Best subwoofer for SDA's ?

mhw58

I use my SDA's for stereo listening and also in a home theatre. I have the 1 C's as fronts, 2's as rears and a Polk PSW450 as the subwoofer. I'm thinking of upgrading the sub to a Polk 505 which has a 300 watt output vs. 150 for the PSW450. Does anybody have either of these subwoofers matched up with their SDA's? If so, any advice on whether the upgrade would be a good match for the SDA's?
Thanks, Mike

Toolfan66

Why??

dcmartinpc

I am assuming you are using the subwoofer for home theater duty? I just got some SDA 1C's with modded crossovers and they have PLENTY of clean and solid bass for 2 channel music listening. I would entertain the idea of a different brand of sub, what is your budget?

Don

Vette C6.r

Check your placement of your SDA's. They should have plently of bass.

ben62670

None

phocion

I have 1C's as well, and I use a PSW505 to back them up on certain kinds of music, and when we have parties. What can I say? People like the bump.

It is a hell of a sub for the price, blends well, and I find it tight enough for music duty, even though it is ported. It is powerful enough to keep up with the SDA's at high volumes, and provides a willing rumble to movie sound effects. For ~$230 and free shipping (at JR), I have not heard a better sub.

Purists will scoff, but they are your ears, feed them as you wish.

chandler9a

I stopped using a sub with my SDA's and have found that they sound just great like that. I have the 2A's and they just don't need a sub, they even sound better without it. If you really do want one, which is fine because some just like it that way, I would suggest a decent Klipsch sub. I use them when I do have a sub hooked up and they do a great job for the money.

Either way, play with placement first and if you feel like you still need a sub then try a couple different ones and pick what you like.

good luck and let us know what you decide

simm

I am using a SVS 20-39PC, about 7 years old, with 1C's. I haven't spent alot of time positionng the 1C's and am powering them with a Denon receiver until I can afford a decent amp and pre so the sub definitely helps in taking some pressure off the receiver. The wife went back to work this week after a couple of years of being out of the job market so hopefully some play money will come available in the next few months to step up the electronics.

stubby

Some people (obviously) don't prefer a sub with their SDAs. Unfortunately, some of us don't have the proper room size or they are not able to isolate their listening room from the rest of the house. (my situation) Trying to fill a room with decent bass without it bleeding off to every other room is quite a task, even for SDAs.
I use my subs for movies and certain types of music. Sometimes it sounds better without it. But it is nice to have a rumble when a soundtrack calls for it. I would recommend a sealed sub to blend with the SDA's sealed cabinet.

stubby

dorokusai

Rel.

zarrdoss

build one

Polkie2009

I was using 2 M&K V2-B subs with my SDA's and they sounded fine with music. Probably due to them being sealed. Usually run the SDA's set to small now with the Empires.

AudioGenics

Have you check your phasing ?

Toolfan66

I have tried my SDA's in my HT rig (2B's,1C's,CRS+) with different amps and I just can't get into it.

SDA's = 2 channel IMO!!! If it works for you then by all means go for it. My RTiA9's are there to stay in my HT rig for now as I find them much better for that setup.

And I have a hard time when they say they need a sub for SDA's, IMO if you feel your lacking bass with SDA's then a sub is just a bandaid. Need to look how you are powering them is the first step I would take.

Are they off the floor? There are many things too look at. But SDA's lacking bass?? NOT!!!

Just my opinon.

thejck

I use my SDA's just for 2 channel. i have other polk speakers that I use for ht. i have a cheap velodyne 15 inch sub for one room and a polk 404 for another. looking at a DIY sub for the 3rd room. or maybe an 18inch velo

newrival

I think many of the people replying are confused on the premise of the post. He's using using these for HT use and music. regardless of your opinions of SDA bass, you need a speaker handling the LFE signal seperately so your fronts can handle everything else. I have Polk SRS's as fronts that go down to ~10Hz but i still use a sub for HT. The LFE is an independent channel and should have its own speaker. The 1c's do have good bass, but the do not have bass as impactful as a good dedicated subwoofer.

I didnt hear any mention of a center channel though...
There is a thread around here somewhere that turned into a flamewar with someone trying to discredit the viability of SDA calling it an inaccurate gimmick. The thread concluded with the post of one of the original SDA engineers that worked with Matt Polk on the system giving a detailed rebuttal and was really quite good. Anyhow, he also mentioned the superiority of SDA speakers in the Home theater and that the ideal setup with them is actually a 6.1 (or 6.2) configuration using sda speakers for fronts and rears, and using matched front center and rear center, as well as either mono or stereo subs for the LFE.
I can attest to the effectiveness of this setup. I have my monster SRS's doing duty up front R/L, 2b's as rear R/L, CS1000's for the front and rear centers, and 2 custom Dayton Titanic MkIII's for the LFE. ithe sound wraps around you like a warm and sometimes violent blanket

ben62670

"2 custom Dayton Titanic MkIII's for the LFE"
I have those beasts. Best bass I have every felt!

