2 PB13U or 2 SEALED DIY'S

11734 Views 72 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Moonfly, Mar 7, 2012

marty1

Discussion Starter · Feb 28, 2012

I own a pb13 at the moment but after hearing someone's dual 15inch sealed diy subs, I realised my pb13 does not have the upper bass punch that sealed subs have.

Someone explained to me that this is the nature of sealed subs, the pb13 is designed for high spl at lower frequencies. By using the power in this way it looses the more tighter bass details and chest thumping bass. A sealed sub does this kind of upper bass chest thumping bass better but at the cost of the spl at lower frequencies, so it's one or the other.

My agenda is purely movies so low frequencies are very important to me, so I have been advised that to achieve high spl at low levels but still having the upper bass punch 2 sealed diys with large driver like 15's or 18's are the best way to.

I would like to have a go at this but I'm useless at diy so I was wondering, would adding a second pb13u give me that missing upper bass punch I require or would it just add more power to the lower end causing potential overkill. I am really on peoples advice/experience as I cannot demo a dual setup as svs are not in the UK at the moment.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

Martin.

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gperkins_1973

· #2 · Feb 28, 2012

Hi Martin,

Fancy seeing you on here. I see you live in Essex. I live in Sittingbourne so not far away at all mate.

Feel free to pop down if you want to have a demo off my diy subs and have a chat.

cheers

Graham

samhain

· #3 · Feb 28, 2012

Hi :T

2 PB13's will smooth your in room response but will perform in the areas that are already there, it won't fill in the blanks for you. I am interested in your comment about purely movies, that being the case then mid range chest thumping bass becomes less important...doesn't it?? The PB13 U is good enough in that area especially if you really do crave the bottom end..

samhain

· #4 · Feb 28, 2012

gperkins_1973 said:
Hi Martin,

Fancy seeing you on here. I see you live in Essex. I live in Sittingbourne so not far away at all mate.

Feel free to pop down if you want to have a demo off my diy subs and have a chat.

cheers

Graham

Lucky boy, I am not as close but that would be a great idea...

Zeitgeist

· #5 · Feb 28, 2012

If you want to consider other commercial subs, I would highly recommend a Seaton Submersive HP. Dual opposed sealed configuration - that might give the missing thump you're looking for. Certainly did for me.

That being said, the SVS subs are great performers -and there are lots of DIY options.

gperkins_1973

· #6 · Feb 28, 2012

As I said I have had the PB13 ultra. For the same cost I bought two FI Q18 drivers and and EP4000 and built two fantastic subs and have never looked back.

samhain

· #7 · Feb 28, 2012

gperkins_1973 said:
As I said I have had the PB13 ultra. For the same cost I bought two FI Q18 drivers and and EP4000 and built two fantastic subs and have never looked back.

As craigsub has stated in my sealed duty thread it would need two DD18+ to match 1 TC 5400....that really is the mother of all drivers; don't really need to say much more...worth saving up for then

marty1

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 28, 2012

samhain said:
Hi :T

2 PB13's will smooth your in room response but will perform in the areas that are already there, it won't fill in the blanks for you. I am interested in your comment about purely movies, that being the case then mid range chest thumping bass becomes less important...doesn't it?? The PB13 U is good enough in that area especially if you really do crave the bottom end..

I thought that maybe the case :rolleyesno:

Well the punch I felt was in iron man 2 when he jumps out of the plane and accellarates, the bass was hitting me in the chest hard, the pb13 was more of a feel around the room, great but different. When I explained this to Moonfly who built the dual 15s he said that that is what the sealed subs do better and that is what I felt. I also remember watching Jurassic Park years ago on a focal profile sealed sub and the same thing was felt, pushing me into the chair, that sub only went down to 32hz :huh: I have got amazing room moving bass with the svs that feels a lot bigger but lacks those push you in the chair feelings. So it would appear that it is just as important with movies right?

gperkins_1973 said:
Hi Martin,

Fancy seeing you on here. I see you live in Essex. I live in Sittingbourne so not far away at all mate.

Feel free to pop down if you want to have a demo off my diy subs and have a chat.

cheers

Graham

Thanks Graham, I may take you up on that :T What Subs have you got running then?

Zeitgeist said:
If you want to consider other commercial subs, I would highly recommend a Seaton Submersive HP. Dual opposed sealed configuration - that might give the missing thump you're looking for. Certainly did for me.

That being said, the SVS subs are great performers -and there are lots of DIY options.

