Hi,
After reading far too many forums posts from various sites, I've determined that the permutations for a box design and opinions are endless. I have a room that is 12'x18', a 500watt amp and a mix of 75% home theatre and 25% music. I'd like to have enough output to make for an exciting home theatre experience but yet retain good bass definition for music. I've heard plenty of subs that have tons of output but lack definition and are much too boomy and I want to avoid that.
For my room size, I can accommodate an enclosure up to about 6 cuft max. I do not see the need to try to squeeze out the last few Hz on the low end so maximum low end extension isn't critical. Not looking for Marty sub options.
I considered the Peerless STW-350F but it needs more power than I have and it is a little pricy. Next up was the CCS SDX12, also needs a fair bit of power and with the passive radiators, even more $. Next up, the popular Dayton Ultimax series. For the sake of comparison, I am not considering the different in cost of the drivers.
Options
1. UM18-22 sealed in a 4 - 5 cuft box seems to check most of the boxes for me but I had some concerns over the sound quality having to move an 18" driver to produce well defined tight bass.
2. UM15-22 in a 6cuft box, the small box as recommended by Dayton may have some port chuffing at higher output levels but I don't think I would need to drive it that hard.
3 UM15-22 in a 3cuft sealed enclosure.
I am hoping someone had the opportunity to hear the differences between port and sealed versions and can comment. Of course rooms and subjectivity come in here but quality over trying to get the last few Hz is more important to me. The other option I considered is buying the UM15 and building both a sealed and vented enclosure to try it out but I didn't really have time to get into building enclosures to experiment...winter is coming so maybe I will have the time.
Cheers!
After reading far too many forums posts from various sites, I've determined that the permutations for a box design and opinions are endless. I have a room that is 12'x18', a 500watt amp and a mix of 75% home theatre and 25% music. I'd like to have enough output to make for an exciting home theatre experience but yet retain good bass definition for music. I've heard plenty of subs that have tons of output but lack definition and are much too boomy and I want to avoid that.
For my room size, I can accommodate an enclosure up to about 6 cuft max. I do not see the need to try to squeeze out the last few Hz on the low end so maximum low end extension isn't critical. Not looking for Marty sub options.
I considered the Peerless STW-350F but it needs more power than I have and it is a little pricy. Next up was the CCS SDX12, also needs a fair bit of power and with the passive radiators, even more $. Next up, the popular Dayton Ultimax series. For the sake of comparison, I am not considering the different in cost of the drivers.
Options
1. UM18-22 sealed in a 4 - 5 cuft box seems to check most of the boxes for me but I had some concerns over the sound quality having to move an 18" driver to produce well defined tight bass.
2. UM15-22 in a 6cuft box, the small box as recommended by Dayton may have some port chuffing at higher output levels but I don't think I would need to drive it that hard.
3 UM15-22 in a 3cuft sealed enclosure.
I am hoping someone had the opportunity to hear the differences between port and sealed versions and can comment. Of course rooms and subjectivity come in here but quality over trying to get the last few Hz is more important to me. The other option I considered is buying the UM15 and building both a sealed and vented enclosure to try it out but I didn't really have time to get into building enclosures to experiment...winter is coming so maybe I will have the time.
Cheers!
I would model them in winisd beta, it's free to download and easy to use.
I would go with 2- 3 cu ft enclosures, it typically gives you more even bass response than 1- 6 cu ft. but obviously the cost of 2 drivers.
I like 12's because the enclosures are a reasonable size and I run 4 subs any way so output is not a big issue.
you should check on availability as a lot of the Dayton drivers are out of stock till 2022.
The sdx 12 does great in a 2.5-3 cu ft ported enclosure, I would not bother with the passive radiators
you may want to look at the new Dayton high energy subs, in stock and look like good performers and good value.
I have found I can be happy with sealed or ported. If you are using it for home theater I would probably go with the ported for a little more output.
I would go with 2- 3 cu ft enclosures, it typically gives you more even bass response than 1- 6 cu ft. but obviously the cost of 2 drivers.
I like 12's because the enclosures are a reasonable size and I run 4 subs any way so output is not a big issue.
you should check on availability as a lot of the Dayton drivers are out of stock till 2022.
The sdx 12 does great in a 2.5-3 cu ft ported enclosure, I would not bother with the passive radiators
you may want to look at the new Dayton high energy subs, in stock and look like good performers and good value.
I have found I can be happy with sealed or ported. If you are using it for home theater I would probably go with the ported for a little more output.
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Sealed is always a more accurate bass than ported, but often it does not go that low. The UM18-22 is one of the exception as it's build for sealed with a response of way below 30Hz (F3 of 27.4Hz, F6 (what matters most for sealed) of 22.4z in a 5cuft sealed. And it's availeble in the EU (I don't know in Canada but Parts Express in the US has some stock).
The UM15-22 does not do much worse, F3 is 30Hz, F6 is 23.7Hz in a 5cuft sealed.
For ported the box will have to be very big as the qts and EPB are more suited for sealed. If you use a too small enclosure ported with these you will have the bumpy one note bass style of sub. The UM15-22 is out of stock at Parts Express until 05/22.
The UM15-22 does not do much worse, F3 is 30Hz, F6 is 23.7Hz in a 5cuft sealed.
For ported the box will have to be very big as the qts and EPB are more suited for sealed. If you use a too small enclosure ported with these you will have the bumpy one note bass style of sub. The UM15-22 is out of stock at Parts Express until 05/22.
this sounds like good plan but they only have 14 um18's left in stock so you should jump on it. I would say bite the bullet and get 2. sometimes one sub works but only if you have complete freedom of placement which most don't have.
As Waxx says, sealed will give a more accurate bass which is appealing for me, a worthy trade off over getting the last few Hz and output. The UM18 and UM15 aren't much different in a 5 cuft box so I am likely to go with the UM15 to save a few $ and if I get some time, I could make a vented box and compare in my room.
Way too many choices, too much dependence on room conditions!
Cheers
Way too many choices, too much dependence on room conditions!
Cheers