Which subwoofer would you get?

[humann_brewing]

How much are you willing to spend? FYI: Subs don't have to be the same brand as your other speakers, that's mainly important for the front 3 speakers. If you have the cash, check out a JL Audio Fathom f113

well, yeah if I had the cash there wouldn't be a choice to make

 

[Jim Karr]

One of the threads on diyaudio.com showed an installation where a guy built a square column down into his basement that vented into the living room floor. The column had six or eight 10-inch woofers that faced into the column, and the entire basement became the enclosure.

What an awesome setup!

 

[mordantly]

im goin with 2 15's, 4 10's, and 8 4's. custom boxes of course! technics makes a very nice system 4 10's, 2 6's and 4 3's. that thing was bought in early 90's for $1500 and it still radles the windows in the whole house.

 

[Elfmaze]

I have built boxed in the past, I was just hoping to get something that was ready to go. For the $300 range i can barly build a basic box with sub and amp. If i wasn't buying a house and in the middle of my brew sculpture build i might concider it.

 

[Dalarast]

You want the best Subwoofer for your house?

Get a Martin Logan Depth-I 8'' 900 watt. Its the best we sale at my location; but the price tag is WAY to high for my blood. But any mirage, martin logan or definitive subwoofer will be the best investment to your home audio experience.

 

[brewthunda]

You want the best Subwoofer for your house?

Get a Martin Logan Depth-I 8'' 900 watt. Its the best we sale at my location; but the price tag is WAY to high for my blood. But any mirage, martin logan or definitive subwoofer will be the best investment to your home audio experience.

I once went to the 2003 Vacuum State Of The Art Conference And Show - a hi fi show for serious audio nuts. Dr. Bruce Edgar had a horn loaded 12" subwoofer in a cabinet the size of a decent kegerator that was 107 db/w/1m. Which means that it put out the same loudness with 10 watts as a normal sub would put out with about 800 watts. After one particularly powerful track with church organs that were shaking the room, I asked "so how many watts were you sending to that thing?" He kind of laughed and said, "about 1".

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue9/vsacdg.htm

The sub is the fridge sized thing on the right:

 

[Dalarast]

Well Klipsch is known for their horn loaded design. Its a proven system, as seen by above with Dr. Edgar's. He must of had a great insulation in that cabinet to insure not vibration affected the sound quality. But I guess using just 1wt and using the horn really pushes/directs the sound where it needs to go (and not like some where the papercone directs the sound; but the cabinet vibrates and sound is loss.

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

I would go with a bag end, flat to 8 hz...

Well, maybe not, if you are looking at just those 2, go with the 15, chances are its more efficient and it has a larger frequency range. personally I would get a Klipsch or something, mostly to match my other speakers, but eh. Oh, and Klipsch doesn't really have any horn loaded subs, the have horn loaded lows in their heritage line and horn loaded hi, mid-hi, mid-low, and low drivers in their cinema line, but the subs are just ported. To get an effective horn loaded sub for the reasons you want a sub, it would have to be huge, even a large folded horn sub from a PA is really best till something like 40, otherwise they get too big to move around

 

[GregR]

There may not be enough of a difference to matter, but if it were me, I'd always wonder "what if" if I got the 12". I have a Paradigm Servo-15 and I love it.

Is there any way you could audition both in your listening room before deciding?

+1 to paradigm. IMO they are the best bang for the buck you can get. I have a PDR-10 that I love. it's very versatile as far as movies and music goes.

 

[beergears]

...a guy built a square column down into his basement that vented into the living room floor. The column had six or eight 10-inch woofers that faced into the column, and the entire basement became the enclosure.

What an awesome setup!

A good friend had the idea of building a speaker in the *whole* basement, with a small speaker at one end and a horn -like the inside of a snail shell, but a single plane, as natural amplifier. He had done the math and everything, but never built it. The theorical amplification is amazing high IIRC.

 

[Hullguy]

Outlaw Audio, Excellent equpment!!!
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/index.html

 

[nicnic]

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-10nsd.cfm

 

[Yanos]

What is this, amateur hour? Go big or go home! http://www.diycable.com/main/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=692

Actually I built a box for the 18" Maelstrom (was about $350), added a Behringer EP2500 ($250). I think for the money you would be hard pressed to find a better value.

 

[Wayne1]

You guys are ALL wimps

ThomasW lives here in Denver. I did have a chance once to experience the 12 Shivas Dancing Infinite Baffle sub. Quite an adventure to SEE the walls of his house move when impacted with 8 Hz energy.

For more info, check out http://ibsubwoofers.proboards.com/index.cgi?

My own system is far more modest. I own a pair of VMPS Larger Subwoofers.

An active 15" and an active 12" with a passive 15" in each cabinet. 92 db 1w/1meter. I use a QSC DCA-3422 power amp with digital EQ in bridged mono that can produce 3.4KW to hit 14 Hz flat.

If you REALLY want to shake the house, you should look to Danley Sound Labs. http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/

Tom Danley has designed some very unique subs. The TH-SPUD http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/tapped_horn.asp?MODEL=TH SPUD
replaced 4 JL labs subs in one system. (very long thread) http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1076691

He also built what could be called the ULTIMATE sub. The Matterhorn.

This was built for the military. 40,000 watts in a 20x8x8 shipping container.

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/matterhorn.htm

 

[Elfmaze]

Haha love the last two posts. Unfortunatly need to keep the budget under control on this one for now. I did end up buying a Cerwin Vega CLS-12s from http://www.a1components.com/ Free shipping and $300 price tag! Can't beat that! I'll give you guys an update when it gets here. I'm stoked, esp after visiting best buys and two local "home theater shops" and being disapointed with the $1000+ subs.

 

[Hullguy]

VMPS ? They're still around? Almost bought a pair in the 80's!