The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by luvnhateSony

Im seriously considering the AA HD12 but due to certain room restrictions it will need to be placed about 2-3 inches form the wall. According to BD on a previous post he seemed to strongly reccomend placing these subs a a couple of feet away from the wall. Sooooo, should I bother with one of these when my placement of the sub will probably cuase some port noise issues?? Or is there some hope for my scenerio?

The port on HD12 sub is in the back. That makes it more important to keep it away from the wall. You may be able to put it sideways so that the port has more breathing room. The AudioSource is not bad, but does not have as much power.

My recommendation is to get the best sub you can afford and find a way of fitting it in your HT setup. This way, you won't have to worry so much about the Upgraditis virus.

[JJ]

@ 4 ML Dynamos

[luvnhateSony]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

You can start by putting it in a corner at least a couple of feet away from the walls.

So again, that being said, as well the idea of turning it sideways, is just going to be a problem. Turning it side ways would not be cool with the wife, or me for that matter, since I dont want to see the cord and knobs on the side of it.

My room is 15x16x9 and it opens up to a modest sized kitchen and foyer. The 8" someone mentioned is just not gonna cut it and I think even the 10" HD sub may pack more of a punch than the 12" Audio Source PSW. Ughhh, what a dilema.

B.D. I know you said the PSW12 is not bad and it wont pack as much of a punch as the HD-12 but do you know if it will at least give me the kind of bass I can feel?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by luvnhateSony

So again, that being said, as well the idea of turning it sideways, is just going to be a problem. Turning it side ways would not be cool with the wife, or me for that matter, since I dont want to see the cord and knobs on the side of it.

My room is 15x16x9 and it opens up to a modest sized kitchen and foyer. The 8" someone mentioned is just not gonna cut it and I think even the 10" HD sub may pack more of a punch than the 12" Audio Source PSW. Ughhh, what a dilema.

B.D. I know you said the PSW12 is not bad and it wont pack as much of a punch as the HD-12 but do you know if it will at least give me the kind of bass I can feel?

The PSW12 is pretty good and will satisfy you. Go through the posts. I believe a couple of members may have bought them. You can send them a PM and ask them. HD sub, however, is much more attractive and WAF friendly.

Even a down-firing subwoofer should be a little away from the walls. Otherwise, it may interact too much with the walls and become boomy.

Putting a subwoofer on a riser also helps its performance.

[Blu Titan]

This thread is fantastic. Great info here...just props to Big Daddy and the rest of the contributors.

[luvnhateSony]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

HD sub, however, is much more attractive and WAF friendly.

I agree 100% and I will try to exhaust any other feasible options I have for proper placement. Thanks!

[luvnhateSony]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

This thread is fantastic. Great info here...just props to Big Daddy and the rest of the contributors.

+ 1

[luvnhateSony]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The PSW12 is pretty good and will satisfy you. Go through the posts. I believe a couple of members may have bought them. You can send them a PM and ask them.

I screwed up and said PSW12 but I was initially refering to the Audio Source PSW112. After searching through this thread, your right there are a few PSW12 owners but not any PSW112 owners. The reason of course the PSW112 peaked my intrest was becuase it seems like it would suit my situation since it is has a unique front firing dual ported enclosure.

What do you think about this B.D.? Clearly not as powerful as the HD12 but do you think it at least has enough juice to shake things up?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by luvnhateSony

I screwed up and said PSW12 but I was initially refering to the Audio Source PSW112. After searching through this thread, your right there are a few PSW12 owners but not any PSW112 owners. The reason of course the PSW112 peaked my intrest was becuase it seems like it would suit my situation since it is has a unique front firing dual ported enclosure.

What do you think about this B.D.? Clearly not as powerful as the HD12 but do you think it at least has enough juice to shake things up?

I know that Audio Source amplifiers are good and economical amplifiers. However, I don't have any experience with Audio Source subwoofers. The reviews are generally good, but I am not sure how much they will shake things up.

