Edgar_in_Indy

If what I hear about the Tuba HT is true, then I doubt I will feel a need for more subs anyway. I don't think I'll really mind the THT not going much below 20hz, but if so, then maybe tactile transducers in the furniture can help make up the difference.

Thanks for the input. I'm talking to the guy, and I'll probably give it a try. I suppose I could always supplement it later with an 18" or two if I felt like I needed to go lower. I've been intrigued by the THT for a long time, and even bought the plans once, but it just seemed like a bigger project than I wanted to get into. Finding one for sale for basically the cost of the build will be hard to turn down.

I've been planning to do a couple sealed 18's for my large home theater room, but I just found somebody selling a Tuba HT (24"x36"x36" w/15" driver) with the amp for $500. Does anybody have any thoughts on how a single Tuba HT would compare to a couple of these sealed DIY 18's in a large room? Thanks!

As someone who has had the opportunity to listen to a MartySub and a 4.0 cu. ft. 18" sealed sub, can you provide a more detailed subjective comparison? I can see from the graphs that the MartySub is louder, but beyond that, does one sub sound different and/or better than the other? The sealed sub has the advantage of being a simpler build, and it's smaller/lighter, but beyond those two obvious advantages, do you see any other factors in the sealed sub's favor?

I had pretty much decided to build a couple of these sealed 18" subs sometime this spring when I have some extra time, but I recently stumbled across the MartySub, which is a similar build, but in a larger, ported enclosure. Given that my room is so large (see post #83 above), would I be better served by the ported sub? Here are a couple threads about the MartySub. (I would probably go with the slightly smaller MartyCube): http://www.avsforum.com/t/1489541/large-ported-dayton-ho18s http://www.avsforum.com/t/1516724/martysub-flatpacks The second thread has a graph comparing the output of the MartySubs with a sealed 4.0 cubic foot 18" sub.

I see that Parts Express has the 4-ohm Dayton 18" HO, but for just a little more they also have the 2-ohm Dayton UM18-22. Anybody know if that would be a better choice?

Thanks for the quick, and very helpful, response! Do you know if there is any difference in quality between the box from DIYsoundgroup.com and Parts Express?

So now that the SI 18 is discontinued, is there any other simply DIY option out there with similar performance and price?

Good going guys! Oh well, that's good news for my wife at least. Do you know if they are expecting to get more?

I tend to agree, which is why I've decided to keep the projector, rather than look for something with less maximum output, like a JVC. As you point out, I have light to spare for when the bulb starts to dim, and the extra brightness is very handy when viewing TV with some lights on. I haven't tried 3D yet, but I hear the extra brightness will also be appreciated for 3D. And removing the filter is as easy as flipping it up. I just need to design a classier looking filter holder. I guess it's kind of like complaining that a new Corvette has too much horsepower because it spins its tires too easily in the snow. But still, the brightness issue is something that people should be aware of.

Did you try going into the settings and calibrating the picture... It will usually make the picture less bright. Yes, I have messed with every option I can find, and I have run Disney's World of Wonder calibration disc, which many consider to be the best of the end-user calibration discs. The thing was just too darn bright! The ND filter is what eventually tamed it. If my room was all black with reflections all controlled, perhaps I wouldn't have had as much trouble, but I still think the picture would be much brighter than I wanted. With how bright this projector is, I think that Epson should have either included 1) a user-adjustable manual iris, 2) an internal ND filter that can be selected to be inserted into the light path, or 3) threads on the lens ring for adding a filter. Since originally getting the projector, I have changed from a 108" screen-size to a 145" screen-size and I think that helped.

It seems like there has been a big push for more lumens over the last several years, but sometimes I think it might be a case of "too much of a good thing". After spending several happy years with an Epson 7500UB Pro Cinema (pretty much same as 6500UB), I recently decided to upgrade. I wanted to stay under $2000, so a couple weeks ago I bought one of the last Epson 5010 "B-Stock" units from Projector People for $1649 shipped (it only had 10 hrs on lamp, and comes with the full 2-year warranty.) The 5010 is 95% the same as the 5030, particularly in 2D performance. After reading all the great reviews of the Epson 5010/20/30 projectors, I was disappointed when I got it installed and discovered that it was actually too bright. I'm using it on a 108" 16:9 matte-white screen in a basement room with no windows, but with light walls. Even with the lamp in Eco mode, the iris enabled, and the projector set to Cinema Night, the image was still blazing, resulting in a room that was too bright, blacks that were not very black, and colors that were washed out. I do photography as a hobby, and it was basically like take a picture that was overexposed. I ended up fixing the problem by affixing a 77mm ND4 "Neutral Density" filter in front of the lens. Unfortunately, Epson did not include threads on the lens ring of the 5010, so there is not an easy way to put a filter in place. So right now it's kind of rigged up with a piece of stiff paper and tape, and I'm trying to think of a more elegant way to mount the filter. But at least I have my image quality back for movies. Don't get me wrong, the extra brightness is definitely nice for watching sports and TV with some lights on, and it would probably be good for video games (as well as 3D). But I watch 95% movies on my projector, so I just didn't need all that brightness. I just wish Epson would have put threads on the lens ring. I was just at my parents house the other day, and I was annoyed to see that even their old Panasonic PT-AE900U has threads! I'm just surprised that I haven't seen more people complaining about their newer projectors being too bright.

Thanks for weighing in, your insight is very helpful. Four of the 18's is just not gonna be in the budget, at least not this year most likely. Do you reckon that if I started off with two, it would be a worthwhile improvement over my current setup?

