holtrp Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) Honestly, I have no idea and haven't heard each sub. This is just the graph the leading bass freaks have displayed on the AVS forum for Marty sub. I have had many subs both ported and sealed. To keep it simple, ported has more SPL but sealed has better quality. If you listen to tons of R&B hip-hop and rap and all you really care about is max spl, go ported. If you like rock, classical or tight LFE content, I would stick with sealed. My old KSW-12 was lots of fun at parties when blasting dance music, but not so much when trying to listen to pick out all the low bass notes with organ music. I have been a sealed fan for the last 7 years when I finally got rid of my last ported sub. It really comes down to what is realistic for your own listening habits. Do you really need 118 db at 20 hz vs 108 db at 20 hz that the measurements suggest you will get? Both subs are insanely loud, especially when you consider running two or 4 of them. I would consider two Martys would be comperable to my 4 sealed. Edited April 8, 2014 by holtrp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeskizzle Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) I just finished building a full sized Marty. My room is 12X30 and it definitely helped give more bass. The punch is there. Mine is good to about 15ish Hz. 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 don't have any measuring equipment (yet) to take graphs, so it'll just be what I can tell. The sealed sub definitely gives greater extension. Based on reading the MartySub thread a crapload of times, I shot for a tuning closer to 15Hz rather than 17 (+/-). From the 15Hz on up, it's no comparison - Marty all the way. Below 15, it becomes a much closer comparison. Running a 15Hz wave through the Marty causes something in the room to shake in a way that sounds like drywall slapping against studs...it's downright impressive - something the single sealed could never do. If you sit right in front of the sub when the 15Hz wave goes through, you can feel air moving - I never felt that with the sealed. To me, the sound from the sealed and ported were very similar. The ported sounded "closer" if that makes sense, but overall, I can't say that one sounded better or worse than the other. From the back of the room, the Marty definitely still had more presence than the single sealed. All of this listening was done with an EP4000 bridged with the gain nob turned towards 3:00. Just for the heck of it, I hooked up both the Marty and sealed to the EP bridged and turned the gain all the way up. Talk about the best of both worlds...I have kept it that way. Regardless, I can definitely say that I never plan on buying another sub. DIY all the way. Edited April 8, 2014 by homeskizzle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holtrp Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I just finished building a full sized Marty. My room is 12X30 and it definitely helped give more bass. The punch is there. Mine is good to about 15ish Hz. 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 don't have any measuring equipment (yet) to take graphs, so it'll just be what I can tell. The sealed sub definitely gives greater extension. Based on reading the MartySub thread a crapload of times, I shot for a tuning closer to 15Hz rather than 17 (+/-). From the 15Hz on up, it's no comparison - Marty all the way. Below 15, it becomes a much closer comparison. Running a 15Hz wave through the Marty causes something in the room to shake in a way that sounds like drywall slapping against studs...it's downright impressive - something the single sealed could never do. If you sit right in front of the sub when the 15Hz wave goes through, you can feel air moving - I never felt that with the sealed. To me, the sound from the sealed and ported were very similar. The ported sounded "closer" if that makes sense, but overall, I can't say that one sounded better or worse than the other. From the back of the room, the Marty definitely still had more presence than the single sealed. All of this listening was done with an EP4000 bridged with the gain nob turned towards 3:00. Just for the heck of it, I hooked up both the Marty and sealed to the EP bridged and turned the gain all the way up. Talk about the best of both worlds...I have kept it that way. Regardless, I can definitely say that I never plan on buying another sub. DIY all the way. What about duel Marty and duel sealed in the same room? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted April 9, 2014 Author Share Posted April 9, 2014 id say that graph you posted holt was with no eq applied and possibly outdoors at ground plane? cause like i said i have to cut 6 db at 20 hz to be flat to 8 hz. obviously room dependent but sealed will not stand a chance to ported without eq applied. period. but i had the svs ultras for about a year and ill take my current setup any day of the week even at the same price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holtrp Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Oh yeah. I am sure it was outside, 3 meters, yadayada 'certified' chart. You know those guys better than me, those guys at AVS are hardcore. I am excited to measure my room, I am sure it is compatible to your setup. I would take this setup over any number of JL's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 (edited) The marty cube looks like the Chane subwoofer vented version to the SS 18.1, the QBE. They are capable of some tremendous output above their tunning. It should be around 3 db more in the 20-60 Hz area. A seal will not have the below tunning handicap of of a vented version of the same sub. Tunning to 17 Hz help and those subs may not need a hpf due to equipment chain roll-off. Edited April 9, 2014 by derrickdj1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeskizzle Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I just finished building a full sized Marty. My room is 12X30 and it definitely helped give more bass. The punch is there. Mine is good to about 15ish Hz. 