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What really makes for a good sub?

post #1 of 9
2/5/07 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
I have been reading some of the posts here....and it seems when it comes to comparing subwoofers..it all comes down to xmax and FS's.... surely there must be something more to it than just that...

I remember back in the mid 90's I had a pro logic setup with 2 eminince 15 in. subs with an xmax of 5mm and fs of 32, powered by a Yamaha Natural Sound 800 watt amp that used to blow my socks off...the impact those subs used to produce made my chest hurt.....

Now it's all about more x-max....and lower fs..have we really come that far....or is it just a lot of mash potatoes on top of more mashed potatoes..with very little gravy?

Now I am in the process of installing my 4 tempests Ib....powered by a 2600 watt amp.....for a 250 square foot room..... and my wife tells me I am going overboard.... I tell her she doesn't know what she is talking about.... while I secretly hotmelt all her fine crystal collection in her display cabinet..
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post #2 of 9
2/6/07 at 7:29am
What makes a good sub?

DISPLACEMENT!

Impact is a characteristic of midbass ~50hz. Displacement can bring you down into the subsonic realm where your house starts to perform with the rest of your system. Your quad-tempest will give you a whole new idea experience on what bass can do.
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post #3 of 9
2/6/07 at 6:11pm
Subs and cars motors are the same as in

There is no replacement for displacement. If you want power, you gotta have the cubes.

And for low tones, think about a humongous V8 throb versus the whine of a high revving ricer.
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post #4 of 9
2/6/07 at 7:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanaris View Post

.... while I secretly hotmelt all her fine crystal collection in her display cabinet..

Oooh, you are an evil man. And when I say evil, I mean EEEvile.

This is a good thread. I hope some of the guru's chime in with thoughtful responses. I have a friend who has a vintage pair of Klipsch corner horns in his tiny apartment and the bass output from those monsters thumps you hard in the chest. However, I don't know how low they go or at what db levels they hold steady. I'd love to hear an IB or LLT sonosub. I'm curious what the comparisons will sound like for such subs compared to the scenerio you presented.

Craigo
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post #5 of 9
2/6/07 at 7:55pm
What really makes a good sub?

When the wife say 'yes' to all of your requests.
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post #6 of 9
2/6/07 at 8:07pm
Thread Starter 
It's done...

I am toast when she goes to dust them..


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post #7 of 9
2/6/07 at 9:44pm
It depends. Do you want the best sound quality or the lowest hz reproduction? In my case I've done both. My music subs play music very well with super low distortion and a fast transient response. This is due to excellent drivers, PE RS 15" hifi, and the sealed design.

The HT sub I built using two RL-P 15's in a ported enclosure which is tuned to 16hz will reproduce sound down to say 12hz with room gain at a volume that is actually ridiculous. For music they're not as good as my sealed subs though.

Compromise is part of the game. Enough money however and you can have both superior music reproduction and a killer HT sub. Xmax on the PE drivers I'm using is 14mm. On the HT sub it's 24.4mm.

Take your pick.
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post #8 of 9
2/6/07 at 10:12pm
Right.
What good is displacement in audio if it sounds like a fart box?

What makes for a really good sub is a well thought-out design. Choosing the right driver for the right alignment and the right amount of power.

IE, choosing a RE 15" Hifi driver, placing it in a 2ft^3 and placing about 500 watts behind it will give you decent response down to 20hz without Eq...and an f3 in the mid 30's. but then you're at a Qtc of close to 1.0! YIKES. Transient response would be far from optimal. lose lose situation (if waf isn't a factor )

Take a high excursion driver like a Tc-3000 and place it in a 1ft^3 box. You have a decent amount of displacement but your qtc is again, ridiculously high. EQ would be a requirement to get any output down low...but then you would need tons of power to be able to boost those low frequencies..not an optimal design.
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post #9 of 9
2/6/07 at 10:15pm
It depends on the listener's preference for reproduction. Many do not prefer a low-distortion (especially w/o 2nd order dist.) since it can sound too dry and dead to them. Clean bass, especially from a synthesized source sounds strange to most, as they have been accustomed to hearing harmonics come with thier music.

Making a good sub is about knowing who your customer is (in general) and catering to them.
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