Custom Hi-Fi Systems/Car Subwoofers for PC Speakers

[WOG-BOY]

For all of thoes audio lovers with custom equipment eg. hi-fi speakers, amps and car subwoofers

show off your setup or discuss anything audio related

i will start off with my budget system....

12" sony xplod 350W rms 1200W Peak (dont give me shit it was free)
900W Rockford fosgate Punch 301x
500W yamaha YHT-195
NAD AV-711 no idea how many watts but it has alot

[mlee49]

Nice, do you use an AC/DC converter to run the amp?

Edit, also what sound card do you use? With a setup like that I'd assume it's gonna need a better signal sent to it.

[rockleez]

Woww nice, i wont embarrass myself and put mine here haha, only got a Z-4 system, nothing compared to those beasts

[jasper1605]

7.1 surround system (in my room, don't have anything for my Jeep)
Yamaha RX-V663 (95w X 7 channels)
Fronts: Paradigm cinema C90
Center: Paradigm cinema C110
Surrounds: Paradigm cinema ADP (awesome surrounds even if they're the cheapest from paradigm)
Subwoofer: Acoustech H100 150 RMS 500 peak (I used to have 2 in front corners but the neighbors didn't appreciate it much)

I'd load some pictures, but the room is a mess and I can't really put them in a good place since it's just an apartment rental lol

[selway89]

My setup is as follows:

2x Mission M30i HiFi speakers powered by Cyrus One HiFi amp (amp was and still is the dogs dangalies)
1x Home-made sub - Has a Mission 8" driver out of a £300 home cinema sub unit, powered by a Kenwood car amp.
All of this is driven off a Creative X-Fi ExtremeMusic card

Absolutely love it! Lossless audio through it and Blu-Ray look/sound amazing!

[WOG-BOY]

Originally Posted by mlee49

Nice, do you use an AC/DC converter to run the amp?

Edit, also what sound card do you use? With a setup like that I'd assume it's gonna need a better signal sent to it.

i have a 600W PSU using the + and - from 1 of the 12V rails
i have onboard...... it has optical, coaxial and 6 3.5mm jacks able to do anything, when i get the money i will get a card.

Originally Posted by jasper1605

7.1 surround system (in my room, don't have anything for my Jeep)
Yamaha RX-V663 (95w X 7 channels)
Fronts: Paradigm cinema C90
Center: Paradigm cinema C110
Surrounds: Paradigm cinema ADP (awesome surrounds even if they're the cheapest from paradigm)
Subwoofer: Acoustech H100 150 RMS 500 peak (I used to have 2 in front corners but the neighbors didn't appreciate it much)

I'd load some pictures, but the room is a mess and I can't really put them in a good place since it's just an apartment rental lol

nice system.... totally Sh!t$ on mine

Originally Posted by selway89

My setup is as follows:

2x Mission M30i HiFi speakers powered by Cyrus One HiFi amp (amp was and still is the dogs dangalies)
1x Home-made sub - Has a Mission 8" driver out of a £300 home cinema sub unit, powered by a Kenwood car amp.
All of this is driven off a Creative X-Fi ExtremeMusic card

Absolutely love it! Lossless audio through it and Blu-Ray look/sound amazing!

how the hell did u build ur own sub o_O
nice system btw

[jasper1605]

Yeah I love me my yamaha amp. When I get a job with a decent income I'll be getting the full paradigm signature series. It's my life dream

[WOG-BOY]

haha yea yamahas are good, whats the paradigm signature series?? sounds cool. im saving up for that 7.2 sony system, it has like 3 amps so im gonna run like 6 different amps

[jasper1605]

signature's are their top of the line. If I've added everything up right a 7.1 (and believe me the .1 is all a normal human 3 miles away from this sub would need) is just under 30 grand. Just hop on over to paradigm and do some reading on their signatures. Amazing speakers right there and their QC is one of the best in the speaker market.
More on the sub though. It's got an RMS of 4500 watts with a peak at 9000!!!
http://www.paradigm.com/en/reference...-5-17.paradigm
I think that could register some hits on the richter scales!

