bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
Westlake Tower SM-1, the under a grand part might be a challenge.
Best Monster Speaker
- Thread starter minkybut
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Gang-Twanger
Resident Wharfedaliophool
Yeah, "big bass" doesn't do much to narrow it down. What kind of mids and highs does the OP want? What kind of music does he plan to play on them, and how big is the room? Does he like a laid-back speaker, or is he looking for something more-up-front and in-your-face-sounding? Personally, I would go with the best vintage TOTL model I can find for under a grand (because TOTL models usually get that extra attention at the design/build stage). If you want big bass in one speaker without a separate sub, you're looking at something BIG (Something big that will work well in your room... Some large, big-bass speakers need a big room to truly-shine while others do better in smaller rooms). So, if you factor in the budget, that limits your options. The well-known brands like Altec and JBL are gonna' be slim for under $1000, so why not go for something below the radar? Model 19's would have the big bass and smooth, balanced, open sound, but I doubt you'll even find them for $1500, let alone a grand (unless the cabs are totally-beat or something... The drivers/crossovers alone would probably fetch more than a grand). Anyway, just a suggestion. Just saying what I'd do in that situation...
And I agree that even 10" woofers can sound big if you have enough of them in one enclosure. 10" woofers can also put out very-SMOOTH bass while still retaining a fast response (The 2x10" enclosure is my favorite for guitar amps for that reason). I like 12" woofers for hi-fi. They seem to be a happy medium between smooth, yet fast 10's and BIG, deep 15's. In my 15'x15' room, my Wharfedale W90's (in my avatar picture) have fantastic bass (Great dynamics and transient-response) and equally-fantastic mids and highs, and they can be found for well-under the OP's budget, but I have no idea what kind of sound he wants, aside from the big bass. They have two 12.5" woofers, two 5" mid-woofers, and two 4" Super 3 cone-tweeters per cab. They put out a smooth, deep, lifelike bass with good, usable output down to at least 30hz, plus no upper-bass boom (No boosted bass to make it sound bigger than life... Just whatever is on the recording). And Bozaks, as someone suggested earlier, also have fantastic bass and similar-sounding mids and highs (And the Wharfedale W90's AND the larger Bozak models are quite-big... VERY-large cabinets, even on the Bozak B-302a). But these are laid-back-sounding speakers which might not be what the OP is looking for here. They're a "You are there" type of speaker.. Very-detailed and dynamic, but also very-smooth and relaxed-sounding, which is just the way I like it. Some people prefer a modern, studio-monitor sound in a home hi-fi speaker. That's not really for me, but a lot of people like it. But whatever the OP chooses should be something rich, smooth, and well-balanced. Big bass won't matter much if the mids and highs sound like ass...
And I agree that even 10" woofers can sound big if you have enough of them in one enclosure. 10" woofers can also put out very-SMOOTH bass while still retaining a fast response (The 2x10" enclosure is my favorite for guitar amps for that reason). I like 12" woofers for hi-fi. They seem to be a happy medium between smooth, yet fast 10's and BIG, deep 15's. In my 15'x15' room, my Wharfedale W90's (in my avatar picture) have fantastic bass (Great dynamics and transient-response) and equally-fantastic mids and highs, and they can be found for well-under the OP's budget, but I have no idea what kind of sound he wants, aside from the big bass. They have two 12.5" woofers, two 5" mid-woofers, and two 4" Super 3 cone-tweeters per cab. They put out a smooth, deep, lifelike bass with good, usable output down to at least 30hz, plus no upper-bass boom (No boosted bass to make it sound bigger than life... Just whatever is on the recording). And Bozaks, as someone suggested earlier, also have fantastic bass and similar-sounding mids and highs (And the Wharfedale W90's AND the larger Bozak models are quite-big... VERY-large cabinets, even on the Bozak B-302a). But these are laid-back-sounding speakers which might not be what the OP is looking for here. They're a "You are there" type of speaker.. Very-detailed and dynamic, but also very-smooth and relaxed-sounding, which is just the way I like it. Some people prefer a modern, studio-monitor sound in a home hi-fi speaker. That's not really for me, but a lot of people like it. But whatever the OP chooses should be something rich, smooth, and well-balanced. Big bass won't matter much if the mids and highs sound like ass...
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Skylab
Watcher of the skies
Pioneer HPM-1100's (not 100's, 1100's) would fit your criteria, but they are not so easy to find. HUGE woofer just over 15", but still very good overall sound, not just a bass monster, although it will for sure rattle the rafters when called for. Weigh about 80 pounds each. I have a pair and love 'em.
NeonDriver
Well-Known Member
Realistic Mach 1 (or Mach 2 or Mach 3) come to mind.
burgerbob
Well-Known Member
Definitely on price! Mine, with refoam and new tweeter, have yet to cost me $100 so far. And they sure will play just loud as ****. (with as little power as you want to give them, too)
Use a good sounding set of smaller speakers and back them up with a nice 12-15 in. powered subwoofer. I have Cerwin Vega D-9's and I still use just a little bit of big powered sub with them !!! (Back in the day they did not have powered subs--so time to take advantage of some modern tech.)
moray james
Super Member
no no no
Gordon: two tens will push about the same amount of air as 1 1/2 twelve inch drivers do. Two twelve drivers will pus about the same as 1 1/2 fifteen inch drivers do. In both cases these values are close but not perfectly exact for those who are fussy but they are quite close. Best regards Moray James.
Gordon: two tens will push about the same amount of air as 1 1/2 twelve inch drivers do. Two twelve drivers will pus about the same as 1 1/2 fifteen inch drivers do. In both cases these values are close but not perfectly exact for those who are fussy but they are quite close. Best regards Moray James.
93flareside
New Member
Not to be a troll but... http://www.cerwinvega.com/pro-audio/powered-speaker-system/active-subwoofer/cva-121.html
You know, if you want big bass and all... You might want to talk to the folks at EAW too.
My original suggestion was going to be a pair of Cerwin Vega's 15" boxes but, it seems someone else already has...
You know, if you want big bass and all... You might want to talk to the folks at EAW too.
My original suggestion was going to be a pair of Cerwin Vega's 15" boxes but, it seems someone else already has...
The easiest and best path that leads to bass nirvana is via powered subwoofer. That gets you not only the ability to reach down to the lower ranges but gives you basically a biamped setup to dial in exactly what you want.
danbisawsum
Active Member
Infinity RS 4b or bigger... preferably the IIb
Gang-Twanger
Resident Wharfedaliophool
Good point... What CV model didn't have enough bass? And what kind of mids and highs does he want? Did the CV's satisfy him in that area, or is he looking for something different? Definitely need more info, otherwise we're recommending blind here...
Nope.
Do the math:
Two 10" cones, about 8.5" in moving area: each has an area of 18 times pi. That's 36 times pi.
A 15" usually will have an effective moving-area diameter of about 12.5". That's an area of about 39 times pi.
The two 10" are within 10% of the area of a 15". That's going to make like one-third of a dB difference in output level.
The big difference in the Tannoy S10 vs. most of the other speakers mentioned? They're truly flat, down to about 26Hz, and will do 26Hz pretty loud. Most Vegas don't really go much below 30. They do a really loud 30 Hz, but not much below that, with rare exceptions. That much I have measured...
Regards,
Gordon.
