Thank you also for the gr-research links, I think I'll choose the Rythmic kit. This is a field where there is always something to learn, something new to find, or to try, or to think and design.
What's your budget? I have a HSU VTF sub (around $500 right now, I paid $700 or so) that plays down to 18Hz +/- 1dB that I absolutely love. It's a 12 in driver but it is a fairly large sub, makes my 12" Polk PSW505 look tiny. The Polk rolls off around 30 and won't play anything below that so I would absolutely not recommend it for you but the HSU should do the job nicely.
I have a Rythmik F12. Made my own cab for it. Actually 2.
The first cab was 0.75" heavily braced MDF.
The 12" aluminum driver with 350 W RMS amp made so much pressure that it vibrated too much.
It made the sound a bit muddy. Better than most $3000 and under towers on the market today
but not what I wanted.
The second cabinent uses layers of maple, 0.75", and MDF 0.5" with spruce bracing.
Much better! But very very heavy.
In my 14 by 31 foot room with 12 to 24 foot high slopped ceilings room, the single Rythmik F12
will satisfy all but my loudest played music and I play music quite loud.
In my 14 by 12 with 9 foot ceiling room it is "overkill" but sounds GREAT.
As far as going deep, 16 hertz at high volumes in either room is not a problem for this speaker.
As far as ha ving a 2.1 system: many issues:
1. despite what other say, I can tell where the deep bass comes from. There seems to be no way to make the system
a "single voice". I have 2 different speakers to use it with, BG Z-62s which I cross over at 65 hertz and 8" 3 way towers using
drivers from dynaudio, audax and SB acoustics which I cross over at 40 hertz. See more on that below. Why 2 speakers:
50% of my music is MP3, the soft dome speakers on the tower sound much nicer wth MP3, the Z62s are too revealing
and can sound harsh. The towers also have a big advantage with kick drum.
2. The electronic crossover in the R F12 adds a "vail" just not as clear and detailed, it may be the RCAs that have to run fro the preamp to the F12 and back to the power amp or the F12 electonics, I do not know. So what I do is let the BG-62s or the 8 inch 3 way towers
roll off naurally, receiving the full range from the power amp, with a seperate preamp out RCA line level feed to the RF12s.
In this case when usng the Jolida JD801 as a power amp, the BG Z-62s sound much beter with the ports stuffed.
And mandatory to stuff them when using the Vincent 150 W RMS per side power amp. The ports make loud unacceptable noises,
stuffing the ports allow the two 6.5 inch drivers to play lounder but not as deep. Similiar with the 8inch 3 way tower:
not problem with the Jolida, but with the Vincent, must stuff those ports. In both cases: have to raise the cross over frequency 10 hertz
to get a balanced sound.
3. The cross over point can affect the sound of kick drums. I get very great kick drum (punchy, tight, sounds right) from the R F12/3 way tower combo but the R F12 Z-62 combo the kick is muffled and lost in the rest of the bass.
4. Sometimes when using the 3 way towers, I just turn the R F12 off. Why: sometimes it is just disconcerting to have the deep low notes suddenly come banging out. There are certain music tracks I play that do not have constant low bass content and just occasionaly have some low stuff and I am not always in the mood for that. Also it gets rid of problem number 1.
5. I have heard one speaker that goes well deep enough and does not have any of the above issues:
The Reference 3 A Grand Veena. It uses two 8 inch drivers. BUT: They are out of my price range.
$8000 for the entire system is OK but just for speakers is not.
I thinks there is a huge "hole" in the speaker being offered today.
Someone could come out with a $2000 to $3K tower with two 8 inch woofers that would "blow away" what is out there.
The Golden Ear Triton IIs come close but I believe those can easily be bested.
No offense, but I have to ask: Why have you spent all that money, effort and time on very respectable audio hardware only to play (ugh!!) compressed, undersampled mp3s? And that's 50% of your source material?
I have two 2.1 systems, and in both I experience very good integration and CANNOT tell that the deepest bass comes from a different location.
In my main system the sub is on the same plane of the main speakers, and between them (closer to the right speaker), but after I did the various setup tasks (phase, crossover, etc), I cannot localize the sub with my eyes closed. In that system I do run the main speakers full range, and the sub is supplementary and runs off its own preamp output. (the sub is Rhythmik F12SE)
I think the bigger challenge is with my smaller 2.1 system, at the computer. In that case the sub is outboard of the right speaker by 2 feet, and not on the same plane. And the sub on the floor (main speakers on the desk), and fairly close to a room corner. But again, after set up and fiddling, it just sounds like my small desktop speakers have really amazing bass!
will deliver those frequencies and if you need more output, get two.
Thank you, I studied a little it on some internet sites and I found it very interesting.
Among the other things, given that I live in Italy, I could pay less of shipping if I buy only loudspeaker and amplifier and DIY the cabinet...
http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=140
http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=142
Rythmik also has kits.
http://www.rythmikaudio.com/diy.html
Thank you also for the gr-research links, I think I'll choose the Rythmic kit. This is a field where there is always something to learn, something new to find, or to try, or to think and design.
