Just purchased a new 5 speaker setup. Need 12" or 15" sub suggestions for <$400

[mj79]

Well my klipsch 2.1 setup has been laid to rest off the home theater and is now where it should be. On the laptop lol. I was on a budget of $1500 for everything And this is what I ended up getting

pioneer vsx-819h-- nothing special but is actually pretty descent and has true HD and MA decoding

polk tsi300' towers -- descent for what they are and sound good

Polk cs10 center. -- good match for the towers

Polk t15 -- rear surround. -- very nice

now here's the problem. I got the Polk psw 10 woofer. And it's descent but not near enough. Especially for the ultra low frequencies.


So I might build my own enclosure so in that case if anyone has any sub or plate amp suggestions please let me know. Or if there is a excellent 12 out there that can hit the lows well ( sub 20 hz ) that is a full setup ( sub amp box etc ) for undr 300 throw those out too

I just thought I could get alot more bang for my buck by buying everything seperate and building my own enclosure.

[Big Daddy]

If you are thinking about building a subwoofer, check the DIY Subwoofer/Speaker Building & Upgrading thread. All the important links for subwoofer amps, drivers, etc. are at the end of Post #2.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

If you are thinking about building a subwoofer, check the DIY Subwoofer/Speaker Building & Upgrading thread. All the important links for subwoofer amps, drivers, etc. are at the end of Post #2.

YeA m gonna build one. I spent 200 on this Polk that won't hit lows my klipsch 6.5 hits. So I might as well buy a driver that can. Sorry tho I just thought since I was looking for everything especially a driver first I would look here first. Thanks tho

[mj79]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

If you are thinking about building a subwoofer, check the DIY Subwoofer/Speaker Building & Upgrading thread. All the important links for subwoofer amps, drivers, etc. are at the end of Post #2.

Wow. Lol. That was a he'll of a first 2 posts!!! Very very well put and done man. Excellent advice. I've been in audio for many years selling installing building and a consumer and one day I would love to have a setup like you have. But building my first sub will be a good start


Ok completly dumb question maybe. But what is ( or are ) waterfalls in home theater

[Steve]

Your thread title states greater than $400 (but I suspect it's supposed to mean less than $400), and in the post itself you state less than $300, so I'm not sure exactly what your budget is. Anyway I'm just throwing this out there, but take a look at the eD A2-300. It's a 12" sub that can reach 18Hz according to the specs. It's $350 with no tax and free Fedex shipping in the lower 48 states. This sub is reported to be one of the very best you can buy for the price.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by mj79

Wow. Lol. That was a he'll of a first 2 posts!!! Very very well put and done man. Excellent advice. I've been in audio for many years selling installing building and a consumer and one day I would love to have a setup like you have. But building my first sub will be a good start


Ok completly dumb question maybe. But what is ( or are ) waterfalls in home theater

A waterfall has to do with the plot of frequency response of speakers/subwoofers. It is a presentation of both frequency domain and time domain on a single graph. It resembles a waterfall.

Read these:
http://www.libinst.com/wattlar.htm
http://www.svsound.com/questions-faqs-waterfall.cfm

[mj79]

Thanks guys for the replies. Finally understand wavelenghts now.

also I'm sorry about my confusing posts. I'm doing this from my phone cuz my computer is down and I'm mis typing things.

I would love a ed 12. But I was thinking around 400 for everything. My room isn't that big. About 16x20. And I need a lil more bass than my psw 10 and this thing has already bottomed out on dark k ight and bolt a ton. So I figured I could get a much better sub for the same price as this one but will really outperform this one. Especially below 30 hz


Now what do you guys think for under 400 for the sub and plate amp. The sub I'm still debating on. About a $200 ( or so ) good 12. Or a little less quality 15. I'm probably gonna want a 500 wAtt amp or somewhere in that area. No more than that tho

[Big Daddy]

Do the following:

1. Buy a Dayton TIT320C-4 12" Titanic Mk III Subwoofer Driver for $160.
2. Buy a Dayton HPSA500 500W Subwoofer Amplifier for $250 or Bash 300W Digital Subwoofer Amplifier for $150.
3. Buy some fire resistant polyfill from Wal-Mart for less than $5.
4. Buy some 3/4" MDF wood from Home Depot or Lowes, cut them, and build a relatively large box. Alternatively, you can buy a ready-made subwoofer cabinet for less than $100.
5. Assemble the parts and build yourself a kick-ass subwoofer, better than what is available on the market.

