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Subwoofer Recommendations

BayStateBass

BayStateBass

Jan 25, 2012
1,953
169
Central Massachusetts
#1
Hoping you people would offer me some help and advice. Looking to add a subwoofer to my small, club-oriented PA. Currently, we are using a Carvin powered mixer with a small club-oriented PA system. I have this mixer (rated at 1600W, 400 W to each main, 400W to each amp for the monitors), and it has an XLR output with an internal crossover for a subwoofer. Pretty basic, common portable PA system, nothing fancy. The mains I am using are Carvin 15" 3-ways, and I am running the drum mics and vocal mics through it. I have been wanting to add a subwoofer to the system, and I was hoping some of you could offer suggestions on powered subs for this system. I have been looking at Carvin powered subs, but are there other brands that are decent quality and don't carry a hefty price tag? I will likely go with a single 18" sub based on the recommendations I have gotten, but I'm hoping some suggestions on brand would be helpful. I've looked at Peavey, Seismic Audio, Mackie, etc... and the prices are all over the place. Any help here?

Thanks in advance.
 
#4
If it's Self Powered ... having a tunable X-over is nice ... helps tune it to the room/stage ... and you can cross it over just below whatever the Boomy freq might be .. !?!?

built in Limiter might be nice ... as a safety valve if you get carried away with the low lows .. !!

Mackie has one like that ... I had a cheap Samson powered 15" to go with my powered QSC mains that only had 10' woofers ... but there where no Live drums ...

hopefully there's a compressor on the bass drum mic ..

having 15" speakers in your mains should make life a little easier for you sub ... since I'm guessing that it would be used mainly for some extra low end umphhh ...

personally , I would buy a Used sub , unless I really knew the person using it ... as they do get abused ...
 
#6
BayStateBass said:
Under $1K. The Carvin one was attractive at about $600. But up to $1K max.
Click to expand...

I have the SA Enforcer II it is an OK sub and would probably do what you need. It will get a nice kick sound and add the bottom of the bass, but it isn't chest thumping unless you are about 10 feet in front of it. I kind of wish I would have went with the Carvin SCX1118 in hind sight. The SA is just under 100 pounds, It puts out some decent bass, but I am sure the Carvin is better. The cabinets are about the same size, the Carvin is about 25-30 pounds lighter. When the Sub came it was much larger than I though it would be. I see the dimensions and think ahh it's not that bad, it's a bear of a piece, and takes up a lot of room in the car.

The EV ELX118P is supposed to be a nice sub for around $800. I personally am upgrading to a QSC KW118 or 2 next, you can find used ones at Pro Audio Star for about a grand. My buddy is a DJ and has 2 of them, they make the SA sub sound like a transistor radio.
 
#8
As FJ pointed out, the powered Carvin would be a nice match. Yorkville has a nice selection, as well. Used powered subs in this area are rare; perhaps you have a better selection.

Which Carvin mixer are you using? The reason I ask is that many so-called onboard crossovers are simply mono sum out low pass filters: the mains continue to see the full-range signal while the subs are fed the <110 hz content to embellish the low-end presence...not always a good idea.

Riis
 
#9
Zooberwerx said:
As FJ pointed out, the powered Carvin would be a nice match. Yorkville has a nice selection, as well. Used powered subs in this area are rare; perhaps you have a better selection.

Which Carvin mixer are you using? The reason I ask is that many so-called onboard crossovers are simply mono sum out low pass filters: the mains continue to see the full-range signal while the subs are fed the <110 hz content to embellish the low-end presence...not always a good idea.

Riis
Click to expand...
He Probably has the RX1200L, this is from the manual
19. SuB X-oVeR SWitch
The SUB XOVER (crossover) switch removes all frequencies
above 120Hz for connecting the MONO(SUB) output to an
amplified subwoofer. This is a 3rd order (18db/oct.) filter.

so yes you are right
 
#10
gearhead1972 said:
He Probably has the RX1200L, this is from the manual
19. SuB X-oVeR SWitch
The SUB XOVER (crossover) switch removes all frequencies
above 120Hz for connecting the MONO(SUB) output to an
amplified subwoofer. This is a 3rd order (18db/oct.) filter.

so yes you are right
Click to expand...

I actually have that mixer too......
Sometimes - I use its on-board amps, others, I go out to other amps. It has a nice insert feature on the back, you can insert ch 1 and 2 (mains from the internal amps) and run into a x-over, then it feed the highs back in, and lows to an other amp or sub accordingly. I use it this way and it works really nice in most situations.
 
#11
gearhead1972 said:
He Probably has the RX1200L, this is from the manual
19. SuB X-oVeR SWitch
The SUB XOVER (crossover) switch removes all frequencies
above 120Hz for connecting the MONO(SUB) output to an
amplified subwoofer. This is a 3rd order (18db/oct.) filter.

so yes you are right
Click to expand...

If this is the case, I would strongly suggest adding an inexpensive crossover (100-110 hz), sending the high content back to the mixer via whatever loops are available and sending the low content to the powered sub. This will resolve a lot of sonic conflict. I'll check the manual for the finer details.

Here ya go: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

#30 is the "Amps Patch Insert". This should work perfectly for adding any peripheral like a crossover or EQ.

Riis
 
#12
Zooberwerx said:
If this is the case, I would strongly suggest adding an inexpensive crossover (100-110 hz), sending the high content back to the mixer via whatever loops are available and sending the low content to the powered sub. This will resolve a lot of sonic conflict. I'll check the manual for the finer details.

Here ya go: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

#30 is the "Amps Patch Insert". This should work perfectly for adding any peripheral like a crossover or EQ.

Riis
Click to expand...

Exactly
 

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