Which sub(s) to get?

[Corn]

I just sold my trusty Velodyne VA-1512 after 12 years of faithful service and I've got about $1200 burning a hole in my pocket. I sold it because I just couldn't get it tuned right in my basement "theater". The quotes are because the basement is one giant room with a bar and office area. In total, the basement area is about 7500 cubic feet.

I just couldn't find a satisfactory spot to put the sub that sounded right at all. In the corner in the front of the room, just couldn't feel the bass. Moving it to the rear you could feel/hear the bass well enough, but you could tell it came from the rear. No amount of phase adjustment or even using the Audyssey tuning my receiver offers (Onkyo 805) produced satisfactory results.

I think the Audyssey really doesn't like the boxed ceiling pole that is just behind and to the left of the main seating position--but that is another problem for a different day.

I think that 2 front firing subs with the port in the front is the way to go. I'm planning on putting them where the main speakers are, taking the mains off the stands and placing them on the subs. Any reason that would be a bad idea? I don't have a problem with leaving the speakers on the stands and moving the subs to either side of the mains.

Anyway, I'm looking at the following subs:

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb12nsd.cfm

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-3-mk3.html

http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_41&products_id=102

Any of these vastly superior to the others? I'm leaning toward the SVS PB12 NSD, but have not firmed up a decision yet. Also curious if there is anything else out there I should be looking at too. I'm not interested in the MFW-15, but other than that I'm open to suggestions.

 

[vi edit]

I think the Epik Phoenix is around that price range, it's out of stock at the moment though. It's a a deep digging beast of a sub. Excellent reliability and performance for the money. Not fancy looking though...it's a big black box.

http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/portedphoenix.html

Or if you want balls to the wall output with no regard to size and have a touch of DIY skills....look no further than the Danley Super Spud kit.

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/pdf/DTS10_DIY.pdf

These are both "single" subs but they offer output that will downright humble even a pair of 12" subs. The benefit of going with two is you can move them around and try to even out some nulls. But one of these will easily cause foundation damage to your place if you so desire.

 

[vi edit]

Also, do you have any bass traps set up? That might be worth a couple hundred dollar investment too.

 

[Howard]

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/134568-multiple-small-subs-geddes-approach.html

 

[Corn]

I think the Epik Phoenix is around that price range, it's out of stock at the moment though. It's a a deep digging beast of a sub. Excellent reliability and performance for the money. Not fancy looking though...it's a big black box.

http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/portedphoenix.html

Or if you want balls to the wall output with no regard to size and have a touch of DIY skills....look no further than the Danley Super Spud kit.

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/pdf/DTS10_DIY.pdf

These are both "single" subs but they offer output that will downright humble even a pair of 12" subs. The benefit of going with two is you can move them around and try to even out some nulls. But one of these will easily cause foundation damage to your place if you so desire.

That DTS10 is crazy! The wife would never allow that, even in the man cave.

Any idea on the the price of the epik sub?

No bass traps yet, but am thinking of trying to turn the suspended ceiling into one. Don't know how well that'll work, but as it is right now, the tiles rattle a little bit when things go boom, so I'm sure I'll be up there taking care of that anyway.

 

[vi edit]

I'm not exactly sure on the price of the Phoenix. I think it's around $750. You could do the dual Empire for $1500, but that's a bit above your budget. They aren't exceptionally low tuned, but they should be downright frightening in pairs. That's two 15" drivers per cabinet. So over 60" of cone surface.

:O

 

[EvilYoda]

Too bad you need two...otherwise, I'd say, a used JL audio Fathom F-113? ;

 

[mikeford]

I don't see changing brands, or using two instead of one doing much for a problem room. What exactly is wrong isn't too clear either, I mean I read the symptoms, but why it was happening could be any number of things. Localizing the bass means its putting out sound at too high of a frequency, either from the crossover point or distortion (harmonic distortion of 100 hz, is 200, 300, 400, etc. which is easy to locate, and why many designs have the driver facing the floor or away from the listener).

Bass traps tighten up bass by either absorbing it, or typically in the case of low bass mechanical movement of a membrane or panel. Nothing that directly seems related to your problem.

Just my two cents, but selling the old sub before finding a new one was a BIG mistake. Nothing you can directly compare with, and life without bass can make almost anything sound good initially.

 

[Aharami]

sheesh these subs are expensive! No way Im gonna be able to build as nice of a HT setup as I wanted to

 

[s44]

Why go from one big sub to another? Duals seem a good idea in your situation.

 

[vi edit]

sheesh these subs are expensive! No way Im gonna be able to build as nice of a HT setup as I wanted to

They don't have to be expensive. A $250 Tempest-X (15" driver), a $200 plate amp from Parts express, and $40 in MDF/Plywood will get you a sub that rivals $1200 commercial ones. It's just a massive beast that likely won't have a shiny high gloss coat or furniture grade veneer on it.

Or if you have some control over your room construction and can put the screen wall against an unfinished area you can go infinite baffle. A $300 pro amp & $400 for 2 x 18" IB subs and you have some incredible bass output.

Corn is working with 7500 c/f of space. That's a HUGE room. And it takes some serious bass to fill it.

 

[Aharami]

i have about 2600 cu ft
my basement plans

I dont need something crazy powerful as I live in a townhouse and share a wall with a neighbor. I care more about sound quality. Dont think infinite baffle will work because my unfinished area will house the washer/dryer and furnace

I dont mind building my own sub box. I've built a sealed enclosure before for my car's JL 10w7 and covered it with black carpet, and it came out fantastic. Obviously the HT's sub will need to have a better WAF factor

 

[Corn]

Well I ended up ordering 2 of the SVS PB12-NSD subs today. Got a small discount for buying 2 and they threw in a SPL meter. I'll give a detailed review after they are delivered and calibrated to my satisfaction. Keeping fingers crossed that I like them.

 

[tweakboy]

Proper woofer placement is in front, in between front speakers. Just 2 or 3 feet from the wall.. ,, If you cant feel it, you need a more powerful woofer imo. gl

 

[Aharami]

anyone know anything about Direct Servo subs? How do they compare to regular subs? will two of these be enough for a 400 sq ft basement HT build?
http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=139

 

[s44]

See here. Note you can buy the GR driver as well as Rythmik's own (newer) stuff as kits here.