Nice idea but I would rather go down either the 2nd pb13u route or diy route. My brain couldn't take any more makes thrown into the mix, I'm indecisive enough as it is so I'm trying to keep things simple for my simple brain

onder:

Martin

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sub_crazy

· #9 · Feb 28, 2012

It's not necessarily true that a sealed sub will have more mid-bass punch than a ported design, it all depends on the design it-self.

I had a pair of the older cylinder SVS CS-Ultra's which were tuned low and a pair of HSU TN1225's which are tuned to 25hz, both ported designs with 12" drivers. While the SVS shook the entire house it couldn't match the upper bass punch of the HSU's but they were both designed for different purposes.

You should just keep the PB13 and add a HSU MBM or something similar. The Submersive suggestion is also a good idea. Not a lot of selection in the DIY driver market right now. If you just want to get the best and not look back than the TC Sounds LMS Ultra does just about everything well but it will cost ya.

sub_crazy

· #10 · Feb 28, 2012

samhain said:
As craigsub has stated in my sealed duty thread it would need two DD18+ to match 1 TC 5400....that really is the mother of all drivers; don't really need to say much more...worth saving up for then

Never had the DD18+ but it is not that far off from the HGS18 I had and yes, the LMS Ultra kicks the snot out of it:boxer:

I really wish I would have bought a pair of the TC Pro 5100's before the price increase. The mid-bass is even better than the LMS and not that far off in the low end if properly designed.

I have owned a LOT of commercial and DIY subs but the LMS Ultra is the best all around sub.

gperkins_1973

· #11 · Feb 28, 2012

I agree a cracking driver but to get it to the UK it will cost around $1100 plus taxes etc...

And you will need some power to run it so a big amp too. Just depends on how deep your pockets are.

And remember ordering stuff from the States and get delivered to the UK, if you have any problems you will have to pay to have it shipped back out off your own pocket.

Just something to think about. This was one off the things which concerned me when I was looking to import a commercial sub from the USA.

sub_crazy

· #12 · Feb 28, 2012

With some of TC's QC problems in the past it's understandable why you wouldn't want to take a chance, I know I wouldn't.

gperkins_1973

· #13 · Feb 28, 2012

Here in the UK we are very limited on driver choice. We have FI and Ascedant Audio. The Q18 here in the UK is £389 plus options which is quite expensive but having said that the distributor is not far away and you could even drive there if you wanted to.

sub_crazy

· #14 · Feb 28, 2012

How about for car subs, the same choices? Do you have access to the 15" JBL W15gti sub that seems to be popular?

samhain

· #15 · Feb 28, 2012

The UK market is somewhat limited, no question about that. Two FI 18's would rock though

gperkins_1973

· #16 · Feb 28, 2012

Could not find the JBL's here in the UK at all. Some cheaper versions and I mean cheaper. LOL.

marty1

Discussion Starter · #17 · Feb 28, 2012

I am sure from the responses that everyone agrees that adding another pb13u will not give me what I'm looking for, as good as the other suggestion are, which I appreciate :T

I will probably continue down the diy route. Maybe if the diy route doesn't work out then I may consider some of the suggestions you made. I love the pb13u's depths but the upper punch is important too and if it can never achieve that in movies then the cheapest route will be 2 diy fiq18 sealed subs and they should do the trick. If made correctly I should hopefully have the best of everything.

samhain

· #18 · Feb 28, 2012

marty1 said:
I am sure from the responses that everyone agrees that adding another pb13u will not give me what I'm looking for, as good as the other suggestion are, which I appreciate :T

I will probably continue down the diy route. Maybe if the diy route doesn't work out then I may consider some of the suggestions you made. I love the pb13u's depths but the upper punch is important too and if it can never achieve that in movies then the cheapest route will be 2 diy fiq18 sealed subs and they should do the trick. If made correctly I should hopefully have the best of everything.

I have the SVS SB13+ and I love it for mid bass punch. I am hoping that a single fi 18 with my heavily engineered 13.5 inch driver will be a good combination.

marty1

Discussion Starter · #19 · Feb 28, 2012

I'm sure that'll sound great :T

sub_crazy

· #20 · Feb 28, 2012

I think with the Q 18" it's best to order with the high qts option for sealed enclosures, at least that's what I remember Fi saying. At least it's something you might want to look into.

I think you have made a wise choice. Some might say that it's not a good idea to mix sealed subs with ported but I have done it many times before and it's not a problem.

1 - 20 of 73 Posts

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