DIY sub for cheap...

MSkeezer · February 2005

I'm a cheapskate lol. I'm going to sell my Audiosouce sub. After the mods, it sounds pretty good for movies, but, the thing is just too big for our apartment. The only place I can really put it is in the front right corner of the room, and, that corner does nothing but add boom. The wife hates the size of it, and I'm sure our upstairs neighbors aren't too thrilled with it, either. I'm sure I can get back what I paid for. I've decided to build my own. Here's what I'm thinking about using:

Dayton 10" Quatro Sub

Dayton 12" DVC Sub

As for the amp, I may just use their 250 watter:

Amp

Anything else I should be looking at?

gatemplin · February 2005

Those drivers are good but I think that it is worth it to consider this driver:

http://ascendantaudio.com/Atlas%2012.htm
The variable Qts makes it very versatile and the XBL motor is very low distortion.

Are you going to design your own box?

MSkeezer · February 2005

Ok, it's down to the Dayton 12" DVC driver, or the Adire Shiva Mark IV. I'm not sure which way to go yet. For my enclosure, I want to go with a ported 4th order vented.

Mjr7531 · February 2005

Which one is in stock? If you want the sub now, you may well know that Adire tends to not have things in stock. Between the two, I'm not really sure, I've only been building full-range speakers. I'm leaning towards the Dayton, because then you could get all your supplies and everything in one shippment.

VR3 · February 2005

I'd go with the Dayton...

The Shiva only has 1 MM of xmax advantage over the Dayton, and dosnt even have XBL^2 technology - if you go with the Ascendant model though, I'd take that over the Dayton

goingganzo · February 2005

i say go 4 18 that is my idea you will never have to upgrade.

EricH · February 2005

Hey Thomas,

Congratulations on embarking into the DIY world. I'd go with the others and say the Atlas 12 from Ascendant is a better way to go. I'm sure Gatemplin would be happy to help you with the particulars of building one up. Ascendant would have info on that as well.

Also, my SVS sounded somewhat boomy when corner-loaded until I eq'ed it and flattened out the response. Long term, it's about the only way to squeeze the best performance from whatever sub that you choose.

ohskigod · February 2005

both the Dayton DVC and the Shiva are great drivers that will serve you well. i have no experience with the ascendant audio, but only hear good things.

i currently run the Shiva in the 142.5 litre EBS allignment with a 500 Watt plate amp, but a 250 Watt plate will be just fine. I know that is a big box, but you will have no boominess issues whatsoever.

I've used the Dayton DVC as well with great results in a much smaller ported enclosure. I replaced it with the Shiva EBS noted above, but my Dayton sub still serves me faithfully in my gaming rig.

actually, the specs on both drivers are very similar, and have been told the cabinet designs for the Shiva on Adire Audio's website will work just fine with the DAyton as well. cant go wrong wither way. Keep us posted as to what you build.

MSkeezer · February 2005

I found these at the hometheaterforum.Amps

Would I be able to get away with a 100 watt amp if I went with a larger enclosure? Or, should I go all out and get the Carver? 500 watts would surely be overkill, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about upgrading.

Also, on the Carver, is the thing not supposed to have heatsinks? I've never seen a sub amp without them. Stupid noob question...

ohskigod · February 2005

i think a 100 watts might be a little light in the @ss for your needs. the Carver is serious overkill. in my experience, Both the Dayton and the Shiva sound better driven by a plate amp than a 2 channel amp (one channel for each v-coil) but that might just be me. the 250 Watt plate amp was enough for me, i only got the 500 watt plate amp because of the parts express sale at the time.

DIY sub for cheap...

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