Starter IB Project

[hotwheels]

My wife is an HT fan. She wants a sub and prefers a $1600 B&WASW750. I think I can build something or buy a kit for less and started looking and found kits from various places (PE etc...) then was led to the Cult IB site and it looks good to me. I have the necessary wood working tools and enough skills to build the cabinets for IB or a regular box.

Before doing the living room HT/music setup I plan to put some IB in my home office (13x13) and see how I like it there. I listen to music while I work, so it is a good investment for me. I plan to put them in the ceiling. I am thinking of 2 12" Avalanche if they still have them on sale, but are there others I should consider for my starter IB project?
Thanks,
Hotwheels

[Paul H]

Our resident sub guru Thomas will likely jump in here, but I'd first note that bigger is definitely better - use 15" drivers rather than 12's unless you have space constraints. They cost only marginally more and within the same brand/type/etc generally 1 - 15" will give the same output as 2-12".

Paul

[Paul H]

Oh, and with a $1600 budget for diy you can get incredible bass.

Have fun,

Paul

[ThomasW]

Even in a small room a pair of 12"s probably won't cut it unless you only listen to chamber music. A pair of 15"s are your best bet.

Have you followed the Cult recommendations and tested the placement options?

[hotwheels]

Two 15"s uh, you all are serious about this stuff. I am game for that for the starter project. The extra cost for the 15 vs 12 should be ok. I will have to review the Cult recommendations for placement. Any suggestions on the 15 drivers?

[ThomasW]

If you're in a hurry to buy there are a couple of options, both oddly enough cost the same. Both of these options are pretty high-end drivers.

SoundSplinter.com has RL-p 15"s that are $235 ea. These are made by TC-Sounds

For $400 + shipping John J at Acoustic Elegance sells a 4 pack of his IB15"s. These are closeout drivers designed by Nick of Lambda Acoustics

For a more budget conscious project, Parts Express has the Dayton IB15"s for $125ea, occasionally they are on the 'deal-of-the-day' special for $99ea.

All this info and more is posted on the 'Steals and Deals' link at the top of the main page on the Cult forum.

Another option is to wait for the new Atlas 15"s, so far there's no ETA for them.