There are other Audio Source models that you can investigate.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=U...&creative=9325

http://www.parts-express.com/wizards...fg=&srchPromo=

[jomari]

Originally Posted by luvnhateSony

I screwed up and said PSW12 but I was initially refering to the Audio Source PSW112. After searching through this thread, your right there are a few PSW12 owners but not any PSW112 owners. The reason of course the PSW112 peaked my intrest was becuase it seems like it would suit my situation since it is has a unique front firing dual ported enclosure.

What do you think about this B.D.? Clearly not as powerful as the HD12 but do you think it at least has enough juice to shake things up?

Quoted the specs for a brief analogy...

New AudioSource PSW112 12 Inch 175 Watt Home Audio Theater Powered Subwoofer
* 12 Inch Front Firing Powered Subwoofer
* 175 Watt Internal Amplifier
* 2 Front-Firing Ports
* Front Panel Low Pass Frequency Adjustable Crossover Control: 40 Hz - 200 Hz
* Front Panel Volume Level Control
* Front Panel LED Status Light
* Frequency Response: 30Hz - 200 Hz
* THD: <1%
* S/N Ratio: 100 dB
* Line Level Inputs (RCA Connections)
* Speaker Level Inputs
* Signal Sensing Power On
* 180° Phase Switch
* Black Vinyl Finish
* Removable Front Grill
* Removable Feet For In-Cabinet Installation
* AC Power Consumption: 300W Maximum
* Suggested Retail Price: $399.99
* Full 2 Year Manufacturers' Warranty


im sorry to ask again but
1. why are we looking at front ported subwoofers? just to confirm, you dont want the subwoofer to be 'away' from the wall, and to see its knobs (no kind sir, no pun intended) or wirework. am i correct?

2. with your current room dimensions, im wondering what your current speakers are? more importantly your subwoofer. reason behind such is maybe you might need two subwoofers. i dont know, i cant tell by simple deduction via your room specs, but a picture could help. reason i also suggested so is because considering the closeness to my living space, i was in a pickle due to null points in my room. granted i also have a vaulted ceiling, shooting up to about er... 12 feet high. think of how bad my acoustic problems are.

3. based on the specs provided (and i always take em with a grain of salt) it list those italized as the ones that strike me. s/n ratio. hmm. i was hoping that was a typo. second, the frequency response is quite limited compared to the other models (30-200Hz). the amplifier im sure is sufficient for 175 watts, but then again we'd also have to consider why they chose that instead of adding a larger one. just a thought.

i hope this doesnt discourage you from continue asking questions. at times, you may hear things that you dont want to hear. but thats the sign of a good friend or colleague isnt it? we tell you you've got something on your face, and not let others tell you.

id suggest that this subwoofer might be a good option for you, albeit its specs. id also suggest a secondary subwoofer if possible to address your room mode (the uneven frequency response caused by combining or reflected sound waves), that might have nulls at certain areas...

*edit
Darn it, BD beat me to the parts express subwoofers. i am tho glad to see parts express putting items that are found on Acoustic Audio's website, on there, including the Audiosource psw112*

[JJ]

So I went out to Wal-Mart earlier - but I forgot to verify exactly what kind of poly fill I should be getting so I left without getting a thing since I didn't want to get the wrong one. Sheesh. I need to re-read this.

[bumbabeef]

well I added some polyfil and seems like that did the trick I also turned the volume on the back up to 75% and placed the sub farther from the other speakers. Worked well so far with music. Tomorrow Im gonna test it out with Wall-E, The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Black Hawk Down and maybe some COD 4

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by JJxiv1215

So I went out to Wal-Mart earlier - but I forgot to verify exactly what kind of poly fill I should be getting so I left without getting a thing since I didn't want to get the wrong one. Sheesh. I need to re-read this.

get a smartphone and u could re-read and text while driving...... lol

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by bumbabeef

well I added some polyfil and seems like that did the trick I also turned the volume on the back up to 75% and placed the sub farther from the other speakers. Worked well so far with music. Tomorrow Im gonna test it out with Wall-E, The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Black Hawk Down and maybe some COD 4

excuse my ignorance..... but what is COD 4....... watch "The Incredibles" also

[PurpleJesus74]

Originally Posted by jaejw1

excuse my ignorance..... but what is COD 4....... watch "The Incredibles" also

Call Of Duty 4,he kinda switched from movies to games on ya.

