Sealed box subwoofers (1 Viewer)

[FredV]

I am new to this, so please be gentle:

1. I am told sealed boxes are the best for tight, accurate, musical bass (not necessarily the loudest nor the deepest, but these are not what I am after; I am phobic about boomy bass!). If so, will SVS consider building a sealed sub soon?
2. Does anyone know if the RAVA can be bought w/out the built-in amp?

 

[Dustin B]

Depends on the allignment of either. Both sealed and ported can sound great, both can sound like crap to. Keep in mind the vaunted Rel ST series and Aerial SW12 (the supposed kings of sound quality) are ported.
As for a Rava without an amp, Adire might special build you one, but I know both of these places can:
Link Removed or Link Removed

 

[FredV]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Michael R Price]

Fred, the bass response is mainly a function of your room placement. You could easily make a great sealed sub sound boomy if you put it in a bad place. Experimenting with placement and possibly using EQ is the best way to ensure good sound quality, whether your sub is sealed or ported.

You can probably get a Shiva box with a lower Q (like 0.5) than the Rava, it might sound a little better but it would also be a bit larger and cost more. This would have a better transient response and deeper in-room extension than the Rava, which I believe has a Q of 0.67. I'm sure Kyle or Brian would be happy to recommend the best solution for you.

 

[Gregg Z]

Keep in mind the vaunted Rel ST series...are ported

Not the Strata, but you are correct on the remainder of the series.
I've got a REL Strata III and I am very happy with it, but the size of my room really dictates that I need a second one. This makes using the REL Strata rather expensive.
If you are looking for non-ported subs, you may also want to look at the ACI Titan. It too is not ported. It is very similar to the REL Strata.
http://www.audioc.com/speakers/TitanII/2001Titanle.htm
If you want big sound and big slam, the BagEnd Infra18 is a good sub and is not ported. The The Infra-18 is a forward firing 18" driver that goes VERY low (8Hz to 95 Hz at +/- 3dB). I think the MSRP is around $1800.
http://www.bagend.com/infrasub18.htm
Sealed vs ported and small vs large driver arguments aside, in my opinion the most important thing to consider when picking a sub is how well it will integrate with the speakers you have. If you're serious about your sound, the last thing you want is a sub that makes its presence known every chance it gets. That is why I am particularly fond of the REL series.
The REL's have a built in bass adjustment crossover/filter so that you can tune the REL to shamelessly fade in on the low end as your speakers are running out of oomph. The result is that your main speakers all of a sudden just seem to go much lower. This gradual transition that happens from the mains to the sub keeps the bass from appearing to emanate from the sub corner of the room and also helps to enrich the midrange as well.

 

[Gregg Z]

...the REL to shamelessly fade in

Oops, dang spell checker, that was supposed to say SEAMLESSLY fade in not shamelessly :b

 

[Dustin B]

The Bagend is nothing special down low. Those extension numbers are marketing double speak.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ghlight=bagend
Read down a bit to the exchange between myself and trunks in the above thread.
It would also take many more than a couple Stratas to get decent output in a moderately sized room. Especially in the last octave. 30L sealed enclosure with a 10" driver, not gonna move a lot of air. It's the connectivity on the amp that makes a Rel special. The rest of a Rel is nothing special.