I had some leftover parts and speakers from sound art projects, so I decided to make a sub-kick mic.

I used a 6.5″ driver, a XLR Male end, a few feet of audio cable, and I custom build a mic clip for the mic using a 3/8″ to 5/8″ mic screw adapter, scrap wood, and some scrap metal.

Solder the XLR pin 2 to positive terminal (+) and pin 3 to the negative terminal (-). Cut off the ground (other posts state one could solder this to the speaker). I used spade speaker connectors so I  could reuse the speaker for another project if I needed to.

For the stand, I had old rack ears that I screwed into a 2×4 that the magnet of the speaker clings to and the simple ledge helps brace the speaker. For the mic clip, I screwed in a 3/8″ to 5/8″ mic screw adapter. If necessary, one can add screws to further assist the magnetic hold onto the clip (see image below).

That’s it! No need to add a -20dB pad. You can use line input if necessary or pad it up on the mic preamp. I tested using my DIY Lola Mic Pre from Hairball Audio. Audio recordings are forthcoming…