Yeah, that's the problem. I'm wondering if I might be better off just installing some tactile transducers on my furniture rather than spending thousands of dollars on an array of subwoofers. Thank you for the compliment on the home theater, BTW. I've pretty much done it all on a shoe-string budget since my wife is not exactly on board.

I hope he does elaborate, as this is a topic of great interest to me. I currently have a SVS 20-39cs and a Velodyne DLS-5000R in my home theater, and while I find tons of user reviews online raving about the deep, clean, powerful bass each of these subs produce, I've honestly been a little underwhelmed. Of course, anybody who visits my home theater is very complementary of the setup, but I've always wanted a lot more. I've long suspected that the problem may be my environment. My home theater is in a huge basement room almost 50' long (nearly 8000 cubic feet) and open to the upstairs. So I think the combination of the huge space and the solid concrete everywhere just soaks up the bass. So I've been watching this thread with great interest since I'm thinking of selling my two subs to finance the build of a couple of these 18-inchers. From what I've been reading here, it sounds like it would be a worthwhile upgrade. Here are a few pics of my basement/home theater for reference:

Can you elaborate on the part about moving your SVS subs into the basement? Are you saying that the subs performed better upstairs where they were surround by wood-construction floors/walls, but once they got into the concrete floor/walls of the basement they did not have the same impact?

I've got the 818 hooked up, but I've been able to spend very little time in my home theater since I've had quite a bit going on here lately. I will be sure to post my thoughts once I've been able to spend some quality time down there.

By tuning, I think we're actually talking about the EQ process.

As a follow-up to my previous post, I would stress the importance of room-calibration features in modern AVR's. Pretty much any mid-end or high-end AVR offers calibration these days, but there are different calibration systems out there with varying capabilities. Some AVR makers such as Onkyo, Denon, and Marantz have chosen to license calibration technology from Audyssey, while other major players such as Pioneer and Yamaha have chosen to use their own in-house calibration scheme. Pioneer's system is called MCACC and Yamaha's is called YPAO. And while each system adds value to an AVR, the majority consensus is that Audyssey is head-and-shoulders above the others, particularly with the latest MultEQ XT32 system. The most apparent difference is Audyssey's superior calibration of LFE, which is often the most problematic aspect of home theater sound systems. You will find some people who discount the importance of auto-calibration, saying that their system sounded better without any calibration or with manual calibration, but when it comes to MultEQ XT32, you will find far, far more people who say the calibration was a big improvement. Now if your room is already ideal for sound, then the calibration may not be a big deal, but most people don't have the perfect room with all the treatments, and that's where auto-calibration is most useful. Again, opinions vary, but it's something to be aware of when shopping for a new AVR.

I'm running RF-7 mains and an RC-7 center in my front-projection home theater in a huge 8000 cubic foot basement room (nearly 50' at longest point), and I just went through the process of researching AVR's. I wanted something that: Has plenty of power Has pre-outs for later adding external amplification Has the latest Audessy MultiEQ XT32 calibration Has Audessy SubEQ for calibrating my dual subwoofers Sounds great! I was wanting to stay below $1000, and I was primarily shopping on Accessories4less.com since I had bought a couple refurbished AVR's in the past, and both times they had been indistinguishable from new. I had narrowed my choices down to (prices all from Accessories4less.com): $999 - Denon 4311ci $799 - Denon AVR x4000 $649 - Onkyo TX-NR818 All three AVR's get rave reviews, but I was initially leaning towards one of the Denon's since I run dual subs (Velodyne DLS-5000R & SVS 20-39) and the Denon's both have MultEQ XT32 & SubEq, while the Onkyo has the XT32 but lacks the SubEq. But after researching the issue further, it seems like SubEq isn't really necessary, even for dual subs, and the XT32 is the really important thing. I ended up picking the Onkyo since it has gotten great reviews for its powerful and refined sound and its muscular, well-designed amplifier section, and it was significantly less expensive than the other two. I also read from some Klipsch owners that the 818 has a "warmer" / less-bright sound that goes great with Klipsch horn speakers. As a bonus, the 818 also has top-notch video processing that many owners rave about, particularly for processing sub-par sources such as over-compressed cable/satellite feeds. I would have ordered from Accessories4less, but when I called OneCall, they offered me a brand-new sealed unit with the full 2-year warranty for the same $649 w/free shipping, so I jumped on it. It should arrive today, and I can't wait to hook it up.

Thanks! Now that I'm in the process of upgrading my home theater to a full Klipsch setup, I'll probably be posting here more.

I was speaking with the seller and I almost bought that single RF-7 since the price was so good, and I was just going to hold onto it until I found a second one for a good price. Even with $100 shipping to Indiana, I thought it was a great price. But I ended up finding a good deal on a pair of RF-7's with an RC-7 center speaker. If I had the right setup, I would have considered buying the single RF-7 and using it for a center channel, but a tower center will not work in my home theater. To the OP: Have you considered the RC-7 for a center? It is a perfect match visually, and I believe it is also supposed to be a good match sound-wise.

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll be using the speakers in my large basement, which has a concrete floor with carpet/padding. Would spikes be recommended, or should I just be using the feet?

I've tried researching this question myself, but without much luck since it's difficult to avoid search results for the RF-7 II's. Does anybody know if the RF-7 Classics are made to accept spikes? If so, do they mount into the feet? Did they come with spikes in the box? I know I could check myself, but it would require unhooking the speakers and taking them out from where they are, and tipping them over. But with only my petite wife to help me (and she thinks all this speaker stuff is nonsense anyway), I was hoping somebody here would know. Bonus question: If they can accept spikes, can anybody direct me to a link to purchase some compatible spikes?

Or worse yet, what if they want to listen to country music??? [:|]