Potential subwoofer question

[Early B.]

Looking to build an inexpensive subwoofer for a 2-channel system. Only needs to go down to the low 30's. Considering this woofer: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-335&scqty=1

...in an approximately 1 c.f. ported, rectangular box (dimensions will be 20" x 16" x 8.75") with 2 ports @ 1 5/8" diameter x 6". Will this woofer meet the challenge? The specs of the woofer are provided on the link.

Thanks.

[ward91]

subwoofers often have a higher power rating than the rest of the system due to a mixture of things? the human ears poor hearing of the lower frequencys and the fact that there are usualy more full range dynamic speakers (floorstanders, bookshelfs..) so say your floorstanders are 100wrms each you sould aim for a sub at least 150wrms, i held a forum of this kind and it went on and on about how powerfull i needed my sub, my home cinema is 80wrms x 6 they one guy said that its recomended that my sub is as powerful as the whole system added together so 80 x 6 = 480wrms. my sub can handle that power (its 550wrms) but i dont have a amp that powerfull. im running at about 100wrms at the minute it does distort more noticebly, so i need a bigger amp to power my sub. it must distort alot as in the lower frequencys you can get away with about 10% carnt you ??

hope it helps

cheers

[unc2701]

Probably not. The efficiency for that one in the subwoofer range is sub 80db, and the Fs of 35 means that you're looking at mid-low 40's, best case. You'll probably need an 8 inch woofer or a plate amp that will let you put some boost on the lower frequencies that you want to hit.

Can't comment on the box (no modeling software on this comp), but if you plug the numbers into Unibox, you can get an idea of what kind of response you'll get.

[tryrrthg]

Get a Dayton 10" High Fidelity (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-460&ctab=14#Tabs) driver and put it in a 1 cubic foot box. no ports needed, room gain should get you below 30hz.

[maxima]

Hi Early,

Have you considered this 6.5" driver from Ascendant Audio? It looks like a smoking deal for $35.
http://www.ascendantaudio.com/poly_6.5_page.html

I built a friend a home theater sub out of an AA Atlas 15 and results were mind blowing for the money spent.

[Polkersince85]

I wonder how those AA woofers would work with a couple of 12in Polk PR's. Get the weight right on the PR and it might make a nice stereo pair.

[unc2701]

Get a Dayton 10" High Fidelity (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-460&ctab=14#Tabs) driver and put it in a 1 cubic foot box. no ports needed, room gain should get you below 30hz.


....and stuff the **** of out of it or you might need a little bigger than 1 CF, but yeah, that'd be a good choice. For lower volume, but punchier bass, madisound has the Seas driver in my signature for about the same cost. Similiar response, but lower moving mass.

[michael_w]

I think that AA mid you linked to is more for an actual speaker instead of a sub. If you wanted to go the AA route maybe the assassin 8 would be good at $45. It's tough to beat the $18.15 of the dayton, but I have a feeling it just won't be worth it...

[tryrrthg]

....and stuff the **** of out of it or you might need a little bigger than 1 CF, but yeah, that'd be a good choice. For lower volume, but punchier bass, madisound has the Seas driver in my signature for about the same cost. Similiar response, but lower moving mass.
Yeah, I didn't get to model it, F'ing PE doesn't have the Sd listed on their website. I just said 1 cu ft because that's what he listed in his first post...

[maxima]

Hi Michael,

I think you are kind of right on this. The 8" Assassin would definitely move more air with its slightly higher excursion and more cone area. It has more than double the cone area and a higher motor strength but there are also some downsides to the Assassin in this application. You would give up alot of sensitivity (nearly 5db), which would require about 3.5x as much power to obtain the same volume level. The drivers share the same Fs. The 6.5" is useable in a smaller box. The fact that the 6.5" is suitable for use in an infinite baffle application tells me it is suitable for use as a small subwoofer. The question for Early would be how much output is he looking for and how large is the area he is trying to fill.

Eric