New HT sub wanted...please post your suggestions

[jboogie]

Here is my current setup. It is in a room open in 4 different ways to the rest of the house! The room itself is 12x22x8.5.

I have an Infinity Kappa Perfect 12 in a ported enclosure powered by a BASH (From PE) 300. The sound is great, clear, low, and just enough to get the juices flowing. The problem is, it is just enough to get the juices flowing. I am now looking for more!!!

So, here is the question. Add another 12" Kappa, or sell the Kappa and get an 18"? My gut tells me to go with the 18. Also, I would like to stick with the plate amp route. The reason being, that I don't want to add all of the extras associated with the pro amps.

Can someone recommend a setup utilizing an OAudio 500 plate amp and an 18 woofer? Also, I would like to stick with a box roughly 25x25x25. There is wiggle room here but not 2 feet worth! If it makes that much difference, I could possibly go with a larger power plate amp.

Thanks for all of the great advice on this forum, and I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

 

[alexwakelin]

One kappa should provide enough output for your room size, but you are limiting it's performance with a 300 watt plate amp. Have you tried a different placement for your sub or done a crawl test? A room that is open to the house 4 different ways does present some accoustical challenges, though. From what I have read on this forum, I understand that dual subs can solve a lot of accoustical problems. Adding a second Kappa would probably give you better results then replacing your current sub with an 18".

Edit:
This article makes a good case for 2 smaller subs over one large sub.
http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/get-good-bass/two-subs

 

[WmAx]

Here is my current setup. It is in a room open in 4 different ways to the rest of the house! The room itself is 12x22x8.5.

I have an Infinity Kappa Perfect 12 in a ported enclosure powered by a BASH (From PE) 300. The sound is great, clear, low, and just enough to get the juices flowing. The problem is, it is just enough to get the juices flowing. I am now looking for more!!!

So, here is the question. Add another 12" Kappa, or sell the Kappa and get an 18"? My gut tells me to go with the 18. Also, I would like to stick with the plate amp route. The reason being, that I don't want to add all of the extras associated with the pro amps.

Can someone recommend a setup utilizing an OAudio 500 plate amp and an 18 woofer? Also, I would like to stick with a box roughly 25x25x25. There is wiggle room here but not 2 feet worth! If it makes that much difference, I could possibly go with a larger power plate amp.

Thanks for all of the great advice on this forum, and I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

You should be able to get up to about 60-70 percent more output from that subwoofer if you use an amplifier of sufficient power. The 300 watt plate amp you are using (if it can even produce anywhere near 300 real watts) is radically underpowered for this application. Your limits right now are purely due to the amplifier. It is clipping before it can come anywhere near the driver limits.

If you want even more output, then yes, you will need to go to a larger driver. But keep in mind if you want to keep that same level of sound quality the perfect produces, you will need to go with a very high quality driver that has a very high quality motor system. The Sound Splinter 18" is still easily available I believe, and it is of very high quality. But you need to ditch the plate amp route at this point. You need significant power to get the potential out of that driver and the plate amps with high power specs (like 1000 watts and more) are of very questionable quality, and probably can't produce anywhere near that level. And besides, you ideally would want even more than 1000 watts for a high quality 18" driver. The maximum box dimension you gave as being desirable (25" cubed) is not sufficient to tune a ported/PR 18" to a very low frequency(under 20Hz). However, it may be sufficient to tune to the lower to mid 20's.

-Chris

 

[lsiberian]

Here is my current setup. It is in a room open in 4 different ways to the rest of the house! The room itself is 12x22x8.5.

I have an Infinity Kappa Perfect 12 in a ported enclosure powered by a BASH (From PE) 300. The sound is great, clear, low, and just enough to get the juices flowing. The problem is, it is just enough to get the juices flowing. I am now looking for more!!!

So, here is the question. Add another 12" Kappa, or sell the Kappa and get an 18"? My gut tells me to go with the 18. Also, I would like to stick with the plate amp route. The reason being, that I don't want to add all of the extras associated with the pro amps.

Can someone recommend a setup utilizing an OAudio 500 plate amp and an 18 woofer? Also, I would like to stick with a box roughly 25x25x25. There is wiggle room here but not 2 feet worth! If it makes that much difference, I could possibly go with a larger power plate amp.

Thanks for all of the great advice on this forum, and I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

Go Buy a Behringer EP2500 and get a DCX 2496.

 

[jboogie]

Go Buy a Behringer EP2500 and get a DCX 2496.

That is what I am trying to avoid. Mainly because that is not all that is needed. The costs just keep going up. You will need connectors...no big deal but still. Also, some sort of LFE "amp" to get the signal up to what the amp requires. So, instead of $229 for the plate amp, you are looking at something like $300 for the amp, $200 for the EQ, $100 for the signal amp, and $20? for the connectors.

I just can't swing that right now. Times are tough.

 

[annunaki]

Actually, I have found that when using a decent RCA cable and properly attaching an XLR end, the output voltage is fine from most receivers directly into the EP2500.

Using the DCX, it doesn't matter as you can adjust the input & output voltage as needed.

I originally had noise (hum) with the cables I was using (coaxial design). I switched to a twisted pair (shielded) and attached the XLR ends, it is clean as a whistle.

 

[WmAx]

That is what I am trying to avoid. Mainly because that is not all that is needed. The costs just keep going up. You will need connectors...no big deal but still. Also, some sort of LFE "amp" to get the signal up to what the amp requires. So, instead of $229 for the plate amp, you are looking at something like $300 for the amp, $200 for the EQ, $100 for the signal amp, and $20? for the connectors.

I just can't swing that right now. Times are tough.

If using a DCX, it has input stage with suitable pre-amps to boost the standard consumer level signal from your receiver. No boosting pre-amp is needed when using a DCX. However, in the rare case of a ground loop, you may need a transformer de-coupler between the DCX input and the consumer gear, such as an ART DTI box. But you can use a very cheap isolator such as designed for car audio. No need to pay the amount for a DTI.

-Chris