[PurpleJesus74]

Originally Posted by bumbabeef

well I added some polyfil and seems like that did the trick I also turned the volume on the back up to 75% and placed the sub farther from the other speakers. Worked well so far with music. Tomorrow Im gonna test it out with Wall-E, The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Black Hawk Down and maybe some COD 4

As stated before poly fil alone should not make the sub sound a ton better.Sounds like you just needed to play around with it,and maybe it did need to break in some too.But as BD would say,75% is too high,it should sound good at 50% or less.

[bumbabeef]

Originally Posted by PurpleJesus74

As stated before poly fil alone should not make the sub sound a ton better.Sounds like you just needed to play around with it,and maybe it did need to break in some too.But as BD would say,75% is too high,it should sound good at 50% or less.

I think it was breaking it in, speaker placement, and mainly tweaking my receiver which Im still not done with. Thanks for everyones help.

[jaejw1]

Originally Posted by bumbabeef

I think it was breaking it in, speaker placement, and mainly tweaking my receiver which Im still not done with. Thanks for everyones help.

once u get it calibrated,,,, it wont sound right,, (not unless u already know what it should sound like )
but once u get used to it... u will like it more and more....

proper calibration is key

eventhough im new on these forums,,,my background in car audio is where I get my experience from,,,, home audio in a car

[luvnhateSony]

Originally Posted by jomari

1. why are we looking at front ported subwoofers? just to confirm, you dont want the subwoofer to be 'away' from the wall, and to see its knobs (no kind sir, no pun intended) or wirework. am i correct?

That is correct. It would be about 2 or 3" from the wall.

2. with your current room dimensions, im wondering what your current speakers are? more importantly your subwoofer. reason behind such is maybe you might need two subwoofers. i dont know, i cant tell by simple deduction via your room specs, but a picture could help. reason i also suggested so is because considering the closeness to my living space, i was in a pickle due to null points in my room. granted i also have a vaulted ceiling, shooting up to about er... 12 feet high. think of how bad my acoustic problems are.

When it comes to the audio end of my HT, Im currently a total virgin. To appease the WAF I had to go low profile and ended up with Energys RC-Minis for the fronts and EAS-8C in ceilings for surrounds for a 5.1 setup. My AVR is now in place and the last piece of the puzzle is the sub and like everything else included, in my soon to be 5.1 system, it will be the first Ive ever owned. All that said, Im just learning and am a complete novice to say the least when it come to home audio.

3. based on the specs provided (and i always take em with a grain of salt) it list those italized as the ones that strike me. s/n ratio. hmm. i was hoping that was a typo. second, the frequency response is quite limited compared to the other models (30-200Hz). the amplifier im sure is sufficient for 175 watts, but then again we'd also have to consider why they chose that instead of adding a larger one. just a thought.

Im still trying to learn what all the specs mean but I know the bottom line is, I will have to pass over the low frequencies to the sub beacuase obviously the 4.5" woofers on the minis couldnt handle it. Maybe you can tell me, but that would mean I set my speakers to 100Hz or more, right? Im not totally impressed with this subs specs either but ultimately will it at least give me that rumble in the room type of bass? and by that I DONT mean, earthquake shaking bass, just something I can feel.

i hope this doesnt discourage you from continue asking questions. at times, you may hear things that you dont want to hear. but thats the sign of a good friend or colleague isnt it? we tell you you've got something on your face, and not let others tell you.

id suggest that this subwoofer might be a good option for you, albeit its specs. id also suggest a secondary subwoofer if possible to address your room mode (the uneven frequency response caused by combining or reflected sound waves), that might have nulls at certain areas...

