than the other 4.5mm Xmax woofers you suggest.
I don't see any purpose to use the 8" woofers in between the mid/hi speaker and 10" subwoofers.