the ultimate sub

[zaphod]

i'm a slow builder. i live to design, but implementation ... well that's less interesting once the problem has been solved

about 3 years ago i started building a sub for the LFE channel. a good part of that time was waiting during winter so that my shop (aka the garage) would be warm enough for painting and finishing. and the black gloss finish took 37 coats of paint...

so between builds i've been thinking about this site i saw a while back for the ultimate sub. if you haven't seen it, check here but the idea is building the horn subwoofer below the floor out of masonry.

it's huge.

for those of you building a house, with a dedicated listening room, on grade level, has anyone considered putting in a scaled down version of this subwoofer? perhaps with only one horn?

sure, at first glance this appears to be one of those ideas for idle money, but if you are having foundations poured anyway, the extra forms in a nice curvy shape below the floor shouldn't tack on too much to the price of the reno. right? the italian one used brick to form the horns, but they admit that is only because bricklayers are commen there - in my corner of north america poured concrete is more commen.

and where would one go to get a built in horn like that designed? a person would hate to get them all built only to learn that it sucks

idle thoughts for things i'll never have

 

[Kruppy]

Whoa!

Idle money? Holy cr@p! I bet that was a fun project to work on.

 

[DavidG]

I just hope that the house is a *very* long way from the nearest neighbours, and not located anywhere near a geological fault!

Cheers,

David

 

[zaphod]

I just hope that the house is a *very* long way from the nearest neighbours, and not located anywhere near a geological fault!

I sit on the north end of the Juan de Fuca fault line.

let me reconsider...

 

[EricE]

Go to this web page and look at their sub systems....

http://www.f20.parsimony.net/forum36475/index.htm

"Cult of the Infinitely Baffled" has some amazing IB setups that I may just try in the near future.

 

[zaphod]

"Cult of the Infinitely Baffled" has some amazing IB setups that I may just try in the near future.

cult. good word choice on their part.

but i don't think that the "biggest sub in the world" is an IB design. in an IB, the drivers are mounted on the division between the listening space and the infinate baffle. say, on the shared wall between the listening space and a second room.

the BSITW has each set of drivers mounted way at the end of an elegant curved horn that opens up into a mouth by the screen end of the room.

or maybe you weren't implying that the BSITW is an IB design.

i do find it amusing that the room employs a bunch of anti-vibration devices, including some under the listening seats.

 

[EricE]

I just looked at the web page and the specs on that thing....

I thought those IB designs with 8+ subs in a manifold were crazy. That horn loaded cavity is just way too much.

I wonder how that thing compares to Statements, Krell's or any other mega buck sub systems. I bet no off the shelf system can hold a candle to the power of that thing.

 

[JonFo]

Infinite baffle is cool

While folded in-floor horns are capable of very low frequency, high-SPL, a good Infinite baffle will give you the equivalent output for a lot less money and effort.

I had two Velodyne 18" subs, and went to an IB and have never looked back. Until you've experienced a good IB install, you have no idea what 'bass' means.

Go to my site and read my Infinite Baffle story

And to make any system trully rock, you need to deal with bass management.

So here is my IB nestled between my Monolith III's and Logos. The projection screen was taken down for the install and this picture.

 

[EricE]

Jonathan,

Have you read about the new Velodyne SMS-1 controller?

I know your pro equipment does the same things but for a all in one unit with Peq and real time RTA for $500 it looks like a good thing. What do you use for setting your EQ's?

BTW. My wife is hesistant to install a IB. She would rather sell the Servo 15 and just get a Velo DD15....
I keep telling her the IB setup would sound better but she doesn't want to shake the whole house.