The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[basserx]

Well i got this one opened up to insert some batting and noticed a difference from other pics posted here, the board and toroidal transformer are exposed and not taped up, so i didn't want to get to carried away with the batting around the tranny.
Its hard to believe that the 2x3300uf 50v caps are capable of storing enough energy for a 500w amp.

Las Vegas-20110316-00004.jpg

[cyde]

I've been lurking this thread for a week and finally decided to pull the trigger on a AA HD-SUB10. I didn't get an amazing deal like some of you guys from the Deepdiscount Ebay store, but I am happy with $20 off their site listing price.

I'm looking forward to breaking in my new sub when it arrives, and there were many helpful and informative posts in this thread. Fine tuning should be a breeze with all the info found in this thread. Thanks guys!

Current set up:
Denon AVR-1911
Jamo 426 HCS3 5.0 speakers

It sounds great but needs a little more oomph which the HD-SUB10 will cover.

[nate3579]

So I finally got the replacement for my hd sub 10. They sent me another one free of charge! I hooked it up and I am pleased although it seems that its not as loud as I expected from some of the other reviews. I have the sub gain at about 70% and I ran auydessey on my avr and it set the sub at -5db. It seemed very quiet so I turned it up to 3db (12db is the max). I had an 8in 100 watt sub before but didnt have it turned up as much(same spot in the room). I read on here that I shouldnt go more than 75% of the subs gain so I dont want to turn it up any louder. I thought the grill off and it seems to have good excursion.(I havent turned it too loud yet) Does polyfill make much of a difference. What about a rising? If anyone has any thoughts on the matter Id appreciate it. Im not a bass head and am not looking to shake pictures off the wall but just wondering if maybe its something in the settings too. The placement is facing away from the left wall about two feet away.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by nate3579

So I finally got the replacement for my hd sub 10. They sent me another one free of charge! I hooked it up and I am pleased although it seems that its not as loud as I expected from some of the other reviews. I have the sub gain at about 70% and I ran auydessey on my avr and it set the sub at -5db. It seemed very quiet so I turned it up to 3db (12db is the max). I had an 8in 100 watt sub before but didnt have it turned up as much(same spot in the room). I read on here that I shouldnt go more than 75% of the subs gain so I dont want to turn it up any louder. I thought the grill off and it seems to have good excursion.(I havent turned it too loud yet) Does polyfill make much of a difference. What about a rising? If anyone has any thoughts on the matter Id appreciate it. Im not a bass head and am not looking to shake pictures off the wall but just wondering if maybe its something in the settings too. The placement is facing away from the left wall about two feet away.

Put the subwoofer in a corner about a foot or so away from the side walls. Use a Y adapter (two male, one female) and connect the sub cable coming from the receiver to both the left and the right channel inputs on the back of the subwoofer. This may increase the output of the sub by 3 to 6dBs. Turn the volume on the back of the subwoofer to 50% to 60%, turn the crossover on the back of the sub all the way up to its maximum point. All the crossovers are set in the receiver.

Polyfill will make the subwoofer appear larger than it actually is, will lower its tuning frequency, and will make it sound deeper. Don't over stuff the subwoofer with polyfill. Putting the subwoofer on a riser may also help. Just remember that everytime you change the location of the subwoofer or do a little tweak such as adding polyfill, you may have to run Audyssey again. It may be helpful to read

https://forum.blu-ray.com/subwoofers...nt-part-i.html
https://forum.blu-ray.com/audio-theo...hnologies.html.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by nate3579

So I finally got the replacement for my hd sub 10. They sent me another one free of charge! I hooked it up and I am pleased although it seems that its not as loud as I expected from some of the other reviews. I have the sub gain at about 70% and I ran auydessey on my avr and it set the sub at -5db. It seemed very quiet so I turned it up to 3db (12db is the max). I had an 8in 100 watt sub before but didnt have it turned up as much(same spot in the room). I read on here that I shouldnt go more than 75% of the subs gain so I dont want to turn it up any louder. I thought the grill off and it seems to have good excursion.(I havent turned it too loud yet) Does polyfill make much of a difference. What about a rising? If anyone has any thoughts on the matter Id appreciate it. Im not a bass head and am not looking to shake pictures off the wall but just wondering if maybe its something in the settings too. The placement is facing away from the left wall about two feet away.