newrival

@ben
yeah theyre killer. It was my first custom cabinet build and so was a little worried, but theres so much info on these drivers, it made it easy. When I move I'll be installing those 15" bad boys into an infinate baffle system. Who knows, maybe I'll add a couple more

But I guess my post wasnt helpful to the question, other than that the titanics are a good match for sda's. So here are a few subs ive used with decent success:
SVS Cylinder (fantastic but pricey)
Dayton Titanic MkIII 15"driver ~$250 and a carver 500W plate amp $100 used. $110 materials. best ive heard yet.
Velodyne CHT-15 (had 2 of these, pretty nice for <$1k)
Hsu VTF (super nice, but wasnt mine :-/ )

Ive never been impressed by polks subwoofers. Some of them have the grunt but loose musicality.

The Hsu and the Daytons have incredible clarity even in the deepest registers. good luck!

thejck

Man I missed out of a 18 inch velodyne sub for 200 bucks yesterday. it was not working and turned out it was just a fuse. I am so bummed.
They a guy comes to buy a couple of my sl2000 tweeters yesterday and i look at his old tweeter and test it and it turns out the tweeter was fine and it was his fuse on the monitor 10 that went out that saved him some bucks and prevented me from another deal..
what a crappy day.

thejck

@Ben..
mind sharing your plans for the DIY sub? me and robert wanted to do this as a winter project. I want a sub for my living room HT. It will be complimenting the rti12's that I have in there so I want something that can dig pretty low. I was also thinking dual 12's or 15's and I wanted to go with Dayton's

dpowell

For HT, add a SVS and you'll be done.

For Music, X-over mods, rings, granite slabs and proper positioning are all things that have brought out more bass in my 1C's.

thsmith

2 channel no sub needed

HT, its all about the room and quality sub. Has nothing to do with SDA.

Audioquest

With mine in the HT setup, I use an M&K V1-B and it really adds the low frequencies needed for good HT effect. The odd times I do use this system for 2 channel music, I turn the sub off as the 2.3's put out enough clean bass that is just right for that type of listening. Having said that, each room and upstream equipment will make a huge impact on what the SDA's or any speaker will sound like. Placement of the sub is a biggie too, so try experimenting before changing sub's

newrival

thejck wrote: »

@Ben..
mind sharing your plans for the DIY sub? me and robert wanted to do this as a winter project. I want a sub for my living room HT. It will be complimenting the rti12's that I have in there so I want something that can dig pretty low. I was also thinking dual 12's or 15's and I wanted to go with Dayton's

how much room do you have for the subs? do you want sealed, ported, or folded horn?

thejck

i dont want to build a folded horn. i was thinking ported opposite firing 15's.. it will be used for HT mostly.
I have the SDA 1.2's in the same room for 2 channel. they are not tied to the HT rig.
room is about 20 by 16

ben62670

I have done SonoSubs, ported and sealed with the same Dayton Titanic MK III drivers. SonoSub was by far the best HT setup, but the sealed is what I prefer for most HT and music. You will need to be able to boost the bass if you go sealed. I was taking readings of over 126db(thats all my meter can read to) at 20hz with the SonoSub, and it went lower than that. I had it tuned to 15hz.
Ben

newrival

for that size room i'd go ported like Ben. (Thats what I did too) Although mine are sealed boxes with 1ft^3 (tuning to about 22Hz). Recomended box volume for the 15's sealed is 1.4ft^3, but you can go as low as .8 which will result in tighter bass but with reduced SPL. Very minor reduction. I found 1ft^3 to be the perfect compromise. As far as opposed dual firing ported boxes I have no idea the needed dimensions. its probably an increase of some factor around .8 base on just other similar build comparisons of dual driver units in relation to heir one driver version.

newrival

but those sonosubs are a great way to go if youve got the room. unfortunately i need to use mine as endtables

ben62670

I can offer help on the design if you wish. LMK
Ben

newrival

I just realized that I said you should go ported, when I meant to say sealed. Sorry!

audio_alan

phocion wrote: »

I have 1C's as well, and I use a PSW505 to back them up on certain kinds of music, and when we have parties. What can I say? People like the bump.

...

Purists will scoff, but they are your ears, feed them as you wish.

^^^ +1

I have a pair of PSW505's in my home theater, and they sound decent with my 2.3 mains. For a little over $200 each, I think they were a good value. With more research, sure, I probably could have bought one $500 sub with better/lower output than the two combined, but I didn't buy them at the same time either...

Depending on your living situation, having a sub that hits 10-15 Hz might not be the best idea (as I think newrival was hinting at)... unless you really like getting the police called on you. There's something to be said about being able to play a movie late at night, while still having your sub(s) turned on, but not needing to worry about your neighbors getting pissed at you. However, if you live out in the middle of nowhere, buy the best sub you can afford! As much as I like my PSW505's, I admit they are nowhere near the best performing subs... (rolloff sharply at about 22 or 23 Hz).

Good luck with your decision.