PA Amplifier for Subwoofers (1 Viewer)

Hello everyone. I'm looking for a long needed satisfying subwoofer setup for my home theater system.

I started my journey buying this AC/DC converter to power one of my car amp and subwoofer sets in my house and it turned out to be a flat out piece of junk so I returned it.

Then, I just recently ordered this home theater subwoofer. I've had it for about 2 weeks now and it sounds pretty good but no matter what I adjust on the sub or receiver, it just doesn't satisfy... Even when I first hooked it up, I was kind of disappointed...

I'm really looking for some boom and starting thinking that I could just get a house amplifier and hook up whatever subs I wanted. And then my buddy mentioned a PA Amplifier and after researching, they are looking like the greatest deal I have ever seen. For example, couldn't I just buy this PA Amplifier and use the built in crossover to hook up some big mack daddy car subs? I mean, the specifications and price compared to an ordinary home theater subwoofer are almost too good to be true. That PA amplifier is nearly the same price as the theater sub and it's outrageously better...

I'm really just looking for some clarification though because like I said, it seems too good to be true and I'm not completely sure it could even work, I've never done it before.

That PA amplifier was a quick find, I may be finding something different but just for example purposes, this could work, right?

Car subs are designed to be used in cars. They do not work well in the home. Your home is much bigger (I hope ).

Just adding power will not do it either. It is a combination of power, design, and size (size is king for subs).

The subwoofer you purchased is designed for a home theater and was made to deliver accurate sound. I suspect accurate sound is not what you are after. Are you looking for the boom boom noise you can hear coming from 2 blocks away? Or do you want a sub that disappears into the room with the rest of your speakers and only makes its presence known when it is called upon?

Lastly, location in the room has a huge effect on the sound you hear. Do you have the sub along a wall? In a corner? How big is the room?

Since when do drivers know whether they are sitting in a box in the corner of the living room vs being in a box traveling down the highway?

They don't. And I'm not in the mood for any smart ass comments at this point so I am going to bed.

If you wish to be helpful, be helpful and stop insulting nearly everybody that comes to HTF.

David Willow said:

They don't. And I'm not in the mood for any smart ass comments at this point so I am going to bed.If you wish to be helpful, be helpful and stop insulting nearly everybody that comes to HTF.

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I said the very same thing RobertJ has said numerous times.Subwoofer driver has no clue where it is.

The Behringer iNuke series is a home subwoofer mainstay.As for the driver(s)...Budget?How many?Cause if you want to go nuts...Cult of the infinitely baffledThere is also the guy that made transmission line with 12 inch sewer pipe, 5 feet high.

OK, if you are talking about building a new sub using drivers from your car sub, then fine. But that was not the question asked and was not the question I answered. Simply putting a "high powered" amp on a car sub will not make it work in the house. It is simple physics - the car sub is made to work in the car (the car becomes part of the cabinet).

I stand by my response. If this is you intention, then it will not make it sound any better in your house. If you wish to build your own sub from the driver, then you need to know much more about the driver before you consider which amp to get.

Thanks Dave. Your last response answered my question.

One of my first, built from scratch, subs were a pair of Pyle New Wave(Purple Wave??) in an isobaric push/pull box.Didn't make a difference sitting in the corner of the house. Or in the corner of my International Travelall.

I'm having trouble believing a sub with a 15" driver and a 600 watt amp, doesn't deliver. No mention of room size, so I'm assuming the room is huge. You might think of adding another sub. My room is about 2100 cubic feet and I'm loosening nails and driving the cats up to the attic with 10" (sealed/downfiring) and 100 watts.

David Willow said:

Car subs are designed to be used in cars. They do not work well in the home. Your home is much bigger (I hope ).

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Well besides a cinema size 18" JBL 4645 with a JBL GTO1202D car sub x2 I use they power fill the room with enough vibration to the seats or chesty punch with premade cab from ebayt gives Raiders of the Lost Ark letterbox NTSC laserdisc the fight scene flying-wing cool playing back instant fast Dolby sound on customized body punches that rocks me back in the rocker seats.


I like to get some premade 15" cabs for some extra JBL.

I would go as far as to also state that not only is it more than just slapping a big amp on a sub marketed for car audio use. To get the results you are looking for sure you have to properly power the driver. But it gets more complicated that that as the sub needs to not only be tuned to the room but to the enclosure as well. You need to know if your going to use a passive or active crossover? Can the driver be used in a sealed box, ported box or is it better off with a passive driver added? Will it be used for movies only or will it pull double duty for music as well and what kind of music? That driver and the box may get dialed in for and sound great with movies but not be tight enough for music. Do you have a large or small room? How close are your neighbors to your listening area? Get a subwoofer to big and your neighbors may end up hearing the base just as much as you do or even more if the driver is to big or moves way to much air generating insane base that passes right through your walls. Also there are things you do not have to deal with in a home environment that you do with a car so like David mentioned you can not just throw a car driver in a box and call it a night. You need to have a enclosure with enough cubic feet for that particular woofer to do what it is meant to do. Also getting the size/diameter of your ports right along with the correct lenght of the ports are also important. Andysu makes a good recommendation if you want really deep bone rattling base you could go with a JBL pro 18 in the correct enclosure with the correct crossover and amp but your neighbors may hate you and call the cops? Years ago Disneyland in California had a show that used 4-6 18" JBL pro subs and they shook the concrete pillars outside the room! The point is that to get it right you should talk to others that know about building high quality custom enclosures and doing lots and lots of research. Let us know how it turns out and what you end up doing.


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http://www.termpro.com/asp/pubs.asp?ID=114
http://raindefence.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-build-your-own-subwoofer

http://www.guitarcenter.com/JBL-VRX918S-18--High-Power-Passive-Flying-Subwoofer-103412672-i1324736.gc


Two of these 18" JBL pro subwoofers should rock any home theater, rofl