Bill Epstein Messages: 1088 Registered: May 2009 Location: Smoky Mts. USA
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
Some may remember I long ago cut down the BatSpeakers
and installed the 15" Dayton Classics with mis-matched plate amps.
Last year one amp quit and I hadn't been happy with the other from the start so left the subs out of the system 'til now.
With all the rain we've had this year I've spent a lot of time listening and thinking...thinking about what to do with the Adcom 545 I picked up cheap as a "Summer amp" but really didn't enjoy listening to. Then...(envision light bulb)
...acquired a cheapo 130Hz Dayton dual coil subwoofer crossover, cut it in half, installed each half in a sub, buttoned up the plate amp hole and installed a terminal.
Figuring there might be a SLIGHT mis-match between the 1.8 Watt 45 Amp and the 150 Watt Adcom ,
I built a level control with a pair of Alpha 10K mono pots and a $4 Radio Shack project box.
Subs are playing nicely with the 4Pis which is especially gratifying 'cause my "pre-amp" is passive; the level controls make the combo work.
A new pair of plate amps would have been $250 and hum is always an issue with them. I spent less than $50 bucks over what I already had in the Adcom and parts drawer RCAs, etc.
Let it rain. Well...not really...I do hate having that 150MM travel bike parked so many days
but it's great getting all the notes down to 27Hz or so.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18787 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
That's excellent, Bill. As you know, when we met I wasn't big on subwoofers either. I think that was because of two problems in most every subwooer implementation I heard: 1. The sub was too load, making it sound "tubby", and 2. being a single sub, it made worst-case room mode excitation, exacerbating problem 1. But after reading Welti's papers on multisubs, I began to try various approaches and found some of them to work really well. Just gotta put the subs in the right places and turn them down low enough they don't stand out. Subtle.
petew Messages: 63 Registered: June 2011 Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
Viscount
That's it Wayne, "subtle".
I thought I might be going overboard building four 15" sealed subs. My sub amp is switched with my processor, so it's easy to play music or video with the main amps off (and speakers silent).
The subs just rumble and thump somewhat quietly and don't seem to be doing a lot. But once the main speakers come online, the sound is full and amazing. Kill the sub amp and the life just drains out of the system.
Multiple subs, loping along not breaking a sweat, do wonderful things to the sound.
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