[walt2]

Hello,

I am looking to build a good sub to go along with my Tritrix that I just built. I had been looking at cheaper drivers in the 10"-12" catagory (something closer to the Tritrix quality); but everytime I look at driver specs, I keep leaning towards drivers that, on paper, appear to have a better quality sound. And to add to my search for a driver, the cost keeps going up.

So, to my question: I currently live in a small apartment with the two tritrix fronts and a Yamaha receiver and I want something to cover the low fqs for movies/music (50/50). I plan to move within the next 2 years to a larger home where I will build more speakers to complete a proper home theater. Building a sub is a costly endeaver, so I would like something that will be enjoyable in a small space at low volume, but will be capable of intagrating into a larger theater.

Would the Dayton RSS390HF-4 15" in a 3-4 cuft sealed box with a BASH 300 sound good in my current setup? (I figure I could build a larger ported box after I move in a couple years). Or is this overkill? Would a smaller driver be just as satisfying both now and later?

Thanks for your input!!!

Walt

 

[dgilme]

What is your budget? Since you know you will be moving to a bigger place relatively soon can you afford to build bigger now? Maybe an ep2500 and an Mael-18 in a smallish sealed box. That will sound great for music and movies in a small room. Then when you have a larger area if needed you can add a big ported box and hpf/eq to reach to the mid teens with good spl.

Also, with this approach you won't be stuck in a few years with a mid quality driver and lower power (300w isn't much) amp wishing you had more juice and sub. And in your small place now, just turn the gain down and you wont' have to worry about all your neighbors hearing you.

 

[brent_s]

The 390HF/BASH300 would certainly be a good sounding combo. I use a 315HO in 1 ft^3 sealed with the BASH300 and have good response into the upper 20s and capability of 100+dB output in my 8,000+ ft^3 living room system...quite the performer for the size. The Tritrix probably have in room response into the upper 30s already...will your apartment neighbors tolerate another octave lower? Bass travels well, even at what you may think is a low SPL level.

If you want to do an extreme budget build, I can recommend the Dayton 8" SDVC (28$) in 1.2 ft^3 tuned to 33Hz or so. It's essentially a variation on the Triska sub in the P-E project showcase, but I used a 3" PVC port instead of PRs. Pair it with one of Jack's $35 surplus amps and you'll be strong to the upper 20s in room. I built this setup for my parents and although it won't crack plaster, it would be enough to draw complaints in any apartment I ever lived in. While I built it to 1.2ft^3/33Hz physically, measuring with REW shows my liberal use of R-19 stuffing dropped the tuning to 30Hz...effectively 1.5 ft^3 with a 3"x12" port.

-Brent