Subwoofer

[IanPounder]

Unless you pay a fortune, it can be difficult to find a decent sub that goes down even to 30Hz. I ordered one of these Ruark subwoofers on Friday night and it arrived yesterday. Ebay item number 120278025190

I used it on my Hauptwerk setup last night, and so far I'm very impressed. Not a bad low frequency response (18Hz quoted)

Great value!

[gingercat]

Glad you're happy with your sub, but I think it only goes down to 28Hz according to BK in a post here "I just e-mailed BKElec, and they say the Vita 50 only goes down to 28Hz" : http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-320017.html

[IanPounder]

Maybe so. The spec I got claims 18Hz in one place and 15 in another, but with no -?DB figure to give it any real meaning.

It's made a big difference to the 16s (my main speakers only go down to 45Hz at -3DB) and there's certainly something there on the 32s so you can tell they're in use. In any case, in an ordinary room it's open to debate how much 32' effect you can get.

So, all in all, I still think it's a good buy and ahead of other subs available at a similar price. For example, there's a Mordaunt Short which only claims 38Hz.

[PeterB]

For a sound of 16Hz (bottom 32' C approximately) to sound at all in a room, you need a room of at least 6 meters/yards in length, otherwise the sound wave cannot form. What you will get then is overtones. Nice overtones, but nevertheless only overtones, and no fundamental pitch.

Quite frequently, the value of a subwoofer lies not so much in being able to reproduce the 16-30 Hz range, but in the power and definition it gives to the ordinary bass range. This frequently makes us *think* we hear the very lowest octave. Doesn't really matter: mission accomplished.

And to be honest, how often do you use 32' registers anyway? Do you really *need* 19Hz at 0db without any distortion whatsoever? Probably not.

If you need to get close to those stats for home use, take a look at something like the Velodyne DD-10. But expect to pay in the region of 3500 USD for it. Whatever you do, don't get a home theatre subwoofer - they're good for movie explosions but not much more. They can boom impressively, but distortion is high and linearity is abysmal.

Acceptable woofers start at 500-700 USD, I'd say, but opinions and prices vary from country to country, of course.