I am about to purchase the following items to build my first ever subwoofer To give you some background my theater room is in a basement with 8ft ceilings and is 18x20. I will use this for movies about 99% of the time. This will be replacing my undersized Klipsch RW10.
Dayton 15” Ref RSS390HO-4 $172
500s Bash plate amp $230
Ported Cube15 from DIYSOUNDGROUP 21"w x 23."h x 23.75" deep, 4 cuft net $160
So…is there anything I can do different? I just want to make sure I am going the correct direction and I am not missing out on something like going to the 18” or getting a different subwoofer. I am budget tight so I cannot go crazy.
FYI... there is a restocked Bash 500 watt available for $216 right now.
Be aware that if you want some low end boost you'll have break out the soldering iron and change some resistors in that amp.
The Yung SD 500 has 6 db of boost (class D) already to go for $205
For only a few dollars more at $265 you could get the Dayton Audio SPA500 500W Subwoofer Plate Amplifier with toroidal transformer with a 5 year warranty.(the Bash has a one year warranty) The SPA500 features a fully parametric equalizer to custom tailor the boost.
Gdaddy, your suggestions are all valid. The only thing I might add is the OP should do a bit of research on the SPA amps. They have a history of being very sensitive to things like ground loop issues. I have first hand experience with both the 500 and 1000 watt versions of that very amp, and in both cases they hummed quite badly. I had to isolate the CATV connection in order to rectify the problem.
A friend of mine had this same issue, and his SPA500 eventually went *bang* one day while he was at work, just outside the 5 year warranty. I believe these amps are on gen2 or 3 by now, so the new ones should have these reliability and ground loop problems fixed. I had a BASH 300W that I have since sold and it was rock solid. (I did wish I had the PEQ of the Dayton, though.)
+Jim. I would personally buy the bash 500. I don't feel like the spa's have the best reputation for longevity and it might be a case where the OP needs to use the longer warranty if he buys one. Also, I would recommend NOT using any boost until the sun is in the room. A more common mod with bash amps is to remove the boost from some amps that have that particular resistor installed.(O audio I think) not good to add boost and then find a room peak at that freq. If EQ is necessary, I would recommend saving for a minidsp, or buy a BFD for cheap on eBay.
.02
Edit: I "might" consider the boost mod if this were a sealed sub, but really feel an eq is the way to do it.
Ok, I am more confused. Do I need an EQ to get this set up? I was thinking this was plug and play like I have done in the past when I had a car amp and a sub. Any thoughts on the 15” vs 18” or other subs?
Nope. You don't need to eq at all, but it will help get an even response in the room. Using two subs can help make the eq process easier, but proper placement is still the first thing to iron out. Eq came up when gdaddy mentioned it. Some amps have it built in so you can measure the response in room with REW, and then use the eq to shape the response.(flat is the goal many times but some of us prefer a house curve where the bass slowly rises about 10db from about 200hz to about 20hz. Subjectively of course) This is pretty deep, and I'd say for starters you'll want to hook up the new sub and set levels and see what you've got. Sorry for the windiness. Lol.
Pretty good size room. I'd consider a pair of 15's ported. Maybe one now, one later. Without looking, I "think" the ultimax has better t/s numbers than the reference HO, and is only $185.00 right now. So yeah, short answer (lol), plug n play, then go from there.
I have been very interested in the ultimax because it has good reviews in home theater but then I also read that it is not made for ported boxes which I want due to ported boxes being better for home theater. Also I was hoping I could keep to the box size I listed below or close to it and heard the ultimax needs a huge box.
15" Ultimax cabinet recommendations:
• Sealed 3.1 cubic ft. (net internal) with 3 lbs. of Acousta-Stuf polyfill, f3 of 35 Hz with a 0.707 Qtc alignment
• Vented 6.0 cubic ft. (net internal, not including driver or port volume) with 6 lbs. of Acousta-Stuf tuned to 18 Hz with two 4" diameter by 26" long flared ports for an f3 of 22 Hz. Larger cabinets and lower tuning frequencies are possible.
Ok so I am kind of back to my starting point. Here is what I am thinking
-15" Dayton Ultimax
-500w plate amp ( either Dayton or Bash)
-Modified Box based off of the diysoundgroup. 24w x 24.5h x 27.25 6.09cuft (port etc taken out etc)
I am still trying to figure out what this tunes at and what the even means but I feel like I am now getting closer...I hope.
I think you're absolutely doing the right thing going ported. This will be a huge improvement over the Klipsh 10". Please, take the time and move it around the room for best placement. (subwoofer crawl)
Once it's done and your absolutely thrilled I want you to imagine what a second one would sound like. (part 2) :smile:
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