[imperialreign]

Seeing as how I'm too lazy to describe my system (for the up-teenth time ), I'll just link to a post: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpo...7&postcount=70



The pics I used were simply for representation purposes . . . as I still haven't gotten around to replacing my camera . . .


All I can say is that between vintage audio equipment and modern . . . vintage designs were constructed better, with really thought out enclosures, and tend to be decievingly powerful . . . they're also heavy as hell, each unit probably weighs somewhere close to 100lbs (never weighed them, though).

One day, though, I might finally work up the balls to replace the aging drivers, and install new ones into the enclosures . . . I just can't bear to mangle such vintage equipment . . . it'd break my heart . . .

[Ejjman1]

15" American Bass 1000w RMS


I have wondered how I'd go about hooking my 1000w amp up inside my house. I just kind of gave up and the sub is still bumping in my car.

[imperialreign]

My car setup:

Pioneer FH-800BT

Front:
2 Pioneer 2.5" tweeters
2 Pioneer 4-way 4"x6"

Rear:

2 Pionner 4-way 6"x9" supported by a
Pionner 300W amp

I can easily drown out 90% of other vehicles on the road . . . without having to use a sub.

I'm a believer in Pioneer's equipment (an extremelly under-stated brand, sadly), and properly matching components together.

[SabreWulf69]

My Setup:
ASUS Xonar Essence STX, using XMPlay with ASIO output @ Bit Depth and Sample Frequency of Source Material on Windows 7 Professional

Concord Premium Interconnects (1.0m Stereo Parallel Male to Male RCA Interconnect from sound card to amplifier, and 3.0m Stereo Parallel Male to Male RCA Interconnect from Amplifier Pre-Out to Subwoofer Input)

Cambridge Audio Azur 740A Integrated Stereo Amplifier (150W RMS/ch @ 4 Ohms, 100W RMS/ch @ 8 Ohms)

Technics SL-1700 Turntable

(To Yet Acquire) Cambridge Audio Azur 640P Phono Preamp

PSB SubSonic 5i Subwoofer (150W RMS Continuous, 225W Dynamic, 450W Dynamic Peak, 10" Driver)

Custom speakers (Australian floor standing Linear Design K-2500's, each tower with bituminous rubber paint on all internal enclosure walls, stuffed with Acrylic fiber, replacement 4" mid-range drivers (Jaycar one's with Magnesium-alloy diaphragms and Kapton voice coil former frames), replacement tweeters (Vifa Dual Concentric Super-Tweeters - http://www.tymphany.com/xt25tg30-04) and replacement 3-way crossovers (600hz and 3.5KHz X-Over points @ 12dB/octave), drivers sealed with closed cell polyurethane foam gaskets).

Speaker isolation via speaker risers.

Amplifier and subwoofer connected to a Clipsal "Orange Box" portable RCD power outlet.

[sweeper]

crazy.... I just spent the money on a nice Sony receiver, 10" sub, surround sound speakers and it thumps the crap out of my apartment. Use either my DVD player or my PS3 for DVD's / Blue-Ray on my 40" LG 1080P LCD. As far as my PC, on-board sound plus Creative 5100 series. It sounds good enough for me for a PC system. :P

[SabreWulf69]

Speaker stuff

Standing wave absorption on the insides of my speaker enclosures, possible good material ideas -
1) Bituminous rubber paint aka body deadener painted on wood
2) Rockwool Batts stapled to all sides of speaker enclosure on top of body deadener (FIBERTEX ROCKWOOL PARTITION BATTS) --> http://www.bradfordinsulation.com.au...partition.aspx
3) Stockings/paper bags filled with activated carbon, attached around speaker drivers inside enclosure
(Acticarb GC1200) --> http://www.activatedcarbon.com.au/gc1200.htm
4) Rest filled lightly with Acrylic Fibre (Cheap pillow stuffing)

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by jasper1605

signature's are their top of the line. If I've added everything up right a 7.1 (and believe me the .1 is all a normal human 3 miles away from this sub would need) is just under 30 grand. Just hop on over to paradigm and do some reading on their signatures. Amazing speakers right there and their QC is one of the best in the speaker market.
More on the sub though. It's got an RMS of 4500 watts with a peak at 9000!!!
http://www.paradigm.com/en/reference...-5-17.paradigm
I think that could register some hits on the richter scales!

