Best subwoofer to really get chest thumping action out of your home theater system

[bmares0120]

Questions regarding Receivers Amps and Subwoofers!

Hi guys,

I am new to this forum, but was impressed by some of the topics I read on here. Anyway, it seems like a lot of you guys have bundles of great information along with a lot of experience. Basically thats exactly what I need and exactly why I'm here.
Anyway, getting to the point. I have a Sony V444ES receiver that is running 1 JBL studio series s-center speaker
4 JBL studio series S38BE Speakers
I also have a PB12, but like most other JBL Subwoofer owners, my amp went bad and it is acting pretty much as a coffee table right now.
Anyway, I love this system. It sounds absolutely great! Sound is full and pretty consistent throughout the room. However, without the sub working I am lacking a good amount of Lows. I turned up the bass on the S38BEs to compensate for no sub just to see how it would sound and it did sound pretty good, but my Sony V444ES receiver became pretty hot pretty quick. I was monitoring the heat the entire time though so I didn't fry my amp. It didn't get all that hot, but I could tell I was using every watt the amp was putting out and I don't want to abuse my equipment like that. So I came to this dilemma! I want more chest thumping lows! Although this system sounds great with movies and TV alone, I want to be able to play music that will be sufficient enough and loud enough for college parties for long times. Not exactly the scenario, but I want equipment I can rely on and not have to worry too much about putting to big of loud on my reciever. I checked the power ratings for the 5 speakers I have running off the Sony V444ES speakers and it looks like this.
The amp is rated at: 120 watts x 5 channels.
The Center Speaker: 10-150 watts.
The four bookshelf S38BE's: 175 RMS.
Anyway that you look at it, my speakers can handle 850 watts. However, I do not exactly want to push my receiver to its max because I don't believe in abusing equipment.

So, heres what I'm really getting at. What would you do power wise with the JBLs? I have looked into the Crown amps and QSC amps, and they both seem like a very safe choice. Would you recommend one amp to the other? Also, what about the low end bass situation? Would you recommend another theater subwoofer similar to the one I had, or would you recommend something much more powerful. For example, I had a couple of subs in mind.

QSC HPR181w

B52 LX18

Yamaha SW118v

The main question I have about these two is the fact that the B52 is a long throw subwoofer (Made for longer ranges) and the QSC sub seems to be more ideal for home use. Keep in mind these subs will be in a living room that is about 25 by 25. Will the long b52 throw not sound good indoors or will it not be a huge difference? Ok, another thing I have to throw in here is the fact that I want quality. I know that there is audio equipment out there that will shake the foundation, but sounds like garbage. I love crystal clear music reproduction. I believe the music coming out of the speakers should be no different than the music coming from the musicians instruments. So, Do i want to shake the walls a bit and see some flex in the windows, of course, but Quality is just as important. I would love some massive SPL(sound pressure level) in my home theater system. Yes i know, you jeopardize SPL for SQ(sound quality), but I would like the most SPL with sufficient SQ. Another key aspect I have heard when talking about subwoofers is the voice coil. I have researched and people tend to say that subwoofers with voice coils smaller than 4" will not reproduce the deep lows you want out of a subwoofer. I believe the yamaha SW118w has a 3" voice coil and I was wondering if that would give me more mid bass rather than real low bass that I'm looking for. If this isn't true or only partially true let me know, because I'm using this information in my quest for great sound!!! Also, if you have any other suggestions on subs go ahead and throw it out there. And also, any good information you have on front firing subs (sw118v and QSC HPR181w) as apposed to Folded horn subs (b52) that would be great.

Ok, so getting even further in depth, If i do buy an overwhelming sub such as one of these, will my JBLs be able to played strictly as highs and mids with bass completely down? Would they keep up? Also, would it be safe on the speakers and receiver?

Wow, so basically if you read this entire post and kept up with everything you are a pretty hardcore audioholic and thats exactly who I want to answer my question! Thanks so much for reading and sorry if I was confusing at some points!!

 

[j_garcia]

Welcome That Sony already has enough power for those JBLs. Unless you have a really large room, I wouldn't go with a pro amp; it probably isn't necessary unless you are looking for ear blistering SPL.

For subs, you will probably benefit from just doing a quick browse/search through the Subwoofer forum where you will find a LOT of info on subs. What we would need to know to help you really is how big is your room and how much you intend to spend for starters. The techincal aspects of what you are asking in terms of subs may or may not be as important once you start looking at quality subs, and we can't really discuss them anyway until we have an idea of what range we are talking about.

 

[Hi Ho]

Are you only interested in music? If so those pro subs will reproduce most of the frequencies in music at very high SPLs. However, keep in mind that the Yamaha and B-52 are passive and you would need an amp to power them.

If you use your system for movies you will definetely want a sub more apt for home theater. Those pro subs only go down to around 30hz. The kind of bass that really shakes the room is in the sub 30hz range and is achieved by using long throw woofers with high excursion which is not something you will find in any pro sub. The SVS Cylinder subs would be something to look at since it sounds like space isn't a real concern judging by the large subs you're looking at.

If you really wanted to get crazy and had an extra $10,000+ you could get one of these:

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/tapped_horn.asp?MODEL=TH 221

I would love to have a couple of those for my pro setup but I can't afford it.

 

[bmares0120]

So if money wasn't an issue, that TH 221 would be my first choice. I honestly havn't seen anything like it except for that new innovate fan that can play ultra low frequencies. ...I don't have enough post to put the website in here, but just put rotarywoofer into your search engine and you'll see it. That looks insane to me, but $30,000!!!!! wow. Anyway back to the subject, jgarcia said that my Yamaha should run my JBLs just fine and I believe so too, but the only thing that really concerns me is the amount of heat that the receiver has. I tend to get a little nervous when my receivers heat up because someone fried one of my older receivers and I remember it being blistering hot. The thing is, I do really want the sub for music, but I wouldn't mind adding it to the home system either. I just really wanna settle somewhere in the middle that will bump when I need it to, but will compliment explosions in a movie too. I just want to find a good medium. And again, thanks for both replies, very help. Oh and also, Room dimensions are roughly 13X13 with an 10 foot ceiling, but there is a large open arch way into the next room. Im completely aware this isn't the greatest dimension for a amazing sounding room, but the JBLS already sound really good. I just need more thump. Would you recommend a folded horn subwoofer, or more of a convensional front firing sub? Will the yamaha be able to drop down and hit those obnoxiously loud lows? If not, what would be the next best bet? Also, with that being said, JBLs will be able with stand the highs and mids to go along with whatever sub i'm gunna purchasE? THanks again and sorry this turned into some what of a subwoofer topic.

 

[bmares0120]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention...I have a high end car audio system, the JL audio w7 and it is crazy. The door panels shake in the car with most rap songs. I know you can't exactly get that same SPL in home theater that you can in the car audio, but I still want something to go along that path. I'm starting to think that a decent long throw would be my best bet. and when it comes to having room in the living room, hahah Id arrage my furnature around my speakers as long as I get the best possible sound. And another question. If I have 5 receivers, all running different speakers, what is the best way to hook them all up to one audio sorce without experiencing a lot of distortion?

The reason that I am asking about the yamahas is because I saw someone had them for sale and was wondering if they would be worth it to bump those and save some money as apposed to dropping over a grand on one of my other options.

THANKS!!

THANKS!!!!!