Advice wanted

[Cdub]

Hey guys,

I'm a long time lurker and occasional poster here, and just wanted to get everyones opinion. My Dad is remodeling his house and is taking the opportunity to have a modest HT installed professionally. He doesn't know very much at all about HT and is using a "professional" installer. I offered to help my dad out with the subwoofer. The installer reccomends a Sonance subwoofer 10" 250 watts..or something like that for $1000. I have a Ascendant Audio Avalanche 15 sitting around, so I figured we could put it to good use. Just build a box and properly power it! Anyways he ran the idea by the installer and this was the installers reply in an email:

"I do NOT recommend using a different subwoofer. Different brands of audio equipment are “tuned” differently, and in my experience, it is much better to use the same brand of subwoofer as speakers, as they have the same “voice” and have been designed to work together. That would be the preferred solution!"

I don't know as much as you guys, but am I wrong to think this guy is full of BS?

From my understanding at the frequencies that the subwoofer will be playing "voicing" is not an issue. How the subwoofer will sound will be more dependent on size, type of enclosure, and calibration. A good subwoofer may be matched to almost any system with NO voicing issues.

Now if he was talking about speakers he may have more of a point. Even so, I think I have heard it mentioned that crossover design plays as much a role, if not more important role, in speaker voicing than the drivers themselves.

Anyways correct me if I'm wrong but I think the installer just wants my Dads $$$.

Chris

[ThomasW]

Yep the installer is blowing smoke....

Build a nice box for your Ave15.

[---k---]

I agree with Thomas, the builder is full of BS.

However, as someone that is in the engineering/construction industry, I will saw stay out of it! If I were the designer/builder and the client started telling me that he was going to design a part of the system, I wouldn't allow it. He'll have no quality control over the final project if you start doing bits and pieces. Stay out of it completely, and if the system doesn't have satisfying bass at the end of the day, then it is completely his fault and he will have to fix the design. It also will protect you. If there are issues with the system, he can blame you - and you don't want that.

Your dad either needs to fire this guy and dig into the hobby full force himself, or move forward with the designer and live with what will likely be a decent setup but not great and not the cheapest. Middle ground is not an option, unless the builder is a buddy.

[HareBrained]

For the grand the builder wants for the sub, you could buy a bunch of great kits from PE and assemble the system yourselves. There are also many great designs that use the cabinets and parts from PE (just aren't "kits") that would be great.

Have the builder leave holes the size of the 1cf PE cabinet, and than find the design you like the best. The 1cf size is used many places, and if you go smaller, a simple trim piece will fill the gaps. Or you could fill the 1cf cabinet to reach the desired volume.

[Cdub]

Thanks for the replies! I thought he was kind of blowing some smoke.

Ryan, I do respect what you are saying to stay out of it. I do agree with you to a certain degree that it is the designers responsibility to produce a satisfying product. I had not considered this perspective and it may be best to stay out like you suggested.

HareBrained, I totally respect where you are coming from. If it was my system I would do it myself and build some of Jon's Modula NeoD CC, and 4 Avalanche 18s in an IB config and be done with it. But, this is my Dad's project, and ultimately its something he will have to live with, so he has the final call.

[---k---]

Yet another perspective, I've stopped building computers and speakers for family members. It just isn't worth it. When things go wrong, they blame me (not mean spirited). You get calls all the time to fix things they break. They assume that I'm piecing it together from leftover, spare, junk parts, or whatever. If a tweeter dies because of a QC problem, well it must be because I'm using junk parts. Why else would it have been 1/10 the price? If they blow a woofer because they play too loud, same thing. They assume that by DIYing you're giving up something - reliability or quality.

I build stuff for me and try to sell to people I'm never going to see again.

[Mazeroth]

Yet another perspective, I've stopped building computers and speakers for family members. It just isn't worth it. When things go wrong, they blame me (not mean spirited). You get calls all the time to fix things they break.

This is so true and something my brother is going through this very minute. He sold a close friend of his a computer he had upgraded from for $100, which was a killer deal considering it would have cost him around $250 to build it himself. Well, 6 months later (a few weeks ago) the computer is having troubles turning on. He dropped it off at my brother's house so he could fix it. My brother has tried a new power supply, a different case, ordered a new motherboard, checked the ram, tried a different video card, and just today tried a new CPU. Guess what? The computer still won't turn on! We're both stumped as we're pretty computer savvy and never ran into one this bad.

Sorry for going off-topic a little bit. I'd consider leaving the subwoofer out of the equation and taking it out of the cost for the theater. Have your Dad tell him he doesn't want a subwoofer any more. In fact, what I would do is tell the installer to go find work somewhere else. There's no reason to blatantly lie about something, or, if he's not lying, telling a customer things he have no idea about.

[Alaric]

Yet another perspective, I've stopped building computers and speakers for family members. It just isn't worth it. When things go wrong, they blame me (not mean spirited). You get calls all the time to fix things they break. They assume that I'm piecing it together from leftover, spare, junk parts, or whatever. If a tweeter dies because of a QC problem, well it must be because I'm using junk parts. Why else would it have been 1/10 the price? If they blow a woofer because they play too loud, same thing. They assume that by DIYing you're giving up something - reliability or quality.

I build stuff for me and try to sell to people I'm never going to see again.

Yup. I'm in a totally different line of work , but I build/fix stuff , and it's all my fault if abuse breaks it. Gets really annoying. I charge full retail for parts (get the customer to buy them when possible) and explain that labor is discounted because I'm not paying the overhead for a shop. I also stand behind my work and have lost a few bucks here and there for it. My philosophy is , if I touched it last-it better last.