Martice
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2001
- Messages
- 1,077
I have been in the market for a powered sub for at least 6-7 months. I would watch the multiple reviews and posts on this forum regarding numerous subs and at one time or another I would say that this was the sub I was going to buy. Unfortunately, if it wasn't money killing the deal it was the WAF pulling the cork on a sale of my future sub.
After months passed, I decided to take a look at the DIY page and noticed the numerous threads about happy builders who have taken the DIY route with subwoofers. Thread after thread, I researched subs ranging from traditional box to Sono tube styles that people have put together with specs as well as pictures and came away quite surprised at the quality and spec performance of the these projects.
I found myself getting all excited about putting together my own sub but found my HIGH quickly killed when I realized that I live in a NYC apt first off and had no place to build such a beast, didn't have the tools nor the hands on experience to complete my own sub as well. The costs for parts that people were quoting for these awesome subs were unbelievable and my next thought was to find someone who might build me a powered sub with a high quality 12" driver and powerful amp at similar cost savings.
Enter Acoustic-Visions.com. I first found out about this company after looking at a sub by a member on this forum by the name of Jack Gilvey. Jack is a regular contributor to the DIY forum as well as others but I've managed to find his inputs mostly on the DIY forums. Anyway, Jack built a beautiful sealed sub in a rich green color that caught my attention in the worst way and I began to do searches using Jack's name and noticed a gentleman by the name of Kyle Richardson and he toted a web site bearing the name of Acoustic-Visions.com that specialized in DIY subs as well as fully assembled subs at low cost. After reading the archived conversations between Kyle and Jack I went to the web-site and the rest is history.
Once there, I saw a few subs that belonged to customers that had either built their sub using Kyle's company for parts or had them fully assembled. I was able to see color pictures of the construction and finished products that this company helped complete. Kyle is an authorized dealer of parts from companies such as Dayton(Parts Express) and Adire Audio or will even build a sub using a driver of your choice which is a real kicker. I was able to reach Kyle personally on the phone (even called him on Sunday) and I told him what I was looking for. I told him I needed a 12" driver that could provide the bottom feeding duties during HT because I have full range speakers that I would like to run on the large settings. I told him that I wanted to go with the traditional box design. I must admit that I really wanted to get my hands on the SVS 2039 but the wife wasn't having it.
I didn't want to skimp on performance so I went with a 12" dual voice coil driver from Parts Express from their Dayton line. It measures very similar to the Adire Audio Shiva but is more flexible regarding what cabinet sizes can be used with it(to get more information about this driver go to Partsexpress.com and do a search in the forum section). I told Kyle that I wanted the smallest cabinet for the driver that would allow me a tuning between 20hz and 23hz using a 250 watt amp. I wound up with a 70 litre, 2.5cf cabinet that measured 17x17x25 inches. I also didn't get fancy with my finish because I wanted all of my funds to go towards build and performance. I already purchased a Parts Express 250 watt plate amp ($125 and bass boost defeated free of charge) just before I hooked up with Kyle so there was no need to buy the same amp from him. After we got all the facts straight I was told of my price for construction and assembly which was unbelievable -- $310.00!!
I was introduced to the builder and partner of Kyle who's name is Rob Lloyd. Rob is also a member of HTF and it was easy to feel secure with the people I was now dealing with. I was told that the sub would take about 2 weeks to finish but was treated to a early release in about a little over a week. All e-mails that I sent (too numerous to count)were answered quickly and on the same day as well. What I thought was the coolest service was that you get progress reports of how your sub is coming along with color pictures to boot. In these pictures I saw the internal bracing that provided the sub with the strength to resist any vibration from the large amount of bass the driver produces and I know no one would like buzzes and strange noises coming from their sub. Needless to say I was very happy with the service.
The performance of my sub is much more than what I had hoped for. I find that now with the sub I don't have to turn up the volume of my mains to compensate for the lack of extension and dynamics without the sub. Infact, I listen to my movies lower in volume and still get tight, low, dynamic and controlled bass that I always yearned for although when I turn it up it gets quite scary in my room. Infact my wife can now listen to the same movies at the same levels that used to chase her out of the room when using my mains. High SPL's are good but without good low end extention you're out of luck with movies.
Unfortunately, I can't say how any other sub would sound because this is a custom deal but the beauty of this deal is that by talking with Kyle and making sure that both parties understand exactly what the other wants is the way to make sure that both parties are happy. If you want a musical sub in a high quality sealed design in a REL sort of way, no problem, just ask Jack Gilvey who used similar parts that are offered on Acoustic-Visons site about his sub. If you want a sub that will get you evicted in a NY minute, ask me or better yet, ask Rob Lloyd who has a 85 litre 12" Shiva based sub with a passive radiator.
In any case, not everyone can afford a highly capable, all out performance sub from one of the manufacturers or put a Sono type sub in their room or convince the wife that a black box or tube won't spoil her tropical setting in the living room but it's nice to know that in a personal hobby such as this, consumers are being offered a choice in what size, color, style and performance they would like their sub to be. To those who are particular about what is in their room and feel that they would like to take advantage of this high performance, high build quality but low cost alternative to what else is out there, give Acoustic-Visions.com a look or better yet, give Kyle a call on his toll free number located on his site. Here are some of the subs that have come through Acoustic-Visons.com.
After all, isn't flexibilty the key in most choices of HT equipment?
I will be giving a more detailed review in the coming weeks regarding technical performance.
