Subwoofer - What Fraction of Speaker Budget? (1 Viewer)

[punman]

In a 5.1 system, the subwoofer represents one-sixth or 17% of the speakers.
Would you allot one-sixth of your budget for the subwoofer, or more, or less?
For example, if you had a budget of $2000, your budget would be about $340 for the subwoofer. Would you spend around that, or more than that at the expense of cheaper speakers for the other five, or would you say that the subwoofer is not as important as the other five and spend less than the $340?
If you have a 5.1 system, what cost is your subwoofer, as a percent of your total speaker cost?

 

[deadly4u]

It depends on your priorities of sound i guess.

I've got a pair of PolkAudio RTi8 speakers as my mains. I don't do surround.

The subwoofer ive been using for a while now was about 300 bucks (its worth about 100 because its a piece of crap (Athena AS-P4100)).

I'm currently in the process of building my own subwoofer. Material cost = approx. $750 CAD. Which is equivalent to some REALLLLY expensive retail subwoofers.

What for a half-dozen more replies to get a more average number though. Everyone's tastes are different. But NATURALLY i would allocate a LITTLE more than a fair fraction of your budget if you are looking for quality.

 

[JohnRice]

It depends on a few things. For one, and fairly obviously, how important the bass effects are for you in movies. Maybe more importantly, how important it is to have clean bass in music? If those cars driving by with bass you can feel 2 blocks away are what you want, you can go pretty cheap on a sub. You just want one with a lot of output, not good quality.

Subs are expensive. Even if you build yourself they are expensive, especially if you don't already have the tools. Personally, for a 2k budget, I would allot about 50% to the sub. Possibly more. Just find good sounding speakers with no low end (they are out there) to go with the sub. Buy direct too. Never buy a sub in a store.

 

[Kevin A]

For some, bass is essential....

 

[deadly4u]

OH MY GOD!!!

Kevin A, you HAVE to give us some specs on your setup!

 

[punman]

Looks like KevinA had no trouble getting to first bass.

 

[Robert_J]

That's not Kevin's system. That's Sherv from AVS Forum. Inside each massive cylinder is an 18" Ascendant Audio Avalanche. I think the enclosures are tuned to around 11 or 12 hz.

-Robert

 

[deadly4u]

Thanks Rob

I wonder what that feels like... Not many tracks with audio that low.

 

[Kevin A]

Indeed.
It may be my dream set-up, but it certainly is nothing like my system!
I gotta hand it to the man's (Sherv's) commitment to finding the ultimate in bass for his HT!

 

[douglas-b]

I spent $1,200 on my subs. (2, SVS 20-39)

 

[SHS]

The cost of the sub percentage compared to the other speakers is completely related to the cost of the other speakers.

I would say for mid level systems and I define mid level as $2k-$5k for the "other speakers then the sub should be in the 35%-60% range of the system. This is so room dependant though.

Of course I think the system I have now is ideal as most should with their systems. It fits the affordability I can reach with a sound I find outstanding.

My sub was over 2x my speaker cost. However I got a fantastic deal on a barely used but mint set of 'digms for $700(about 1/3 of retail). If I paid full retail the sub would have been around 55%-65% of the set price.

This works for me.....YMMV.

If you were to go the home project route you may get way more bang for the buck but you have to figure in your time, tools, effort and the finished piece. I am no cabinet maker so I know from past error I would not please myself with the cabinet finish. I still think an IB is the way to go if you have a dedicated theater in an owned home Killer bass!!!!

For now I have to settle for my SVS Ultra PB-13

!

 

[Robert_J]

Sherv and Chas put a lot of effort into those. But there are a LOT of us that are in a never ending quest for perfect bass. I have four custom 18's just waiting for me to complete the IB manifolds. If that isn't enough, I still have parts to build two more custom 18's.

-Robert

 

[deadly4u]

Damn Robert!

I'm afraid to ask what your occupation is that you use to fond this habit

I aspire to do all that someday but I fear that my chosen path won't get me anything significant.

 

[punman]

Thank you for taking the time to respond, and for your suggestions.

 

[Robert_J]

I like to learn about the physics of speakers. I can read all day long but until I build something it's just theory.

The 18's aren't as expensive as you might think. I bought a bunch of surplus motors (the complete magnet assemblies) from TC Sounds right before they went bankrupt. I then called up Scott Atwell at Fi Car Audio and told him what I wanted. After a short conversation, he said he would take care of everything. A few weeks later I received a box with 18" subwoofer baskets and custom 18" recone kits built exactly for my infinite baffle installation.

I've also built a sub from scratch. A motor from the purchase I mentioned above. A frame from a blown sub. And then a bunch of parts from an Ebay liquidator of car audio parts. Here's a slide show of the build process - link.

-Robert

 

[deadly4u]

Now that is pro.

Ill have to try that someday

 

[douglas-b]

Cool slide show...nice work!

 

[sestamuch]

Eh, that was quite the adventure, thanks for the tips.

 

[celica]

omg.. that's wonderful!

it's encourage me to do such thing.. thanks..

 

[Chris Bedard]

There have been some good suggestions here.

For the OP, I'd say it comes down to a number of factors, those being:

1- Your Budget
2- Use (Movies/Music/Both - how much?)
3- Your priorities (output, range, tone, extension, depth, tightness)
4- Your space (size matters)
5- Aesthetics (where is it going to go and what will it look like there? WAF?
6- Your Budget

Subs can be had used for below $100 or for over $20,000.00. You can buy one, or make one.

If you prefer music, you might prefer a subwoofer that is going to clean transitions, very little distortion, but might not so go so low, so that you can enjoy clarity in music without any muddiness in the low notes. If so, you may be looking at a smaller, faster, closed box sub.

If movies are more the priority, and you prefer explosions that you can feel, and budget is a factor, a nice ported/tuned sub may be the answer, as getting similar performance out of a sealed box tends to be more expensive, as it often requires more power. Be advised, ported boxes tend to also be somewhat larger.

Subs with some of these qualities can be found in both high and low end. However, know that to have a sub that can do many things well, ie... go low (10-15 hz), have high output, transition well, and have low distortion, will progressively tend to cost more.

Take a peek here for some starting information and comparisons: Subwoofer review summary page ... From the AVS forum - Tweak City Audio

For a basis, my previous system consisted of Paradigm Mini Monitors (x4) and a Paradigm CC250 (about $1.2kish total i think - got them about 9 years ago), paired with a $250.00 DCM KXSub2 subwoofer. It wasn't very clean or tight, but had decent output for a bandpass box, and went lowish (22ish HZ in my room). So my Sub budget was less than 17% of my speaker budget.

I've since upgraded to a Dali Ikon setup (Ikon 6's, Vokal 2 Center, Ikon on Wall rears), that ran me about $4,000.00. I used them with the DCM KXSub2 for a few months, and realized the Sub was really a weak spot in my system now (90%movies, 10% music). I ended up getting an Epik Conquest (#2 on craig's list), and absolutely love it. It ended up about $1,800 shipped, almost half the price my speakers alone cost me, and about 33% of the total speaker budget.

Of course, the Conquest is massive, and not overly attractive (who knew having a 3' tall, 3' deep, 2' wide black box in your room would stand out lol). However, the difference in sound..... amazing. Even the wife loves it, because of the sound. We just have to live with the giant box for the next 20 years heh. ;p

Hope that helps