Sonosub questions (1 Viewer)

[Jeremy Illingworth]

I getting ready to try building a Sonosub but have more questions.
1. Everybody seems to be using Shiva or Tempest subs. I have been to their home page. Will a car audio sub from the local B&M sound as good? If so, which brands to look for and if not, why not?
2. Is the room size taken into consideration when planning the sub?
3. How much performance difference is there between a coffee table size sub and a water heater size sub? The large size is not a problem but the table is so visually appealing.
4. If I go with a hot water size sub, what diameter and length of tube should I go get?
jeremy

 

[Scott Simonian]

"Paging Mr. Sun. Mister Patrick Sun to the front desk"
Have you been to his website? There is VERY detailed information on the water-heater question. I think.

heres a
link.
[Edited last by Scott Simonian on August 31, 2001 at 11:58 PM]

 

[Dustin B]

For an answer to question 1 take a look at this thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/...ML/003526.html
Make sure to read the 1st, 9th, 13th, 16th and 24th posts. Doesn't mean car drivers are bad, just means you'll have to spend a lot more than the cost of a Tempest to get a car audio driver that can compete with it.
For question 2, depends on your goals, if you are gonna be in the same room for a long time and if the software you use to model the sub will let you model it in a room (easy to do with the freeware LspCAD that Adire provides for it's drivers). If you aren't gonna be in the room for a long time and intend to keep the sub for a long time then I'd ignore the room and build the best sub you can for available funds. If the room's gonna stick around for a while I'd put it in the equation and build the best sub you can for available funds.
For question 3 depends entirely on the driver. For some there will be a big difference and for others it will be small.
Same goes for question 4, depends on the driver you choose and a few other parameters.
PS As the guy above mentioned, do a search for Patrick Sun and take a look at his excellent webpages chronicalling the constructions of his three sonosubs. They will teach you a lot. Other than that, just search for Tempest and Shiva on this forum and read and learn from all the experiences of all the others here who have gone down the path you are considering. Which will hopefully also introduce you to the Mass, Stryke, DVC and TC Sounds drivers that are also available.
[Edited last by Dustin B on September 01, 2001 at 01:33 AM]

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

Dustin, thanks for the link and info. I found the car vs. adire thread of great interest. I was hoping to be able to get a driver locally because of the increased hassle of order stuff from the US. But I guess if I want the quality I'll have to pay the price. How much better will the 15 inch Tempest sound compared to the Shiva? Is it worth the additional $$?
For question 2, I will probably be in this house for at least three years. I would like to move out into the coutry but that's not going to happen soon. But I will be taking the sub with me when I move. The theater will not change rooms either. Software? Should I use some software before making any plans? My computer is only a 133. Can this LspCAD run on that?
Should my first step be to pick and order the sub?
jeremy
I have been to Patman's web site. Very informative.

 

[Fred Seger]

>How much better will the 15 inch Tempest sound compared to >the Shiva?
Both will sound awesome!(assuming you have them in good enclosures). A single tempest can just move much more air than a single shiva.
I love it loud.
First I started with a single shiva. Sounded Great! but it would bottom out every once in a while. So I built a new sub with 2 shiva's. Awesome! then adire came out with the tempest. So I built a single tempest sonotube for a friend. I would say it is comparable to my dual shiva, but it blows my single shiva out of the water.
Question 2.
Your computer should run LSPcad just fine. Or you could use someone else "successful" design. There are plenty here.

 

[Dustin B]

I can't say for sure what the difference will be between a Shiva and Tempest. Some of the others here with first hand knowledge will hopefully chime in on that part. But I decided that for the extra $20 USD it would cost, why not.
LspCAD isn't a processor intensive app. You should have no problem running it on your machine. It's just not that user friendly. It's not bad, just a little tricky to figure out. Especially the room modelling part. Although if you send Adire your room dimensions and the sub allignment you decide on they'll model it for you and send the file back which makes it much easier to figure out what goes where in that section of the program. Then you can compare the free air graphs of your sub designs response to the in room graphs.
Get LspCAD and start playing with some allignments with a Shiva and Tempest and various power levels. Then ask here about what software you should use to model some DVC, Stryke etc drivers and play with them a bit (naughty me, I skipped this step). After you get an alignment you like (meaning you like the performance and the size it would have to be to get that performance) then order a driver.
To help with figuring out costs being a fellow Canuck follow this link for a complete list of the costs I incurred building my Tempest.
http://ht.s5.com/costs.html
This is to the main page of that webpage:
http://ht.s5.com/Sonosub.html

 

[Rich Kraus]

dustin, i like your "real costs" page. i think this is an excelant idea, one that i intend to steal

seems folks are always asking what a particullar project cost, and this is an easy refrence.
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'Till next time,
Rich (the kite guy)
My DIY audio page!
Use your ashtray please, dont throw um on the street. thanks