Being a straight shooter myself Im not discouraged by any ones point blank honesty, in fact I perfer it, since just as you mentioned it demonstrates the fact that someone is sincerly looking out for your best intrest. As far as a secondary sub, unfortunatley it cant happen, so whatever one I get will have to bring it.

I appreciate any continue guidance and responses.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by luvnhateSony

1. why are we looking at front ported subwoofers? just to confirm, you dont want the subwoofer to be 'away' from the wall, and to see its knobs (no kind sir, no pun intended) or wirework. am i correct?

That is correct. It would be about 2 or 3" from the wall.

*** great, so at this point, we can see that we'd prefer to hide the subwoofer, and let us feel the sub instead. gotcha.

2. with your current room dimensions, im wondering what your current speakers are? more importantly your subwoofer. reason behind such is maybe you might need two subwoofers. i dont know, i cant tell by simple deduction via your room specs, but a picture could help. reason i also suggested so is because considering the closeness to my living space, i was in a pickle due to null points in my room. granted i also have a vaulted ceiling, shooting up to about er... 12 feet high. think of how bad my acoustic problems are.

When it comes to the audio end of my HT, Im currently a total virgin. To appease the WAF I had to go low profile and ended up with Energys RC-Minis for the fronts and EAS-8C in ceilings for surrounds for a 5.1 setup. My AVR is now in place and the last piece of the puzzle is the sub and like everything else included, in my soon to be 5.1 system, it will be the first Ive ever owned. All that said, Im just learning and am a complete novice to say the least when it come to home audio.

*** considering your specs below...

Single compact 2-way bookshelf speaker designed for a large or small space surround sound solution
Equipped with a 1" aluminum dome tweeter and a 4.5" Kevlar(TM) cone woofer
Exclusive Hyperbolic(TM) dome tweeter and patented Ribbed Elliptical Surround technology
Frequency response: 80Hz-23000Hz +/- 3dB
May be wall mounted with included bracket

1. Speaker settings
Front - Small
Center - Small
Surrounds - Small
2. Crossover settings
- really depends, id set it at 80hz for a proper rollover, but you might want to try 100Hz as well...

On the subwoofer, you want to put the crossover settings all the way up to avoid double filtering your frequencies (thus loosing some in the process if ever), and fiddle with your gain. With the crossover set at 80/100Hz, anything lower than that would go into the subwoofer.

3. based on the specs provided (and i always take em with a grain of salt) it list those italized as the ones that strike me. s/n ratio. hmm. i was hoping that was a typo. second, the frequency response is quite limited compared to the other models (30-200Hz). the amplifier im sure is sufficient for 175 watts, but then again we'd also have to consider why they chose that instead of adding a larger one. just a thought.

Im still trying to learn what all the specs mean but I know the bottom line is, I will have to pass over the low frequencies to the sub beacuase obviously the 4.5" woofers on the minis couldnt handle it. Maybe you can tell me, but that would mean I set my speakers to 100Hz or more, right? Im not totally impressed with this subs specs either but ultimately will it at least give me that rumble in the room type of bass? and by that I DONT mean, earthquake shaking bass, just something I can feel.

*** this subwoofer should just be fine then. id go larger, but then again, its a matter of preference, in this case, wanting the ports facing front, as well as little to no fiddling at the back, nor exposing anyone anything. stealth, im assuming is key in your case.

i hope this doesnt discourage you from continue asking questions. at times, you may hear things that you dont want to hear. but thats the sign of a good friend or colleague isnt it? we tell you you've got something on your face, and not let others tell you.

id suggest that this subwoofer might be a good option for you, albeit its specs. id also suggest a secondary subwoofer if possible to address your room mode (the uneven frequency response caused by combining or reflected sound waves), that might have nulls at certain areas...

Being a straight shooter myself Im not discouraged by any ones point blank honesty, in fact I perfer it, since just as you mentioned it demonstrates the fact that someone is sincerly looking out for your best intrest. As far as a secondary sub, unfortunatley it cant happen, so whatever one I get will have to bring it.

I appreciate any continue guidance and responses.

No worries, im sure others will chime in, hopefully concurring to my suggestions.