Sub choice...

[aceinc]

I do not wish to start a religous war (some people worship at the alter of bass), but I am interested in the best choice for a DIY sub. The criteria;

~3,500 living space with 4'x6'8" & 3'x6'8" openings into rest of house.
3 Cubic foot box with a maximum diameter of the driver of 15 5/8".
Driver is downfiring, and any ports must be down or rear firing.
Great for HT good for music
Frequency response from ~14 to 40 hz with a minimum of 12 db roll off above 35 hz.
Powered with speaker level input.
Maximum price for driver(s) & amplifier $500 + shipping.

My current leaning is the new Rythmik Audio DS 15. This is a little high price wise and will require a shoe horn to fit in the box. I am also considering the DS 12 either ported if I can figure out how to fit the ports, or sealed, filling in some space to get to the recommended 2 Cubic feet.

If you had the above criteria and budget what would you do?

I have built 2 - 10" Titanics into 1/2 cubic foot enclosures driven by a NAD 100 wRMS @ 8 ohm amp, and they perform well down to about 40hz. I pulled a DIY sub of my own design (12" dayton DVC & 250 watt amp in a 2 cubic foot ported enclosure) from my family room system and got pretty flat down to about 25 hz. It sounds good, but while it sounds good, it doesn't aesthetically fit into the decor, and I think I can do better. It would be nice to move it back to the family room as well.

BTW, the aforementioned 12" DVC DIY has an odd feature. No matter where I set the xover, it is supposed to be variable from 40hz to 180hz, it seems to have no affect on the output of the sub. I am using REW and a ECM8000 to test. Any thoughts on this?

Paul

[Sonnie]

I'm moving this to the DIY Subwoofer forum.

Have you looked at the SoundSplinter subs? (An obvious plug for one of our sponsors... )

[aceinc]

Sorry, I will be more careful where I post in the future...

[Otto]

Hi there aceinc,

aceinc wrote:

~3,500 living space with 4'x6'8" & 3'x6'8" openings into rest of house.

That's a pretty big space. Would you consider an IB?

Frequency response from ~14 to 40 hz with a minimum of 12 db roll off above 35 hz.

Why the 12 dB roll off at > 35 Hz? I would want it to extend on up, and use my preamp's bass management to set the crossover point.

[aceinc]

That's a pretty big space. Would you consider an IB?

No practical place to put an IB. Concrete floor, CBS walls on 21/2 sides, room above.

Why the 12 dB roll off at > 35 Hz? I would want it to extend on up, and use my preamp's bass management to set the crossover point.

I am doing a three sub combination. 2 'sattelite subs' 10" sealed roll off at about 40 hz and 1 main sub to handle 14hz - 40hz.

[JorgenMan]

I'd be very impressed if you could come up with a design that does 14 Hz at a level appropriate for 3500 cubic feet for $500, especially in an 85 liter box. The sealed 12" Rythmik has good frequency response, but might not be enough for such a large room - it looks about borderline according to Rythmik's reccommendations. The vented will not get good response down to 14 Hz. If you can live with reduced output levels, the 12" sealed Rhythmik might be okay, but otherwise, I think you'll have to change your requirements a bit.

[Exocer]

JorgenMan wrote:

I'd be very impressed if you could come up with a design that does 14 Hz at a level appropriate for 3500 cubic feet for $500, especially in an 85 liter box. The sealed 12" Rythmik has good frequency response, but might not be enough for such a large room - it looks about borderline according to Rythmik's reccommendations. The vented will not get good response down to 14 Hz. If you can live with reduced output levels, the 12" sealed Rhythmik might be okay, but otherwise, I think you'll have to change your requirements a bit.

I agree with the above post.

The 15" kit would be my minimum recommendation for a room that size. A single 12 just wont be able to keep up with a room that size in HT, music would be fine though. Also, another option would be Rl-p 15 and Behringer Ep2500 in a large and low tuned allignment.

