Sub advice for concrete floor basement (1 Viewer)

[Howard_You]

I hoping to have my basement finished in the very near future and was wondering what I should be looking for in a sub. The floor is concrete and I do not plan on putting in a subfloor, just a thick underlay with a tight-woven carpet. The room size is approx 25'x35' with the HT area in a 10'x14' area open to the back and left side.

I currently have a NAD T742 receiver with AR 310HO towers, AR AR2C centre and AR 206HO rears. I like the bass the towers provide for stereo music, so I'd only be looking for a sub for the HT if this makes any difference.

Since I have the concrete floor would I be wasting my money on something relatively expensive like the HSU VTF-2(US$450) or Outlaw LFM-1(US$580)? Should I get a front-firing as opposed to down-firing sub? At the low end I was considering the David D-Box 302 or 303, 12" 150watts, since it's cheap here in Canada (C$250-300) and has relatively good reviews for the price, plus I'll be able to afford one of these a lot sooner .

Thanks!

 

[ChadLB]

In my setup I use a SVS 25-31PC+ and it gets the job done....though I might want to add another one down the line.
Room placement is key...and tuning it.
The ones you listed might do the job for you.....

 

[Edward J M]

Concrete floors are boss for bass sound quality, IMO. They don't transmit vibration or resonate with boominess, and the bass is tighter and cleaner sounding.

The only "problem" with concrete floors is that you'll need more subbage to get the same power effect, since you are only pressurizing the air, and not vibrating the floor.

If you buy a great sub, you might also find it does bass better than your towers. This would free up the NAD amps for the midrange and highs and the towers would probably also sound better in the mids/highs when relieved of deep bass duties.

Ed

 

[Howard_You]

Thanks for the responses.

Edward, do you have any opinion if a down-firing sub would be better/worse than a front-firing in this situation?

Howard

 

[Edward J M]

Makes no difference - deep bass waves are too long to be affected by the firing orientation of the driver.

 

[Nathan Porteous]

i also have a cement floor with thick underlay and carpet its the funnest thing with my subs, if they are not beside my i can even hear them at all i can feel the bass but its not very loud. but if they are they'll make your brain reboot every time they nail you. so needless to say i had the same dilemma as you but with some exparimenting you'll find out what sounds best

 

[Robb Roy]

Howard,

I would say that with a concrete floor (mine is as well) and such a large room that you should be looking for a powerful subwoofer, especially for HT use.

-Robb

 

[David Michael]

my sunfire lights up a 20 by 15 room with concrete floor.

 

[Nick P]

I'm going to agree with everything Edward had to say. You do lose vibrating sensation but your ears will be happy. I'm running a twin 20-39CS+ Samson 1000 combo in my 13 X 19 dedicated room with a concrete floor and I'm more than satisfied with the bass response.