Need some subwoofer recommendations.

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My friend put me in charge of hooking up a subwoofer setup to his computer because he wants more bass.

I already know which subwoofer to get. Its the 1000W Subwoofer Amplifier from Parts Express:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=300-808

It gives 1024W @ 4ohm.

I need recommendations on subwoofers. He said he wants 12" or 15" subs to put into an enclosure which will go under his bed. If available, please give me subwoofer enclosure plans for the subwoofers you recommend.

He doesnt care about sound quality as much as he cares about its loudness. The louder, the better. :) He heard the bass coming out of my Logitech Z-5500 speakers (10" sub, 188W RMS, ported) and was impressed, but he wants his setup to be ALOT louder.

He said he wanted to spend max $600-700 and since the amplifier is close to $400 already, that only leaves $200-300 for the subwoofers and enclosure.

He might just end up getting a pre-made dual 12" enclosure from the local swapmeet, so if you have one of these (which I think are all the same or similar) then what subs would you recommend in those enclosures.
 
premade dual 12 enclosure... bad idea

I'll suggest the Madison ExecutionerX18" or 21" subwoofer. you can get one for less than $200 dollars. I havent gotten the chance to buy one yet myself and see how it performs, but if madison is honest about the specs (the sensitivity cant be right but excursion and power handling might be...) then it will definately pound.

I put their specs in WinISD(in the order WinISD suggests so it can autocalculate most effectively) and it ended up with somewhere around 96db efficnency and a MaxSPL right around 120db. Enclosure needs to be large if you want to get low, but if you're friend is only looking for loud 30hz(or maybe even as high as 40hz) tuning would probably do and you could get away with something as small as 4 cubic feet
 
What do you think about this sub?

I found this sub at Crutchfield

MB Quart PWE 304 12'' subwoofer
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-n05B31...asp?g=67700&id=features_and_specs&i=049PWE304

Each one is DVC and good for 600W RMS @ 4ohmX2 so if I get two, I will be able to wire them to have a 4ohm impedance, which the amplifier needs for 1024W. It only provides 512W @ 8ohm.


If i get one ExecutionerX subwoofer, it would have to be the 18" DVC sub so that I can wire the two 8ohm coils in parallel and get a 4ohm impedance. I would not be able to do this with the regular 18" or the 21" ExecutionerX subs ( unless theres something that can be done to trick the amplifier into seeing a 4 ohm impedance from an 8ohm subwoofer :scratch: )

If my reasoning seems unreasonable, please tell me :D I want to learn.
 
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60402

If it were my money I wouldn't get that amp. Not that there is anything bad about it, just exspensive.

I would check out ascendantaudio.com give them a cal and see if they have any of the Avalanche 15" left. Or go with the 18" I know they are out of the Atlas line of subs. Here is the closeout prices. The new site isn't complete so click the old site link if you want the specs.

Avalanche 12 - $200

Avalanche 15 - $225

Avalanche 18 - $275

Also you may want to check out Acoustic Elegance AV12/AV15
http://yellow.mynethost.com/~bv126368/shop/catalog/
$150.00 (12")/180.00(15")

I think you would be fine going with the 500W version of the amp you listed. That will save you some money.

On the cheaper side of things you could go 240W PE plate amp a quattro 15" You would be all done for under $300.00 and it would spank your logitech sub. No offense.
 
I would recommend to go with Rythmik Audio amplifiers if you want to go with around 250W.

250W is 119$ and 350W is 159$.

I recommend the same subwoofers as the guy above me. Ascendant if there's subwoofers left, or Acoustic Elegance, then PartsExpress to go cheaper.

I also think that 1000W is a bit overkill, unless you want to go for a linkwitz transform, which would be over the budget and not loud enough.

Under a bed, you could definitely design a huge horn, that would support the bed, like someone did on this forum, I'll try to find the post again. This would be ultimate loudness...

Link: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47051&highlight=
 
Like Simon5 said the Rythmik amps are good. I have one and a friend has another. However if you do go with the avalanche series at ascendant audio you will need at least the 350W model. Preferably the 500W PE plate amp as all the "suggested" enclosures at AA's site have 500W minimum. The Pnom on the Avalanche's is 800W.
The more I think about it you should go with the AE's AV15. Simply because you can get the 15" for $20.00 cheaper than the Avalanche 12". You also won't "need" the 500W plate amp. You could get away with the 350W.
AE's AV15 = $180.00
Rythmik 350 = $ 159.00

You figure in 50.00 shipping between the two items and you still come out under $400.00
Unless you got skills and can do a horn like Simon5 said. I think that would be what your friend is looking for. Something tells me he is after "car audio" loud. 30Hzish and up.
 
Re: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60402

MarkR said:
If it were my money I wouldn't get that amp. Not that there is anything bad about it, just exspensive.
...
Also you may want to check out Acoustic Elegance AV12/AV15
http://yellow.mynethost.com/~bv126368/shop/catalog/
$150.00 (12")/180.00(15")

I think you would be fine going with the 500W version of the amp you listed. That will save you some money.
...

