What do YOU want from a SUB?!!!

[Dburc59866]

I'm intending on Building a Batch of very high-quaitly subwoofers i guess mainly for home-cinema usage but also the perform well in hi-fi application too.

Please could u submit lists of the quailties you would desire in a subwoofer i.e most important features, small/large dimensions, deep bass/accurate bass/loud bass/musical bass? how u tend to connect your subs, also ne suggestions for designs do these modern arty desgins appeal?

Just chuck ne thoughts or ideas u may have at me, ne thing and everything will be greatfull received.

Thanks

Dan.

[BassAwdyO]

Let me see.....



Large dimensions(if it doesnt sound big, at least it will look big)
deep bass
accurate bass
loud bass
musical bass


I connect my subs with the largest guage wire availabe, positive to the positive terminal and negitive to negitive terminal. Ohh and if its DVC always wire parellel for lower inductance and higher current draw.

how it looks, well ugly is the best(that way people will know it is hommade)

[BassAwdyO]

Ohh my... I'm really starting to sound like Bill fitzpatrick here

[Dburc59866]

Look i know those of u that are looking are thinking "pwahh cant be bothered" and to be honest id probably do the same, maybe u could post pics of designs that appeal to u? maybe that would be more interesting and once/if the post gets going then maybe people will feel like contributing more?

[NogginBoink]

We all want a sub that plays loud, low, fast, and accurate. We want it to sip electricity and fit in our back pocket.

Engineering is the art of compromise. That's why everyone here has a different design.

[BassAwdyO]

The best way to get ideas... is to throw out some of your own

Tell us what drivers you have looked at or considered, what amps, what kind of enclosure looks appealing, etc....

Budget is a big factor also

How big is too big?

[Dburc59866]

I guess asking this question in a DIY Audio Forum wasnt the best idea cos u all like what u like and its mostly on an indvidual basis and not lead by a purely aesthetic appearence.

I need to find people who just "buy" subwoofers and see if they follow ne trend i.e small cos they dont want subs to impose on the room which i guess if probably more true here in the uk than the states due to the fact that we typically do have smaller listening rooms.

I just thought u guys would have a more technical spin and "connoisseur" angle to likes and dislikes in subwoofers.

But like me i assume IF u were going to purchase a pre-built subwoofer the appearence of the thing would take a back seat and priorities would be performance & sound quaility. I just feel this this isn't the case with members of the general public who have bucks to spend i think the desingner spin to the design has a big effect on what they purchase.

[DDDD]

Please could u submit lists of the quailties you would desire in a subwoofer i.e most important features, small/large dimensions, deep bass/accurate bass/loud bass/musical bass? how u tend to connect your subs, also ne suggestions for designs do these modern arty desgins appeal?

If I were to buy a sub that was made by someone other than me, it better be as small as possible and look damn good. I prefer a tight, accurate response over high SPL and/or tons of low end. It should come self amplified with tons of options on the plate amp (lowpass in, highpass out, variable phase, bass boost, rumble filter etc etc etc.) The controls for (most of) these functions should be somewhere easier to reach than the back of the plate amp and possibly remote controlled.

Oh and it should be as cheap as possible too.

[BassAwdyO]

OHHH... you want to sell these....

well what the average joe looks for is probably

Big speaker, small enclosure, high power, and high SPL.

Adjustable bass boosts are nice too. A remote control is a plus
High and low level imputs are nice
An built-in amp(plate amp) is a must.

Asthetically wood veneers are nice. If you're making them for unknown customers you should make probaly a few black, and a few of the finished hardwood look(perhaps using different types of wood finish would be good to giving more options)

A vented design is probably the best way to go. If I were building subs to sell myself I'd probably use downfiring vents to eliminate the appearance of a hole in the enclosure and also keep people from putting things in it.

A removable grille over the speaker is a must

[simon5]

Well, for me, I want a subwoofer flat to at least 16 Hz in a normal room. I want SPL to be at least 105 dB at listening position. That means you need to do a ported subwoofer, or a passive radiator subwoofer or finally a Linkwitz Transform subwoofer. If it's ported, I want to have low air speed in the ports. At the very least 34 m/s at maximum volume, better if under 17 m/s. I want it to have its own amplifier. I want the plate amplifier to have a variable 4th order low-pass crossover, strong rumble filter to prevent overexcursion, variable phase, overheat/overload circuit and finally line-in and line-out. I don't care about high level in and outs. I want the box to be heavily braced and done in 3/4" birch plywood or better.

Aesthetics, I'll leave that to someone else.