Computer Subwoofers and Cheap HTIB Subs

[form109]

im sure many of you have had Experiences with those Little Dinky 2.1 or 5.1 computer speaker systems or those small cheap HTIB (Home Theather in a Box) Systems,most often these so called subwoofers use 3" to 5" Drivers in a cheaply made box tuned to have a huge hump around 70-100 HZ to make it seem as if there is really some bass there,i must admit ive fallen for it,and sometimes extending the port can actually make the bass sound good,i achive this by sticking a cardboard tube into the port,which fairly lowers the bass to below 40,even with the improvement these systems definetly wont please a critical listener (Which i admit i am not too critical) but at full volume the bass almost always distorts.


Prehaps a Tangband W5-1138 Paired with a Dayton 25 Watt Plate Amp would be nice?

Certainly better than most Commercial Computer subs.

or even a Tangband W69-1042 paired with a Dayton 70 Watt Plate Amp...now were talking.

possibly even the W69-1436..the Flat Version of the Tangband 6 x 9...also paired with the Dayton 70 Watt Plate Amp.

i would like to hear your opinions on this.

[chris661]

I've found that a sock (or a pair) does well, stuffed into the port.

[form109]

does Replacing the Driver do any good?...most drivers i see in Cheap Computer Subs have Small 3" or 4" Driver with a Fairly Weak Motor,and low Power Handling...some are better than others though.

[littlemike]

Jack's amps are cheaper, more powerful, and nicer than the Daytons.

NHT drivers and electronics surplus sale

He's got a lot of nice drivers too. A pair of the NPT-11-047-1 or NPT-11-084-2 8-inch drivers in a ported enclosure should be more than enough for what you are trying to do. There are plenty of other choices out there for drivers, many will work well.

[form109]

Originally Posted by littlemike

Jack's amps are cheaper, more powerful, and nicer than the Daytons.

NHT drivers and electronics surplus sale

He's got a lot of nice drivers too. A pair of the NPT-11-047-1 or NPT-11-084-2 8-inch drivers in a ported enclosure should be more than enough for what you are trying to do. There are plenty of other choices out there for drivers, many will work well.

well...that sounds nice...but im talking of Modifying a Small HITB System or building a Small 2.1 System....

[jbell]

the problem with most HTIB systems is that they have the crossovers fixed, and you can't change them. Some crossover the sub at 200-250hz...

I did a church rec room with a philips HTIB that high passed the sub at 40hz, and low passed at 150hz. Replacing the sub with a very small 55-2421 horn cabinet, made the kids tell me to turn it down. I also used some regular speakers (b2031p) instead of the little 4" full ranger's... With the TI digital amps, it was actually pretty good sound.

I guess my take on it is you have to know the HTIB crossover specs before you try to change out the crappy little sub they come with, which means that generic 'do this' kind of advise probably won't work...