I am think of building a couple of subwoofers for both music and home theater. I am currently running a single 12" powered sealed sub from the sub output of my receiver, crossed at 80 Hz. I also run a dedicated 2 channels power amp to my front speakers which are Magnepan MMGs, which are dipole panel speakers having very detailed sound down to about 100Hz. The sub helps for the very low frequencies, but tends to have the monotone boomy sound, even if I try to adjust the crossover. In other words, it does not integrate with Maggies very well for music.
Rather than building powered subs with a control panel on each, I thought of hooking a mini-dsp 2x4 to the front speakers pre-out and using it as a crossover between the Maggies and the subs. I would have to add 2 channels to my power amp for the subs, which is easy because it is modular and VTV can add a 2x500W hypex module for a very reasonable price. The DSP would also allow me to apply room correction to both sets of speakers. Another advantage is that I could experiment with the sub design without messing with the amps. Of course I would have to build more "musical" subs, thinking of ripoles now. Do you think this would be a sound design? Are there any downsides?
Rather than building powered subs with a control panel on each, I thought of hooking a mini-dsp 2x4 to the front speakers pre-out and using it as a crossover between the Maggies and the subs. I would have to add 2 channels to my power amp for the subs, which is easy because it is modular and VTV can add a 2x500W hypex module for a very reasonable price. The DSP would also allow me to apply room correction to both sets of speakers. Another advantage is that I could experiment with the sub design without messing with the amps. Of course I would have to build more "musical" subs, thinking of ripoles now. Do you think this would be a sound design? Are there any downsides?
No down side because you have lots of flexibility. Might as well try it! I don’t know if Ripoles will be the answer for going that low but they will keep up with the Maggies well. You’ll have enough power to go with sealed boxes and eq them to go low enough. With any OB you might run out of Xmax before going low enough.
IME you ideally need a pair of multi driver OB arrays based on a long gone girlfriend's Maggies and her youthful superior hearing; others with experience with ripoles will have to chime in.
I understand from other threads that it take a driver with specific characteristics for a ripole. I found this one that seems to match, but also has a low MMS of 29g which may help make it more dynamic. Did anybody try those?
General | |
| Product type | Cone driver |
| Brand | Ciare |
| Reference | HW250 |
Informations | |
| Nominal impedance | 8 ohm |
| Dimensional category | 10.5 inch |
| Frequency coverage type | Sub, Low, Midbass |
| Manufacturer sensitivity | 90 dB |
| Calculated sensitivity | 89.46 dB |
| Nominal power handling | 90 W |
| Max power handling | 180 W |
| Bandwidth | 20÷2000 Hz |
Fundamental parameters | |
| Sd | 340 cm² |
| Mms | 29 gr |
| Cms | 1700 µm/N |
| Le | 0.6 mH |
| Re | 6 ohm |
| BL | 6.55 T.m |
Small signal parameters | |
| Fs | 23 Hz |
| Qes | 0.58 |
| Qms | 3 |
| Qts | 0.48 |
| Vas | 275 L |
Datas | |
| Xmax | ±5 mm |
| EBP | 40 Hz |
| Fs / Qts | 48 Hz |
| Vas * Qts² | 63.36 L |
| Efficiency | 0.55 % |
| Calculated efficiency | 0.56 % |
| Weight | ~1.8 kg |
Dimensions | |
| Voice coil diameter | 1.25 inch |
| Winding depth | 16 mm |
| Gap height | 6 mm |
| Outside diameter | 265 mm |
| Baffle cutout diameter | 238 mm |
| Depth | 111 mm |
| Front thickness | 9 mm |
| Depth after front | 102 mm |
| Diamètre aimant (mm) | 102 mm |
Shape & Materials | |
| Front chape | Cylindrical |
| Magnet type | Ferrite |
| Basket masterial | Acier |
| Voice coil former | Aluminium |
| Surround shape | One roll |
| Surround material | Foam |