With 6 10's, it had damn well better. Gotta love a Sub that you have to run a 220V line to run properly. lol.

I'd love to just have 6 Monitor 11's, a CC-390, and finish it off with an Ultra Cube 10"

[SabreWulf69]

Most things on this list will do me fine lol --> http://www.higherfi.com/spkrlist/speakerlist.htm

Also wouldn't mind a setup like this --> http://www.kipnis-studios.com/The_Ki..._Theaters.html

These --> http://egglestonworks.com/?page_id=303 in a 7 Channel Setup would be nice too. So much audio, so little time and money.

[WOG-BOY]

Originally Posted by jasper1605

signature's are their top of the line. If I've added everything up right a 7.1 (and believe me the .1 is all a normal human 3 miles away from this sub would need) is just under 30 grand
More on the sub though. It's got an RMS of 4500 watts with a peak at 9000!!!
http://www.paradigm.com/en/reference...-5-17.paradigm
I think that could register some hits on the richter scales!

30K........... i wish i had that much money...... lol

Originally Posted by Ejjman1

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...4bb465a174.jpg


I have wondered how I'd go about hooking my 1000w amp up inside my house. I just kind of gave up and the sub is still bumping in my car.

haha i havent got a car so the house was my only choice.

Originally Posted by SabreWulf69

My Setup:
Onboard (for now, hoping for M-Audio 192 Audiophile Soundcard), using XMPlay with WASAPI exclusive mode plugin in Windows 7 Pro

Concord Premium Interconnect (1.5m 3.5mm TRS to 2x RCA)

Cambridge Audio Azur 740A Integrated Stereo Amplifier (150W RMS/ch @ 4 Ohms)

Technics SL-1700 Turntable

(To Yet Acquire) Cambridge Audio Azur 640P Phono Preamp

Custom subwoofer (Jamo E4SUB.1 Box and Amp, deadened with bituminous rubber paint and lightly stuffed with acrylic fiber, everything resealed with single sided closed cell foam tape, with Logitech Z-680 8" Subwoofer Driver, with port now attached with screws as well as normal port mounting system), box raised another 1" off of the ground

Custom speakers (Australian floor standing Linear Design K-2500's, with bituminous rubber paint on all internal enclosure walls, each tower stuffed with 2KG's of Acrylic fiber, replacement 4" mid-range drivers (Jaycar one's with Magnesium-alloy diaphragms and Kapton voice coil formers), replacement tweeters (Vifa Dual Concentric Super-Tweeters - http://www.tymphany.com/xt25tg30-04)

Speaker isolation via felt covered bases of wood, sitting on top of inflated bicycle inner tubes

Amplifier and subwoofer connected to UPS, which is connected to a Clipsal "Orange Box" portable RCD power outlet.

damn did u do all that ur self??? i dont think the neighbours will be happy when u got all that turned up

[SabreWulf69]

Yeah, all done by myself over some period of time. An ever evolving work in progress :-D Been personally studying sound for ages, now doing a sound engineering course at TAFE (Certificate 3 in Music Industry (Technical Production)). Will gladly keep users informed of my progress if so desired :-)

My next immediate upgrade is the M-Audio Audiophile 192 Soundcard for the PC :-)
[EDIT: SOUNDCARD SEARCHING OVER WITH MY NEW ASUS XONAR ESSENCE STX :-D]

Current speaker plans are to add rockwool batts and activated carbon to my main speakers as well as upgrading the mid-ranges again to some Peerless HDS-Exclusive 5&1/4" Drivers (http://www.tymphany.com/files/products/pdf/831882.pdf), and then also upgrading the 2x 12" woofers in each tower to some SB Acoustics 12" drivers (http://www.sbacoustics.com/index.php...2-sb34nrx75-6/). After all that I will be weighing up impedances, and driver specifications to get myself some inductors and capacitors for complete re-design and replacement of the crossover, then finally getting some nice shiny new spade lug terminals.

Current amp plans atm are to acquire a Cambridge Audio Azur 640P Phono Preamp for my Turntable.

As I run into more things and more funds though I'm sure this list will expand lol.

