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EP500 vs DIY Sealed
#434860 12/21/19 06:05 PM
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Hi Guys,

I have 3000 to spend on a dual sub setup. Dual 500s are a plug and play setup I am aware of in this price bracket.

I am a big DIYer but really busy at work these days. It may take a while to complete this setup if I go DIY.

My goal is tactile loading\pressurization in a sealed 2400 cu ft room at listening levels of 75-80dBa or so. I would like dynamic peaks to be aggressive and unsettling during movies. I am not interested in a ported enclosure setup for various reasons. The subs will be placed at the front wall 1/4 points 24" from the wall behind them or so.

Are the 500s up to the job? If not I may go DIY and focus on large displacement drivers with a lot of power behind them.

Thanks.

Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434865 12/21/19 09:10 PM
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I get 70dBA (92dBC) at 20Hz from dual 500v4 at reference level in my 4200 cu.ft. unsealed room. The subs are 1/3 away from side walls and 32" out from the front wall.

The figures above are about 10dB low according to calibrated readings from others who use the same meter as I do.


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Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434868 12/21/19 10:14 PM
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What is the rest of your system, and also room dimensions? One mistake many people make in DIY is not realizing the importance of linearity of the drivers used within the intended enclosure.

We currently use dual EP800's in an unsealed room (though it also isn't completely open) which is about 4800 cubic feet, and even though there are subwoofer packages that, on paper, deliver higher SPL, they were not balanced in the way the 800's are, which made them distracting for both movies and music.

If your room is well sealed, at 2400 cubes, you should have performance which is elevated above ours with dual 500's compared to our dual 800's, and we get some serious pressurization.

Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434871 12/22/19 02:31 PM
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Hi Guys

Thanks for your input. I messed up and forgot the currency was in USD so 2x 500s puts me over budget.

That's ok. I think deep down I really wanted to go DIY anyway.

FWIW, the room is a rectangle 21' long. The speakers back onto a 15' wall. The room is tight when the door is closed. The blinds move when I open the door.

We have a NAD T777 as the processor and it uses Dirac to tune the system with a bunch of measurements. It is pretty flexible. I'm probably OK with a DIY sub setup tuning wise as long as I do my research and go with a proven design.

Thanks again for your time!

Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434872 12/22/19 03:33 PM
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If you want to go DIY, take a look at the Eminence LAB12 drivers. They are used in several very high end subwoofer designs, and are a tremendous sounding speaker. They are low inductance, and multiples of those with a good pro amp will pressurize your room.

You could easily build a system with 4 of these drivers and be under budget - and this will give you SPL to spare along with incredibly good sounding mid bass.

Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434873 12/22/19 07:29 PM
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Another place to look if you want something ready to go is on facebook. There's a Canadian audio sales page, at the moment there's one of Craig's Chase subs available. Whom ever only needs an Amp. to run it. Some stuff goes really quick some has been on since it started a few months ago.

Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434874 12/22/19 07:47 PM
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Thanks, Craig. I have been looking at the Lab12 drivers in a pair of dual sealed cabs based on your recommendation.

I had been looking at a pair of the Tymphany STW350F as well with a 3KW amp. I am still in the process of deciding what will make the most sense in terms of total clean displacement.

The Lab12s are tough to beat for the price it seems. People really seem to like them. It looks like their low end may be on the light side without an enclosure to augment it. I would likely throw out 20db on the high end to meet the low end if necessary. But it wouldn't matter with 4...

I would estimate 4 of them within a 1/4 wavelength distance of 20hz would boost their output to the lowest octave considerably. Maybe 9 db at 20hz or so as a guess.

Thanks, Brendo. I'm not sure I really want to mess with used gear or deal with independent sellers through FB. Great idea though.

Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434877 12/22/19 11:32 PM
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I have been out of the business end since 2014 - but I think the old warehouse still has some passive 18's that are new in the box. Drop me a PM if you want me to check - they can be shipped to Canada. The drivers are basically a "Lab 18," and were exclusive to us from 2010-2014.

I am pretty sure you could get four 18's already in built cabinets and have money left over for a good pro amp. That is, of course, unless they sold out. There is nothing in this for me, either.

Re: EP500 vs DIY Sealed
aaaaaaaaaaaaa #434880 12/24/19 12:10 AM
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Thanks for the offer. If these are old Chase subs I'll probably pass. The shipping would be bananas!

Think I will hold off until after Xmas to see what Santa has in store. Thanks guys.

Merry Bass to you all!


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