# Crisper sub sound.



## mercroozer (Dec 12, 2013)

Not sure what I've done wrong but, the $500 sub in my car produces crisper kick drum than my home sub (sb13 ultra). Car sub is also in a sealed box. I have the svs in the front corner of the room. Everything looks great on REW but it just doesn't have that snap to the kick drum that I get in the car. Where should I start?


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## Steeve-O (Dec 3, 2010)

Usually smaller enclose produce a "tighter" sound than larger enclosure. Tight subwoofer are more enjoyable for some people who listen to music but are not really desired for home theater because they usually don't go really low. I beleive it has to do with the Qtc. The smaller the enclosure the smaller is the Qtc and so the tighter is the "air spring" inside the box. The driver come back into position faster after producing a note which make the bass "tighter". Also sealed box have less group delay and doesn't alway require subsonic filter which furter help group delay. That why there is a myth that is saying that sealed box sound better than ported. To me it is just easier for common people to build a good sounding box when going sealed over ported especialy when you don't know what you're doing. Both can sound great still. 

If you really love your sealed enclosure you could build one for your HT and use it for music maybe? And keep the ported for HT experience.


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## cavchameleon (Jan 7, 2008)

In your car, you sub is actually 'near field' and your car itself is a very small enclosure. The subs related to room size in your car is quite different than in your home.

Another thing, putting a sub in a corner at home can create a more bloated bass. Your sub is actually pretty awesome, but compared to your car, it's not going to move as much air for the room size. Try moving your sub to the middle of one of your walls (front or side) and see what happens to the sound (don't forget to re-run room correction after moving it). That will usually produce tighter bass. Also try 1/4 room space (1/2 and 1/4 room spaces are usually better then corner loaded spots for tighter bass, but you do loose boundary gain of the corner). You may also consider getting a 2nd sub (both placed at 1/4 or 1/2 spaces) to give you both tighter bass and output.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

mercroozer said:


> Not sure what I've done wrong but, the $500 sub in my car produces crisper kick drum than my home sub (sb13 ultra). Car sub is also in a sealed box. I have the svs in the front corner of the room. Everything looks great on REW but it just doesn't have that snap to the kick drum that I get in the car. Where should I start?


How large is your room? Without knowing that all anyone can really do is guess at what the possible issue(s) might be. Also, can you post the results you got from REW? That would be very helpful. Lastly, what type of room correction did you use?


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

definitely recommend moving it around to hear of the sound gets better. What are you mains? What crossover point are you using?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

More often than not you get used to a certain sound and when you change to a "better" sub you actually get a more natural flat sound rather than the boomy sound that a car sub will produce. Your car sub will usually put a lot of emphasis on the frequency range between 40 and 80Hz and for music this may be ok but for movies it becomes very "boomy" and unpleasant.


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## mercroozer (Dec 12, 2013)

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to have a go at it today. First thing will be to try moving it along the wall.
As for my car sub not being even across the frequency range, it plays down to 16hz with ease and has a nice flat response from 25 to 80hz. I just want that sharp attack and decay I'm getting from the kick drum in the car. The svs sounds a bit too fat. Forget who asked about my crossover points but I have both car and home on 80hz lpf and hpf with a 12db slope. I've tried all the other crossovers and slopes on both systems and 80 with 12 always sounds best to me. Room dimesnions are 8m L, 4.6m W and 4.7 H. I positoned the speakers (Energy C-8) using the Cardas formula.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

mercroozer said:


> Room dimesnions are 8m L, 4.6m W and 4.7 H. I positoned the speakers (Energy C-8) using the Cardas formula.


Based upon my calculations your room is around 5600 ft^3, which is far too large for a single SB13U. You might be able to fill an area that size with a pair of them, but one will simply be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of space. I'm not at all surprised it sounds weak - it's being pushed well beyond what it was designed for.


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## mercroozer (Dec 12, 2013)

It doesn't sound weak at all. I've never had it at full tilt. Playing that Pink Floyd heartbeat through it, it almost shakes the house apart. I want crisper kick drums, not louder.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

what Jim is stating is correct, your room is far to large for a single sub to fill. your cars interior is much smaller and easy for a sub to pressurize but a room that size needs alot more air movement to pressurize. Trust us, you need another one if you want the sound your used to.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

mercroozer said:


> The svs sounds a bit too fat.


I’m surprised no one has mentioned this, but if you haven’t EQd the sub, you probably need to. More than likely the reason it sounds “fat” is that you have a peak in response.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## GCG (Aug 22, 2013)

tonyvdb said:


> what Jim is stating is correct, your room is far to large for a single sub to fill. your cars interior is much smaller and easy for a sub to pressurize but a room that size needs alot more air movement to pressurize. Trust us, you need another one if you want the sound your used to.


Ditto, I moved to a new house and the room volume increased substantially and there was a definite reduction in definition in the low end with a 15" sealed sub.



Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> I’m surprised no one has mentioned this, but if you haven’t EQd the sub, you probably need to. More than likely the reason it sounds “fat” is that you have a peak in response.
> 
> Regards,
> Wayne


Ditto here as well. Can't say enough about the improvement since I bought a DSP (MiniDSP) and a mic and ran REW. Night and day - YMMV.

I have done one mod, a Linkwitz Transform and while modeling I noticed that, while the low end extension improved, there was an increase in cone excursion that pushed into Xmax. I found I could counter that by reducing the sealed volume with the addition of sand bags. The reduced volume contributed, IME, to an improvement in definition which could give you a boost in terms of attack. No promises, just a thought.


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## littlejohn74 (Feb 11, 2014)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> I’m surprised no one has mentioned this, but if you haven’t EQd the sub, you probably need to. More than likely the reason it sounds “fat” is that you have a peak in response.
> 
> Regards,
> Wayne


+1

Have you taken any measurements? if so, would you care to share the rew results?
I had a SB13Ultra and it was awesome.. I now have 2 SB13U and its just ab totes amazeballs


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## Picture_Shooter (Dec 23, 2007)

mercroozer said:


> Not sure what I've done wrong but, the $500 sub in my car produces crisper kick drum than my home sub (sb13 ultra). Car sub is also in a sealed box. I have the svs in the front corner of the room. Everything looks great on REW but it just doesn't have that snap to the kick drum that I get in the car. Where should I start?



Is your living room the size of your cars interior space? I bet not, there you go!! Add another sub to fill up that living room as I am sure its much more bigger size than your vehicle (but also incorrect calibration can be the cause of less crisp kick drums) !! :wave:

On a serious note, I have a JL 12" sub in a ported box (1 sub) and have in in the cabin of my Tundra. Of course it slams, but w/ little common sense I know due to the small area that 1 JL sub needs to fill is not the same as my 18x24 living room. Trust me, I tried and used this same sub (JL 12") w/ the enclosure and hooking it up to my iNuke in the living room (just for chuckles) and didn't get the same results as I did in my Tundra in any way. lol!!


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## MetropolisLake (Sep 22, 2014)

Believe it or not it can be your amp. I just fired a QSC RMX 2450 for sloppy bass. Kick drums were horrible. Replaced with iNuke 6000 and suddenly everything is tight, even floor toms come alive. If anybody doesn't believe me you're free to come over, just do it quick before I send it back.


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