Earthquake

[Shadow_Ferret]

Any opinions on this company and it's product? They rate themselves down to 18hz which seems pretty impressive.

I'm also wondering what is the difference in sound quality between their side firing woofs with a passive radiator and the front firing without a passive radiator.

In particular, I'm looking at the Supernova MKIV-10 and the Kompressor 10 or 12.

Are they worth twice the price of say the HSU STF-2 and SVS PB10-ISD models?

 

[golfhack]

Hey Shadow_Ferret,

Don't know too much about Earthquake, maybe someone else can help you.

Difference between side-firing and front-firing...none.

passive radiators = generally lower extension than sealed and steeper rolloff.

sealed = good transient response and shallower rolloff.

As for your last question...hard to say, but probably no since HSU and SVS are known as "best bang for the buck subs" I suppose it boils down to how much money your willing to invest in your system and how serious you are about your audio. But I do know that if it were me and I was going to spend a lot of money on a sub, it had better be a 12" or larger. From the look of the model of the Supernova, is that a 10"??

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Yes, the Supernova has a 10" woofer and a 10" passive radiator.

 

[golfhack]

Shadow, from the looks of the subwoofers that I see you looking at, it seems that you are trying to stay with a 10" while at the same time acheiving low extension. If this is so, don't fall for the smaller the woofer the more musical it is trap. It's not true. If you truly want deep extension, it's better to go with larger woofers. For simplicity's sake, the smaller the woofer the more excursion it will need to pull the same output as a larger driver. More excursion pushes the driver into higher distortion. So, if you want the deep extension (as for movies) step up to the bigger woofer. But don't spend twice as much money on a similar sized woofer. By the way, unless you watch a lot of action packed movies you won't see that deep extension too often (something else to consider), but if you do, go for a 12" model.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

I was working from the premise that what makes a subwoofer "woof" is air movement, lots of air movement and I thought that the 10 incher which essentially has two air movers, the driver and the passive radiator, would move more air than a 12 incher, thus giving more pants shaking effect. Or am I wrong in this assumption?

Also, I have another question. I am planning to put my system together piece by piece as I see good deals. I see a good deal on these and am thinking of buying the subwoofer first. I have nothing else. Is this a stupid way to go about things since I won't be able to test to see if the parts function until months from now?

(Or is there a way to hook up the subwoofer to my 25-year-old old 2 channel receiver to at least test it?)

 

[Takeereasy]

I really can't answer the question about how to approach your system buying delima, I personally would at least purchase fronts and most likely a new receiver first. If you have a pair of old speakers sitting around to hook up to your old receiver there is a way to test at least two of the subwoofers you mentioned. Alternatively you could borrow a pair of speakers from a friend, family member, etc. Both the Supernova MKIV-10 and the HSU STF-2 have speaker level inputs. The SVS PB10-ISD does not (not a real concern with modern receivers that have differing types of sub outputs). What this would allow you to do is to run speaker wire from your receiver to the sub, and from the sub to the speakers. You would then be utilizing the crossover in the sub to send it the low frequencies and the speakers the higher frequencies. This will not allow you to hear how your sub will sound in 5.1 surround, but it will give you some idea about how it can perform in 2 channel stereo. This method is not perfect, and your sub will most likely sound far superior when mated to a newer receiver and nice speakers, but you asked if it would be possible to try out the sub and it is.

Again I would suggest that your first purchase should be front speakers, and you should direct a decent amount of money into this purchase (or at least shop hard for bargins like I had to).

Hope this helps.

 

[warpdrive]

Are they worth twice the price of say the HSU STF-2 and SVS PB10-ISD models?

I'd say no. SVS and Hsu have entrenched themselves as value leaders....for a good reason....they provide performance that is hard to match anywhere else, and are loved by both audiophiles and bass junkies alike

The Earthquake IV Mk 10 is reviewed in here
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=5&article_id=663&page_number=1&preview=

Looking the raw measured numbers (http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/assets/download/seismicsubslab.pdf) and subjective comments, I'd say the thing did VERY poorly compared to the other subs in the review.
It couldn't reproduce anything below 32Hz (which to me makes it pretty worthless for a $800 sub)...I think a Hsu STF-2 at $399 would smother that Earthquake.

How Low Does It Go?
• Bass limit: 32 Hz at 88 dB

How Big the Bang?
• Average SPL from 32 to 62 Hz 101 dB
• Maximum SPL 110 dB at 62 Hz
• Dollars per dB $8.36

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Wow. Only 32hz? How can the company lie that they go down to 18hz then?

Thanks. I'll stop considering Earthquake!

 

[golfhack]

Some companies don't list their specs. at the -3 dB downpoint, so you have to be careful in interpreting that. Once you start reading a little bit more about bass and subwoofers, you'll come to the point where you'll be able to distinguish whether a listed spec is horse **** or not.

Looking at warpdrive's post the Earthquake doesn't look to good.

As far as your comment about "woof" and air movement, you're right. How that is figured is taking the area of the cone (pi r squared) and multiply by excursion of the cone. And then compare that to another sub using the same mathematical procedure. The problem is, a passive radiator works in much the same way as a port does in a ported sub. You see in a ported sub (i'm going to use these figures just as an example) above say 32 Hz the sound will be coming from the woofer. When the frequency falls below the ported frequency, almost all of the sound is coming from the port. Indeed if you were to look at the woofer on a ported sub that is playing a deep frequency, you will notice that the woofer is not moving at all. But stick your hand over the port for some entertainment. Basically this is also how the passive radiator operates as well, so you see both woofers aren't really powering the sub at the same time. If it were it would be two active woofers.

As far as your other question, yeh...I'm with takeereasy on this one. Generally, it is best to make your speaker purchase first and build your system around that. But if you find a bargain on a subwoofer (other than the Earthquake - see warpdrive's specs), I would go with it. Especially if it's a really good bargain. Remember you can always tune the sub with a parametric eq. to your system. Since your starting from scratch, I can't emphasize enough to spend the bulk of the money on speakers (roughly 40 - 50% of your budget).Remember a good rule of thumb is spend according to where the signal is compared to your ears (i.e. speakers (and sub), room treatment if possible, amplifier and pre/pro, and finally dvd/cd player).

And last but not least, yeh...I think it's dangerous to buy used equip. (or even new for that matter) without being able to test them for defects.

 

[sjdgpt]

They rate themselves down to 18hz which seems pretty impressive.

Don't fall in love with the numbers, especially with speakers. There are just way to many variables in the testing and reporting methods to validate one company's ratings over another company's ratings.

A company's ratings can be useful for comparing products within their own line.


PS: There really isnt much useful signal below 32 hz (unless you like pipe organs).

 

[mtrycrafts]

Wow. Only 32hz? How can the company lie that they go down to 18hz then?

Thanks. I'll stop considering Earthquake!

Well, it may go down to 18 Hz, but but, it is rather weak and inaudible

 

[warpdrive]

Wow. Only 32hz? How can the company lie that they go down to 18hz then?

I looked at their webpage, and the way they report it (18Hz, no decibel tolerance), that figure is completely meaningless.

A proper speaker spec will report at least the -3dB point low frequency cutoff, where it was measured (in-room or anechoic), and possibly the output level (how loud it was playing).