If you decide to buy a ready-made subwoofer, you can buy an Elemental Designs ED-300 for $350 or you can buy an Acoustic Audio HD SUB12 for less than $200 or an Acoustic Audio HD-SUB15 for less than $270. For the AA subwoofers, make an offer on their Ebay store. You may be able to buy the HD-SUB12 for $160-$180. The above subwoofers go really low and perform much better than your current subwoofer.

[talstarone]

Another thought is to have and use(2) subwoofers.
I have the Polk PSW10 also and it is OK for its price(which is sold new on NewEgg.com for $109 to $119).
But it runs out of steam at times.

There are a couple of inexpensive things you can do to increase the Polks Performance.
One is to buy or build a sub riser.This will elevate the sub off the floor and help handle vibration as well as dampenng standing waves.Big Daddy shows how to make one,and several members here have made their own.
I made my own for @ $30 and it made a huge difference.Pics can be found in my gallery under the SubRiser Picture Folder.

Also with the Polk PSW10 you can add some more polyfill into the interior of the cabinet to tightenthe Bass and help eliminate port noise.A very inexpensive(@ $5)and easy improvement.

Also adding a 2nd of these subs will help eliminate any bass voids in the room and increase Bass performance and output many times over.It will also help eliminate any chance of pinpointing a subs position in the room,and hearing where the bass is coming from.

Now this is just 3 simple and inexpensive attempts to help you achieve the desired effect for your system.Others will suggest different brands and types of subwoofers.
There are a large number of incredibly knowledgeable mebers here,so I would most certainly take their advice to heart as well.

But what ever path you follow keep us filled in.I look forward to knowing what you dd and how well it worked.

[PhooNami]

Check out these: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/subwo...e-csx-15-.html

[seigneur_rayden]

Get two 12" Audio Acoustic sub.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=85212

[mj79]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Do the following:

1. Buy a Dayton TIT320C-4 12" Titanic Mk III Subwoofer Driver for $160.
2. Buy a Dayton HPSA500 500W Subwoofer Amplifier for $250 or Bash 300W Digital Subwoofer Amplifier for $150.
3. Buy some fire resistant polyfill from Wal-Mart for less than $5.
4. Buy some 3/4" MDF wood from Home Depot or Lowes, cut them, and build a relatively large box. Alternatively, you can buy a ready-made subwoofer cabinet for less than $100.
5. Assemble the parts and build yourself a kick-ass subwoofer, better than what is available on the market.

If you decide to buy a ready-made subwoofer, you can buy an Elemental Designs ED-300 for $350 or you can buy an Acoustic Audio HD SUB12 for less than $200 or an Acoustic Audio HD-SUB15 for less than $270. For the AA subwoofers, make an offer on their Ebay store. You may be able to buy the HD-SUB12 for $160-$180. The above subwoofers go really low and perform much better than your current subwoofer.

Wow thank you again for the helpful and detailed post. ! . ThAT looks like a setup I might just go with. With the Dayton amp. And 12 titanic.


Is it worth it to jump to the 15 titanic or will this need more power? I'm aware that this just like car audio is going to be a huge difference in sound and enclosure volume. But itmight be worth it. My average enclosure in a car ported I usually make between 2-3 cubes and 4-5+ for a 15 basically just depending on what the person wants out of the sub so I imagine those rules still apply here. ?

