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Stereo Integrity's 18" HT subwoofer: Ready to Shake Things Up

post #1 of 36
1/17/13 at 11:22am
Thread Starter 
I've spent some time in the DIY section here at AVSforum. For the last five years there has been one nearly undisputed go-to option for a high-excursion 18" subwoofer, the legendary LMS-Ultra 5400 - a $925 powerhouse that offers high power handling, low distortion and tremendous displacement - the key to deep bass. The main issue with the LMS is cost. Enter the Stereo Integrity HT 18" subwoofer:

Designed to bring huge displacement to DIY builds at an affordable price - $190.00, SI's 18" is currently being used in a number subwoofer projects in the DIY forum. It will be interesting to follow some of these build threads and ultimately find how the end product performs next to commercial offerings as well as the LMS-Ultra.


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The attention to detail in their design extends to the exotic CZA spiral cut voice coil former material used to reduce eddy currents along with the 8" Nomex spider with sewn-on leads. To help keep the voice coil stay cool there is a custom tooled vented spacer ring sandwiched between the basket and the motor to allow cool air to be sucked in around the outside of the coil winding's. Other elements (listed to the right) are class leading 20mm of Xmax and 43mm of Xmech ensuring plenty of both linear, and peak, travel for those deep bass requirements. You can't get this much linear displacement for the dollar anywhere else.
http://stereointegrity.com/index.php?id=60
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Originally Posted by AV Science Sales 5 View Post

Have my two boxes finished for my SI 18's. Still need to build a new box for the Mal-X 18". Need to rework the 3" sound panels behind the screen so that the subs will be about flush with my curved screen.
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Originally Posted by gpmbc View Post

4 dual opposed coming soon. Trying to figure out bracing.
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Originally Posted by Gorilla83 View Post

More driver pics - again the finish is quite a bit nicer than the prototype I received a few weeks back. The packaging was even nicer, too. When I finish up my mains build, I'm thinking about trying out a few ported boxes with these. I'm thinking of replacing my empires in the living room with 4 x of these in ported boxes powered by my XLS5000. Perhaps a bit too much power, but I'll start the modeling process. biggrin.gif
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Originally Posted by popalock View Post

Here is a perspective shot. It was palletized as such that the box face was stacked over my head, so I didn't initally see the VC Config.




We all loaded up a few and I was more worried about them all facing right side up and being uniform than what the words on the box said...lol. Nick and I loaded up a few, then headed inside to talk shop while his guys finished up loading.
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Originally Posted by brian6751 View Post

The SI HT18's have a dual 4ohm VC which allows me to wire two drivers in each cab into a 4 ohm load. That will put about 1000 watts into each driver which should do the trick. the pre-order price also saves me some cash. so im hoping i can get the same performance as the Daytons on a CV5000 amp for less cool.gif

Edited by imagic - 1/17/13 at 1:20pm
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post #2 of 36
1/17/13 at 12:22pm
Waiting to get my nine 18's. biggrin.gif
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post #3 of 36
1/17/13 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 
For the uninitiated, there is a FAQ to help get you started with DIY speakers and subs.
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post #4 of 36
1/17/13 at 1:58pm
Thread Starter 
Nine 18" subwoofers, that's going to be an amazing build. I can't wait to see what you are up to.
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Originally Posted by Scott Simonian View Post

Waiting to get my nine 18's. biggrin.gif

Edited by imagic - 1/17/13 at 2:13pm
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post #5 of 36
1/17/13 at 2:31pm
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Originally Posted by imagic View Post

Nine 18" subwoofers, that's going to be an amazing build. I can't wait to see what you are up to.

Well, eight of these will be used in my HT. The ninth will be in my Jeep. Although I have four Sound Splinter RLp18's to pair up with eight SI's. biggrin.gifcool.gif
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post #6 of 36
1/17/13 at 2:39pm
I can't see how a $200 sub could perform the same as a $900 sub.
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post #7 of 36
1/17/13 at 2:50pm
Thread Starter 
The two subs do not perform the same - they are designed differently. The LMS Ultra can do it's business in just about any size enclosure - mainly small enclosures that would stifle a typical 18" sub. One pays dearly for that capability, so mounting one in a large box makes little sense. The SI 18" is designed to work in larger enclosures, using considerably less power (600W vs. 2000W). Bass is bass, and the SI 18" HT subwoofer has the potential to create a lot of it. The LMS has the higher spec, but not so on a 'per dollar' basis, especially true when the cost of amplification is factored in. Running multiple LMS often requires dedicated 20 amp lines and very serious amplifiers.

