How much sub do I need: Huge Room, Mostly Music, Tight Budget

[Jason Bee]

I grew up with HiFi, but have spent the last 20 years in tiny apartments listening to my Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 driven by my PC. I bought a house, and now have some room to spread out. I need to get a sub, can you guys help me out with some recommendations? How much sub do I need? I'm all about bang for the buck. I'll spend 50% more if I am getting 50% more utility, but not for 10% more utility. I like to buy things in the elbow on the cost/performance curve.

Current Gear: Denon X4200W, Infinity Primus 363 mains, Sonance CR201 in the ceiling behind the couch, and a Yamaha sound bar acting as the center channel that needs to be replaced one of these days.

Use: We love music. I like Rock, Jazz, Blues, Classical. Wife also enjoys Country and Pop. We rarely watch movies. As in almost never. Sure the sub will be nice when we do watch a movie, but whatever performance come with a 'music sub' should be fine, I'm guessing. The TV is usually used for news, sports, or sitcoms.

Room: This is the part that has me worried based on my reading (admittedly limited) to date. Our house is basically one huge room, except for the bedrooms. I mean no walls. About 10,000 ft3. 30x30 with 11.5' ceilings. There is an 11x11 study walled off within the space, but it has a 5x8 door opening to the main space.

Constraints: Size is not an issue. Need to have auto power on/off. I'm also open to DIY, as long as it's a pre-cut kit. I don't have a saw or router. I could be convinced to buy one though...

Budget: As little as possible. I'm hoping $400 or $500. I'm worried I can't get anything worthwhile at that price point.

Your suggestions are most appreciated. Thanks.

 

[KEW]

Sub-1200 or Sub-1500 is what you want.
Made by Dayton Audio and sold by Parts Express.

 

[KEW]

Actually, I'd suggest a pair of sub-1200s, or, for your large room, 2 sub 1500s.
They really are an incredible value.
Position them as close to you as possible and they will do fine, even in your huge room.

 

[fmw]

The comments you read about needing a large sub in a large room mostly relate to pressurizing the room so that you feel the LFE in addition to hearing it. For purposes of music listening you can consider the room to be the area between the speakers and your listening position. You will lose some boundary gain at the speakers but may reduce reflections at the same time. I'll bet you can choose a 12" or 15" subwoofer and feel the LFE just fine. I do.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/dayton-18-ho-ported-build-thread.93086/

 

[Auditor55]

I grew up with HiFi, but have spent the last 20 years in tiny apartments listening to my Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 driven by my PC. I bought a house, and now have some room to spread out. I need to get a sub, can you guys help me out with some recommendations? How much sub do I need? I'm all about bang for the buck. I'll spend 50% more if I am getting 50% more utility, but not for 10% more utility. I like to buy things in the elbow on the cost/performance curve.

Current Gear: Denon X4200W, Infinity Primus 363 mains, Sonance CR201 in the ceiling behind the couch, and a Yamaha sound bar acting as the center channel that needs to be replaced one of these days.

Use: We love music. I like Rock, Jazz, Blues, Classical. Wife also enjoys Country and Pop. We rarely watch movies. As in almost never. Sure the sub will be nice when we do watch a movie, but whatever performance come with a 'music sub' should be fine, I'm guessing. The TV is usually used for news, sports, or sitcoms.

Room: This is the part that has me worried based on my reading (admittedly limited) to date. Our house is basically one huge room, except for the bedrooms. I mean no walls. About 10,000 ft3. 30x30 with 11.5' ceilings. There is an 11x11 study walled off within the space, but it has a 5x8 door opening to the main space.

Constraints: Size is not an issue. Need to have auto power on/off. I'm also open to DIY, as long as it's a pre-cut kit. I don't have a saw or router. I could be convinced to buy one though...

Budget: As little as possible. I'm hoping $400 or $500. I'm worried I can't get anything worthwhile at that price point.

Your suggestions are most appreciated. Thanks.

I really don't understand why you have an Denon AVR like that if you watch little to no movies, that receiver represents a waste of money.

You definitely should get a ported sub in that area. I'm sure there are people here that can recommend one for you.

 

[j_garcia]

My room is about that big and I have one sealed dual 15" sub and it handles the room fine.

The comments you read about needing a large sub in a large room mostly relate to pressurizing the room so that you feel the LFE in addition to hearing it. For purposes of music listening you can consider the room to be the area between the speakers and your listening position. You will lose some boundary gain at the speakers but may reduce reflections at the same time. I'll bet you can choose a 12" or 15" subwoofer and feel the LFE just fine. I do.

15" I'd say, so that may push the $500 budget a bit for one that will easily fill the room. I have a single sub in my room which is about this same size, though it is dual 15" sealed, and it fills the room very easily.

 

[fmw]

I really don't understand why you have an Denon AVR like that if you watch little to no movies, that receiver represents a waste of money.
.

Perhaps to achieve surround sound with TV watching? Actually, AV receivers are the best value in the amplification business thanks to economies of scale.

 

[crossedover]

http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio-SUB-1500-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B00JZTQIJ4/ref=sr_1_31?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1448998109&sr=1-31&keywords=15"+subwoofer

 

[Jason Bee]

WOW! That's massive!

 

[Jason Bee]

I really don't understand why you have an Denon AVR like that if you watch little to no movies, that receiver represents a waste of money.

You definitely should get a ported sub in that area. I'm sure there are people here that can recommend one for you.

Wow, lots of reasons. Surround sound for TV. Multi channel stereo when we have a party. Multi zone for the speakers and TV on the patio. Airplay and Bluetooth. HDCP 2.2. Lots of inputs. Best of all, it was on sale for $500.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

WOW! That's massive!

Yes, 8 cuft box ain't exactly small , but your space ain't tiny either plus you want to stick to a budget

 

[djreef]

WOW! That's massive!

That's what she said.

DJ

 

[Seth=L]

That's what she said.

DJ

No she didn't.

 

[Jason Bee]

Sounds like 2 SUB-1500s is the budget baseline. What if I was willing to spend a bit more. Could I get something with a smaller cabinet?

 

[KEW]

Not that I know of... unless you are willing to pay a lot more, say $500-600 each.

 

[Auditor55]

Wow, lots of reasons. Surround sound for TV. Multi channel stereo when we have a party. Multi zone for the speakers and TV on the patio. Airplay and Bluetooth. HDCP 2.2. Lots of inputs. Best of all, it was on sale for $500.

That sounds good, but you are,sure missing out on real goodies without throwing in an occasional movie into the mix.

 

[KEW]

That sounds good, but you are,sure missing out on real goodies without throwing in an occasional movie into the mix.

Auditor55, I'm not sure where you are coming from, I think he has chosen a great receiver for his purposes. At $500 why would he buy anything else?
I also suspect he watches the occasional movie on his TV, I sure do!

 

[Jason Bee]

That sounds good, but you are,sure missing out on real goodies without throwing in an occasional movie into the mix.

I'll watch one. What do you recommend?

 

[Auditor55]

Auditor55, I'm not sure where you are coming from, I think he has chosen a great receiver for his purposes. At $500 why would he buy anything else?
I also suspect he watches the occasional movie on his TV, I sure do!

That's my point, great AVR no doubt, however it needs to be served up some great content to maximize it's usefulness. I'm just trying to encourage the gentleman to broaden his horizons in this area.