I will for sure build my own enclosure and more than likely just round out the edges and vinyl it. That will be a first build then I might just attempt. Sonotube enclosure just for kicks

so the amp is down for sure I think. Which will be the Dayton u mentioned. But I'm still gonna think wether I would do a 12 or 15. I got to realize this isn't a spl competion for the first time ever lol and realize I'm going purely subsonic now but I don't have the greatest setup so I don't want my sub to drown everything out. So if you know of any good 15 s that need less than 500 rms please let me know. Under 200 .


One other thing when building a sono enclosure. Let's say I want to use it as a table or something in the living room and I wanted to move it or whatever. It seems hard to believe thatjust a silicone or epoxy is going to be able to hold a 20 pound woofer + mdf. Let's say I make a lil top on it. I pick it up to move it and it comes off lol. Lil weird I k ow. But in mdf enclosures u have wood glue and screws bonding everything together. In a sono u are relying on a little bit of silicone to hold your mdf to cardboard.

I under stand making the plugs and the speaker mount / baffle but it seems like if I were to pick it up over time it would get loose. God I hope that made sense

[talstarone]

Originally Posted by seigneur_rayden

Get two 12" Audio Acoustic sub.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=85212

+1, some of the finest subs made at a price that is almost heart stopping.Excellent Performance and construction all for around $200 to $300 total.

But if you do build your own keep us updated as I would like to see(read)how it progresses.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by talstarone

Another thought is to have and use(2) subwoofers.
I have the Polk PSW10 also and it is OK for its price(which is sold new on NewEgg.com for $109 to $119).
But it runs out of steam at times.

There are a couple of inexpensive things you can do to increase the Polks Performance.
One is to buy or build a sub riser.This will elevate the sub off the floor and help handle vibration as well as dampenng standing waves.Big Daddy shows how to make one,and several members here have made their own.
I made my own for @ $30 and it made a huge difference.Pics can be found in my gallery under the SubRiser Picture Folder.

Also with the Polk PSW10 you can add some more polyfill into the interior of the cabinet to tightenthe Bass and help eliminate port noise.A very inexpensive(@ $5)and easy improvement.

Also adding a 2nd of these subs will help eliminate any bass voids in the room and increase Bass performance and output many times over.It will also help eliminate any chance of pinpointing a subs position in the room,and hearing where the bass is coming from.

Now this is just 3 simple and inexpensive attempts to help you achieve the desired effect for your system.Others will suggest different brands and types of subwoofers.
There are a large number of incredibly knowledgeable mebers here,so I would most certainly take their advice to heart as well.

But what ever path you follow keep us filled in.I look forward to knowing what you dd and how well it worked.

Thank you as well I might have done another polkbut you guys have me in DIY mode now lol. And I will for sure let you guys know when I do this as I will also do a build log for everyone. I just have to get
My new garage up. We are pouring the slab tomorrow and I'll get materials this week and probably start Sunday or Monday. I am laid of now ( carpenter of 12 years ) so I'll have alot of time to play around with my new toys

[Big Daddy]

MJ79,

You can always go totally crazy and buy a Dayton HPSA1000 1000W Subwoofer Amplifier for $426 and a Dayton TIT400C-4 15" Titanic Mk III Driver for $220.

However, I believe a 12" Titanic would be enough. You can use your current sub to supplement the sound in the upper bass frequencies. Ultimately, it is your choice.

Definitely, use screws, glue, and internal bracing to build the box. Build the box like a tank so that you can easily sit on it without a problem. Use dampening material on the inner surface. All the links are in Post #2 of DIY Subwoofer/Speaker Building thread.

[mj79]

Damn u guys fir posting that audio acoustics 12 to make my decision even more difficult especially when I. Was ready to go with the titanic 12. I know it's all in the enclosure but what driver is better and able to get lower and louder ? The titanic or the AA 12?