I think we will see a number of designs using two SI subs in one cabinet, and likely multiples of that configuration. When the price difference is that large, the question is not whether the less expensive option performs the same - all it needs to do is perform almost as well. It's no different than TV sets, at any given size one can usually find exceptional performance among the bargains.
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Originally Posted by stepyourgameup View Post

I can't see how a $200 sub could perform the same as a $900 sub.

Edited by imagic - 1/18/13 at 3:31am
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post #8 of 36
1/17/13 at 6:15pm
Hey, my sub is famous!! biggrin.gif
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post #9 of 36
1/18/13 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stepyourgameup View Post

I can't see how a $200 sub could perform the same as a $900 sub.

No? then welcome to DIY!!! Haha. Very proud of Nick and Stereo Integrity for getting the top spot on the main AVS page today!!! Great stuff!
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post #10 of 36
1/18/13 at 2:48pm
"Welcome to DIY"? Those are both DIY subs. And one only need to look at the two drivers to know they're not in the same league, regardless of price. This looks like a quality driver with a great price, but to try to put it on the same level as the LMS 5400 is an invitation to be ridiculed.
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post #11 of 36
1/18/13 at 4:01pm
Thread Starter 
Listening to a sub and taking measurements is more relevant to judging SQ than how it looks. Don't judge a book by it's cover.
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Originally Posted by javanpohl View Post

"Welcome to DIY"? Those are both DIY subs. And one only need to look at the two drivers to know they're not in the same league, regardless of price. This looks like a quality driver with a great price, but to try to put it on the same level as the LMS 5400 is an invitation to be ridiculed.

Edited by imagic - 1/18/13 at 9:11pm
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post #12 of 36
1/19/13 at 7:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by imagic View Post

Listening to a sub and taking measurements is more relevant to judging SQ than how it looks. Don't judge a book by it's cover.
Quote:
Originally Posted by javanpohl View Post

"Welcome to DIY"? Those are both DIY subs. And one only need to look at the two drivers to know they're not in the same league, regardless of price. This looks like a quality driver with a great price, but to try to put it on the same level as the LMS 5400 is an invitation to be ridiculed.

Go to this site for fact based data and judge for yourself, they both are there with measurements.
http://www.data-bass.com/data?page=systems&col=drivers&type=0&sort=desc&mfr=8


I'm putting my SI 18" D2 in a corner box as a 2nd subwoofer, a great value priced driver.
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post #13 of 36
1/19/13 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by javanpohl View Post

This looks like a quality driver with a great price, but to try to put it on the same level as the LMS 5400 is an invitation to be ridiculed.

At this point, I'd ridicule anyone who chose one LMS instead of four SIs
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post #14 of 36
1/19/13 at 8:12am
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Originally Posted by Brad Horstkotte View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by javanpohl View Post

This looks like a quality driver with a great price, but to try to put it on the same level as the LMS 5400 is an invitation to be ridiculed.

At this point, I'd ridicule anyone who chose one LMS instead of four SIs

+1
Put those 4 sealed boxes at either wall midpoints or corners and flat freq resp for multiple seating positions, all for price of 1 LMS sub.....


Sent from my 32GB iPhone4 using Tapatalk
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post #15 of 36
1/19/13 at 8:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by javanpohl View Post

"Welcome to DIY"? Those are both DIY subs. And one only need to look at the two drivers to know they're not in the same league, regardless of price. This looks like a quality driver with a great price, but to try to put it on the same level as the LMS 5400 is an invitation to be ridiculed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Horstkotte View Post

At this point, I'd ridicule anyone who chose one LMS instead of four SIs

I think it's fair to say that these subs serve totally different masters. If you have a large room and larger, multiple, boxes aren't an issue then yes you may be better served with the SI 18". If you are in a smaller room and don't have placement nor size flexibility you are better off with the LMS.