Warm regards from Italy,
xrandom
REL makes the best subs out there. Many models at affordable prices, IMO.
What's your budget? I have a HSU VTF sub (around $500 right now, I paid $700 or so) that plays down to 18Hz +/- 1dB that I absolutely love. It's a 12 in driver but it is a fairly large sub, makes my 12" Polk PSW505 look tiny. The Polk rolls off around 30 and won't play anything below that so I would absolutely not recommend it for you but the HSU should do the job nicely.
I have a Rythmik F12. Made my own cab for it. Actually 2.
The first cab was 0.75" heavily braced MDF.
The 12" aluminum driver with 350 W RMS amp made so much pressure that it vibrated too much.
It made the sound a bit muddy. Better than most $3000 and under towers on the market today
but not what I wanted.
The second cabinent uses layers of maple, 0.75", and MDF 0.5" with spruce bracing.
Much better! But very very heavy.
In my 14 by 31 foot room with 12 to 24 foot high slopped ceilings room, the single Rythmik F12
will satisfy all but my loudest played music and I play music quite loud.
In my 14 by 12 with 9 foot ceiling room it is "overkill" but sounds GREAT.
As far as going deep, 16 hertz at high volumes in either room is not a problem for this speaker.
As far as ha ving a 2.1 system: many issues:
1. despite what other say, I can tell where the deep bass comes from. There seems to be no way to make the system
a "single voice". I have 2 different speakers to use it with, BG Z-62s which I cross over at 65 hertz and 8" 3 way towers using
drivers from dynaudio, audax and SB acoustics which I cross over at 40 hertz. See more on that below. Why 2 speakers:
50% of my music is MP3, the soft dome speakers on the tower sound much nicer wth MP3, the Z62s are too revealing
and can sound harsh. The towers also have a big advantage with kick drum.
2. The electronic crossover in the R F12 adds a "vail" just not as clear and detailed, it may be the RCAs that have to run fro the preamp to the F12 and back to the power amp or the F12 electonics, I do not know. So what I do is let the BG-62s or the 8 inch 3 way towers
roll off naurally, receiving the full range from the power amp, with a seperate preamp out RCA line level feed to the RF12s.
In this case when usng the Jolida JD801 as a power amp, the BG Z-62s sound much beter with the ports stuffed.
And mandatory to stuff them when using the Vincent 150 W RMS per side power amp. The ports make loud unacceptable noises,
stuffing the ports allow the two 6.5 inch drivers to play lounder but not as deep. Similiar with the 8inch 3 way tower:
not problem with the Jolida, but with the Vincent, must stuff those ports. In both cases: have to raise the cross over frequency 10 hertz
to get a balanced sound.
3. The cross over point can affect the sound of kick drums. I get very great kick drum (punchy, tight, sounds right) from the R F12/3 way tower combo but the R F12 Z-62 combo the kick is muffled and lost in the rest of the bass.
4. Sometimes when using the 3 way towers, I just turn the R F12 off. Why: sometimes it is just disconcerting to have the deep low notes suddenly come banging out. There are certain music tracks I play that do not have constant low bass content and just occasionaly have some low stuff and I am not always in the mood for that. Also it gets rid of problem number 1.
5. I have heard one speaker that goes well deep enough and does not have any of the above issues:
The Reference 3 A Grand Veena. It uses two 8 inch drivers. BUT: They are out of my price range.
$8000 for the entire system is OK but just for speakers is not.
I thinks there is a huge "hole" in the speaker being offered today.
Someone could come out with a $2000 to $3K tower with two 8 inch woofers that would "blow away" what is out there.
The Golden Ear Triton IIs come close but I believe those can easily be bested.
No offense, but I have to ask: Why have you spent all that money, effort and time on very respectable audio hardware only to play (ugh!!) compressed, undersampled mp3s? And that's 50% of your source material?
I have two 2.1 systems, and in both I experience very good integration and CANNOT tell that the deepest bass comes from a different location.
In my main system the sub is on the same plane of the main speakers, and between them (closer to the right speaker), but after I did the various setup tasks (phase, crossover, etc), I cannot localize the sub with my eyes closed. In that system I do run the main speakers full range, and the sub is supplementary and runs off its own preamp output. (the sub is Rhythmik F12SE)
I think the bigger challenge is with my smaller 2.1 system, at the computer. In that case the sub is outboard of the right speaker by 2 feet, and not on the same plane. And the sub on the floor (main speakers on the desk), and fairly close to a room corner. But again, after set up and fiddling, it just sounds like my small desktop speakers have really amazing bass!
By the way, a poster above said: "Someone could come out with a $2000 to $3K tower with two 8 inch woofers that would "blow away" what is out there."
I heard the SVS Ultra Towers at an audio show. $2000 for the pair, and they each have two 8 inch woofers. They sounded very good!