A few subwoofer questions..

[eurotuner 0]

So i've had a decent home theater setup for a while now and i'd like to upgrade my sub first then look into new speakers & a reciever and what not if the sub overpowers them (Backwards I know...)

I'd like to go with a 15" SSA Icon but i'm not sure about powering it. I don't really have a strict budget but I don't wanna go crazy buying the most expensive thing out there. I just want something that'll give the sub some good clean power.

I know a lot of ppl use plate amps but I'm not 100% sure how they hook up... Like do you just connect the sub as you would to a car amp then run a normal indoor subwoofer cable from the amp to the reciever? Or am i just totally clueless?

Thanks guys!

[johnecon2001 82]

Just like you said for hook up. The only thing that's different is the amp gets embedded in the box. And you plug it into 120VAC instead of a car battery.

[denalilvr 0]

btw great choice in sub for home use, someone did a review on it for his home and 1 of his friends said when they were watching jurasic park his insides felt funny..lol

[eurotuner 0]

Just like you said for hook up. The only thing that's different is the amp gets embedded in the box. And you plug it into 120VAC instead of a car battery.

Sweet thanks for the quick response. That'll be easy... Do you guys have any suggestions for an amp though? Coming from the car audio world i'm basically clueless on good plate amps

Oh & denalilvr.... That's what I like to hear lol. I want my insides to feel funny!

[Robert_J 0]

Do you guys have any suggestions for an amp though? Coming from the car audio world i'm basically clueless on good plate amps

Parts Express, Madisound, O Audio, Rythmik Audio and Elemental Designs are all sources of good plate amps. Depending on the design, I would recommend a pro amp. I run a Behringer EP-2500 to power my 15" TC-3000's.

I want my insides to feel funny!

We do this every day at the different home theater forums I frequent. The biggest issue is budget and how much real estate you are willing to give up. Don't expect gut wrenching bass from a .5 cubic foot box. Home theater requires much larger boxes to get the most out of them (Hoffman's Iron Law). You can build it to look like furniture. More furniture. But most just go for very large and hope it blends into the room - link. Here are some other designs.

Now that you have an idea of what sizes you are dealing with, get a tape measure and find out how much space you can give up. Don't forget to measure vertically as well. Sonosubs take up less floor space but can go as high as 8 feet sometimes. Finally, what is your budget for driver, amp and construction?

Depending on the room, you may not even have to give up any floor space. Can you go with an IB sub - link?

Finally, just a pic of some good looking DIY speakers - link.

-Robert

[JimJ 11]

In a parallel to what Robert said, also don't forget that power requirements can be very different in a home. Because you can make the enclosure basically however large you want, you often times don't need to run the driver up to its RMS rating for excellent results, making amplifier selection easier on your wallet.

I'd look into the IB route as well, the Icon that I've heard IB in a car sounded amazing, so I can only imagine what one or more would sound like at home

[eurotuner 0]

Thanks for all the info Robert.. I'll look more into pro amps, I've never read much about them before so I'll have to do some research

I don't expect gut wrenching bass from a .5 cubic foot box.. I realized what the requirements were before deciding to do the project....I Just need some help with the details. Budget and space are not an issue though.

I'd really like to do an IB but I just don't think there's any good way to do it for my living room. I think a Sonosub would be best for the place I want to put the speaker. (I have 12' ceilings) But I have never heard one. Do you guys have much experience with Sonosub boxes?

Also, how much power would you throw at a 15" Icon? Usually I overpower most subs slightly for cars...

[JimJ 11]

Given a slightly larger enclosure size than what you'd use in a vehicle, you really don't need that much power at all. Definitely under a kW. In IB I thought 500W is plenty, so maybe 750W at most...

Ideally you shouldn't notice a difference between the Sonotube enclosure and a traditional all-MDF one, the cylindrical shape itself does help with bracing and keeping things rigid somewhat...

[eurotuner 0]

Given a slightly larger enclosure size than what you'd use in a vehicle, you really don't need that much power at all. Definitely under a kW. In IB I thought 500W is plenty, so maybe 750W at most...

Ideally you shouldn't notice a difference between the Sonotube enclosure and a traditional all-MDF one, the cylindrical shape itself does help with bracing and keeping things rigid somewhat...

Hmm okay, thanks for the info Jim. I'll see if I can find something around 600W then... I'm gonna start researching sonotubes too. I'm sure i'll end up coming back here asking for help with a design from the experts tho lol

[Ga foo 88 0]

If i had 12 foot ceilings id have a sonotube tl, if i were only smart enough to model one up.

[Robert_J 0]

Scroll through the AVS links I gave you. I did link to specific postings but that's a thread that is close to 20 pages of completed projects. Dozens of sonosub examples. Desiging one is just like designing a normal enclosure. Except the formula to find the enclosure volume is pi*r^2*height. Something you should have learned in 10th grade geometry.

As for needing 500 or 750w for an IB, that may be too much depending on what frequency you are playing. The Fi Car Audio IB needs 500 to 600w to reach xmax at 20hz (link). If you were going to run without a subsonic filter and shoot for the single digit reponse, I wouldn't push more than 300 per driver. The EP-2500 has been measured at 800w/channel at 20hz at 2 ohms. That's my plan to power four 18" Fi/TC Sounds franken IB subs.

-Robert