I’d appreciate some advice for where to find a HT sub design that would fit my goals.
I have a family room that is approximately 16’ x 22’ with 9’ foot ceilings (3,200 cu ft), and next to it is a game room that is 12’ x 15’ (1,600 cu ft). The rooms are largely open to each other. In the family room there was at one time a fully built-in large projection TV enclosed with drywall and cabinetry on either side, so I have a space that is 48”W x 30”D x 52”H which is largely open for a sub, just a flatscreen in the front of it with 15” below the TV for a sub to project although behind the flat screen much of the volume is empty. This location is also in a corner of the room and projects back to the opposite corner and also into the game room.
The area that’s exposed under the TV (will be covered with audio cloth) is approximately 15”H x 40”W if leaving room for trim, the actual sub box sitting behind the trim could be higher.
I’m looking for a solution that is weighted towards sound quality (movie sound tracks, online concerts) but want enough bass to make action movies exciting, but don’t need to blow out windows. For this reason I’m leaning towards an closed sub (also simpler to build).
I’m thinking a 12 – 13” driver (or larger?) and am willing to spend up towards $800 all in (driver, box, power amp). The rest of the system has small bookshelf mains (Paradigm reference 20s), center, surrounds etc.
My questions are:
1. Is there a ready-made design that would work
2. What are driver recommendations
3. What are amp recommendations
4. Is there a concern having the sub somewhat enclosed on the sides and top will affect the sound quality (there is a fair amount of air movement through the wide cloth grill and around the TV)
5. If the driver is 12 or 13” and the opening between horizontal wood trim is 15”, is this sufficient for the driver to properly project without interference.
6. Your thoughts on the cost/benefit of building two units (each cheaper than $800) and having a second sub behind the listening sweet spot.
Really appreciate insights from better minds than mine.
Thanks!
I have a family room that is approximately 16’ x 22’ with 9’ foot ceilings (3,200 cu ft), and next to it is a game room that is 12’ x 15’ (1,600 cu ft). The rooms are largely open to each other. In the family room there was at one time a fully built-in large projection TV enclosed with drywall and cabinetry on either side, so I have a space that is 48”W x 30”D x 52”H which is largely open for a sub, just a flatscreen in the front of it with 15” below the TV for a sub to project although behind the flat screen much of the volume is empty. This location is also in a corner of the room and projects back to the opposite corner and also into the game room.
The area that’s exposed under the TV (will be covered with audio cloth) is approximately 15”H x 40”W if leaving room for trim, the actual sub box sitting behind the trim could be higher.
I’m looking for a solution that is weighted towards sound quality (movie sound tracks, online concerts) but want enough bass to make action movies exciting, but don’t need to blow out windows. For this reason I’m leaning towards an closed sub (also simpler to build).
I’m thinking a 12 – 13” driver (or larger?) and am willing to spend up towards $800 all in (driver, box, power amp). The rest of the system has small bookshelf mains (Paradigm reference 20s), center, surrounds etc.
My questions are:
1. Is there a ready-made design that would work
2. What are driver recommendations
3. What are amp recommendations
4. Is there a concern having the sub somewhat enclosed on the sides and top will affect the sound quality (there is a fair amount of air movement through the wide cloth grill and around the TV)
5. If the driver is 12 or 13” and the opening between horizontal wood trim is 15”, is this sufficient for the driver to properly project without interference.
6. Your thoughts on the cost/benefit of building two units (each cheaper than $800) and having a second sub behind the listening sweet spot.
Really appreciate insights from better minds than mine.
Thanks!
The Parts Express Denovo cabinet for the Dayton Audio UM12-22 could be what you want, their setup is about 800€ for the driver, the cabinet panels and a Dayton plate amp. Low response is about an F6 25.5Hz
But many things are possible if you want to make your own design, A lot of good drivers could fit that space, some even better than the Dayton/Denovo kit from parts express. I would rather use a SB34NRX75-6 driver (+/- 200$ in the US) in a 75L sealed cabinet with a Hypex 122 (450$) bridged as plate amplifier/DSP for this. That would give you a good response with a more musical driver that goes less deep, but still has an F6 of 30Hz in that cabinet. That is low enough to cover all i need...
And the wood trim won't affect the bass frequencies that much, those largely omnidirectional and will go arround it almost unchanged. The thing to watch is that the wood trim won't vibrate when the sub is just behind it and so disturb the sound. Is it solid enough to avoid that?
But many things are possible if you want to make your own design, A lot of good drivers could fit that space, some even better than the Dayton/Denovo kit from parts express. I would rather use a SB34NRX75-6 driver (+/- 200$ in the US) in a 75L sealed cabinet with a Hypex 122 (450$) bridged as plate amplifier/DSP for this. That would give you a good response with a more musical driver that goes less deep, but still has an F6 of 30Hz in that cabinet. That is low enough to cover all i need...
And the wood trim won't affect the bass frequencies that much, those largely omnidirectional and will go arround it almost unchanged. The thing to watch is that the wood trim won't vibrate when the sub is just behind it and so disturb the sound. Is it solid enough to avoid that?
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Thanks for the advice. One more question: what would be the appropriate power for a sub amp? PartsExpress has a package with the Dayton Audio UM12-22 12" Ultimax rated at 600W RMS. Again most of the time is normal movie listening levels. Should the amp be a little less than the sub rating or a little more to reduce distortion?
Thx
Thx
Well, you ideally want +6 dB [4x power] dynamic headroom above peak level to ensure the amp is never stressed due to heat rise [or at least that was the rule last time I designed professionally in the early '90s], so if you need 100 w max, then a 400 W amp.
'Normal' HT = THX reference = 115 dB/LFE channel at the listening position [LP], though over time there's been various lower levels for different apps added and of course you can just choose an average, peak level; IOW you'll have to tell us what your 'normal' is. 😉
Maybe this will help: THX CERTIFIED LOUDSPEAKERS
'Normal' HT = THX reference = 115 dB/LFE channel at the listening position [LP], though over time there's been various lower levels for different apps added and of course you can just choose an average, peak level; IOW you'll have to tell us what your 'normal' is. 😉
Maybe this will help: THX CERTIFIED LOUDSPEAKERS
I agree, for a sub that is used for HT the amp should be more powerfull to have headroom for big dynamic changes. An explosion in a movie can take a lot of watt, even on low level as the frequencies are very low. And an overdriven amp can easely destroy a speaker, even on low level. That plate amp is 1000w, so fit for a power of about 250w continues signal. That means about 107dB continues signal so you have a lot of headroom, even on relative loud listening.This driver needs an amp like that for HT purpose, or even more powerfull if you really want to push it.