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 don't have any measuring equipment (yet) to take graphs, so it'll just be what I can tell. The sealed sub definitely gives greater extension. Based on reading the MartySub thread a crapload of times, I shot for a tuning closer to 15Hz rather than 17 (+/-). From the 15Hz on up, it's no comparison - Marty all the way. Below 15, it becomes a much closer comparison. Running a 15Hz wave through the Marty causes something in the room to shake in a way that sounds like drywall slapping against studs...it's downright impressive - something the single sealed could never do. If you sit right in front of the sub when the 15Hz wave goes through, you can feel air moving - I never felt that with the sealed. To me, the sound from the sealed and ported were very similar. The ported sounded "closer" if that makes sense, but overall, I can't say that one sounded better or worse than the other. From the back of the room, the Marty definitely still had more presence than the single sealed. All of this listening was done with an EP4000 bridged with the gain nob turned towards 3:00. Just for the heck of it, I hooked up both the Marty and sealed to the EP bridged and turned the gain all the way up. Talk about the best of both worlds...I have kept it that way. Regardless, I can definitely say that I never plan on buying another sub. DIY all the way. What about duel Marty and duel sealed in the same room? That's exactly what I plan on doing. Not sure when I'll get to it, but that's the plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truetreasure Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 scrappy nice thread. I read most of it but I didn't see your final opinion after all tuned in. Maybe I just missed it. sounds like your really pleased with the subs. If you didn't post your findings after getting settled in with them I would like to know your final thoughts. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 Final thoughts in a nut shell. Amazing! Crazy deep super tight tons of spl. I was going crazy looking for sub before even with dual Svs ultras. Since these. Haven't looked at subs one time. Absolutely love them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar_in_Indy Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 2 expensive high X-max 18"s would probably give the THT a run for its money, THT max output is around 127dB. The THT will offer less distortion and cleaner bass notes. Depending on cabinet tuning and driver choice the 18"s could dig deeper. The THT is tuned to 22 Hz, corner loaded should get you to about the same frequency in a large room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar_in_Indy Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 2 expensive high X-max 18"s would probably give the THT a run for its money, THT max output is around 127dB. The THT will offer less distortion and cleaner bass notes. Depending on cabinet tuning and driver choice the 18"s could dig deeper. The THT is tuned to 22 Hz, corner loaded should get you to about the same frequency in a large room. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Mixing different subwoofers is a bad idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar_in_Indy Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Mixing different subwoofers is a bad idea. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 Tactile transducer and subwoofers actually doing the work is two completely different things. Just saying. However I've set my 18's at a sharp 48 db slope around 25 hz before and only a few movies out there that you really notice on anyways. Tht will probably be just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 Uhhhh someone bumped this? How did this wind up at the top with no posts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar_in_Indy Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) Uhhhh someone bumped this? How did this wind up at the top with no posts? Bummer...I got a notification, and I was all excited to see what the update was. I really enjoyed reading this thread. Edited November 24, 2014 by Edgar_in_Indy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 Thanks Edgar. Lol. Nothing has changed with them. They still rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 It's the infamous anonymous bump. I hate that feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar_in_Indy Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) I still think about going the sealed 18" DIY route from time to time, but my Tuba HT is doing such a good job that I can't get motivated to switch. I'm sure my wife would appreciate the smaller, less obtrusive subs, but I don't feel like going through the trouble of finding a buyer for the Tuba HT. I think I got a pretty decent deal at $500 w/ the amplifier, but getting my money back would probably require finding a very specific buyer, and I don't like losing money on my hobby transactions (I usually *make* money when selling old gear, since I try to buy low). Besides, my next project needs to be eliminating rattles and buzzes around the basement before I even think about going after more low-end. Edited November 24, 2014 by Edgar_in_Indy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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