Sub selection guidance please

[jsink77]

Seeing as how the Mal-X and tempest-x gen IIs are set to arrive in less than a month, I am trying to decide which way to go for my sub build. I do not have the new specs for either so I am kind of shooting in the dark, but based on what I have seen I would say that either would fit the bill for me - I just can't decide which would work best. Here is what i have to work with:

- built in entertainment center with an area set aside for sub (19.75 X 54.5 X 29 - just over 15 cuft of internal box area without driver, bracing, and ports removed)
- velodyne sms-1 for equalization
- amp tbd (assume behringer ep2500 or equivalent amp)
- room size 15 X 25 ft with 8 ft ceilings
- 60% HT use and 40% music (listen to ALL types of music except country)
- mains are 6 jamo 10.5k4 in-walls (have only installed one pair, but it appears I am going to need to use 100 Hz for the high pass on the sub out)

The two main configurations I am looking at are
- 1 mal-x in a ported enclosure with twin symmetrical 6" ports - 33 in long - tuned to approx 19 hz
- 2 tempext-x in a sealed enclosure

Both configurations would be forward firing located centrally at one end of the room and they would be bolted to the base of the entertainment center (the entertainment center is a built-in with the bottom of the unit framed/bolted to the floor and foam-filled)

Some concerns I have are:
- this is not ideal placement due to the fact that I cannot position the woofer for best sound in the main seating area - it is a fixed position. I am hoping the sms-1 will help overcome this but if one configuration would work better for my setup that will definately play into my decision.
- I am unsure whether a dual configuation of tempest that are both forward-firing will cause any cancellation issues. I could build the front of the enclosure with a pie shape to offset this, but this different configuration may cause other issues
- In order to squeeze the 2-6 inch ports into the mal-x design they need to utilize elbows - I actually bought sweeps for this application since this is the way I was originally leaning before finding out about the updates to the tempest subs

Pricewise they are similar and both will require similar power, I'm just not sure which way to go.

Does anybody have any suggestions on which way to go? Thanks in advance.

[ironglen]

A LLT is pretty popular, IF you have the space (and don't mind using it!) I'm going with an 18" lone LLT (it's in progress waiting for the Mal-X now) driven by a similar amp. Probably more than I need, but I figure it won't let me down

You'll have lots of great advice/opinions here at HTS.

[dgilme]

My vote would be the Mael-x in a nice big ported box. It will go much lower than 2 sealed tempest-x subs and have pretty much the same spl. That is modeling with with the old stats though.

edit: new stats not posted yet.

[Mike P.]

The Mal-X would be the way to go for low end extension for movies, compared to the dual sealed Tempest-X. However your tuning is too high, with room gain you'll end up with a peak in the response around 20 hz . 16 hz would be more like it. Whatever you decide to do, you'll need a high pass filter to protect from over excursion at the lower frequencies.

[jsink77]

Thanks for all the quick responses - mal-x was my original thought too until I saw the update on the tempest subs.

Anyway - Kevin had suggested 17-19 so I will play with it a little and see if I can come up with a config that gets the tune down to 16-17 Hz. Maybe stuffing the chassis with pillows would help drop it a few Hz?

[Mike P.]

Your box would have a net volume of about 14 cu.ft. Twin 6 inch ports 33 inches long would tune it to 17 hz.

[jsink77]

I'll have to look again when I get home tonight, but for some reason when I took out the volume of the sub, braces, and ports I seem to remember my box was 12.5 cu ft and tuned to 18.6Hz. Maybe I did something wrong - I will play with it again tonight. THANK YOU again.

[dgilme]

jsink77 wrote:

I'll have to look again when I get home tonight, but for some reason when I took out the volume of the sub, braces, and ports I seem to remember my box was 12.5 cu ft and tuned to 18.6Hz. Maybe I did something wrong - I will play with it again tonight. THANK YOU again.

Adding some stuffing will help bring the effective volume of the box up. Sadly WinISD doesn't model stuffing very well. If somone has Bass Box pro it does a good job.

[vili]

Even though winISD doesn't model fill, most people say that a 10-15% increase in overall volume using polyfill is easily achievable.