Well I'm glad they took care of that for you!
I have the HD-SUB12 and it seemed to sound better after a little break-in period. I do have it turned up quite a bit more than my Boston Acoustics sub; my BA sub is at about 12:00, and my AA sub is at about 2:00 to get them balanced.
Make sure you put on some bass heavy music and move the sub around to find the "sweet spot" in your room.
It should start sounding better after break-in. Everything is too new an rigid right out of the box. Once things get flexed for a while it should improve.
When I first got mine, I was a little disappointed in the output, but after even just one night of jamming it out a bit, it surprised me.
Check these out:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/subwoofers...justments.html
https://forum.blu-ray.com/subwoofers...oom-modes.html
https://forum.blu-ray.com/subwoofers...nt-part-i.html
https://forum.blu-ray.com/subwoofers...t-part-ii.html

Edit: Dang! Big Daddy beat me to it! Do what he says!

[cyde]

How do I go about registering my AA subwoofer to receive the warranty? I got an email offering a 3 year SquareTrade warranty for $15, but I thought the sub came with a 3 year warranty from Deepdiscount? I emailed Deepdiscount with an inquiry for the warranty and registering their product, but they only sent an automated response that had nothing to do with my question. Could anyone please point me in the right direction?

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by cyde

How do I go about registering my AA subwoofer to receive the warranty? I got an email offering a 3 year SquareTrade warranty for $15, but I thought the sub came with a 3 year warranty from Deepdiscount? I emailed Deepdiscount with an inquiry for the warranty and registering their product, but they only sent an automated response that had nothing to do with my question. Could anyone please point me in the right direction?

Go to the first post of this thread. Link provided.

[nate3579]

Im still breaking in my replacement hd sub10 and decided to add polyfill. Im just wanting to make sure I didnt do anything wrong. I thought I read a couple of posts on this thread about adding polyfill but I cant find them so if anyone has a reference Id appreciate it. Anyways I opened up the sub and there was a good sheet layer of polyfill stapled to the box. It looked good so I just filled the box with the loose kind of polyfill. I really loosely filled the box cause I was nervous about the poly fill being against the amp which is exposed inside the box. Is this going to harm anything? Also just curious on filling tips. How dense should it be filled? Should it be almost all filled? thanks for any help!

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by nate3579

Im still breaking in my replacement hd sub10 and decided to add polyfill. Im just wanting to make sure I didnt do anything wrong. I thought I read a couple of posts on this thread about adding polyfill but I cant find them so if anyone has a reference Id appreciate it. Anyways I opened up the sub and there was a good sheet layer of polyfill stapled to the box. It looked good so I just filled the box with the loose kind of polyfill. I really loosely filled the box cause I was nervous about the poly fill being against the amp which is exposed inside the box. Is this going to harm anything? Also just curious on filling tips. How dense should it be filled? Should it be almost all filled? thanks for any help!

The benefits of polyfill are explained in this post:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/1376150-post2.html

A few months ago, I bought an Acoustic Audio HD-SUB15 from their Ebay store for $169. I replaced the driver with a much bigger Planet Audio driver. I also added more polyfill. As far as the amplifier is concerned, I added a piece of foam on top of the amplifier and added more polyfill to the box.

HDSub1.jpg


HDSub2.jpg


HDSub3.jpg

[Big Daddy]

I replaced the driver with the Planet Audio BB215D: 15-Inch Big Bang Subwoofer Driver.

Specifications:
Power Handling (Peak): 3,000 Watts
Power Handling (Continuous): 1,500 Watts
Freq. Response: 12hz- 350hz
Efficiency (1 Watt/1 Meter): 97db
Impedance: Dual 4 Ohm
Magnet Structure: 240 Oz.
Voice Coil: 3-inch
Mounting Depth: 8-13/16”
Weight: 47.6 pounds
List Price: $450

The best part is that I managed to find one for $212 including shipping.


The new driver was so much bigger and heavier than the original driver that I had to increase the diameter of the opening and also added two spacer rings.

HD-SUB15_Before.jpg


HDSub_After.jpg


HD-SUB15_Spacers.jpg

This is the frequency response of the subwoofer with the new driver in my room:

HD-SUB15PLanetAudio1.jpg


HD-SUB15PLanetAudio2.jpg

[nate3579]

So I having trouble with the density that I should pack the polyfill. It looks like in your last pic bigdaddy that after the grey foam you stuffed it a lot. Its hard to look at pics and tell how loose or its packed in there. I read from your other post on polyfill that for ported enclosure it should be around 1lb per cubic foot. The enclosure of the hd10 is about 1cubic ft so does that mean I should put a lb of polyfill in? its so light it seems like that would be a lot. Right now if I pulled what I have in there right now out I cant imagine it would weigh any more than an 1/4 of a lb. Is my thinking wrong?? And also the amp seems really small for the 300-600 watts stated. Does you amp push that huge driver enough? Assume it would or else you wouldnt have done it. I just wonder if that little amp pushes the stated wattage. Do you putt the gain in the same position for the same volume or lower or higher because I noticed the sensitivity was a little different. thanks for all the help!

