Time To Run With The Big Boys

[Maceo23]

Greetings all, I've been a long time lurker, and I have to say that out of all the boards I have been frequenting, the people on here are by far the most informative and helpful. That being said, I was hoping to get some advise on my first diy project. I want to start with a subwoofer. I was looking into buying a rythmik kit, but was wondering if there was a better option out there without going to crazy. I'd like to spend in the neighborhood of $500 on a sub for music and movies. Any recomendations would be greatly appreciated. If I have to increase my budget to get what I'm looking for, then so be it.

[Gir]

You can definitely get what you're looking for with $500. I plan on building a sonosub with the Dayton RSS390-HF this summer, and I'm thinking of something around 400L with a 13Hz tune. I've heard of a lot of people having good success with this driver. It should only run me around $400 (hopefully).

[joecarrow]

Hi Maceo, welcome to HTGuide!

$500 is just a hair shy of what people often spend on a sub around here. A common combo is a Behringer Feedback Destroyer Pro ($100) with a Behringer EP1500 amp ($300), and a Soundsplinter RL-P15 ($300). That's $700 total, plus wood. Put that in a large ported box, and it's kind of the benchmark around here.

If you have a small room, or don't need to play very loud, then you could probably scale back the amp and the driver. The BFD is an equalizer that helps smooth out the in-room bass. It's sometimes not required, but usually helps make things more even.

[---k---]

Everyone has differnt opinions. The Rythmic people have some differnt opinions than here, so we don't talk about them. Very good subs, is it the best? I don't know. Lets leave it at that.

There are lots of choices for your budget. The RL-p15 for the price given above can certainly be a monster. You can also build a sub with say the TC-1000 driver. It is $179. There are a couple of other drivers from Parts Express which are a little cheaper.

I guess the questions I have are,
How firm is your budget?
Do you want sealed or ported?

[Maceo23]

Thanks for the replies. As far as my budget, its always negotiable if the improvement in performance is worth the extra $$$. I was originally thinking sealed, but ported is also fine. I would even build a sonotube. I know they are great or movies, but how do the perform with music? Also, I' concerned about fan noise, so I was thinking about the buttkicker amp.

[crackyflipside]

Rythmik would be a good choice if you have a very small place to put the sub and are OK with less SPL. I have a Rythmik and enjoy it as my office subwoofer.


Now, if you don't have a physical size limit...

The new SS18 or FiCarAudio Q18 in an EBS alignment will give you plenty of fun!

Slightly more than $500 but MUCH better than the Rythmik option in terms of performance and quality.

[Brendan_L]

I'd say your main priority is to determine what size you can live with.
As has been pointed out, if you want the most performance for your dollar, a large ported sub with a low tuning point will be most effective for movies.

The buttkicker is a great amp, I'm powering a TC-2000 15" with it.