Both scenarios assume you want quality and output.
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post #16 of 36
1/19/13 at 8:40am
Thread Starter 
Unless you only need one subwoofer and don't need the full output of an LMS, as might be the case in a smaller room. The SI will get you within 6db of the LMS across the board with an automatic savings of $800. Since a decent amp and enclosure costs about $500, you're talking $700 vs. $1,500 which is a big difference - but of course the LMS requires more amp than $400 will buy, so the cost of a 'proper' LMS built goes up even higher. A dual-opposed SI build in a (smaller) box with beefy amplification will also match a single LMS, with a savings of $600 and taking up marginally more space.
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Originally Posted by Jinjuku View Post


I think it's fair to say that these subs serve totally different masters. If you have a large room and larger, multiple, boxes aren't an issue then yes you may be better served with the SI 18". If you are in a smaller room and don't have placement nor size flexibility you are better off with the LMS.

Both scenarios assume you want quality and output.
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post #17 of 36
1/19/13 at 9:20am
Yep, it's a no brainer if you have the space which is why I bought 8 of the si drivers. I couldn't have come close to buying 2 lms drivers for what I paid for 8 si's. Also I won't have to roll the dice and buy a clone amp like I would the lms.
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post #18 of 36
1/19/13 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by imagic View Post

Unless you only need one subwoofer and don't need the full output of an LMS, as might be the case in a smaller room. The SI will get you within 6db of the LMS across the board with an automatic savings of $800. Since a decent amp and enclosure costs about $500, you're talking $700 vs. $1,500 which is a big difference - but of course the LMS requires more amp than $400 will buy, so the cost of a 'proper' LMS built goes up even higher. A dual-opposed SI build in a (smaller) box with beefy amplification will also match a single LMS, with a savings of $600 and taking up marginally more space.

Agreed, if you can get two SI's in a single enclosure (dual opposed or otherwise) in the neighborhood of size of a sealed LMS. A 6dB difference across $700-800 may not be that bad actually smile.gif
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post #19 of 36
1/19/13 at 6:58pm
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Originally Posted by carp View Post

Yep, it's a no brainer if you have the space which is why I bought 8 of the si drivers. I couldn't have come close to buying 2 lms drivers for what I paid for 8 si's. Also I won't have to roll the dice and buy a clone amp like I would the lms.

It's funny. When I first decided on going with my LMS-U pair it was because thought I was space limited.

Here is my current setup. The LMS-U's fit comfortably between my center channel and mains.



I decided to get creative and find more space for bass.

I've been contemplating a few different designs, but here is my current plan. What do you guys think? And yes, this sketchup is (for the most part) to scale.

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post #20 of 36
1/19/13 at 7:07pm
WOW. I love that idea! Is that a 2.35:1 screen? I've still got the 16:9 because all I watch is a lot of TV sports and an occasional movie. My entire HT system is really based on about 10 songs from various concert DVDs.
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post #21 of 36
1/19/13 at 7:13pm
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Originally Posted by SeaNile View Post

WOW. I love that idea! Is that a 2.35:1 screen? I've still got the 16:9 because all I watch is a lot of TV sports and an occasional movie. My entire HT system is really based on about 10 songs from various concert DVDs.

Yes, 2.35:1.

It's a looker, but if I could do it over I would have went with 16:9.
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post #22 of 36
1/20/13 at 5:15am
popalock..... why would you have gone with 16:9?
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post #23 of 36
1/20/13 at 5:36am
Thread Starter 
Popalock - I'm taking a random guess... that's like having over 100 'regular' subwoofers in one room. Are you using an anamorphic lens with your Scope screen? Is 16:9 more appealing because of TV? I can see wanting HD sports & video games to take up the whole screen & living with letterbox for movies.
Edited by imagic - 1/20/13 at 6:51am
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post #24 of 36
1/20/13 at 7:03am
Wow...this is so tempting.

