great music subwoofer on a budget

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I just turned 15 and i have been saving for a subwoofer and i thought it would be fun to bulid it myself. We have all the tools i could need. My mains are DCM timeframe 600s great speakers and a Yamaha RXV 995 as my receiver they are a great team but now I need more bottom end. It is about a 0-300 dollor budget for amp and sub the less money the better. It will only be used for music but it will have to preform well from high speed double kick drums to deep heavey rap bass. I would like to see the amp atleast 240 rms and the sub 12 inchs and up or a 10 with a passive radiator. Size dosnt matter to much as long as its not taking up the whole room the room is also about 500 square feet.
With this info i hope you can help me.
 
The DAYTON QT385-4 15" QUATRO is a very good driver for the price but it will need a large box, but that's no problems for you.

I prefer the Rythmik plate amplifier over the partsexpress one because the Rythmik is an improved partsexpress amplifier for the same price or less.

I think the Rythmik + Quatro will be a nice combo.
 
The DAYTON QT385-4 15" QUATRO is a very good driver for the price but it will need a large box

It does well in somewhat small sealed ones too. I built one with that driver and the rythmik audio amp mentioned. Sealed in a 18" cube and it turned out great. Now it isn't going to reach down to 14-18Hz with allot of athority but it handled the LOTR (ext.cut DTS) trilogy with out any problem. It was also very, very good with music. 18" cube is roughly 73L and according to unibox it has a "Q" around .663
 

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I put a single brace about mid-way back. It is just another panel with a 12-13" hole in it. I think I may have the cutlist at home on my pc. I check when I get home. I also put some polyfil in there and thats it driver ,amp, one brace and some polyfil.

As far as sound goes there really isn't anything I can think off hand to compare it to. It's way better than anything I have heard in the 250-400.00 range. Sure some ported ones will play a little louder but most in that price range are boomy and sloppy.
The sub I showed there was built for my gf's nephew who is also 15. He loves it.
I compared it to my Mirage BPS-400 which is a dual 12" sealed 400W sub. My Mirage will play louder but this one was tighter.
I would say the quattro 15" in that sealed box would get down to around 20Hz. I dont have a way of measuring other wise I would have. Now it isn't going to play 20 Hz at 110db's or anything like that so You should decide whats loud enough for your listening habits.
 
Here is the cut list I used.
2 pcs 18" x 18" - Front and back

2 pcs 18" x 16.5" - Top and bottom

3 pcs 16.5" x 16.5" - Sides and internal brace

I used all butt joints and no screws. Used Titebond II polyurethane glue same as gorrilla glue but about 3-5 bucks cheaper in my area.

I just used my router to cut a large hole in the brace. You could do a "window pane" type brace. For me cutting a large round hole with my router was much faster than cutting 4 small squares with my jigsaw.
 
Hey I notice on this forum many people advise buying rythmik amps.Are you serious?They look kinda of like the $13 module amps that are sold through many cheap online eletronics outfits?And the build quality hmm well I don't know what to say.Other than they look pretty cheaply made.Has anybody ever checked Apex Jr stock?Or any other plate amps to recommend on a budget that don't seem as cheap as Rythmic or even PE as their amps are ok but nothing special unless go up to say 250 dollars.If anyone wonders why I say this about Rythmik I'd suggest taking a looong look at the boards and that Supply,go through few electronics catalogs and then get back to me,you'll probably find that supply on their "350" watt amp for 3 dollars on closeout at MCM!


On another budget project issue why do some here recommend drivers that are not well known in the industry?(And they probably never used or know anyone who has like this
ascendantaudio assassin12?)This while seeming quality has it been well reviewed and tested?And why recommend to someone who is new to diy audio or even to anybody who does not have serious test equipment?

The Dayton to me sounds like a great recommend I like most of their line and is great for budget or whatever.And they are well known,reviewed and tested.
 
Bickeler,
I have bought and used 3 different rythmik audio amplifiers and never had any problem whatsoever.Except for one that was damaged by fedex. I just contacted Brian @ rythmik and he sent me a replacement along with a return shipping label with no issues at all. I for one highly recommend rythmik and there products.
As far as what I recommend. I have used the quattro 15" sub so I have no reservations about recommending it. Also I recommended the Asccendant audio Assassin 12" because of the experience I had with Ascendant's Atlas line which I have a 12" and 2 15". According to Chad at ascendant who in my experience is a trustworthy guy the Assassin 12" is a "drop in" replacement for the Atlas. Except according to Chad its actually better, so given my experience with AA I felt comfortable recommending it as well. I also noted in my recommendation that I hadn't personally heard the assassin.
The person I recommended it to is quite happy with it.Link
to his finished assassin sub.

ifonly,
I am not sure about the quattro 15 in a ported cabinet I have only built the sealed one. I think I read somewhere about a 5cu.ft. ported. You might want to check out PE's forum and ask there.
 
Ok i think I have deceided on assassin 12" with the pe amp for the assassin does a 3.5 cubic foot box tuned to 25 Hz with a 4 inch vent diameter and it being 12.5 inchs long sound to you peolpe I did the #'s on WinISD. Im new at this so give me your advice please.
 
Well usually I tune lower than this, like 150 liters with a full length Precision Port 4" diameter vent 18" long. If you have the space, it will sound a bit better IMO.

3.5 tuned to 25 Hz will work too.
Sealed would work too since you're using this for music.

Why do you want the PE amp?
 
I agree with simon5 if you go ported tune lower than 25Hz.
You could do the recommended 3.5 ccu. ft. box put a full length precision port in it for a 20Hz tune. Then just plug the port for music.
That may sound wierd but incase you do watch movies also I would be a little worried about a higher tuned box.
 
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