Retrofitting my DefTech BP 2002 towers with new subs?

[mannye]

I says it right on the banner "subwoofer fantasies."

Let me start by saying that I hate subwoofers. The units themselves. I love what they do, but I hate looking at them.

That's why so many years ago I bought my now beloved and "never going to sell, only find and buy two more" BP 2002 powered towers. From the moment I hooked them up to my B&K Reference 30/Outlaw 750 combo, they made me smile. The first thing I cued up after performing the level setup was the explosion at the beginning of Outbreak (kind of dates when this was going on) and I was amazed.

But now... I am jealous of all these new advances in technology and I was wondering if anyone has thought about the possibility of updating the subs (both plate amp and speaker) or is this just silly?

 

[everettT]

Just buy real subs and you will be happy.

 

[j_garcia]

In wall or isobaric

"upgrading" the subs in there, you are still basically limited by the cabinet volume allocated to the drivers and aren't going to realize much gain. You'd have to choose a driver that can operate in that small volume so the end result will be similar to what you've already got.

Never met a tower that could compete with a good sub, especially for movies.

 

[slipperybidness]

In wall or isobaric

"upgrading" the subs in there, you are still basically limited by the cabinet volume allocated to the drivers and aren't going to realize much gain. You'd have to choose a driver that can operate in that small volume so the end result will be similar to what you've already got.

Never met a tower that could compete with a good sub, especially for movies.

Agreed. If this is a movie rig more than a music rig, then do yourself a favor and buy some real subs!

I have the DT cousins--the GE T2. Just about all you could want for music.

But, I also have Rythmik F15HP--you WANT this for movies even if your towers have built in "subs"

 

[its phillip]

If you aren't a fan of subs because they are usually plain black boxes, check out some of the offerings from Funk Audio

 

[mannye]

Meh... I figured as much.

When watching movies, I'm not a fan of any equipment at all, preferring not to see it. Eventually I will go in-wall with the subs I guess (I've been saying that for a long time) but for now I'm probably going to stick with what I have. My DefTechs are still performing very well so I'm not infected with upgrade-itis when it comes to sound.

Video is quite another thing, but for now, status-quo.

 

[shadyJ]

I says it right on the banner "subwoofer fantasies."

Let me start by saying that I hate subwoofers. The units themselves. I love what they do, but I hate looking at them.

That's why so many years ago I bought my now beloved and "never going to sell, only find and buy two more" BP 2002 powered towers. From the moment I hooked them up to my B&K Reference 30/Outlaw 750 combo, they made me smile. The first thing I cued up after performing the level setup was the explosion at the beginning of Outbreak (kind of dates when this was going on) and I was amazed.

But now... I am jealous of all these new advances in technology and I was wondering if anyone has thought about the possibility of updating the subs (both plate amp and speaker) or is this just silly?

Yes, if you are thinking about replacing the drivers and amplifier in your speaker, that is silly. The thing is, what do you think your tower speaker, or any tower speaker, is? An upper frequency section stacked on top of a bass section. If you want better bass, replace your towers with some subs and some bookshelf speakers on top, effectively making them full range tower speakers. Look how many tower speakers are effectively just bookshelf speakers using subwoofers as speaker stands anyway.

 

[lovinthehd]

When watching a movie you look at your speakers? Turn the lights down maybe

DIY subs can take many forms, like a nice pair of end tables, surely you wouldn't be tempted to "watch" those?

 

[j_garcia]

When watching a movie you look at your speakers? Turn the lights down maybe

DIY subs can take many forms, like a nice pair of end tables, surely you wouldn't be tempted to "watch" those?

 

[mannye]

:: Runs away covering his head as rocks and garbage is thrown from rooftops::

 

[shadyJ]

:: Runs away covering his head as rocks and garbage is thrown from rooftops::

Didn't mean to give you a scare. The problem with simply replacing the drivers and amp on your tower speakers is it would be very difficult to find a driver that would work well in those conditions, and very expensive to get an amp that could be tailored so the overall response would work well. It isn't worth the effort.

If you want better bass without losing a lot of floorspace, replace the tower speakers with subwoofers that act as bookshelf speaker stands, and get some good bookshelf speakers to put on them. The bass from even a decent mid-level sub can be much better than what you are getting from the DT towers.

 

[everettT]

The SB13 from SVS and the E15hp from Rythmik are small form factor subs that would be non intrusive all things considered. Unless your room is large both would be great options.

 

[mannye]

Thanks guys... the room is relatively large and is a dedicated home theater. I should post some pics. It may well be that I'm just experiencing some upgrade-itis.

I figured it would be pretty impractical to do the upgrade, although I will contact DefTech directly next week just to anno...ask them if there's anything to do. Maybe it's just that the sub amps need a recap after 20 years and hundreds and hundreds of hours of use.

I did drop $2000 1995? 97? dollars on them plus another 2 grand for the CLR 2000 and BPX surrounds. That was painful for 30 year old me back then. I think I've gotten my money's worth. I spent hours with test discs and SPL meters and countless beers given to audio engineers to get the room just right. It helped I worked with a bunch of enthusiastic audio engineers at the time.

Bottom line... you guys are right. I have a false wall in the front of the room so a free-air sub or subs could possibly be built into it. I would have to do the numbers to get the volume of the enclosure....but it would be large considering 12 foot ceilings and 25 foot width plus about 10 inches from the actual wall to the false wall.... but that's another thread.

 

[lovinthehd]

http://www.ibsubwoofers.com/