Subwoofer for Straight 8's?

[Mudhiker]

The 8's have great low end oomph and detail all things considered, but I think I'm finally ready to add some powered reinforcement at the bottom.  Looking at Decware... Wicked one is too large, Death boxes look rather scary.  Parts Express Titanic gets mixed reviews.  Lovers and haters.  Hsu Research always seems well recommended.  Here's the rub.  I live in a small sealed box, a 160 sf travel trailer.  A sub will only fit under the desk and I really don't want uncontrolled buzzing or worse... broken windows.  Basically my acoustic situation is more like tuning for a car/van than a room in a house.  Because of this, I don't know how to read subwoofer reviews because most folk's listening rooms are quite a bit larger than mine.  My goal of course is sonic fidelity.  Double bass concerto notes so crisp that your neck hair stands up.  I work in a cabinet shop so fabrication/kits/from plans is not a problem at all.  Budget is ~$500.

[Tubejack]

http://www.rythmikaudio.com/index.html

But it could be a stretch for your budget.  I like the servo concept, it's accuracy and usually smaller footprint, having owned a single Velodyne 12" and servo amp in the early 90's as a part of my SS stereo rigs.  My conversion to tubes and SET DIY changed my speaker needs wrt efficiency; I use servo subs with my 92db Northcreek Signature Rhythm/Revelators which I enjoy immensely for the detail and accuracy of the combination.

For my HT setup I used BASH 500W plate amps and built sealed 15" boxes.   Good for boom, not finesse. 

[corndog71]

I second the Rythmic sub but would steer you towards the GR Research version.  GR actually offers a kit of this where you can buy just the amp and the driver and build the enclosure yourself.  I spent $500 plus shipping on those 2 pieces and another $60 for mdf and got a killer sub out of it!

Absolutely phenominal performance with 20Hz extension with a -3dB in the teens.  It has added depth to music in a way that I've never heard from previous subs I've owned. (B&W, Definitive)

GR has free plans available for a well-braced cabinet or you can DIY.  They only require between 1.5-1.8 cu/ft of space per driver.  And the amps can drive up to 3 woofers.

Here's mine.

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi576.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss207%2Fcorndog642%2FIMG_0334.jpg&hash=cd2402fc25090542c343d9ae1e20c60640f16db5)

[Doc B.]

You might give Kevin Haskins at DIYCable a call too. He has been developing a pretty outrageous line of subwoofers. That's a 21" with the 6.5" we use on my current speakers sitting on the dustcap:

http://www.diycable.com/main/default.php

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exodusaudio.com%2Fimages%2FM-EX.jpg&hash=a3d6b092e460dfafa66f3b380b0c09cecef1d5cc)

[Mudhiker]

You might give Kevin Haskins at DIYCable a call too. He has been developing a pretty outrageous line of subwoofers. That's a 21" with the 6.5" we use on my current speakers sitting on the dustcap:

http://www.diycable.com/main/default.php

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exodusaudio.com%2Fimages%2FM-EX.jpg&hash=a3d6b092e460dfafa66f3b380b0c09cecef1d5cc)

I noticed the other day that he is discounting his 10 inch drivers.  Argh.  Too many choices.  Keep in mind everyone, my listening room is my RV, 1280 gross cubic feet minus bed, kitchen cabinets, bathroom closet... probably about 800 cu feet actually available for air movement.