Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 I have mine with the active woofers (drive on the side of the amp) facing the wall and the passive pointing towards the listening area. I have tried several different positions. With the drive side facing the wall (as designed) it created a terrible head ringing boominess. Likely because it was to close to the wall. It sounded good sideways, sounds best with drive side out. Space limitations prohibit pulling the sub away from the wall a proper distance. It will be interesting to hear/feel what sealing it up does for my application. Just might be perfect? On the other hand, could turn out to be a complete waste of time and end up putting it back to stock. Don't get me wrong, I love this sub. Just an idea of "tightening" it up a bit. No harm done if unsuccessful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzog Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Depending on the specs of the driver, couldn't sealing it up potentially make the driver operate outside of its range and cause damage? If it is meant for a ported enclosure and is now sealed, damping properties are going to be significantly different. Obviously I don't know anywhere near as much as a lot on this forum, but that would make me slightly nervous on a very nice sub. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 couldn't sealing it up potentially make the driver operate outside of its range and cause damage? I don't know either, "Grizz". Very good point and definitely need to take this into consideration before any modifications are done. One thing to note is I don't operate the sub anywhere near its full output. It simply provides a little "umph" to the Scala's at moderate listening levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Without knowing the specs, the diver is fairly decent and most likely will not lead to damage if the box is closed up. The power requirements will go up to achieve the same spl and Xmax will have to also go up. If being to close to the wall is the problem, it will not change. 2-3 ft. away from the wall is ideal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 couldn't sealing it up potentially make the driver operate outside of its range and cause damage? I don't know either, "Grizz". Very good point and definitely need to take this into consideration before any modifications are done. One thing to note is I don't operate the sub anywhere near its full output. It simply provides a little "umph" to the Scala's at moderate listening levels. When I design boxes, I always look at sealed vs ported. I notice that the sealed designs with the same driver have a much higher power threshold than ported especially with overexcursion on frequencies below the tune. The amp probably has a HPF to protect overexcursion. Sealed, that circuit is pretty much meaningless since your sub will not only not need it, but sealed the driver will be able to handle more power. Sealed, you will lose low frequency. I will guess you will raise the lower number from 19Hz to 30Hz. I am guessing...... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Have you tried any room correction software for this sub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 If being to close to the wall is the problem, it will not change. 2-3 ft. away from the wall is ideal. LOL - that would put it in the middle of my living room. Now you see my predicament? Sealed, you will lose low frequency. I will guess you will raise the lower number from 19Hz to 30Hz. I am guessing...... Oh boy, that is exactly what I am trying to eliminate. Those extremely low, wall shaking frequencies. This just may prove to be a worthwhile trial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Have you tried any room correction software for this sub? I don't even know what that is? Strictly 2 channel, analog... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 I had also thought of adding some poly-fill to the cabinet as well. Help "trick the driver" into performing as the cab is bigger than it actually is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Depending on the specs of the driver, couldn't sealing it up potentially make the driver operate outside of its range and cause damage? If it is meant for a ported enclosure and is now sealed, damping properties are going to be significantly different. Obviously I don't know anywhere near as much as a lot on this forum, but that would make me slightly nervous on a very nice sub. From what I understand, sealing the cabinet will keep the woofer from operating outside it's range. The problem occurs when the woofer unloads due to a PORT and output is applied under that port's resonant point. The woofer will unload and that's when damage occurs. The problem with sealing the cabinet is that you can't rely on the output of the port to supplement the bass of the driver and also will tune the driver higher, thus sacrificing low bass. If the cabinet is sealed you will need a lot of power, very large Xmax, and eq to compensate at lower frequencies. That is why you see HUGE amplifiers on sealed subs, especially if the smaller the box gets. Double the power for a 3db rise. So for sealed cabinets (bigger is usually better), heavy woofer with very high Xmax / high power handling, huge power amp, and eq'd compensation at the lower/lowest frequencies to raise the output to compensate for box size and T/S parms. Filling the cabinet only compensates a small amount to box size and can actually make the box smaller if not done correctly. You will need something like woofer tester run against the actually woofer (not with a power amp hooked up) to find out when enough is enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 That is why you see HUGE amplifiers on sealed subs, especially if the smaller the box gets. Double the power for a 3db rise. I actually use very little of the subs actual potential. An estimation, I don't use even a 1/4 of the available power. That being said, do you believe the internal amp will be more than sufficient to power the sub in this application? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 You are asking questions that bass box or Win ISD can better answer based on science. Normal or low use listening does not use much power. I use less than 5 watts on a sub with this type of listening. Loud listening or a movie and things are totally different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 Maybe an RSW-10 would work better for your situation? You could sell the 15 and buy 3 or 4 of those. My experience with the RSW-15 is they perform best with the active facing the rear and pulled away from the back wall 10-12 inches or so. The RSW-10 is already a smaller sub and can be placed a little bit closer to the back wall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 The RSW-10 is a very musical, tight subwoofer. I ran a pair in stereo with a pair of Sunfire CRM-2's and they blended so well that if you closed your eyes you would think that you were listening to a pair of large floor standers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 You could sell the 15 Not a chance in the world, I am selling the Cherry 15... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I only suggested that because you don't seem to be very happy with it. I don't know why you'd want to hold onto something you don't like, especially if its valuable and could be sold quite easily? Personally I don't hold onto things because they're desirable to others, I keep what works for me. Over the years I've gravitated towards Klipsch and Sunfire gear because it works well for me at price points I can live with. If another brand came around that worked better for me at the same or cheaper price points I wouldn't lose a minute of sleep trading everything in. But that's just me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 The RSW-15 probably sounded great with the Chorus, its a good subwoofer. Pair it up with La Scala's, not so much. The weakness becomes apparent without much difficulty. If sealing up the sub does not work out for you in a positive manner just break down and get the proper tool for the job. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I had also thought of adding some poly-fill to the cabinet as well. Help "trick the driver" into performing as the cab is bigger than it actually is? at low frequencies poly fill is useless as a damping material works higher up very poorly at low frequencies. The most effective damping material at low frequencies is fiberglass, high density is best but for a project like this home insulation is fine. I would suggest getting enough pink or yellow house insulation to hard stuff the cabinet full then work backwards from there removing until you achieve the results you are after. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I suggest not packing it full unless you want to start a fire. Line the cabinet and staple your fill so it does not come close to the amplifier itself. Staples can be removed easy enough if things do not work out how you like. Better safe than sorry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthews Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Just to be clear, I think some may have mistaken my modification as my unhappiness with the RSW. This is far from my feelings. I very much like the RSW as is, simply considering improvement for my particular application. Thank you very much all for the warm input and opinions. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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