Speakers dont sound good

[Curt96olds]

I bought Dayton TW-0.25BK 0.25 ft³ 2-Way Cabinet Pair Gloss Black 302-700 and put one of Tang Band W5-1611SAF 5" Full Range Speaker 264-918 in each of them and filled each box with half a pound of polyfill, i am running a Nuforce uDAC2 going to my dayton audio dta-100a. i am running them full range with no tweeter but with a 50hz high pass so i dont overdrive the speakers, and i am running them sealed.

now the problem is for one, i dont know if its the speakers fault or not but they sound terrible with "dubstep" or electronic type music, and they have zero midbass to them and they sound rather "muffled" for a lack of a better word. i mean they get loud, they just sound terrible. its bad enough to make me want to hook back up my logitech z2300 system again.

any suggestions?

[Psychobiker]

I'd wager your logitech had a sub.

Cannot find suitable 'well, there's your problem' meme...
Not nearly enough clout for the type of music you're mentioning. 3mm Xmax is going to need a serious enclosure to produce the sort of frequencies for Dubstep etc.

[kevinkr]

Try removing some of the stuffing in those boxes, and letting them run in for a bit. Was the box designed for use with these drivers? Wondering if BSC is needed in addition.

[vinylkid58]

Originally Posted by Curt96olds

and they have zero midbass to them

A quick look in WinISD shows F3 @ 100Hz, and F10 @ 60Hz, so no surprise they have no mid-bass, and that's without a filter.

jeff

[Curt96olds]

yeah i think half the problem is i went from having a subwoofer to not having one, i might let these speakers break in for a while and if i dont like there sound after a couple days ill probably start messing with the polyfill, but i do agree i am gonna need a sub.

[vinylkid58]

Originally Posted by Curt96olds

but i do agree i am gonna need a sub.

Even in a 0.5 cuft "vented" box, you'll still need a sub.

jeff

[Curt96olds]

yeah you guys were right, it was the lack of a sub, i just rigged it up so i could use my logitech sub with my new speakers to see if that was the problem and it sounded 100x better, that was definatly the problem, i guess im just used to having a sub with my music (i have a Fi BTL 18" in my truck)

thanks for the help guys

[Godzilla]

Glad you discovered you needed a sub. Are you considering building one now to add to your new speakers?

[Curt96olds]

either building or buying a powered sub, not quite sure yet, probably gonna go with a 8" or 10" sub

any suggestions on powered subs in the $200 price range?

i knew i was gonna get a sub even before i bought the speakers, but i could only afford this project in stages so i need to get the speakers and amp first.

[chrisb]

I'd plan on stereo bass, XO'd not much lower than 120 - i.e. higher than traditional "sub", and with a HP on the 1611s - even though they're nominally a full-range driver, I think you'll be much happier with them relieved of the heavy grunt work.

If you're not excited at the prospect of building your own, a pair of something like

Dayton Audio SUB-800 8" 80 Watt Powered Subwoofer 300-627

wouldn't break the bank