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Anyone hear of Creative Sound Solutions or have heard their products?

I'm leaning toward a DIY sub and they seem to have some good drivers and 'kits' that don't cost an arm and a leg to ship over here. Another Canadian company that charges less than any US company to ship stuff here.

http://www.creativesound.ca/index.html

I've been on their website a number of times but haven't bought anything from them. I think they have a storefronts on both sides of the Washington/BC border.

You may find some info about them on one of the DIY sites as I recall seeing some postings about their sub kits.

They have a good reputation. They also have a forum at hometheatershack.com

Thanks guys!

I found them over on hometheatershack, and they seemed to offer a decent line at first glance.

What driver/kit were you thinking of?

I have dealt with them before. The fellow that runs it is very good and helpful. Originally from the Greater Toronto Area, he, at one time, sold the Velodyne SMS-1 bass equalizer and I purchased it from him at a very competitive price. He has been around for awhile now so worth a try.

They do have some interesting sub kits, as well as the "tuneable" weight passive radiators(up to 15").

I was looking at the Trio 12 kit. Seems like quality components. Even though that sub is their 'budget' version it seems like it would do ok in that kit with the amp tweaks.

I just need better low range extension than what I'm getting with the BIC F12. Looking at the SPL pdf on the site I'm thinking I should be able to get decent response at 20hz...not stellar, but decent.

I do have space for their SDX15 driver and am trying to figure out WINISD to get a good design.

If you have room, skip the pr kits and step up to the SDX15. It does well in anything from 7.5 to 12 cu.ft. ported. An 11-12 cu.ft cap tuned to 15 Hz will get you flat to 15Hz in room.

That's Flockhart Flat!

No need to be redundant.

Redone what?

Flockhart flat? Damn that must be flat! Thanks for the suggestion on the 15. I have about 9cu ft. I can use. Now I just need to figure out how to use WINISD.

Post questions on hometheatershack.com. There are some very helpful folks there.

Just to follow up here.

It turns out that the shipping charges for the SDX15 were not as cheap as I thought. $80 just for the driver is a little steep for me. The amp would be another $50 or so.

Luckily, Kevin Haskins from DIYCable offered up $43 shipping for the Exodus Tempest X2 (15 incher) and I got an OAudio BASH 500 coming for just $19 shipped.

So, the plan now is to make a sealed 6^ft (net after stuffing) enclosure with a Q of .675 for the Tempest and let the low end boost features of the OAudio amp get me to a 32hz F3. I should be 7db's down at 20hz. Hopefully my room gain can make up for the dropoff and get me closer to flat through 20hz.

May just be my imagination,but I've always liked sealed subs better, but if this design doesn't work out, I have a ported design as backup.

Got all the mdf cut and am starting to put the box together. The driver should be in this week, and the backordered amp should be here in two weeks.

Sounds like quite a project! Keep it on!

The Tempest-x2 is a nice driver too. You know, ported would get you down to 15Hz quite nicely.

Let us know how the build goes.

Keep us informed, sounds like an interesting project.

I have most of the box together, but am still waiting on the driver to drill out the mounting holes. I decided to glue strips of plywood on the back of the mdf so that the screws will have something to bite into. I just don't see t-nuts or hurricane nuts as a better alternative to a simple wood screw.

I've been told that the OAudio amp won't be available until mid January due to a parts shortage. I'm considering going with the Parts Express amp, which would give me greater flexibility with ported designs down the road, but I already cutout the mounting hole for the OAudio. Also, the box was designed for the OAudio as it is a little smaller than I would have liked if I went with a more conventional amp with minimal or no boost at the subsonic cutoff frequencies. With no guarantees for the January timeframe, I may have to find a creative way to patch up the hole and mount the PE amp on the other side.

If anyone has a suggestion for an 500W+ amp/single band eq combo for under $300, I'm open to suggestions.

Tapco Juice J800 + BFD 1124. Much better than a plate amp. 800w bridged into 4 ohms.

fredK,

Doh! The PE HPSA500 is already on its way!

Thanks for the suggestion though! If I were smarter, I would have designed the box to not house the plate amp, but just have it on the side. At least if other power options came up I could easily accommodate them.

Need to look up the Tapco. First time I've heard of it.

The enclosure is just about done and is just waiting for the primer to dry, the paint to go on, and the feet to be attached.

Well, the new Tempest X2 is up and running. I have the pics over here: http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/exodus-audio/23815-tempest-x2-5-cubic-feet-sealed.html if anyone was interested.

So far, it is doing great in my room. I never could get a 20hz tone to register on the Radio Shack meter with the BIC F12, but the Tempest easily puts out 20hz and lower (measured to 17hz about 12dbs down).

Considering the FR of the Bic F12 is only 25-200hz it is not surprising you do not register anything with a 20 hz tone. I suspect that the 25 hz is already 6db down as per normal spec ratings and things roll off very quickly after that.

The Tempest looks good, nicely done.

Thanks Jay! While I knew it was going to make a difference I never realized it would be of the magnitude I see. I can understand why people who buy quality subs for the first time have such positive reactions to them. It is quite addicting. I'm going to have to see if I can get the F12 setup as a midbass unit or something just for kicks.

Nice build. I was surprised at how much a good sub adds to the movie experience. I will never go without one now.

Well done BigHon. Did you use a program to figure out the box dimensions or was there a recommended box size and design supplied with the driver?

BTW, the Tapco Amp that Fred mentioned is made by Mackie, very well known in the pro audio business. Consider the Tapco to be Mackie's affordable line and the "Juice series" is similar to some of the Behringer and QSC GX amps in their design and output.

I used WinISD to help with the modeling. Really came in handy when trying to figure out the effects of different PEQ settings and their effect on response and cone excursion. I know that with the amp I have, in the box that I have, I don't need to worry about exceeding Xmax at any point. The amp will start to clip before I start to hear the driver complaining. What also helped was that Home Theater Shack had a ton specs for drivers in their database. It was just a matter of loading in the correct profile to get the TS parameters.

Previous to using the freeware, I used the Tempest application notes to get a brief overview of what a box this size can do.

I still may go with a 5.5 cuft ported design as it offers up FLAT response to 15hz AND higher efficiency. However, I have always been more partial to sealed designs so I'll see how this one works out for now.

Besides, since my wife was wondering about when the matching box for the other side of the couch was going to be completed, I'm willing to gamble that dual sealed 15's should work out well!

I'm such a noob when it comes to pro style amps. Would I need to rig a switch to power them on and off, or do I need to remember to turn them on and off all the time?