# Suggestions for Prebuilt, Low Budget Sub Please



## Twin_Rotor (Jan 1, 2012)

I live in an apartment thats like most. Walk through the front door into the living room and there is a 10' opening directly ahead for the kitchen and a hallway to the right to acess the bedrooms. The actual space I'm dealing with is roughly 14' x 18', that comprises the living room. We do plan on adding acoustic treatments as funding becomes available.

I'm not really looking to get into anything perfect, as I will not occupy this place for too long. However, I do need to supplement my JBL SVA-1600s. I'm really not worried about sound travel either, as the ajoining apartment walls are pretty well insulated. Looking for that 18-80hz boost for watching movies. The JBLs do well, but not as well as I would like.

I would like to find a sub that is decent quality. I know thats hard on a budget, but it is what it is. Once we move, the sub will be donated to a child or moved into the master bedroom, ect.

I don't have access to wood working equipment, so building a box is out of the question. It would be perfectly acceptable to buy it all in pieces, as long as I can assemble it with simple tools. 

Suggestions please?


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## GranteedEV (Aug 8, 2010)

Twin_Rotor said:


> I don't have access to wood working equipment, so building a box is out of the question. It would be perfectly acceptable to buy it all in pieces, as long as I can assemble it with simple tools.


I believe CSS has a flat pack kit in the making for the Trio 12. I would inquire about it.


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## gorb (Sep 5, 2010)

You should probably post your actual budget. "Low budget" can be a very different number depending on the person


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## Twin_Rotor (Jan 1, 2012)

Lol sorry, I assumed my equipment list would suggest cheap. $200-300.

I looked at CSS page and found the kit for the amp, speaker and resonator for $300. Not bad.

I always keep an eye out for used equipment, so suggestions for higher priced would be great too


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## pbc (Sep 3, 2007)

Would definitely consider the CSS kit. But in that price range the BIC's come to mind .. eg..

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-F...8Y5M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328062668&sr=8-1


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## Twin_Rotor (Jan 1, 2012)

I like the price of the BIC, for sure. Off to google I go. Thanks guys and keep them comming!


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## Twin_Rotor (Jan 1, 2012)

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-635

This seems to be about the size I'd like. What do you guys think about the power amp and speaker in the unit above?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I really dont think that sub is going to be a very clean sounding sub. I dont think anything less than this ED A3S subwoffer is even worth having.


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## Twin_Rotor (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks for that link!


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## Rijax (Jul 20, 2006)

Ben, Here are a couple you might consider.

HSU STF-1

Outlaw M8


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

A bit over your budget but it's ported and designed for home theater, it will give you the low end extention a budget sealed sub can't.

http://www.lavasubs.com/12_inch/powered_home_subwoofer.html


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## Twin_Rotor (Jan 1, 2012)

And the Lava went off sale.. 

I'm not sure what I want to do now. I did received an amplifier from a friend, but I'm not sure if it will help me in my cheap quest.

The amp is an NHT MA-1A. 80W RMS, variable crossover, 20Hz response. Is there any modern subs that I could utilize this amp with? 

My mains sound great down to about 50Hz and start fading off and will distort if I turn it up too high. Thats doing a sweep test(old Bass Meckanics CD I have) in 2 channel with my STR-820. The only option, that I've found, to get output on my sub out is to set the mains to "small" in the setup menu. This forces an 80Hz crossover on the mains(or higher). Its irritating because I'd like to use the mains, full range.

What do you guys think? I really would like to have the 50Hz rumble for cinema, but do not want to end up with something thats weak. I really wish the Lava 12" wouldn't have gone off sale... :crying:


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

an 80watt amp will hardly move any air for a sub. It would be barely enough for a small sized bedroom let alone a theater space. Are all you looking for is a 50Hz rumble? thats not very low at all, "Rumble" in movies is down around 20-30Hz anything higher is starting to be muddy.


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## Twin_Rotor (Jan 1, 2012)

Well with my receiver, its going to have to cover 80Hz down. To get the sub out to have a signal, I have to crossover my mains to 80Hz..

I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and spend ~$400 on a sub. I really like the specs on that Lava.. The other links given are also nice speakers/specs. I really just don't know, because I've not been around newer prebuilt subs. I can tell you that I do mainly want it for watching movies. 

I would still like to use this little amp though. I guess I could try to find a speaker similar to the one they paired with it originally and use it as a 2.1 for a computer.


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## BD55 (Oct 18, 2011)

You know, Monoprice has some powered subwoofers that have gotten pretty good reviews. Myself never having tried them out, I don't know, but monoprice makes decent stuff at an excellent price.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

Twin_Rotor said:


> Looking for that 18-80hz boost for watching movies.
> 
> I don't have access to wood working equipment, so building a box is out of the question. It would be perfectly acceptable to buy it all in pieces, as long as I can assemble it with simple tools.


I think even with a DIY sub it's going to be very difficult to achieve anything close to 18Hz for $300 or $400. To get that low requires a pretty stout sub, even if you factor in room gain.

If you're a member of avsforum.com, or the forum on blu-ray.com, Lava will give you 15% off on any sub they sell (not sure if Lava extends that same offer for this forums members, so you may already know about the discount). But I'd be a little cautious on believing what they list as the lower end of the LSP12's frequency range; it's not terribly accurate. IIRC, it starts to fade rather quickly by the mid 30's, so once you dip into the 20's the output is almost inaudible.

There's a thread on avsforum that lists a tremendous number of subwoofers under $300. Check out this link. Perhaps something listed their might work for you.

In the $400 range you can also get things like the HSU STF-2, Earthquake FF12, Cadence CSX12 or the Premier Acoustic PA-150. For the PA-150 you can make them an offer of 10%-15% off their advertised price and it will often be accepted.


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