Another thing. I have a few 12s that I was using for car audio competitions that are just laying around now. For competitions I had them in a smaler high tuned box for spl. Now as a daily driver there in a larger low tuned enclosure. (30 hz). So take a look at them and see what u think about trying them out in home theater. They are the lvl 3 12s. About half way down the page


http://www.dcsoundlab.com/woofers.html

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by mj79

Damn u guys fir posting that audio acoustics 12 to make my decision even more difficult especially when I. Was ready to go with the titanic 12. I know it's all in the enclosure but what driver is better and able to get lower and louder ? The titanic or the AA 12?


Another thing. I have a few 12s that I was using for car audio competitions that are just laying around now. For competitions I had them in a smaler high tuned box for spl. Now as a daily driver there in a larger low tuned enclosure. (30 hz). So take a look at them and see what u think about trying them out in home theater. They are the lvl 3 12s. About half way down the page


http://www.dcsoundlab.com/woofers.html

With the Titanic, a 500 watt amp, and a large solid box, you may get a better sub than the AA sub, but it will cost you significantly more money. The Acoustic Audio subs are so cheap that you can easily buy two of them for the price of one DIY subwoofer.

You can use the car sub dirvers. As a general rule, car sub drivers are very loud and have good power tolerance. However, they do not usually go as deep and are not as musical as home sub drivers.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

With the Titanic, a 500 watt amp, and a large solid box, you may get a better sub than the AA sub, but it will cost you significantly more money. The Acoustic Audio subs are so cheap that you can easily buy two of them for the price of one DIY subwoofer.

You can use the car sub dirvers. As a general rule, car sub drivers are very loud and have good power tolerance. However, they do not usually go as deep and are not as musical as home sub drivers.

Ok. So what would u suggest on a budget. 2 AA 10's or 12's ( the cheaper ones or the higher priced more powerful 12 or 15

also. How would either the titanic 10 or 12 or the aa 10 or 12 compare to my Polk psw 10?

[mj79]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Do the following:

1. Buy a Dayton TIT320C-4 12" Titanic Mk III Subwoofer Driver for $160.
2. Buy a Dayton HPSA500 500W Subwoofer Amplifier for $250 or Bash 300W Digital Subwoofer Amplifier for $150.
3. Buy some fire resistant polyfill from Wal-Mart for less than $5.
4. Buy some 3/4" MDF wood from Home Depot or Lowes, cut them, and build a relatively large box. Alternatively, you can buy a ready-made subwoofer cabinet for less than $100.
5. Assemble the parts and build yourself a kick-ass subwoofer, better than what is available on the market.

If you decide to buy a ready-made subwoofer, you can buy an Elemental Designs ED-300 for $350 or you can buy an Acoustic Audio HD SUB12 for less than $200 or an Acoustic Audio HD-SUB15 for less than $270. For the AA subwoofers, make an offer on their Ebay store. You may be able to buy the HD-SUB12 for $160-$180. The above subwoofers go really low and perform much better than your current subwoofer.

So I know this has probably been asked many times. But for the ready made subs. What one regardless of size would be the best deal for under 400. And able to get very loud and very low

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by mj79

Ok. So what would u suggest on a budget. 2 AA 10's or 12's ( the cheaper ones or the higher priced more powerful 12 or 15

also. How would either the titanic 10 or 12 or the aa 10 or 12 compare to my Polk psw 10?

You have three options:

1. Buy a Titanic driver, a Dayton amplifier, and build your own box.
2. Buy two AA HD-SUB12. I prefer the 12". In the long run, you will be happier with 12" and it only costs a little more than 10". On their Ebay store, you can make an offer between $160 to $180 for each AA HD SUB12.
3. Buy one Elemental Designs Subwoofer. There is a delay of several weeks to get one.

All of the above choices are better than your current Polk subwoofer.

Also, remember that with one sub and proper placement in the room, you can at best get good bass performance for the main listening position. You may have a lot of cold and hot spots in the room. This is mainly because the low frequency sound waves interact with the room boundaries and create standing waves in the room.

With two subwoofers, you will be able to get more even and smoother bass across the room for all listening positions.