[basserx]

After poly fill, i eliminated that ugly plastic nautical looking trim ring for a much cleaner look.

Las Vegas-20110316-00005.jpg

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by basserx

After poly fill, i eliminated that ugly plastic nautical looking trim ring for a much cleaner look.

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the sound characteristics before and after polyfill.
I have the same sub, and have thought about adding some, just haven't done it yet.
Is the difference pretty big, or just subtle?
Thanks!

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by basserx

After poly fill, i eliminated that ugly plastic nautical looking trim ring for a much cleaner look.

Attachment 31005

I like the looks of that basserx.

I removed a plastic ring off both my Polk subs when I replaced the drivers on them.Of course the better driver would not fit inside the ring Looks better gone anyways

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by nate3579

So I having trouble with the density that I should pack the polyfill. It looks like in your last pic bigdaddy that after the grey foam you stuffed it a lot. Its hard to look at pics and tell how loose or its packed in there. I read from your other post on polyfill that for ported enclosure it should be around 1lb per cubic foot. The enclosure of the hd10 is about 1cubic ft so does that mean I should put a lb of polyfill in? its so light it seems like that would be a lot. Right now if I pulled what I have in there right now out I cant imagine it would weigh any more than an 1/4 of a lb. Is my thinking wrong?? And also the amp seems really small for the 300-600 watts stated. Does you amp push that huge driver enough? Assume it would or else you wouldnt have done it. I just wonder if that little amp pushes the stated wattage. Do you putt the gain in the same position for the same volume or lower or higher because I noticed the sensitivity was a little different. thanks for all the help!

The polyfill is pretty loose. I just added a piece of sheet type polyfill on top with a little spray glue to make sure the loose type polyfill does not get inside the big new driver.

Don't overstuff the enclosure. I usually put less than one pound of polyfill per one cubic foot.

I don't have any problems with the amp. It drives that big driver very effectively. The subwoofer trim level in my receiver is set around -7dB and amp level on the back of the AA subwoofer is around 50% and the big woofer moves and sounds normally for both home theater and stereo (2.1) music.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the sound characteristics before and after polyfill.
I have the same sub, and have thought about adding some, just haven't done it yet.
Is the difference pretty big, or just subtle?
Thanks!

If you plot the frequency response of the subwoofer after polyfill, you will notice that the low frequency extension has increased. As a result, the subwoofer will sound a bit deeper. The difference will be subtle. You will probably feel it more than hearing it.

[basserx]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the sound characteristics before and after polyfill.
I have the same sub, and have thought about adding some, just haven't done it yet.
Is the difference pretty big, or just subtle?
Thanks!

I think its always been a subtle difference, but it really depends on the build of the cab and the VAS+QTS of the cab in the first place versus the X-mas of the speaker.Guess you can call me a bass head, Ive been playing bass guitar for a long time now.
However the poly really will help with low frequency cancellation.(Sound waves bouncing back onto the speaker) In any case these subs are great for the price i'm still breaking it in and should only get better. Got some Pearl jam,spyro gyra playing fairly loud today to flex the voice coil and cone a bit. So far I like this sub better than the HSU i owned.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by basserx

So far I like this sub better than the HSU i owned.

WOW!

[nate3579]

Just wondering about driver upgrades for the hd sub10. Im not sure how to match a driver with an enclosure and the air space needed. If anyone has any recommendations let me know. thanks also Ive been having trouble knowing where to look online. Ive looked at parts express but I cant ht drivers anywhere else. Are car drivers different than home drivers(if they are the same ohm)

[basserx]

Originally Posted by nate3579

Just wondering about driver upgrades for the hd sub10. Im not sure how to match a driver with an enclosure and the air space needed. If anyone has any recommendations let me know. thanks also Ive been having trouble knowing where to look online. Ive looked at parts express but I cant ht drivers anywhere else. Are car drivers different than home drivers(if they are the same ohm)

Nate: What you want to do properly is like reverse engineering. I've always built cabinets around a speaker given the particular specs of the speaker.
You can grab any speaker with the particular cutout size of your AA box but there would be no guarantee it would sound any better.Some manufactures will give you cabinet size (cubic feet) ranges for a particular speaker.
Do a goggle search for: speaker cabinet volume calculator I'm sure you will find some information there. Good luck.