Looking for some solutions to low cost-high performance Subs

[Emission]

Its pained me for the last couple of years or so, but Im completley confused at the sight of speaker specifications, so I wouldnt know if ones better than the other. Ive looked around at places like eBay and some local dealers, although havent come to a final conclusion. Im looking for a design targeted for deep bass, and very high Wattage handling as well. Im a bit tight on $$$ right now with about $300 and am wondering if theres a cheap(er) solution than buying a $1000 in-home design sub. Now I thought about taking Car Subs and sticking them in my room somewhere, although im clueless as to what will get the job done. Mainly for the reason of this post, id like to know if theres anyone willing to help .

[BassAwdyO]

Oh, We shall have you hooked up in no time at all. Your $300 budget.... is that for sub and amp or just sub? Car subs, you dont need to play with. There are many many cheap drivers with spectacular bang for your buck performance including many drivers from adire and others.

[xstephanx]

new to diy audio?

k, just to give you the run down, high power handling doesnt mean loud, doesnt mean low, doesnt even mean clean or not clean.

Power is expensive, more expensive than drivers often, instead of getting an inefficient driver, that needs lots of power to get moving, get an efficient one, so that you can reach the same output as that 1000 wattRMS sub with 250(yeah its possable).

Some important info we need to know to get started!

1. what do you use sub for? movies? music? both? give us a ratio movies:music 30/70
2. What are you looking for? maximum boom and spl? low end extension? or fidelity and an even response?
3. HOW MUCH SPACE!
4. how big is the room this is going in?

Beat me to first reply bassawdyo!

[Bogie]

Parts Express is your friend.

Dayton Loudspeaker Quatro 15 - $75
Parts Express 240 watt plate amp - $120
MDF - whatever...

[crippledchicken]

Originally posted by Bogie
Parts Express is your friend.

Dayton Loudspeaker Quatro 15 - $75
Parts Express 240 watt plate amp - $120
MDF - whatever...

i just got one of the amps and, there on special for $109 right now and seems to be a pretty decent amp! thought i'd pass the word

[aaroncgi]

It's a great way to go, and offers a lot of bang for the buck. It can move about as much air as an Adire Shiva for a bit less money (albeit in a larger box). If you put it in a really large box and tune low, you can get excellent output even down to 10 Hz, though most people will want to maximize SPL/power handling and use a smaller box tuned higher. 240 watts is plenty to get it moving very well, and in fact the RMS power handling is only 300. I can attest that 300w is fairly accurate, as I have more available and it cannot all be used.

Regarding car woofers, I would stay away, especially in your price range. For a given amount of swept volume (amount of air it can move), you pay easily 2-3 times more for a 'car' woofer versus a 'home' woofer. Even with closeouts and eBay, car woofers still come out more expensive, and they don't perform as well at lower frequencies anyhow, since they tend to have higher Fs.


Aaron Gilbert

[Luke (Uof Iowa)]

Personally, I wouldn't dismiss subwoofers "marketed" to car audio so quickly. To address some concerns, the are several drivers that do have a relatively low Fs, that's just another spec that you will have to look at when analyzing your options. As far as cost/performance ratio, there are without a doubt more companies and raw subwoofers that are marketed towards the car audio market when compared to the home/DIY audio market. Though it may be more difficult, there are bargains and values out there to be found you just have to do more sifting.

I know that many home audio enthusiasts may frown upon using these particular drivers for home use (and I respect that), I still believe that there are many subwoofers that would work well in both car and home environments depending on the user's application. Also, some are marketed as both, for instance the many of Adire's drivers that have already been mentioned in this thread.

Though I believe these statements are true, I suppose they are still just my opinon, but what I'm trying to get at for the thread-poster is don't simply eliminate so many possibilities so easily. You're really just limiting yourself then.

- Luke

[THOR]

Want a fast, clean long throw sub in a (reasonably) small 1.4 cu ft sealed box?+,- 3db 22 to100Hz! plays quite loud and very musical. 1 of the best ive ever heard. $135! its the Hsu ASW1203 .And yes ASW stands for auto sub woofer! 18mm X max and 400 watts power handling. I use 2 in a stereo pair and the heartbeat on DSOM actually shakes the whole house using an old 150 w stereo amp!
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/#asw

[simon5]

-3 dB at 22 Hz with this subwoofer in a living room in a small box like that?

I have a hard time to believe that, where and how did you measure that?

That subwoofer would look great in a 1,4 cu. ft box in a car, probably going to 22 Hz, but in a living room?

[THOR]

tom noisaine measured it in a car to 12 HZ. check the Hsu site for the review. as to listening, i use 2 of them 8 feet apart . I measured 1 of them at Dr. Bruce Edgars horn shop, in the middle of his large listrning room . the measurements were performed by Dr. Bruce @ 1 W/1m, and witnessed by Steve Shell , and 1/2 dozen members of Bruces Horn Club. Bruce calibrated the LMS sys imediately before the runs . it was driven by Dr. Hsu's 150 W plate amp which has modest LF EQ. subsequent to this Bruce has offered his own excellant sealed sub, which also uses an expensive autosound driver in a similar sized sys with similar results. I believe I recall that his sub goes a few HZ lower @ the -3db point. Ive been in this biz/hobby for 55 years and dont make claims and SWAGs I cant back up.