Black Friday Sub

[kad153]

Have a similar post up on AVSforum, but figured I'd try here as well to get more advice.

The SB12-NSD is available for $400 shipped, and I need to buy a new subwoofer for my basement, but we are talking a very large, open room and I've basically been told I need to do a ported and not a sealed sub. We will have 8'-9'ceilings down there once finished. The space the home theater system will be in is fairly open - almost an "L" shape. The main area is roughly 21' long, 26' wide, but the top of the L, so to say, is another 14' long and 12' - 15' wide (first its 15', but about half way it gets narrower down to 12'). Optimally I'd like the sound to extend throughout the whole space (My ED sub on the first floor does that easily). Wood floors (or tile or vinyl that looks like wood - no carpet).

At around this price point, and for someone that wants the sub basically for movies / sports in a big open room, what is the best deal around right now? I've gotten the following suggestions so far:
- For a single sub, your best bet is probably an RBH I-12 if you can snag one for ~$400.
- If your price point is higher, the Outlaw would be a solid choice (x12 for $550)
- If you're still looking at a price point of ~$400: Dual KlipschSub-12s when you find them on sale for $199/ea. I really don't think my wife is going to be ok with 2 subs though.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fmw]

You would be surprised what you can do with a single 12" sub. Chances are it will do just fine. The advantage of the ported sub is that it is more efficient (louder) and can go lower all other things being equal. I use a 15" sealed sub in my home theater and there isn't the slightest reason to have anything more for that fairly large room.

I do have a couple of 12" ported subs that I use in other rooms and they perform pretty well. One of them is a current model (BIC F12) that is available for a little over $200. While it doesn't have the sound quality of higher end models it does a competent job of reproducing LFE and that seems to be what you are after. I'm sure there are other good ones but this is the only current model with which I have personal experience.