Can you help me choose a DIY woofer project?

[cassb]

I just finished building 4 of Ed Frias' "AR.com" bookshelf speakers. With only 6.5" mids, they need a subwoofer to fill out the bass range.

So I have no clue where to start, how much it will cost, what 'level' of quality I need, etc. Like, is this a good deal for $550 including shipping?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...00-742&scqty=1

I'll use this 4.1 system mostly for music and playing my keyboard and computer sounds through, so I'm interested in fidelity over loudness. Maybe even a 10" sub would work for me? What do you think?

[Jim Shearer]

That PE sub is probably more than enough for your purpose, assuming a moderate size room and just wanting to fill in the bottom end for music. If you have a large room, want the sub to make the windows bulge in & out, or get infrasonic sound effects for movies, then bigger is better.

For music (as I listen to it--mix of classical, oldies, jazz, pop) in rooms about 14x16', I find my 10" subs sufficient. Note that I regard an 85 dB listening level as loud, and 100 dB peaks as _very_ loud, and wouldn't tolerate any more. YMMV

Cheers, Jim

[Thawach]

Shearer you're right. cassb you shoud know about your room before you build a subwoofer. how many is it long and wide.
sometime you want a big subwoofer for low freguency. but you may not get it with your small room. and it may be standing wave
too much.

[MashBill]

This is a great sub for the money.
AV123 X-Sub

[Mikey p]

Originally posted by MashBill
This is a great sub for the money.
AV123 X-Sub

A 8 inch woofer with a 150 watt amp is not a subwoofer.

[discreteouts]

Hello, If the keyboard you are referring to is a musical instrument, exercise caution when playing at high volume levels, as most home hifi speakers cannot deal with the uncompressed dynamics of musical instruments or live vocals without sustaining damage. You may want to protect your speakers in some way(limiters/circuit interrupters).

[cassb]

Originally posted by Jim Shearer
That PE sub is probably more than enough for your purpose, assuming a moderate size room and just wanting to fill in the bottom end for music. If you have a large room, want the sub to make the windows bulge in & out, or get infrasonic sound effects for movies, then bigger is better.

For music (as I listen to it--mix of classical, oldies, jazz, pop) in rooms about 14x16', I find my 10" subs sufficient. Note that I regard an 85 dB listening level as loud, and 100 dB peaks as _very_ loud, and wouldn't tolerate any more. YMMV

Cheers, Jim

Thanks, Jim! I listen to the same kind of music you do. I am leaning toward a 10" sub too, I think. My room is about 14'x18' with hard floor and walls, so it's pretty "live" I think. Here's the PartsExpress one that I think I'll get when they go on sale (in Jan they were $300 with shipping!):

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...00-760&scqty=1

I don't know if I need the "Titanic" line, or just Dayton's "Reference Series HF", which is about $35 cheaper. But for $300 or under, this setup seems like a pretty good deal with the 240W plate amp.

Originally posted by discreteouts
Hello, If the keyboard you are referring to is a musical instrument, exercise caution when playing at high volume levels, as most home hifi speakers cannot deal with the uncompressed dynamics of musical instruments or live vocals without sustaining damage. You may want to protect your speakers in some way(limiters/circuit interrupters).

Yes, the keyboard is a Yamaha S90-ES, and I found out what you mean already. I played the keyboard through just one channel into one of the bookshelf speakers... couldn't hear it real well so I turn it up -- when I played a couple low octave notes, I heard the woofer really distort. I guess it was bottoming out. So I didn't do THAT again. I wonder how you can compress the keyboard line output so it doesn't do that... do you know?

Thanks!
Bryan

[cassb]

Originally posted by Thawach
Shearer you're right. cassb you shoud know about your room before you build a subwoofer. how many is it long and wide.
sometime you want a big subwoofer for low freguency. but you may not get it with your small room. and it may be standing wave
too much.

Speaking of standing waves... I got a freeware program called "Room EQ Wizard" which I have been playing with for a couple days. I have no idea what to do with it, but it looks interesting and I'm eager to learn how to tweak my room and speakers to get excellent "live" sound.

[Jim Shearer]

Byran,

That sub uses the same 240 watt plate amp that I put onto an older Visonic 10" passive sub. Not sure I need that much power, but it has some nice protection features which seem worthwhile. I've been very happy w/ it.

Cheers, Jim

[cassb]

Jim, did yours have the "bass boost" feature? I have no idea if that's a good thing or not to have. Dayton sells this same 240w amp with and without bass boost for the same price.