I'm just about wrapped up with my latest audio project for the theater room and have been considering what to do next. I built some line arrays for our living room and have been using them for about 1.5 years. They are great and we use them almost every day, but I'm been craving a little more bass. I have a couple of sealed LMS 5400s in the HT room so even with 18 woofers in the arrays they simply can't compete with the HT experience.
The arrays are used 95% of the time for music, but on some occasions we will throw in a movie. I'd be happy with extension down 25hz if necessary to satisfy the very high WAF I have. I'll take what I can get considering how lucky I was when she let me build and place these arrays in the living room. In order to keep up with the arrays I'd like to have at least 120db on hand in the range of 25-60Hz. 125db and extension to 20hz would be secondary goals. Here are some ideas so far:
1. Buy a medium sized chest of drawers that I can completely gut and install a hidden sub internally. Externally it would look like a normal piece of furniture, but the drawers couldn't be used. Think something that looks like this.
- Cons: probably not enough sub volume to satisfy design goals
2. Buy 4 IB318 subs and install an IB in the ceiling. Unfortunately our homes are close enough to neighbors this might be a problem. I have plenty of room in the attic to create a box around them to help dampen the sound, but the material and size of this would surely be obnoxiously large.
- Cons: most expensive option for drivers and possibly materials
3. Build one of the many horn sub designs. I've been reading about quite a few different options and this is probably what interests me the most.
- Cons: must be installed in ceiling and a 2'x3' hole in the ceiling is not an option
What do you guys think I should do? Could I combine options 1 & 3 and see if there is a small enough horn to fit inside a chest that would still satisfy my design requirements?
I appreciate any feedback.
The arrays are used 95% of the time for music, but on some occasions we will throw in a movie. I'd be happy with extension down 25hz if necessary to satisfy the very high WAF I have. I'll take what I can get considering how lucky I was when she let me build and place these arrays in the living room. In order to keep up with the arrays I'd like to have at least 120db on hand in the range of 25-60Hz. 125db and extension to 20hz would be secondary goals. Here are some ideas so far:
1. Buy a medium sized chest of drawers that I can completely gut and install a hidden sub internally. Externally it would look like a normal piece of furniture, but the drawers couldn't be used. Think something that looks like this.
- Cons: probably not enough sub volume to satisfy design goals
2. Buy 4 IB318 subs and install an IB in the ceiling. Unfortunately our homes are close enough to neighbors this might be a problem. I have plenty of room in the attic to create a box around them to help dampen the sound, but the material and size of this would surely be obnoxiously large.
- Cons: most expensive option for drivers and possibly materials
3. Build one of the many horn sub designs. I've been reading about quite a few different options and this is probably what interests me the most.
- Cons: must be installed in ceiling and a 2'x3' hole in the ceiling is not an option
What do you guys think I should do? Could I combine options 1 & 3 and see if there is a small enough horn to fit inside a chest that would still satisfy my design requirements?
I appreciate any feedback.