[WOG-BOY]

im coming to u for now on when i need help lol. the M-Audio Audiophile 192 Soundcard for PC?? have u got a link for that? sounds interesting might buy 1 if any good. i need to buy a whole new speaker package and new sub.... 900W amp + 350W rms sub dont go good on high volume.

[SabreWulf69]

Soundcard is a studio grade (some would argue even beyond) card, primarily for music production and playback --> http://www.jrrshop.com/catalog/produ...oducts_id=4893 , http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...ophile192.html

I kinda dislike car audio, unless you take out the windows and remove the metal (which IS the car lol) it's always gonna sound off. Sure there is advanced equalization technologies like sound processing with Audessy Multi-EQ and similar DSP systems, but that stuff just doesn't do it for me in what is essentially a near field, cabin gain filled, highly reflective, poorly imaged, sound nightmare space lol As far as your sub and amp are concerned is better to overdrive than underdrive a speaker in power to a certain degree. Make sure amp is in RMS too and not PEAK power because my mate is driving 2x 150W RMS Rockford Punch subs, to deafening levels with his Alpine 666W (Actual) RMS V12 monoblock amplifier, and the subs have not died (yet lol). For those of you that insist that car audio is the shiznit may I direct your attention to this --> http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/displa...733&terid=1735 probably one of the only systems I would find almost adequate in a car.


EDIT: Changed mind for soundcard to acquire, I now have the ASUS Xonar Essence STX

[WOG-BOY]

tru i agree car audio isnt the best sounding but im only 15 and havent got a job yet so car audio is the cheapest for me..... later on when i get the money i will proberbly start getting studio grade equipment without my mum knowing.... she hates the bass already from a shit sub cant imagen what a $2000 sub will make her do

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by SabreWulf69

Soundcard is a studio grade (some would argue even beyond) card, primarily for music production and playback --> http://www.jrrshop.com/catalog/produ...oducts_id=4893 , http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...ophile192.html

I kinda dislike car audio, unless you take out the windows and remove the metal (which IS the car lol) it's always gonna sound off. Sure there is advanced equalization technologies like sound processing with Audessy Multi-EQ and similar DSP systems, but that stuff just doesn't do it for me in what is essentially a near field, cabin gain filled, highly reflective, poorly imaged, sound nightmare space lol As far as your sub and amp are concerned is better to overdrive than underdrive a speaker in power to a certain degree. Make sure amp is in RMS too and not PEAK power because my mate is driving 2x 150W RMS Rockford Punch subs, to deafening levels with his Alpine 666W (Actual) RMS V12 monoblock amplifier, and the subs have not died (yet lol). For those of you that insist that car audio is the shiznit may I direct your attention to this --> http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/displa...733&terid=1735 probably one of the only systems I would find almost adequate in a car.

Completely agreed . . .

. . . and adding a subwoofer?

My favorite "mistake" is seeing a subwoofer mounted with the driver facing towards the rear of the vehicle, or straight up.

As well, the majority of subwoofer choices people make are insanely oversized for the rest of the setup - even more-so considering the close proximities of each channel, and each channel to the "listener" (i.e. driver).

There's some tricks for making any speaker installation sound a lot better, but you can only improve things but so much.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by imperialreign

Completely agreed . . .

. . . and adding a subwoofer?

My favorite "mistake" is seeing a subwoofer mounted with the driver facing towards the rear of the vehicle, or straight up.

As well, the majority of subwoofer choices people make are insanely oversized for the rest of the setup - even more-so considering the close proximities of each channel, and each channel to the "listener" (i.e. driver).

There's some tricks for making any speaker installation sound a lot better, but you can only improve things but so much.

Actually, the face of the driver is supposed to face the rear of the car. Optimally, you want to point it into the rear corner of your trunk. Sounds better, and is louder. Try it for yourself.

[WOG-BOY]

Originally Posted by Wile E

Actually, the face of the driver is supposed to face the rear of the car. Optimally, you want to point it into the rear corner of your trunk. Sounds better, and is louder. Try it for yourself.

yea thats what i thought too, i thought the sound waves bounce off the back panels and go towards the front better then it facing just forward. in my house i have the sub and port facing the corner of the room and its soo much louder the it facing me