What sub for $500? Out of box or DIY (1 Viewer)

[Nathan J]

I am moving to a new house, and I am going to be upgrade my home theater.
A couple of things....it will be mostly for movies, no close neighbors, I like LOUD bass, I like my movies loud....
Building a custom enclosure is no problem.....I got skillz
I was thinking about a tempest...but would like to get a couple more ideas.
Thanks

 

[John Parris]

$500 will let you build a GREAT diy sub. Adire provides all the specs you need for a great vented or sealed enclosure. If size isnt an issue an EBS or Adire Alignment Tempest with 250-300W would really slam... 200+ L tuned to under 20Hz would be my suggestion. You wouldnt be able to find a retail sub on the market that would outperform it.

I say go with vented, too, because the roll-off in sealed enclosures is a bit too high for HT use.

Other drivers: Stryke and Dayton both make killer drivers... also Blueprint Drivers.

 

[Brian Bunge]

If you can do the construction then definitely go for the DIY route. A Tempest or Dayton DVC 15" driver would definitely be a great way to go. You can buy the DVC 15 and the 300-794 250W plate amp for around $250 or so.

Brian

 

[Nathan J]

That is what I was thinking.....I have spoken to Dan Wiggins about this before, he recommended like a 9 or 10 cu ft box.... I had thought about BP drivers, but not sure what I would gain by spending the extra money, and would the gain be substantial enough to make it worth my time, and if it was worth my time, perhaps 2 tempests would be a better way to go. I had also thought about Resonant Engineering, but those are also more expensive. Space really isnt an issue, after all , 10 cubes is just a little over a 2ft cube.

 

[Dustin B]

The Blueprint 03 series can move a lot of air, but have an inductance hump as a result around 70hz that requires the use of an EQ. Mind you most any sub should really have an EQ unless you are lucky enough to have a room that doesn't cause any peaks or dips in the response.
But you are correct that if space isn't an issue dual Tempests will move more air than all of them but the 1803. The problem is fitting sufficient porting in an enclosure appropriately sized for the driver.
You could do a dual Tempest or Dayton DVC15" sonotube sub. Say some where up around 480L using dual 6" ports to tune to under 20hz. Get a nice cheap pro amp with 250-300W per channel into 4 ohms and you'll really be in business. If you get a good deal on a used amp you shouldn't go too much over $500.
If you got skills you could also consider this:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...=lab+bass+horn
The recommended driver is $150 at PE and Adire's DPL12 has been mentioned as an alternative that would work well in that application.

 

[Sihan Goi]

If you decide on the "out of box" route then the Hsu VTF-2 and Adire 12 incher(forgot the model) are no brainers for your price range.

 

[Pablo Abularach]

Check SVS 25-31PCi, it is selling for $500 + 27 shipping, great sub.

 

[Rick Guynn]

Any way you could put an IB into this new place? $500 would get you 2 Tempests, BFD, and PE 250W Plate amp...


RG

 

[Nathan J]

as far as accuracy goes, and spl for that matter, am I better off getting a tempest and doing thDIY thing, or should I get an SVS?

 

[Adam Bluhm]

Nathan, that's a tough question and would probably get you many opinions.
Here's mine:

If you are confident that you can build a proper enclosure, I'd think the DIY Tempest would have the edge.
I've been thinking DIY, but I'm starting to realize that I'm in a limited work area and would need to buy all the tools. That is why I'm leaning toward an SVS.

 

[Nathan J]

Not sure if I wanna do an IB setup...whats BFD by the way?

 

[Nathan J]

Well, my abilities along with my friend's abilities ( who builds custom boxes all the time) I am sure that an enclosure would be built properly.....I am intrigued by the tube style subs....is there any advantage to using this type of enclosure over a normal one? I think that the SVS subs are very attractive aesthetically, and I am thinking that maybe a tube-style would be an interesting way to go.....is there anyone here that has done a DIY tube style sub? Anyone else have Tempests??
I appreciate all the replies

 

[Dustin B]

There are lots of us. For the cost a Tempest based sub will be pretty hard to touch. For well under $500 you'll have a sub that I'm confident can easily best an SVS Plus series sub. I think the Ultra would be a fair comparison.
You can check out my sig. And there is this webpage that shows a whole bunch of projects:
http://members.tripod.com/~terrycthe...um/page12.html
Do some searching in the DIY/Advanced section. There is loads of info on many different DIY subs there.
Did you look at that Lab12 Basshorn at all?

 

[Adam Bluhm]

Nathan, there is a plethora of DIY sonosub info at the DIY section of this forum. Basically, the most used materials are MDF for endcaps and sonotube for the tube. There are a multitude of sites you can view to learn different techniques. Many people have build sonosubs with Tempests and are overjoyed with the results.

is there any advantage to using this type of enclosure over a normal one

Answer: no

Here's something to get you started. Again, the DIY section, if you haven't already visited, can be useful.
http://www.io.com/~patman/diy.html
«edit»
Hehe. You beat me to it, Dustin. I was looking to post your's and Patricks homepage links, but I couldn't find a post by you off hand (board was moving slow to boot). Glad ya chimed in here.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Actually, there are two advantages to using sonotube. One is that it doesn't require bracing the way a regular box does, and it weighs less.
That being said, I've only built box style subs so far. But it's been more for aesthetic reasons. Also, with two 70lb. dogs in the house it made sense to make my dual subs, which also act as stands for my L/R main speakers, heavier than the dogs!
Brian

 

[Rick Guynn]

IB is sooo easy though And you only need to make a 5-sided box that no one will see. Of course, there is that cutting-a-hole-in-the-ceiling thing. But for that small sacrifice, you get a sub that encompasses the sound quality of sealed subs with the SPL capabilities of vented subs, and with the DVC drivers like the Dayton and Shiva, you can simply 'dial-in' your desired Q.
Oh, a BFD is a Behringer Feedback Destroyer. Essentially an inexpensive parametric equalizer for fixing up the frequency reponse on your sub. Very rarely do subs have a reasonably flat response in a room.
RG

 

[Nathan J]

I wont be cutting any holes in my new ceiling
LOL

 

[Rick Guynn]

You laugh... but the deal I made with my wife was that I had to actually put a new celing in before I could have my IB.
So I put a new ceiling in, and then cut a hole in it The hole is only 7 x 17, so it's not too bad. And it was well worth it.. the sub sounds great.
RG

 

[Michael R Price]

Size permitting, the Tempest with 250W and two flared 4" ports (or maybe an 8" non flared) should match or exceed a SVS PC+, with the exception of possibly less output at higher frequencies (depending on the efficiency of the SVS). The parts cost is about US $350.
A friend of mine built a Tempest, 210L tuned to 19Hz with two 4" flared ports. (Wanted a bit more kick than the Adire Alignment, but you can plug a port to get a 15Hz tuning to mimic it.) It is capable of truly violent output, and the quality is very clean, smooth and subtle (at least when at a neutral level). He did have some problems with the amp clipping at high levels, but we're talking really loud.
Link Removed
The SVS would have similar performance, and the price is a really excellent value.
Nathan, do you have any idea of actually how loud you want it? You might be wanting a bit more than a Tempest, you never know.

 

[Nathan J]

Well, as for loudness.....most subs that I audition and places liek CC or best but, even some regular home audion stores, usually dont have any 15" models...usually just like 10"s or 12"s....and I want more than that.

I am willing to start out with one 15", and see how I like it, if its not enough, I will just get more.

Is there any other drivers that would offer considerable more output for just a little more $ ?????