Link Removed
** I am not employed nor have I received any favors from Kyle and his company. Infact, if you do a search on my name you'll see that I am as much a consumer as anybody and my threads regarding subs are well documented.
After months passed, I decided to take a look at the DIY page and noticed the numerous threads about happy builders who have taken the DIY route with subwoofers. Thread after thread, I researched subs ranging from traditional box to Sono tube styles that people have put together with specs as well as pictures and came away quite surprised at the quality and spec performance of the these projects.
I found myself getting all excited about putting together my own sub but found my HIGH quickly killed when I realized that I live in a NYC apt first off and had no place to build such a beast, didn't have the tools nor the hands on experience to complete my own sub as well. The costs for parts that people were quoting for these awesome subs were unbelievable and my next thought was to find someone who might build me a powered sub with a high quality 12" driver and powerful amp at similar cost savings.
Enter Acoustic-Visions.com. I first found out about this company after looking at a sub by a member on this forum by the name of Jack Gilvey. Jack is a regular contributor to the DIY forum as well as others but I've managed to find his inputs mostly on the DIY forums. Anyway, Jack built a beautiful sealed sub in a rich green color that caught my attention in the worst way and I began to do searches using Jack's name and noticed a gentleman by the name of Kyle Richardson and he toted a web site bearing the name of Acoustic-Visions.com that specialized in DIY subs as well as fully assembled subs at low cost. After reading the archived conversations between Kyle and Jack I went to the web-site and the rest is history.
Once there, I saw a few subs that belonged to customers that had either built their sub using Kyle's company for parts or had them fully assembled. I was able to see color pictures of the construction and finished products that this company helped complete. Kyle is an authorized dealer of parts from companies such as Dayton(Parts Express) and Adire Audio or will even build a sub using a driver of your choice which is a real kicker. I was able to reach Kyle personally on the phone (even called him on Sunday) and I told him what I was looking for. I told him I needed a 12" driver that could provide the bottom feeding duties during HT because I have full range speakers that I would like to run on the large settings. I told him that I wanted to go with the traditional box design. I must admit that I really wanted to get my hands on the SVS 2039 but the wife wasn't having it.
I didn't want to skimp on performance so I went with a 12" dual voice coil driver from Parts Express from their Dayton line. It measures very similar to the Adire Audio Shiva but is more flexible regarding what cabinet sizes can be used with it(to get more information about this driver go to Partsexpress.com and do a search in the forum section). I told Kyle that I wanted the smallest cabinet for the driver that would allow me a tuning between 20hz and 23hz using a 250 watt amp. I wound up with a 70 litre, 2.5cf cabinet that measured 17x17x25 inches. I also didn't get fancy with my finish because I wanted all of my funds to go towards build and performance. I already purchased a Parts Express 250 watt plate amp ($125 and bass boost defeated free of charge) just before I hooked up with Kyle so there was no need to buy the same amp from him. After we got all the facts straight I was told of my price for construction and assembly which was unbelievable -- $310.00!!
I was introduced to the builder and partner of Kyle who's name is Rob Lloyd. Rob is also a member of HTF and it was easy to feel secure with the people I was now dealing with. I was told that the sub would take about 2 weeks to finish but was treated to a early release in about a little over a week. All e-mails that I sent (too numerous to count)were answered quickly and on the same day as well. What I thought was the coolest service was that you get progress reports of how your sub is coming along with color pictures to boot. In these pictures I saw the internal bracing that provided the sub with the strength to resist any vibration from the large amount of bass the driver produces and I know no one would like buzzes and strange noises coming from their sub. Needless to say I was very happy with the service.
The performance of my sub is much more than what I had hoped for. I find that now with the sub I don't have to turn up the volume of my mains to compensate for the lack of extension and dynamics without the sub. Infact, I listen to my movies lower in volume and still get tight, low, dynamic and controlled bass that I always yearned for although when I turn it up it gets quite scary in my room. Infact my wife can now listen to the same movies at the same levels that used to chase her out of the room when using my mains. High SPL's are good but without good low end extention you're out of luck with movies.
Unfortunately, I can't say how any other sub would sound because this is a custom deal but the beauty of this deal is that by talking with Kyle and making sure that both parties understand exactly what the other wants is the way to make sure that both parties are happy. If you want a musical sub in a high quality sealed design in a REL sort of way, no problem, just ask Jack Gilvey who used similar parts that are offered on Acoustic-Visons site about his sub. If you want a sub that will get you evicted in a NY minute, ask me or better yet, ask Rob Lloyd who has a 85 litre 12" Shiva based sub with a passive radiator.
In any case, not everyone can afford a highly capable, all out performance sub from one of the manufacturers or put a Sono type sub in their room or convince the wife that a black box or tube won't spoil her tropical setting in the living room but it's nice to know that in a personal hobby such as this, consumers are being offered a choice in what size, color, style and performance they would like their sub to be. To those who are particular about what is in their room and feel that they would like to take advantage of this high performance, high build quality but low cost alternative to what else is out there, give Acoustic-Visions.com a look or better yet, give Kyle a call on his toll free number located on his site. Here are some of the subs that have come through Acoustic-Visons.com.
After all, isn't flexibilty the key in most choices of HT equipment?
I will be giving a more detailed review in the coming weeks regarding technical performance.
Link Removed
** I am not employed nor have I received any favors from Kyle and his company. Infact, if you do a search on my name you'll see that I am as much a consumer as anybody and my threads regarding subs are well documented.
