What kind of powered home theater sub should I get?

[93 saturn sl2 10+ year member]

My 12" Sony powered sub isnt cutting it anymore. I want something that will get louder, and have tons of bass if I crank up the volume. I'll be moving my home theater equipment to my basement, so it has to be able to fill a larger room.

I was checking out the Dayton audio subwoofer kits over at partsexpress., but the one I would want with the Titanic sub is pretty expensive.

My limits about $250-300.

Thanks.

Click to read more...

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

People with that budget would use a Dayton Quattro woofer with the 250w

plate amp, total cost $200 plus the cost of building materials. You can hit

the $300 when all is said and done. But that type of subwoofer is hardly

a subwoofer in performance, but it may work. I don't know if it's going to be

much better than what you have now.

Next up on the food chain migh be a $200 Dayton Titanic woofer with maybe

at least a 500w plate amp. $440 plus building materials.

If I really wanted a good sub for a basement, then I'd look at the $300 woofers

with 1kw plate amp. This puts you in the $650 price range plus building materials

and it would probably last a long time with less upgrade itch.

To name a couple of popular woofers;

http://www.soundsplinter.com/rlp_premium_series_12_and_15_inch_subwoofer.html

Flavor of the month is this one.

http://www.tcsounds.com/tc2000.htm

Ported EBS style design for HT would be sweet. It would be a big box but

it would destroy store bought product costing alot more.

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

I must say that those subs are a bit old news around this car audio forum. But, both have decent success as home audio subwoofers.

However, you might be better off looking into a Fi Q or something like that. Cheaper than the TC but more powerful than the SoundSplinter. I have a Q 15 in my car and have been thinking about getting a 12" to experiment with in my home system.

However, those speakers alone are the price of your whole system that you want to put together, so lets not get too ahead of ourselves here.

I defiantly wouldn't expect too much out of that price range that you have there, especially prefab. If you can build the box yourself you would be much better off. I would not go smaller than a 12" if that is what you have currently. An, SSD 12" is $189 which gives you some amp options.

With that speaker I would go with one these two:

BASH 300 Watt

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-750

BASH 500 Watt

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-752

Personally the extra wattage can not hurt if you setup your system right. Also, were you thinking ported or sealed?

I assume you can build a box yourself?

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

I must say that those subs are a bit old news around this car audio forum.

Every subwoofer is old news on car audio forums, lol...

Old news doesn't mean bad news... It won't take too much to beat a Sony

powered subwoofer, but why beat it when you can destroy it with a bigger

budget. Makes no sense to spend $300 on an HT sub only to see it go obsolete

after a short time. Save up and make a big EBS sonosub and it will last for years,

but can you transport the beast downstairs, maybe something this size?

http://dustin.bunnyhug.net/pics/driverampangle.jpg

When choosing your amp, you need to choose wisely and match woofer impedance

to amplifier's lowest impedance if you want best performance. If you buy DVC woofers,

pay attention to coil impedance {series or parallel wiring} and then determine which amp is better suited.

The plate amps are typically 4 ohm optimal, proamps are 2 ohm/ch or 4 ohm bridged optimal,

and the Buttkicker amp is 2kw @ 2 ohm mono. This is a nice amp for about $250. Also

check how you will crossover the sub.. external crossover or crossover that may come internal

with certain amps.

http://www.audio-discounters.com/bka1000-4a.html

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

A few years ago these were highly rated, and there seems to be a few new ones still available-

YAMAHA YSTSW315

10" cone driver

250W Amplifier

20 to 160 Hz frequency range

Advanced Active Servo Technology

BASS Selector

Yamaha's QD-Bass Technology

Magnetic Shielding

Continuously variable high-cut filter from 40 to 140 Hz.

Volume Control

Signal Sensing ON/OFF:

Phase Normal/Reverse Switch

Dual Inputs

Three-way speaker terminals

Black Ash finish

Dimensions (W x H x D)

13 3/4" X 17" X 15 1/16"

Buy It Now price: US $166.66

http://cgi.ebay.com/YAMAHA-YST-SW315-HOME-AUDIO-STEREO-SUBWOOFER-SUB-WOOFER_W0QQitemZ180077900887QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3275QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

That Yamaha would be nice for a gaming subwoofer rig...

 

[Death By Bass 10+ year member]

make a folded horn...

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

That Yamaha would be nice for a gaming subwoofer rig...

It sure would, but it was really well reviewed by the home theater mags about 4 years ago where they liked it as much as most $1,000 subs.

(I think it originally sold for about $600 back then.)

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

Every subwoofer is old news on car audio forums, lol... Old news doesn't mean bad news... It won't take too much to beat a Sony

powered subwoofer, but why beat it when you can destroy it with a bigger

budget. Makes no sense to spend $300 on an HT sub only to see it go obsolete

after a short time.

Subwoofers have a very short "flashy" time on a forum like this where Hype rules a lot of posts.

ALSO, if he doesn't have that budget it makes sense.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

And, you are very right about matching the impedances. You can't run a plate amp a .5 ohm, usually.

It sure would, but it was really well reviewed by the home theater mags about 4 years ago where they liked it as much as most $1,000 subs.
(I think it originally sold for about $600 back then.)

Hmmm Interesting looking guy there.....

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

ALSO, if he doesn't have that budget it makes sense.

/begin joke

I don't think anyone has a *real* budget for any hobby. Here's how an audio

hobby works.

Time index 1; You spend $200 on a speaker project because you have no more money.

Time index 36; You are bored with your $200 speaker and need a new and better one. You spend $300 on the next project.

Time index 66; After careful review, you need to go to the next level because

it's not quite right yet. You spend $700 on the final project.

Total cost: $1200

$1200 is alot of money for someone to spend considering they don't

have more than $200 to spend. lol ....

/end joke

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

make a folded horn...

You like bass horns?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=704019&highlight=12+pi

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

Yea.... I started out with my dad's old speakers....

Then got a new Receiver.

Then a power conditioner.

Then a new DVD Player.

Then surround speakers.

Then new Main channel speakers.

Then another new DVD Player.

Then a amp.

Then a processor.

Than a CD Player.

Then a new TV....

I don't want to know what's next.... But it will be expensive.... :|

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

My Rl-i 12 and BASH 500watt plate amp was a simple solution.

If I did something different, I'd probably go with a Fi SSD10 with copper coils and the BASH 500w sealed.

nG

 

[93 saturn sl2 10+ year member]

I've always admired the Velodyne subs. I heard this one over at ABC Warehouse and it sounds pretty good!

http://cgi.ebay.com/VELODYNE-DPS-12-12-HOME-AUDIO-SUBWOOFER-DPS12-NEW_W0QQitemZ220073423478QQihZ012QQcategoryZ3275QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220073423478

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

I've always admired the Velodyne subs. I heard this one over at ABC Warehouse and it sounds pretty good!
http://cgi.ebay.com/VELODYNE-DPS-12-12-HOME-AUDIO-SUBWOOFER-DPS12-NEW_W0QQitemZ220073423478QQihZ012QQcategoryZ3275QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220073423478

If you heard it

... and liked it ...

case closed //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif