clio09,
In my last post I stated I had some comments and questions concerning your last post and your numbered clarifying descriptions of your system and future actions and plans. Here’s your post with my comments and questions added:
"@noble100 if it wasn’t clear let me try to clarify it for you.
1. "I’m building subs with 10" drivers for use as either a DBA or line array. It’s nice to have choices."
I agree, choices and options are nice to have. My four Audio Kinesis Debra DBA subs all have 10" aluminum long-throw drivers. These work well in my DBA system for music and ht, providing sufficient bass that can be felt as well as heard. These subs are ported but come with port plugs if you prefer to use sealed subs which some claim perform better on music.
.
My audio enthusiast friend, who assisted me with my DBA setup, and I both agreed that we perceived the bass as very similar whether run as sealed or ported subs on both music and ht content. There was no clear advantage we perceived on music content gained from utilizing the sealed sub configurations with the lone exception being we perceived the bass as slightly more extended running the subs as ported. We were both curious on whether using subs with 12" drivers would allow even further extension of the bass response along with increased dynamics and impact without compromising the excellent speed and resulting seamless integration with the main speakers.
2. My active crossover has LP and HP filters set at 100 Hz. So the HP output sends signals 100 Hz and above to the panels and the LP output sends signals below 100 Hz to the 4 subs. Direct drive amps power the panels, a solid state amp or moderately powered tube amp with good damping powers the subs.
I’m very curious about which moderately powered tube amp with good damping you use to power your subs?
I wouldn’t even consider a tube amp to power subs due to their generally low damping factors and their resulting poor ability to firmly control the movement of dynamic cone drivers, especially the precise starting and stopping required of larger and heavier bass drivers in subs. Solid state class D amps seem to me to be the ideal solution for driving subs; very powerful with extremely low distortion levels, great transient responses and extremely high damping factors that often exceed 1,000. They’re also smaller, lighter, less expensive, require less maintenance, run much cooler and are tremendously more electrically efficient than tube amps.
Sorry, but the use of tube amps to power subs really perplexes me. You must have a good reason you’re not utilizing class D amps, right?
3. My current subs use 8" drivers in a tightly stuffed 0.3 cu. ft. box. This was done to insure the resonance of the driver was above 100 Hz. If I set the crossover points to 150 Hz on my filters this would be an issue but since I’m using 100 Hz and anything below that is sent to the subs this falls below the resonance so it’s a good thing. I should note that this was designed by Roger Modjeski for his ESL speaker system and the subs easily extend down to 30 Hz. If you don’t know who Roger is look him up, his experience and reputation speak for itself.
A sub with a single 8" driver tightly stuffed in a tiny 0.3 cu. ft. box that extends down to only 30 Hz? Can this small creation even be accurately described as a sub? Please excuse me, but as a sub I think this can only be accurately described as pathetic, feeble, impotent and kind of unintentionally funny.
Tim