Is there any other amplifier that is 1000W or close to it for less than the Parts Express price? He wants it to be super-loud, thats why he wants 1000W but i'll ask him and see what he says about getting the 500W version instead.

simon5 said:
I would recommend to go with Rythmik Audio amplifiers if you want to go with around 250W.

250W is 119$ and 350W is 159$.

I recommend the same subwoofers as the guy above me. Ascendant if there's subwoofers left, or Acoustic Elegance, then PartsExpress to go cheaper.

I also think that 1000W is a bit overkill, unless you want to go for a linkwitz transform, which would be over the budget and not loud enough.

Under a bed, you could definitely design a huge horn, that would support the bed, like someone did on this forum, I'll try to find the post again. This would be ultimate loudness...

Link: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47051&highlight=

Thats a good design, but my friend wants to put this under his dorm room bed. He wont be putting the mattress on top of the subwoofer box :)

I think it would be best to go with 12" subs if they will be mounted perpendicular to the floor. I dont think anything bigger would fit - not enough height under the bed.

Any more suggestions for 12" subs?

Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions so far.

Also, if im going to build a box for the subs, how would i go about designing a horn-loaded box? If there are any plans on the net, then I woudl appreciate it if you post a link to it. I've seen the "Wicked One" plans, but im not sure if its worth building (is it a good design?) and I would have to scale it to use 12" subs. It would be better if theres something out there that is ready for 12" subs and would fit under a bed.
 
Another way to go for just plain LOUD is bandpass box, sounds like he's not so fussy about SQ.

A bass horn needs to be at least 1 x 1 x 0.5m to get any kind of depth. The Lab horn is worth considering and is about that size and uses 2 x 12" drivers and I believe a lot of guys run it with 1kw of power. If that's not loud enough then your friend needs not to put a subwoofer in his room, but to put his room INSIDE a subwoofer!

Typical high excursion sub drivers are designed to move a lot of air and need a lot of power to go loud - they are inefficient. If he doesn't want the depth, and it sounds like he doesn't, then it's a waste of money getting a big powerful amp to try to get them loud. I have a big powerful PA amp driving a pair of 12" subs, AE speakers AV12s and recently I got the amp to its limits, the drivers still had more to give, but I think your friend would have wanted it louder!

Efficiency is the way to go. A lot of bass at 40 Hz will most likely keep him happy. He'd probably have more fun with 120db @ 40 Hz than 100 db @ 20 Hz.

There's a few ways you can get efficiency:

* bass horn like the Lab sub - LOUD and great SQ
* bandpass - loud, smaller than a horn, compromised SQ
* big vented box with a PA type driver

Have a look here:
http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/

He could probably put a few AutoTubas under his bed, it uses a very cheap 8" driver. You could build 1 of them, and if he's happy add some more. Chances are the horn route will get him more than he was expecting for a lot less than he thought he'd have to pay.

Another suggestion - I know you said he wants it UNDER his bed, but if he decides the subwoofer IS the bed base, then he can sell his bed and use it to pay for the sub! Just a thought ...
 
Is there any other amplifier that is 1000W or close to it for less than the Parts Express price? He wants it to be super-loud, thats why he wants 1000W but i'll ask him and see what he says about getting the 500W version instead.

You don't necessarily need 1000W to make a sub loud. Most of the DIY subs are quite capable of over 100db's in room with 250W.Unless the room is huge or the sub is real inefficient. As paulspencer mentioned efficiency is what you are after. Check out the autotuba's you should be able to fit 3 or 4 of them under a bed. I would start with one or two. Much cheaper alternative too.
 
I just built an autotuba a few days ago (but havent truely Finished it because the driver wont be here until tuesday) and I am impressed by it's performance. I'm only using an Extremis6 midwoofer from adire audio(with 13mm one way excursion it is one hell of a midwoofer) and it could easily be mistaken for something much much larger... Probably would blow any 10" commecial sub for less than 600 dollars out of the water and at only ~$60 to build(right now the MCM is only $32 plus 9.95 for the plans and maybe 20 dollars for wood) plus time it's a hell of a deal. Plus one only takes 100watts to fully power and you could surely build 2, 3, 4 of them..... 4 autotubas would be LOUD
 
Thanks to everyone who suggested the AutoTuba :) I bought the plans and it seems that it is something I could do. The only power tool I have is a Dremel 400XPR :D , but I can use the attachments to do most, if not all of the cuts. Sure, it will take maybe a week or two to complete, but im sure it can be done :) I might figure out the dimensions for each panel and have home depot cut them for me. That way ill only have to do minor cuts with the dremel.

I still dont know if my friend wants to go the AutoTuba route, but ill build one for myself and see if he likes it.
 
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