ultimate LFE question

[Cowanrg]

hey everyone. got a cool question for all of you. im going to upgrade my subs eventually (maybe summer, so i am really planning ahead). right now ive got dual Velodyne HGS15x's. they are pretty darn cool. i like them a whole lot. ive got some room issues, so im planning on moving up to the DD series.

im thinking of a few different options. option one (which makes me grin just thinking about it) is dual DD-18's. ive always loved the BIG subs. they just go lower and move pant legs like no other can. even multiple smaller drivers cant compete. and i have the room and budget for dual 18's, so why not?

the next option is to be a player and get dual DD-15's, run them as my left/right subs (my front speakers are magnepan Tympani 1D's, so they dont go TOO low, so i would have a sub dedicated for each front speaker), AND a DD-10 dedicated on my LFE.

Or, just do something silly like getting 4 DD-12's or something. any ideas? if you could get $10k worth of velodyne subs (thats kinda the budget), what would you do? the 1812 is out of my range, and anyways, its equivalent to getting a DD-18 and a DD-12, so either of these arrangements will be better. ive heard it, its COOL, but my dual 15's has as much output. So, what would you do? whats the coolest bass you can think of?

[Adz]

$10k budget for subs - that's sure to get some great reactions from Guiders!
I think you can bemore creative than just $10K worth of Velodynes!

My two cents - Build or have built (check out ThomasW threads) OR Buy (VMPS or SVS or combo thereof) a bunch of passive subs and power them with the best sub amp you can find - perhaps a Crown K2 - 2400 watts!

With 10k and assuming great integration (no cancellation problems) of all subs, I would have 4 subs -

1. Two VMPS Larger Subs for the front left and right; and then
2. For the rears, either build (or have built) two massive 18 inch subwoofers like Avalanche or Adire which use the XBL^2 technology or alternatively buy two B-12/Plus 4 SVS subs.

Btw - Your Profile indicates you have (or had) the Def Tech Reference Sub. What happened?

[aud19]

Personally, I'd probably go with two DD-12's for your mains and two DD-15's or DD-12's (whichever fits in the budget) for your LFE. You could likely even go down to DD-10's for your mains if you need to to fit the 15's in for the LFE.

Or as Adz pointed out, you could build or have built a bunch of big custom subs with a huge amp(s) to power them. You'd likely get more/bigger subs this way with the same budget but you would lose Velodyne's awesome digital drive functionality....

Oh I almost forgot.... Can I come an play at your house when you're setting this all up?!?! :P Man am I jealous..... :B

[Andrew Pratt]

With that budget you've be very hard pressed to beat two or four EVEREST's

Apparently a single Tumult replaced a pair of HGS18's in a custom install so a pair of these monsters should be unbelieveable. I've got a single tumult in my room and its redefined bass for me

[Paul H]

I think for that kind of money you should build in an infinite baffle setup, with 4 or 8 15" woofers. Power them with a separate high end power amp - not a pro amp.

That should get you the bast bass money can buy, and burn up a little over half of your alotted budget ...

Paul

[Cowanrg]

well, i knew i should have included this...

these are the options, because i am a velodyne dealer. this is really a free upgrade from what i have now. $10k is what i can spend with velodyne with discounts and trade-ins.

I have no problem building something, but i would rather get the velodyne stuff now while i can, THEN build something after i get bored and sell off the velodynes.

if i were to build something now, i could really only spend like $3k on it. but if i get the subs now, then sell them in a year or two, i could have a budget of closer to $7-8K. so, its just an investment issue.

ADZ - I had the supercube reference at one time. it was a decent sub (the first one ive owned). it did have good output and clean output too. i do recomend it for a mid-level sub. BUT, it did have a little hard time filling my room the way i wanted it to. my room is around 20' x 18' x 15' (high). and its open in the back, so there is a LOT of volume.

I have been to ThomasW's house, so i know what i could do. and also, im a pretty big DIY'er. i dont do speakers, but electronics. i think i have my website link in my profile, check it out. there are some really neat projects there. i have quite a workshop and no fear building anything. but as stated above, its not the best idea right NOW.

Andrew - ive heard people comparing different drivers to DD-18's or HGS-18's. keep in mind though, the DD series has a servo limiter on it that will limit the excursion of the driver. this is in trade of distortion. a DD-18 can go as low as 16-18hz while maintaining less than 5% distortion. as far as i know (i do this stuff for a living), no one else can do that. even some of the other extreme guys still have 10% or more (most of the time in the 20% range, which is still decent) in that range.

so, you can actually loosen up the DD's and get a bit more distortion out of them, but much higher SPL.

Paul - I would love to have an infinite baffle setup, but there are a few factors there... first, i rent i dont own my house right now. im still a college student working my way through school. and if im going to do a project like that, its going to be big. the other reasons ive already mentioned.

also, i like the DD's because the eq'ing features cant really be matched without a lot of extra equipment. i could do an infinite baffle or a line array sub, but i would need amplification (not a big deal, im a crown dealer as well), but also some sort of crossover/EQ.

my ideal would be an infinite baffle setup, or just bass towers that would flank my maggies, and have like 5 15's for each of the two towers... or an infite baffle with something stupid like 18 18's... if im going to build something custom, im gonna do it like no one else has done it.

to give you an idea... awhile ago i found out that if you had a soldering iron and free time you could build your own amps. so, i started research and decided i would build my own amps. a year and change later, here is what im working on:

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/aleph2/09060002.jpg

http://www.cowanrg.mesanetworks.net/projects/images/aleph2/09060006.jpg

one of these days, i will build some subs, but just not right now, im sticking to commercial offerings, and those from velodyne.