Hey there. I'm looking around for a subwoofer cabinet that can handle a suboctave E (20.6hz). The closest thing I've seen is the Accugroove El Whappo Grande - which apparently goes down to 22hz. I'm just dicking around hypothetically - though I'd like some serious answers. It would be a part of a GK1001 and GK 4x10 rig. Thanks in advance.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Suboctave E subwoofers?
- Thread starter Roland777
- Start date
- Dec 18, 2000
- 13,201
- 340
- Disclosures
- greenboy designs: fEARful, bassic, dually, crazy88 etc
Not really. That's just more marketing department specsmanship like you'll find from most bass cab manufacturers. Below three possible alignments using the cab size and driver found in the Whappo Grande - the green line representing the purported response, the other three on octave or more up being possible alignments shown by WinISD Pro:
Link Removed
My approach to low tuning is to have a cab that's able to handle the octave overtone near-flat, which very few bass cabs can do, but a fair number of SR subwoofers can.
What actually CAN go that low but takes a lot of cabs to get performance levels for loud styles of music, is the Bag End INFRA/ELF system, or a Servodrive subwoofer with a lot of power. You'll have to decide whether that much extra weight and power is realistic, or if it's a good tradeoff to just be able to decently reach 41 Hz using a converntional subwoofer, which in turn will take less portage and easier match the SPL of whatever top cabs are being used.
As shown above, the big Accugroove appears to use the Beyma 21L50 driver. I've not seen confirmation, but this is the only 21" driver that comes close. It has a free air resonance of 33 Hz, so it isn't gonna do much below that, hype or no hype. I do not believe the claimed sensitivity of 98 SPL with -6dB at 19 Hz. Playing a video of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in lieu of testing results is just hype. Show me the measurements.
I am puzzled by the 4.8 cabinet volume. My records show an external volume of 8.43 cubic feet, so I would think the net volume would be larger. If so, Accugroove could possibly be using the extended bass shelf (EBS) tuning to extend response down lower at the expense of transient response.
I am puzzled by the 4.8 cabinet volume. My records show an external volume of 8.43 cubic feet, so I would think the net volume would be larger. If so, Accugroove could possibly be using the extended bass shelf (EBS) tuning to extend response down lower at the expense of transient response.
Woah. Way over-the-top knowledge for me. But basically what you're saying is that for that price, I might as well go for a more regular subwoofer and get pretty much equal performance? What I'd like to do is to add some more pressure (read bass) to the end signal with the subwoofer - and I wasn't sure whether a regular subwoofer would work.
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
What both Bruce and greenboy are getting at is that iyou won't find a cab that's flat to the vicinity of 20 Hz, there's no such thing. The only cabs that do fit that description are those made for home theatre, and they do so at sensitivity levels at least 10dB shy of pro-sound requirements. Even 20 plus cubic foot horn loaded pro-sound PA subs don't go that low, not unless you use at least eight of them. The good news is that you don't need that kind of response, no matter what the instrument. Flat to 35 Hz is more than adequate to handle anything.
-6dB at 19 Hz with a 98 SPL sensitivity requires a massive built-in horn the size of a movie theater.
