Help with Cerwin Vega Cvi-218s double 18" wiring

I took apart a pair of these cabinets to investigate cabinet vibration noise to find they were of piss poor construction quality, the internal braces didn't even come close to flush on one side with about a 1/4" gap, lots of splintered wood, the glue job was pitiful, they literally only hit about 50% of the joints, looked like they did whatever ones were easiest to reach and skipped everything else, and it's all held together by some glorified wood staples which missed in many spots as well. I also noticed that the wiring looked screwy but I'm not an expert. The wires coming out of the jackplate were correct +to + -to- but then going out of the first speaker in to the second went +to- -to+. Is this possibly because the speakers are oriented firing contrary to each other? Or did they screw that up too? Or am I just screwed up on the wiring?

If the speakers are pointing in opposite directions (ie: on facing out, the other facing in) then that wiring is correct.

Shame to hear about the build quality. It might be an idea to get in there with some glue and screws to firm things up a bit. It will certainly help improve resonance issues and stop any vibrations etc.

Cheers,
John

Cool, I thought that might be the case with the wiring, already glued and screwed as much as possible. Thanks so much, I really needed to get these baby's working by tomorrow so now we're back on schedule. I will def have to check out this site more, I've been messing with PAs for 13 years and gettin to the point where I really want to upgrade our sound to a higher level and thinkin building some cabs might be the ticket especially after takin these apart and seeing the quality I'm sure I could do better than that lol. What I'm thinking about is building some single 18s possibly with deeper cabinets and higher power capable speakers. We end up moving our gear up and down a lot of awful stairs in New Orleans so reduced weight, even if we need more cabinets would be a plus, any ideas?

After a fair few years the best advice I can give is lightweight reflex and unless you specifically NEED 18"s, go with 15".

A simple 15" reflex box is easy to carry, compact and stacks well in a van/big car etc. Makes it so much easier to work with.

I used to use single 18" reflex boxes but got rid of them in favour of the Void Basys systems which I am now a big fan off. They're small, light (neo drivers) and compact. Perfect for stairs, boats, etc. And I can fit a simple (but popular) system in the car complete with desk, outboard and a monitor!

You might want to try building a single 15" reflex box and then doing side-by-side comparisons with an 18" to see if you can live with the lesser sub output.

I have found that in most cases 15" is fine for the smaller gigs.

Have fun!