[Ryanweather]

First of all, wow, never thought I'd be thinking about a DYI subwoofer, but here I am. My wife gave me approval to spend some money on my home theater (she hates it, but knows I love it), soI've been reading as much as I can about subwoofers over the last couple of days and it sounds like a dyi sub offers more bang for the buck.

My question is, for a 1500 cu ft room in a rectangle 20x10x7.5 with 120" screen on 10ft wall, two rows of seating with my prime spot about midday down the room at ~9.5'
1) would I be better off buying an outlaw or HSU subwoofer or building my own?
2) Is it very difficult?
3) Can you recommend 1 or a pair of subs I should do (assuming you recommend dyi)?

Very much would like a sub that hits 20hz or lower...not sure why, just think that would be cool. Would really like to feel the sound effects from things like the hobbit and such. Also, I enjoy playing Halo and would love to feel it more when some guy sneaks up and assassinates me (happens quite frequently...what, never said I was good!). I think I can get my wife to let me spend around $800. I hear people mentioning two subs are way better than one...would that be true for my space? No neighbors and I really want that low, deep bass...badly.

Currently I'm using a dayton 1200. Not sure how low it hits, but I think it sounds pretty good in the corner. Would I notice a huge difference between that and a dyi sub or hsu or something?

I don't have much experience building things, but do enjoy the challenge, and I'm pretty good at fixing cars and do an okay job with projects around the house (with blemishes for sure). Any feedback or help would be much appreciated. Thank you kindly in advance!

-Sam

 

[asarose247]

while you can, go as big as budget allows (plus a bit more if you can beg it),
that room wants 2 subs and maybe an Inuke3000DSP
with the right kit, DIY ROI beats most commercial stuff wrt to price/value/DAMN!/factors/ratios
i'm no knows what i'm talking about guy, but for all I've read here,
you will probably get recommendations for a marty variant of even simpler (marty kits discontinued) a
Stonehenge.
my experience with an" 88 Special" as a kit was
the right stuff, right now, no doubt
keep reading/ learning
you'll get plenty of support from the group here,
you won't fail to get OH WOW results

 

[nwf477]

If you went with DIY and depending on if you decided to have just one and maybe a second later on I would suggest this:
one DIYsoundgroup 4cu.ft. sealed enclosure 120.
one Stereo Integrity HT18D2 174 shipped
one Behringer Inuke nu3000 200 shipped
misc., wire connectors glue paint etc.100?
I am suggesting the 3000 only if you decide to have the option of going with a second later on otherwise a nu1000.
If you want to go lower than 20hz look at this page:

http://www.data-bass.com/data?page=systems

then scroll down to the DIY SI HT18D2 how does 12.5 sound?
total cost roughly 600 and lets just say you wanted to build another you could have 2 18"subs with over 1000wpc for under 1000. I went with a vented enclosure and I will have around 1150-1200 total for both of mine.

 

[muzz]

iNuke3KDSP= 279
HT18x2=348
MDF/clamps/glue/speakons/cabling= ~200

Bangin'

 

[nwf477]

iNuke3KDSP= 279
HT18x2=348
MDF/clamps/glue/speakons/cabling= ~200

Bangin'

If you look and ask you can get the 3000DSP between 250-260. I bought mine from SameDay Music it was listed for 279 but I asked and got it for 259.

 

[smcmillan2]

iNuke3KDSP= 279
HT18x2=348
MDF/clamps/glue/speakons/cabling= ~200

Bangin'

^^ This.

See http://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/1648673-martysub-faq.html for cut sheets, tips, tricks and other info.

 

[Ryanweather]

iNuke3KDSP= 279
HT18x2=348
MDF/clamps/glue/speakons/cabling= ~200

Bangin'

Awesome, now I'm getting excited. How much for the wood? Do you buy a kit or cut it yourself? My dad is giving me a hand-me-down table saw, would probably have to buy a router too (but need to anyways since I'm flipping my door that opens into my theater room) and some clamps, but at Harbor Freight this should all be relatively inexpensive.

 

[nwf477]

if you buy the wood roughly 40.00 a sheet so maybe 2 sheets you will save even more. The Marty Cube needs 1.25 sheets.

 

[asarose247]

get into the marty FAQ thread and one other I can'r remember the name right now but you can ask chalugadp, he'll do you right . . .

 

[muzz]

get into the marty FAQ thread and one other I can'r remember the name right now but you can ask chalugadp, he'll do you right . . .

The Johnny Sub?
Between the Cube and Mini in size.

Whatever size he wants, it'll be there...and perform.