[aceinc]

I should have been clearer, the space I am trying to energize is ~3,500 cubic feet, not square feet. It is less than 400 square feet. I'm not Bill Gates for crying out loud... Jeez, if I had a 3,500 square foot living room, I would hope I could afford more than $500 for a sub...

To be more precise the, room is 15-1/2' x 26' with 9' ceilings. There is a 3'x6' floor to ceiling fire place intruding into the room. and a bay window extending out (increasing the cubic feet).

Maybe I should try for the SoundSplinter giveaway, I could spend the whole $500 on an amp!

Paul

[kesa32]

l have a room a tad smaller than yours and used to run a custom 15" ported sub and l considered that just enough to use in my room......would'nt go any smaller for the spl l wanted...now l run a 4x18" avalanche ib.....makes the other subs bottom end sound like a bose

[JorgenMan]

aceinc wrote:

I should have been clearer, the space I am trying to energize is ~3,500 cubic feet, not square feet. It is less than 400 square feet. I'm not Bill Gates for crying out loud.

I don't think there was any misunderstanding. 3500 cubic feet is still a lot to fill with a 12" subwoofer.

[aceinc]

Have you looked at the SoundSplinter subs? (An obvious plug for one of our sponsors...

I posted a note in the SoundSplinter forum, and Exocer said;

If you're open for going ported the SS driver makes a lot more sense. Since you seem set on the sealed box the Rythmik kit would be much simpler to get up and running since flat frequency response is literally already built in.

The SS driver is $529, and then I need to add an amplifier, which takes it way over my $500 budget for driver & amp.

I don't think there was any misunderstanding. 3500 cubic feet is still a lot to fill with a 12" subwoofer.

I have been leaning towards a 15", but the box is a tad narrow with a maximum of 15-5/8" for the driver, and 14-1/8" for the cutout.

Based on everything I've read I guess I'm left with the inevitable alternative of the Rythmik DS15. It will be a tight fit.

[Brendan]

I would suggest the Buttkicker Amplifier for $252 delivered from Amazon. I've had mine for a month now. Other people report good results as well.

The SS 15" RL-p15 is $279 not counting shipping.

Or, check out the Fi SSD15 or $209 delivered.
https://ssl.perfora.net/www.ficaraud...iew.shopscript
The xmax is a little less at 21 mm, but you'll hit your budget target.

[Jerm357]

Yea, the RL-P15 is the driver were talking about. Mine came out to about $300 shipped to Detroit. You are looking at the RL-S 15 which is $529 plus shipping. Pretty big price difference.

[Bent]

With it's high "Q", the RL-S is best suited to the Car Audio guys anyways.

[Brian Bunge]

Yep, the RL-p 15 and Buttkicker amp looks to be a pretty good combo. Of course it's not going to be flat to 14Hz in a sealed box without some help.

[aceinc]

I assumed "SS" meant the SoundSplinter "Supreme Series" drivers, their pricier line.

Well I've done the deal... I ordered the new Rythmik 15" kit. Hopefully, I will get the articulation of the Direct Servo 12" with more output... at least that's the theory... I believe I am one of the first to purchase a DS15, with all the goods & bads that means.

The good news about doing what I am doing is the cabinet only needs to be structurally sound, not pretty, since I am putting everything in an existing cabinet. Another good thing about this whole thing is that I finally got a microphone so that I can do some testing.

[terry j]

hi aceinc, used the search function but didn't find anything else on this, how did you end up going on the rythmik??

If you have posted on it elsewhere, please accept my apologies and point me in the right direction

thanks

[aceinc]

Terry:

I posted a few things about the Rythmik Audio, sattelite sub system. Look here;

http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...ub-system.html

http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...-question.html

In general I am quite pleased with the outcome. I am at work, at the moment and don't have time to expound on wonderousness of the sub.

If you have any more questions, let me know, I will try to answer them.

Paul