Subwoofer help - Maelstrom driver (1 Viewer)

[Nielsen]

Hello Everyone
I’m a guy from Denmark, and I hope you guys can provide me with some help in designing a subwoofer.
Well, I build a sub just a couple of weeks ago, but it disappointed me big time.
I better start from the beginning, so it makes some more sense to you all
I have a 50 m^2 room dedicated to hometheater and music listening. But I had no subwoofer, so I decided do make it a DIY project.
Box size didn’t matter in this case, so I could build an enclosure as big as I wanted. It is a big room, and I wanted a BIG subwoofer to fill it with good deep bas.
I contacted a company that’s helps people build speakers and subwoofers. They recommended a sealed enclosure (140 L) with a Beyma 18GT200 driver and a HS200 amp.
Beyma 18GT200 Parameters: http://users.cybercity.dk/~cft10979/beyma/beyma.htm
They promised me a subwoofer that would make the paint fall of the walls. But as told earlier, that’s not what I got.
You can hardly feel it in the floor when watching movies. It doesn’t come near what I was looking for in a subwoofer.
I talked to some guys in Denmark who knew some more about subwoofers, and they told med this driver was NOT suited for subwoofer use.
So I return the Beyma driver in a couple of days, and then I started looking for something much more effective.
I came across the Adire Audio Maelstrom driver on the internet, and it looked way better than the Beyma! I started doing some research, and found www.hometheaterforum.com.
There were a lot of threads regarding the Maelstrom unit.
Do you think the Maelstrom will provide me with some good, LOUD, deep bas with a great punch which makes pictures on the wall rattle ??
I want a subwoofer that rocks the house, a subwoofer you can FEEL.
I am going to use it for hometheater only, so I am just looking for something that can play LOUD and makes things “play along”. It doesn’t have to be that “precise” and “accurate” sound used in Hifi music listening.
But the most important part, will I be able to use my enclosure as is it now? (140 L) build in 28mm MDF ?? If it will provide a better result, I can remove a ”wall” inside the enclosure, and make it 170 L instead. But do you think that is necessary?
Do you think this project will give me the subwoofer I am looking for? Or am I better suited with a Tempest driver or so? It sure would be great if I could use the enclosure I already have.
I think that covers about everything, but feel free to ask me if you need any other information
I hope somebody will help me on this one
Allan
(My spelling and grammer ain’t that good, I hope you can understand it anyway )

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

With a 170 L box and a port with a dia of 10 cm and a length of 15 cm. Assuming a 6 dB room rise below 50 Hz you should have an F3 of about 27 Hz and on 250 Watts of power should play pretty loud. At least hit reference level 105 dB @30 Hz in your 50 m2 room. You could also try it as a sealed box with the 140 L configuration with more power or a little bass boost @ 30 Hz. The Maelstrom does not need a large sealed box. 140 L is almost to big!
If this isnt enough you could build 2

 

[Dustin B]

If it was HT only I'd want to go bass reflex. In which case that enclosure is too small for either a Maelstrom or a Tempest. If you want some serious HT bass you could put a pair of Tempests in a 480L enclosure tuned to 16hz with a pair of 6" ports and power it with an HS500 or some other appropriate 2ch pro amp.

You could also put a pair of Stryke AV15 drivers in a slightly smaller enclosure. But you should really use 6" flared ports for this driver ($100) or some passive radiators (several $100).

Then there is always the Tumult. Lots of money, pretty much have to use PRs for bass reflex and needs serious amplification.

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

I'll cast another vote for dual ported tempests in an EBS alignment. (www.adireaudio.com has all of the enclosure plans for you)
You will need to get another HS200, but you will be able to meet your needs with this.
In my opinion, the maelstrom trades off too much extention for a pure hometheater application. For music, it is perfectly fine.

 

[Nielsen]

Thanks for the input everyone.
I think I am gonna go with the Maelstrom driver. Or at least another 18" driver. Any suggestions?
Maybe in the future I will build a dual Tempest system or so....it sound like they sure can move some air
I think I will try the Maelstrom in my 140L sealed enclosure with a bassboost around 25-30 Hz.
Later I can try make it 170L vented enclosure.
I thought about getting the HS500 in the near future. Would it make a significant difference from HS200 ?
I just hope the Maelstrom in a 140L sealed enclosure with HS200 won't dissapoint me.....
Allan

 

[Pete Mazz]

Any suggestions?

You were given (good) suggestions....and chose to ignore them. Why ask for more???

Pete

 

[Nielsen]

I meant another suggestion for an 18" driver. Not another subwoofer project(enclosure/amp/driver)

Allan

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

with only an HS200 to power it, there are no other real options. If you had a monster amp, you could try to get a BPD 1803 or wait for the Brahma 18" and use a linkwitz transform.

..otherwise, no other options are viable for that size box/amp/driver

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

Actually the Parts express 15" DVC # 295-190 would be a better choice for a sub and you could get 2 for the price of 1 Maelstrom. You would need a 170 L box for 1 with a port dia of 76mm and length of 109mm that might be neat.

 

[Nielsen]

Okay. The two 15" DVC sounds like a pretty interesting subwoofer...

But I don't know what the price will be, if I have them shipped to Denmark??
My limit for driver(s) is $400. Th price for two 15" DVC drivers are $265. How high do you think the price will be when I have them here i Denmark?

Allan

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

I have no clue on what your taxes and shipping cost to Denmark are, but you could buy 2 DVCs for the price of 1 Maelstrom. So how much does the Maelstrom cost you in Denmark? Also, if you are going to use 2 DVCs you will need 2-170 L boxes.

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

This seems kinda crazy, but how about the Maelstrom in 140 Liters tuned to about 27Hz? If you can knock out a wall to get 170L sealed then maybe you can manage a 15cm diameter by 41cm long port and maintain 140L. Shoot, you'd probably be able to get away with a 10cm diameter flared port with this relatively high tuning (we've got 4 inch flared ports available here in the States, so maybe 10cm flares are available to you? Or use your router to create your own flares.)

This would give you an extra 3dB from 30Hz to 50Hz - right in that deep bass region - over the 140L sealed Maelstrom. And with 200 watts excursion shouldn't be a problem until well below tuning. I'm seeing 115dB anechoic @ 40Hz and 111dB @ 30Hz. Not too shabby.

Yes, I realize that this goes against the norm here of tuning to the teens. But somewhere along the way I realized that I enjoy the audible bass (~27Hz and up for me) the most. Sure I enjoy the tactile vibrations here and there, but I get a lot of that already with a 25Hz tuned sub and my goal isn't really to shake my house into itty-bitty pieces.