I currently have 4 sealed MFW-15 in a 14x23x7 room.

If adding two more sealed SI-18, am I overdoing it for this small room?

What sealed size for the SI-18?
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post #25 of 36
1/20/13 at 7:06am
Austin, I don't think I've seen your room before, it looks awesome!! What size is that screen? I'm surprised that you wish you had a 16:9 screen, I love having a 2:35:1 screen. Do you have masking panels? If not that would make a huge difference.

As far as your sub design and placement I think you are going to set the standard for limitless, effortless bass and you will be one of the few avs guys that will never want to upgrade again.
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post #26 of 36
1/20/13 at 8:55am
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Originally Posted by fschris View Post

popalock..... why would you have gone with 16:9?

Turns out about 85% of the content I watch is 16:9. It's a bit irritating having my auto lens shift shrink the screen down to fit my scope screen when I have people over to watch the fights or football.

Quote:
Originally Posted by imagic View Post

Popalock - I'm taking a random guess... that's like having over 100 'regular' subwoofers in one room. Are you using an anamorphic lens with your Scope screen? Is 16:9 more appealing because of TV? I can see wanting HD sports & video games to take up the whole screen & living with letterbox for movies.

Yeah, this. Not every movie is 2.35:1. I remember I was beyond excited to watch Avengers at home... It was just a huge let down when it was 16:9.

Also, everyonce in a while a movie like Tron comes along with it's (almost near) constant aspect ratio shifting through the entire movie. If I would have had a 16:9 screen, when the scenes shifted from 16:9 to 2.35:1, I would have barely noticed the black bars on the top and bottom of my screen. Where as, with a CIH screen and auto lens shift, my projector (Panny AE7000) was constantly zooming in and out to accomodate the aspect ratios.

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Originally Posted by carp View Post

Austin, I don't think I've seen your room before, it looks awesome!! What size is that screen? I'm surprised that you wish you had a 16:9 screen, I love having a 2:35:1 screen. Do you have masking panels? If not that would make a huge difference.

Thanks bro! It's a 130" screen, but I believe it shrinks down to about 106" when watching 16:9 content. I believe I could have bought a 136" 16:9 and still have about the same size for 2.35:1 content.

Don't get me wrong. It's a real crowd pleaser when we pop in a 2.35:1 movie and it totally fills the screen. I love it... But, I personally think having bars on the top&bottom vs on the sides is less intrusive to the experience.

No masking panels at the moment, but I do have some plans to fabricate some in the near future. Hopefully it will help.

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Originally Posted by carp View Post

As far as your sub design and placement I think you are going to set the standard for limitless, effortless bass and you will be one of the few avs guys that will never want to upgrade again.

That is the goal. In my opinion, that's really all that us bassheads can ever truly ask for, ya know?
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post #27 of 36
1/20/13 at 3:55pm
Yup. Although very cool, imo using a 2.35 screen is just shooting yourself in the foot.
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post #28 of 36
1/20/13 at 4:10pm
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Originally Posted by Scott Simonian View Post

Yup. Although very cool, imo using a 2.35 screen is just shooting yourself in the foot.

No doubt...

It's cool to see people's face when they first see the 2.35:1 screen. Then we turn the game on and it's always followed up by, "Man, what's with those black bars on the sides of your screen?"

lol...
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post #29 of 36
1/20/13 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Simonian View Post

Yup. Although very cool, imo using a 2.35 screen is just shooting yourself in the foot.

It depends. In my room I'm height limited more than width limited on the front wall so I'm already as big as I can go for 16:9. Also, I really don't think I'd want much bigger than my 124" size for 16:9. It's plenty tall from my 13.5 feet back lp.

Also I love the fact that when its movie time my screen goes to 158", its really impressive. I use my screen for everyday tv watching and I think it would suck to have movies be smaller than sportscenter.
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post #30 of 36
1/20/13 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by popalock View Post

No doubt...

It's cool to see people's face when they first see the 2.35:1 screen. Then we turn the game on and it's always followed up by, "Man, what's with those black bars on the sides of your screen?"

lol...

Panels will take care of that, I've never had that question no one ever notices.

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