horn vs sono subs... what to build?

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i'm really wanting a new sub and not sure if i should give the sono sub a shot or build a full length exponental horn sub...

the advantage to the sono subs are cheap to build, small size *compared to the horn sub* and easy to build.

The problem is i want bass down to around 16hz and still be musical...

I really would like to try a 32 foot exponental horn sub due to i've always been a fan of how tight and controlled horns are and they don't need a ton of power to push them.

But i've never heard the sono subs, but their ease of construction and low budgets is tempting me to build them just to try one out.

When my vision blurs and my house falls down around me then i will have enough bass.



I'm pretty much a nooby when it comes to box design, i can cut and glue and assemble... so i'm asking you guys for advice on what to do... most of the posts on here are guys talking so advanced i have no clue what they are saying.

my theater room is 3.3 meters wide by 6.7 meters long. i know it's small but thats what i have to work with...

the horn or what ever sub i build can be build outside and incorperated into the house or attic, i don't care about size but i can't afford to spend 2000.00 on high priced drivers and another 2000.00 on lumber.



please be kind with your replies, as i said i'm still learning
 
Sonosub

here's one I built for ~ $120.00 you could build it with a larger driver (I used a 12" kicker). Nice thing is, the box is already built.. just add the endcaps.

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models pretty good as an ebs

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and still do a horn if you don't like it. Do realize the room plays a huge roll in the quality and quantity of extended bass response. I've got 2 sonotubes going to get reasonable bass..

John L.
 
I think the tube is the way to go. As you already realize, they are easy to build and give quite satisfactory results. The horn on the other hand is going to be large and a rather complex build if you're expecting anything near 16 Hz.

Horns for music, tubes for HT.

Besides the tube is easy to finish to the rooms decor as you can see with auplaters example. Also, you can use veneer and make it look like a big stump or lay it down and it can be a log. ;) The possibilities are almost endless.
 
thx for the replies guys :D

MPM said:
www.billfitzmaurice.com


Numerous plans available to purchase. He has a forum also. I've build a Tuba 18. Was a little tedious to build but sounds great.

how does that tuba 18 sound as far as low extention? i've been on that website number of times and always wondered how the tuba sounded... whats it's lower limit?

Brett said:
A horn will be huge and as you have attic or outside space, it seems to me that an Infinite Baffle (IB) sub is the answer. Easy to build, quite affordable and capable of blurring vision as well as an excess of cheap alcohol. Doesn't take up any room space either, and there are no path length delays from the horn.

http://ibsubwoofers.proboards51.com/

what is your personal take on IB systems? i've never heard one... i take it very low bass when enough drivers are used?
 
what do you guys think about this sub? http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=52

i know the Xmax isn't as high as i'd like (20mm) but at that price and sensitivity i could run 10 or more of them for a line array of IB's in the celling, and at 105.00 USD thats really really nice looking to me for a bunch of them, plus the store says if you mention your from The Cult of IB's you get a discount for 4 and 8 bulk orders of these subs.


i'd love a array of 10 of these bad boys though... http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=168

or the Soundsplinters: http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=54 i love these for their 20hz FS 14hz with a 18 cu box... /drool, they tempt me alot due to that FS being so unholy low which is my goal


both have almost 3 inches peak to peak... nutty
 
tuba 18

Looks to me it's down 30 dB @ 20 hz even corner loaded. I built folded horns all thru college (the David Weems "Mello Monster", actually built about 15 pairs for all my fraternity brothers, back in the eArly seventies). They produced prodigioud bass down to ~ 40 Hz with an EV SP8B 8" driver, then cut off abruptly... alll with ~40 watts input. Not bad, but they were ~30" x 30" x 30" cubes, with lots of folds and such. Sounded exceptional for the time, were cheap to build, but low bass extension they weren't.

The sonosub single 12" models -3 dB @ 20 Hz, and is power limited there @ 105 dB @ 150 watts.. (never tested, but trust me, it rattles the house at substantially lower volumes)

just for grins.. modelled the mach 5 you mentioned

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Hey cavernut. If your looking at 18" subs then the Tuba18 probably doesn't go low enough for you. Its a great music sub and works really good in my casual home theater setup. It will be replaced eventually by another of BFM's horn subs. I'm leaning toward the Table Tuba.

Hope this helps.
 
thx for the graph auplater, thats not near low enough for what i'm looking at... i'm wanting the bass that rearanges your guts when the dino's walk in Jurassic park or the 16hz quad C of a pipe organ... actually feeling the bus drive past you when your watching it. do you mind graphing the http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=54 ? this seems like it would be perfect for low bass, enough though it's 3 times the price it's xmax is over 2 times of the Mach 5, and it's FS is 10hz lower...



MPM said:
Hey cavernut. If your looking at 18" subs then the Tuba18 probably doesn't go low enough for you. Its a great music sub and works really good in my casual home theater setup. It will be replaced eventually by another of BFM's horn subs. I'm leaning toward the Table Tuba.

Hope this helps.

i wondered about that... i've heard that they didn't go as low as they had been hyped to be... i like being able to hear from you because you actually have one and your going to upgrade it... which i would certainly be doing...

i'm just wondering how this bass will turn out... i have a single slot loaded diamond 12" sub mounted in my truck that is very musical and very tight and acurate that can put out over 143 db's at 33 Hz and it's no where low enough for me... although it's loud, i'm just wondering if IB is going to be enough to sate my thirst for vision bluring subsonic bass.
 
whoah.... thats scarry, look at those numbers... just think of 8 of those things going...

dood... it's over 100db's at 10hz! and 114 at 20hz thermal limits :eek:

+/- 3db's from 25-100hz nutty... and no eq'ing either.... i think i'm going to take a second on the house and put as many as i can up there... forget sanity i wana die of a bass induced heart attack


i'm afraid thats an awfull good price on those drivers... 350 for drivers of those specs is outstanding

thank you again for the specs auplater :)
 
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