Unpowered sonosub?

[Nathan P]

How would a sonosub sound if powered by the amplifier in my reciever? I've been thinking about what to do, as I want bigger bass than my PSB alpha subsonic 1 (A good 10" sub, but small, don't get me wrong, I love PSB)

Thanks,
Nathan

[ThomasW]

Depends on the driver used in the sub and the power of the amp in the receiver.

[Nathan P]

I think it's 100 watts, it's a Yamaha RXV-995. The reason I'm asking is that for my dad to go for this it has to be pretty cheap.

[ThomasW]

100 watts isn't much for a sub. You can buy a 250 watt plate amp for about $100

[Nathan P]

Never mind then, if it's that cheap then it won't be a problem. What would be some good starting points for a basic sonosub? I'm thinking maybe 3' high max. All other options are open. but I probably won't want to exceed about $500

[ThomasW]

There are a 1/2 dozen or so sonatube sub threads just on the main page of this forum, and probably 2 dozen more in the archives. Have a look around and see what's there...

[Nathan P]

Well, the Subsonic 1 is only producing 65 watts, would it be more powerful if I hooked it up so the Reciever was powering it?

[ThomasW]

If you can bypass the amp in the subsonic then yes.

BUT... usually the amp built into a sub is matched to the power limits of the driver.

[Nathan P]

I've tried to find this but no luck. Are there any advantages to the sonosubs besides the enclosure being easily made and cheap? What are the disadvantages? I have access to a full woodworking shop so fabrication will not be a problem with almost any design.

[ThomasW]

There is no sonic difference between a tube sub and a properly build box sub. As one might expect tube subs are cheap, very lightweight, relatively quick and easy to build.

[Nathan P]

Okay then! Sounds like the only downside is trying to get veneer to curve around it nicely.

[ThomasW]

The tube is smooth in the inside (remember it's for casting concrete). As a result it has ridges on the outside so using a rigid veneer is problematic.

[Nathan P]

I thought that the outside just had the spiral pattern?

[ThomasW]

The spiral pattern is bumpy where the layers of paper used to make the tube overlap

[dyazdani]

It IS possible to get them smooth on the outside. I'm not sure what "type" people use for their sonosubs (concrete mold type?), but we have hundreds of them here at the plant that would be perfect (as they are not for concrete molds).

The bulk of them are 16" (ID I think) with around 1/2" to 5/8" wall thickness (we change this sometimes, not sure what we currently have). Pretty heavy though, about 95lbs or so for a 102" length.