HSU STF-2 vs DIY

[nayr]

I was rather set on a B&W ASW-600 to go with my 601 speakers, but after going down to demo one I was less then impressed. My friend's cheaper HSU STF-2 sounds better IMO.

So after looking around a while and stumbling upon some peoples home-built subwoofers, I got it in my head to build my own.. $200 12" Adire Shiva and $200 250watt amp from www.creativesound.ca and I can build a sealed beast that should best my friends 10" ported HSU right? Especially since this will be 100% for music and not home theatre. With the driver, amp, building materials, and time taken into consideration, I'm lookin at about the same cost or a bit cheaper then the STF-2.

Well it's not so simple.. after doing some calculations the results seem less then steller:



The HSU sub goes down to 25Hz +- 2db. Is there something I'm missing or not taking account here? I'm open to suggestions but I definitly want to be able to ship within Canada, which rules out SVS or anything from partsexpress.com

[nayr]

Since I am planning to use this 100% for music, a sealed box should provide deeper bass extention and less distortion then a ported box would, albeit at lower maximum pressure levels.

From reply's on other forums the HSU has some equalization done within the amp that flattens the response curve down to about 25hz. As far as I understand the same thing would easily be possible for my driver/box, however finding an amp within my price range that does this might not be.

I am looking to spend about $500 total for the amp and driver. The cheapest amp on CSS that has an adjustable equilizer is $550 in and of itself. :cry:

If anybody has any tips, suggestions, or recommendations I'm more then open. Thanks in advance

[ThomasW]

The EQ in low buck plate amps is basically useless. Everyone needs a Behringer DSP1124P to EQ their subs.

If you can live with a fan cooled pro-sound amp there are some nice ones for attractive prices. Start buy googling for a Nady XA-900

BTW, I have some new-in-box older version Shiva and Tempests for sale if you're interested. $75US for a Shiva, $100US for a Tempest.

[nayr]

If I use a pro amp to power my subwoofer, I also require an external crossover? Also regarding the Behringer.. would I run the pre-out from my amp into this, and then from the Behringer to my subwoofer amp? Thanks for the reply btw, it's very appreciated.

[Dustin B]

Hopefully your receiver can handle the crossover, as the crossovers in most plate amps are just as useless as the EQ features. Adire HS series plate amps being one exception on the crossover front.

Possibly look for a used Paradigm X-30 online. Or hopefully Thomas or Jon will have a better suggestion.

For the 1124, you'd run your preamp signal to it, then from the 1124 to the amp that will power your sub.

[nayr]

I have a Rotel RA-02 which, keeping in mind my budget, is suprising enough that it has pre-outs on a 2 channel integrated amp, let alone a crossover for a sub :P

A high quality sub amp is definitly out of my budget. I could probably manage the $200 Shiva 12" , $200 CSS plate amp and the $150 equalizer + building materials.. now the question is will my results be significantly better then the $550 10" HSU subwoofer which would be cheaper with the added costs of the eq 8O

I might just do it for the fun of building it myself too however

[PMazz]

For a sub strictly for music (sorry Tom) I would build it just as you've shown. Room gain will give you the boost in those lower freqs that you're looking for w/o being boomy. Most music has very little info below ~30-40 Hz anyway.

Pete

[ThomasW]

For music only I'd build a box with a Qtc of 0.5.

Depending on the size of the room, placement in the room and the acoustical properities of the room, one may get the needed/wanted gain from it.

I've yet to hear a sub that didn't benefit from the smoothing that something like the Behringer can provide. They're not just for generating boost....:wink:

[Scott Simonian]

Thomas, how many of those Tempests do you have?

[ThomasW]

Jon has 2 in storage in Calif.