I am looking at this subwoofer from a local seller and aside from being in rough cosmetic shape I don't know much about it. Does anyone happen to recognize the model or have any information on it? He says the entire things measures about 17" square.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/dropzone7/untitled1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/dropzone7/untitled.jpg

Anyone even have a guess? I want to get this today if it's worth having but would like to know what I'm getting myself into before I meet the guy.

Looks like an older Powerfield 15 (not the TL or TL+ version), rated at 185 watts RMS.

Looks like an older Powerfield 15 (not the TL or TL+ version), rated at 185 watts RMS.

Darn, thanks. I was hoping it was a little newer than that. I'm using a 12" sub from Dayton (Parts Express) now and thought this might be a good replacement. I think mine is rated a bit higher than that anyway though. Do you think it's worth $50?

Edit: Looks like you were right on the money. I sent the pics to Def Tech as well and I just got an email from Chet confirming that it is in fact the Powerfield 15 which was manufactured between 1994-1997. I'm sure it was nice in it's day but I'm not sure it would be much better than what I have now.

$50? Sure. Pretty low risk at that price. You could probably turn around and resell for the same price if you decide to upgrade later.

$50? Sure. Pretty low risk at that price. You could probably turn around and resell for the same price if you decide to upgrade later.

Yeah, I think I will give it a shot and see what happens. I wonder if I could use a "Y" connector and run both subs together? I have never really read about how to use multiple subs and if they should be matching units.

You can try it... but ideally they should be matching subs and stacked (or placed side by side). Otherwise you have greater risk of phase/cancellation issues.

I had a PF15TL. Not a bad sub. For $50 it would be very hard to beat it.

I had two PF15TL+ subs (the "plus" has the 500 watt amp). Bought the second one after the first started making some knocking/popping sounds when pushed hard. I'll go ahead and blame the HD DVD version of the Matrix for that. ;) Thought I could swap parts between the two and deduce what was wrong but never really figured it out. Might have been that I was expecting too much of the sub. During my testing, I did a frequency sweep down to 20 Hz and discovered the sub falls off pretty fast below 30 Hz. By 25 Hz it was stick-a-fork-in-it done.

So, that little story is what started me down the DIY path... and the rest is history! :D

I had two PF15TL+ subs (the "plus" has the 500 watt amp). Bought the second one after the first started making some knocking/popping sounds when pushed hard. I'll go ahead and blame the HD DVD version of the Matrix for that. ;) Thought I could swap parts between the two and deduce what was wrong but never really figured it out. Might have been that I was expecting too much of the sub. During my testing, I did a frequency sweep down to 20 Hz and discovered the sub falls off pretty fast below 30 Hz. By 25 Hz it was stick-a-fork-in-it done.

So, that little story is what started me down the DIY path... and the rest is history! :D

Hey, I'm all about DIY if it saves me some money and the end result is nice. What would you suggest for a small room say 13x17? How much should I expect to spend for a 15" woofer that would get down to 20Hz effectively?

If your budget is much less $500, you might be better served with a pre-built sub or maybe complete a DIY kit from Parts Express. If you've got a bigger budget and can beg, borrow, or steal the tools necessary to build the cabinet, then the DIY possibilities are endless! :)

I haven't researched 15" options but I'm sure the guys over in the DIY Speakers and Subs forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=155)can give you plenty of information and opinions. Off the top of my head, the Tempest-X 15" driver with 27mm Xmax offers pretty good displacement for the money ($185). You might be able to combine it with a 500W plate amp and have a pretty potent sub for around $500-$600.

Edit: looks like the PE Titantic 15" sub kit with 1000W amp is $580. The eD A5-350 is a great sub for the money at $600. You can still DIY for less if you're resourceful and patient, especially if you've got a spare pro audio amp laying around that you can bridge for max power. Just beware of the "slippery slope" effect or you'll wind up like me! :p

for 50$, its definitely worth a try.