SubWoofer Questions?
batmon
27,574 Posts
I would like to have "surround sound" in my apt. I'm scared that the subwoofer bass is gonna bother my neighbors. I've never been asked to turn down my music + my walls are quite thick. Alfred doesnt know about these thangs. Yay or nay. Whenever i take out the garbage I already feel the bass coming from my crib - small doses though. Scared and sensitive. 
Comments
Another option is something called 'Bass Shakers'. I had a pair a while ago - not in my current place though. I believe the name of the company that makes them is Aura.
Other companies put out a similar product, much higher-end, and they call them 'tactile sound transducers.'
In a nutshell, they mount to the underside of a couch, or if you really get into it...under the floorboards. Then when bass kicks in, instead of pushing air they "transduce sound" and leads to a lot of vibration.
Much better explained here:
http://www.clarksynthesis.com/whatis.php
Otherwise, you can go with a smaller 8" sub and just have it on low...keep the crossover low too, so you don't have an inordinate amount of midrange bass and it shouldn't bother the neighbors.
Cheers,
Jason
Most subs have a crossover option and a volume/gain option built in. Keep in mind that there are active/passive subs - passive being plugged into a receiver and getting power that way rather than being plugged into the wall.
Anyway - the importance of the crossover is to not have your bass coming from higher frequencies. If you do, it won't sound natural. IE, people will be talking and you'll have your subwoofer kicking out bass. It's easy to tell the difference just by playing around with the crossover a bit - any home theater shop should let you do that.
If you are looking for something that's not going to bother the neighbors then in all likelihood a 12" or 10" sub is way too much. But an 8" sub should be ok. But, that size sub won't reproduce the low frequencies that a 12" sub would...once you get to the low end you'll hear a "fluttering" sound if the sub is working too hard.
There's a sweet spot, each person will have a different preference. In addition, placement in a room makes a world of difference. A sub in the corner will be a lot more efficient than one place away from walls.
My first powered sub was an 8", and I eventually upgraded to a 12". Both are Jamo speakers. At some point when I upgrade my stuff again, I'm probably going to go with something from these guys:
http://www.svsound.com/
Sorry if I'm confusing the matter, but hopefully this is of some help.
However, if you need some thump in your life, I've found that using the woofer for movies will minimally annoy your neighbors. Playing a Too $hort CD will result in calls to the police.
I thought so. No DJ Magic Mike @ 4am.