Subwoofer - Why Pay More?

[Megamix]

A friend has suggested that because of the low frequency a sub need not be expensive - he agrees on good quality tops but a quality sub he feels is less important. Is this correct? Could I get a bit of extra oomph for a bargain price?
Active subs at JBL/RCF/£700-800 each compared to ones for say £200 (QTX)

[WWDJ]

A friend has suggested that because of the low frequency a sub need not be expensive - he agrees on good quality tops but a quality sub he feels is less important. Is this correct? Could I get a bit of extra oomph for a bargain price?
Active subs at JBL/RCF/£700-800 each compared to ones for say £200 (QTX)

The more expensive subs tend to have a higher SPL (forget wattts).
This means you may need less of them and depending on your tops, you can find a good tonal balance.

What tops do you have ?

[Megamix]

What tops do you have ?

db Opera 450d s

[Twinspin]

Personally id spend money on the subs as well and get 1 or 2 of the matching db subs which i believe is the sub15d for the extra oomph one would do the job perfectly.

it will compliment your top speakers nicely.

I use ART322A RCF tops and the matching RCF ART705 subs compliment the tops brilliantly.

[WWDJ]

Wouldn't the DB Sub15d be a good match?

133db, you would probably only need one and at around £650 that's a good output for the price.

[Danno13]

A friend has suggested that because of the low frequency a sub need not be expensive - he agrees on good quality tops but a quality sub he feels is less important. Is this correct? Could I get a bit of extra oomph for a bargain price?
Active subs at JBL/RCF/£700-800 each compared to ones for say £200 (QTX)

You really need to have a listen. Cheaper bass bins tend to either lack definition or are a thuddy type of bass that people don't like.

[kieran Griff]

I suppose its like saying why do you need to spend more on a car as he cheaper ones will get you from A 2 B.

IMO, you really do get what you pay for.

KG

[Corabar Steve]

I suppose its like saying why do you need to spend more on a car as he cheaper ones will get you from A 2 B.

IMO, you really do get what you pay for.

KG
Kieran, you seem to have missed this from your last post.

Please follow the instructions..


Hi Kieran,

Please take a moment to click on the link below.

http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11711

Thanks.

[Steve the DJ]

Is this correct?

Not in my experience.

I bought a cheap Samson 15" Active sub from a certain German retailer that was excellent value just to add some bottom end when I normally only ran with 2 12" tops.

It was useless.

[abbotsmike]

Very much not, IMO. I have found that all the cheap subs I have heard are muddy and make more of a vague 'thud' than anything resembling bass! Have you considered the DIY route? I have a single 12" tapped horn subwoofer. The driver cost £90 or so, the wood another £30 and obviously an amp to power it all. Makes a lot more noise, and very musical noise at that, than you'd expect for its size.

[DJ Teknovibe]

You really need to have a listen. Cheaper bass bins tend to either lack definition or are a thuddy type of bass that people don't like.

I definately agree, Megamix your friend is i'm sorry to say, wrong. You CAN hear the difference in audio quality between cheap subs and expensive ones, even if you made sure they were both outputting the same spl level, if you listened to a £100 sub next to a £1,000 sub you should DEFINATELY be able to hear the difference in sound quality. Another thing is, kinda like what's already been said, you can get more spl (loudness) out of higher priced sub. This is because they're made with higher quality components, their enclosures are made of better grade wood and built to withstand more abuse, the drivers are better quality and generally have less power compression and the drivers can handle more power and have a higher sensitivity.

[Megamix]

thanks for your responses - one better quality sub is probably better than a couple of cheapies - now to find the lightest decent one!

[kieran Griff]

RCF 905 :)

[DJ Teknovibe]

thanks for your responses - one better quality sub is probably better than a couple of cheapies - now to find the lightest decent one!

Yeah definately, 1 decent sub is better than 4 cheap budget subs. Well have a think about what kind of styles of music you play because different subs are good for different types of music. Like say for example, the JBL PRX618S-XLF is an active, and it's got the same driver as the mighty JBL SRX718S and SRX&28S subs. It's also -3db down at 38hz which means you'll get very nice deep bass out of it. The RCF Art905AS is also a very good sub but it's -3db at 48hz so you won't get so deep bass, it looks very much (according by the frequency graph) that it's been designed as a punch bin, meaning it's most efficient in the kick drum range. I say about the frequency graph because the frequency response is very uneven but has a serious punch which shows up on the frequency graph. It's got excellent spl at 50-80hz.

[Tom]

In my opinion, a good percentage of money should be spent on subwoofers as they play a key role on today's music, being quite bass orientated.

Cheap cabs tend to be either too small or have incorrect tunings, plus being made to a very tight budget so cheap drivers, cheap wood plus quick and simple design.

Cabs which cost more, usually have better R&D, which in the end would equate to a better cab. This then would then give you more spl, a better frequency range as well as many other aspects that go in to speaker cab designing. :)

[chrisj]

Well said Tom. I have used for severals year a pair of Tannoy B475 18" subs, 300w rms 600w music/program.These have been fantastic with bottom frequency at 28hz. Unfortunately because of damage to my back I can no longer use them and they sit in my garage until someone buys them at £400 which is cheap considering they cost almost £2000. They are highly tuned cabs and have a belly rumble sub-bass. Awsome sound.

[yourdj]

You get better build more than anything.
Look at max SPL more than anything.

I dropped all my stuff tonight (tipped over on a dodgy path). The LD bin does not work and all the RCF gear still does. :)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

In my opinion, a good percentage of money should be spent on subwoofers



Like your cheap DB sub....? :p