 

[muzz]

Awesome, now I'm getting excited. How much for the wood? Do you buy a kit or cut it yourself? My dad is giving me a hand-me-down table saw, would probably have to buy a router too (but need to anyways since I'm flipping my door that opens into my theater room) and some clamps, but at Harbor Freight this should all be relatively inexpensive.

You can buy sub kits if you want at DIYSG or Parts express if you want(you still have to put together the flat packs), but you can build them much cheaper if you have a FEW tools and time.
What size subs do you want, how much room can you allot to the subs, and do you have multiple locations to put them in your room?

 

[asarose247]

the answer is D: All of the above
now aren't you glad you asked?....

 

[chalugadp]

Two Minimarty will crush that room with wall shaking bass. Two martycubes will probably get you what you want and are smaller.

 

[nwf477]

His room is smaller than mine I have 1794cu.ft. One M/C can be heard pretty clearly outside doing yard work Monday I order the second 18 my house will never be the same.

 

[chalugadp]

His room is smaller than mine I have 1794cu.ft. One M/C can be heard pretty clearly outside doing yard work Monday I order the second 18 my house will never be the same.

It's all relative. Jbrown has the same size room and he had four equivalent full martys. Now hes putting six sealed 18 in there. The nice thing about having multiple subs is smoothing response. I have plus or minus 2dbs response with my four subs. Two would give plenty of spl but response and tactile feel are greatly helped with sub 3 and 4 .

 

[Ryanweather]

You can buy sub kits if you want at DIYSG or Parts express if you want(you still have to put together the flat packs), but you can build them much cheaper if you have a FEW tools and time.
What size subs do you want, how much room can you allot to the subs, and do you have multiple locations to put them in your room?

The bottom of my screen is 22.5" off the floor. My main channel is mounted above the screen, which I find works better with two row seating, so anything below the screen has to be shorter than 22.5". The other option is in the back of the room, which has about 4' of space to the back wall by 8' from side wall to side wall by the ceiling height of 7.5'. Not sure if subs in the rear will have as much impact to the first row of seats, where I like to sit. My dayton 1200 right now is in the front left corner and fits nicely below the bottom of the screen.

Will the dayton kits hit 20hz? All I saw was 4 cu ft...that seems small compared to the martysubs.

I don't care about the size as long as they hit 20hz or lower with some authority.

 

[LTD02]

hi ryan, some folks have shared their experience here:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-d...-large-ported-dayton-ho18-s.html#post23711347


at this point, there are countless different form factors (tall, narrow, wide, ports up down sideways, etc.).
the 3000dsp/ht18/martysub is still about as good as one can do. a pair will put you deep into the 1% off home bass power.

 

[Ryanweather]

Two Minimarty will crush that room with wall shaking bass. Two martycubes will probably get you what you want and are smaller.

When you say "crush" do you mean low frequency or spl? Sorry, new to this and just trying to understand. I definitely want that "crush" feeling though.

Also, I do have a wife and a younger kid, so my loud movie viewing will be handled when their away (which is frequently since I work mornings and have a few hours before they get home from school–wife is a teacher). However, when they are home, my son loves to play the occasional video game with me, but he doesn't like it too loud.

Do these subs also allow for quieter viewing? If not, I'll just unplug them...

 

[nwf477]

It's all relative. Jbrown has the same size room and he had four equivalent full martys. Now hes putting six sealed 18 in there. The nice thing about having multiple subs is smoothing response. I have plus or minus 2dbs response with my four subs. Two would give plenty of spl but response and tactile feel are greatly helped with sub 3 and 4 .

I wish I was like you guys who needs furniture when you can have subs and call them furniture. Some call them end tables some coffee others have a sub wall some in corners some mounted in the floor wall what is next lets design an enclosure using the house as the cabinet.

 

[muzz]

The bottom of my screen is 22.5" off the floor. My main channel is mounted above the screen, which I find works better with two row seating, so anything below the screen has to be shorter than 22.5". The other option is in the back of the room, which has about 4' of space to the back wall by 8' from side wall to side wall by the ceiling height of 7.5'. Not sure if subs in the rear will have as much impact to the first row of seats, where I like to sit. My dayton 1200 right now is in the front left corner and fits nicely below the bottom of the screen.

Will the dayton kits hit 20hz? All I saw was 4 cu ft...that seems small compared to the martysubs.

I don't care about the size as long as they hit 20hz or lower with some authority.

You can shape the sub any way you want, we just need to figure out the dimensions for the actual DRIVER/SUB you want to use.... it can be low and skinny, long and fat , etc... it's the Volume and port area that matter in a ported sub.
Alot of kits will hit 20hz, the SI HT18 would rock 90% of households beyond want, multiple kits rattle the average house pretty badly.