# 400+ POUND SUBWOOFER SETUP



## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

400+ POUND SUBWOOFER SETUP (Wilson Audio)

Wilson Audio Thor's Hammer Passive Subwoofer | Ultra High-End Audio and Home Theater Review


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## momax_powers (Oct 26, 2013)

over $50 per pound too


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## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

momax_powers said:


> over $50 per pound too


research and design eat all that up!!!!


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

So it's $21k for two 15" Memphis LVS lookalike gimmick subs in a ported box... with no amplifier...


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## cubdenno (Nov 10, 2007)

8x 18" LMS 5400 Ultras Sealed to 27 Cube 15hz Ported Build - AVS Forum

Each dual 18" enclosure is ~400 pounds and I guarantee will outperform anything from Wilson Audio.


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## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

cubdenno said:


> 8x 18" LMS 5400 Ultras Sealed to 27 Cube 15hz Ported Build - AVS Forum
> 
> Each dual 18" enclosure is ~400 pounds and I guarantee will outperform anything from Wilson Audio.


Yes, but this is for NON diyers! Some of the rich could care less about DIY and more about ease and piece of mind...


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## cubdenno (Nov 10, 2007)

Ultimateherts said:


> Yes, but this is for NON diyers! Some of the rich *couldn't* care less about DIY and more about ease and piece of mind...


Sad isn't it? More money than sense. 

If I was looking for performance on a non DIY sense I would prolly go Danley or bossobass with JTR mains running LCR and something for the surrounds.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

"dual spiders designed to limit their movement to a single direction of motion"

lolwut?


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## Freedom First (May 17, 2010)

Ultimateherts said:


> 400+ POUND SUBWOOFER SETUP (Wilson Audio)
> 
> Wilson Audio Thor's Hammer Passive Subwoofer | Ultra High-End Audio and Home Theater Review



That's nuthin'!!

How about a several TON subwoofer setup?? 

Basement horn/TL subwoofer setup


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## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

cubdenno said:


> Sad isn't it? More money than sense.
> 
> If I was looking for performance on a non DIY sense I would prolly go Danley or bossobass with JTR mains running LCR and something for the surrounds.


No it isn't as it's basic business... There is obviously a need for the company otherwise they would not exist! Seeing as how your opinion is based on no facts (heard the brand before/worked for them) I would say I was only posting it as something I admired...


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## cubdenno (Nov 10, 2007)

Ultimateherts said:


> No it isn't as it's basic business... There is obviously a need for the company otherwise they would not exist! Seeing as how your opinion is based on no facts *(heard the brand before/worked for them) I would say I was only posting it as something I admired.*..


Well then say that next time. Sorry I didn't give the response you were looking for. 

I am not one who gets caught up in marketing ads anymore. And while I can appreciate aesthetics and sure the enclosure and finish do have an associated cost to them, charging 21 grand... Ouch. That is my opinion and I don't NEED to hear a subwoofer to form that opinion.

BUT, it is good to know that you think they sound good and they were good to work for. So I assume they are good to deal with.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

cubdenno said:


> I am not one who gets caught up in marketing ads anymore. And while I can appreciate aesthetics and sure the enclosure and finish do have an associated cost to them, charging 21 grand... Ouch. That is my opinion and I don't NEED to hear a subwoofer to form that opinion.


21k is nothing when you've spent 60k+ on those mains.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

NCA Labs in Cali makes those subs...and did the Memphis too.


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## raamaudio (May 4, 2005)

There is more ******** in high end home audio than anything else I have ever seen in any other luxury business and anything beyond basic needs is a luxury. 

I however love the idea of a brick and mortar or whatever medium you chose, huge ass basement sub, a singe sub is all you need done right. 

I have an old horn loaded organ sub enclosure that was given to me. I installed two ID 15s and gave it 1kw of class H amp power with a really good signal from an Oppo BD83SE (quad 24 bit DACs on the stereo output channels, the same BR player inside the case as $3-5K big name BS brands) and it was jumping off the floor, nearly.

200 lbs later, angle iron, mat, foam, and a few hundred pounds of big potted plants on top, it was absolutely incredible, foot massage on the other side of the house.....and so damn musical. 

2 ID 15s, free enclosure, $200 in more materials, $500 for the class H amp. I cannot imagine many wanting or needing more bass...

IT was ugly as hell, huge, had to go but it was fun

I still have it, part of the band room setup I am going to sell as does not fit in our RV.


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## impulse (Jul 5, 2014)

cubdenno said:


> 8x 18" LMS 5400 Ultras Sealed to 27 Cube 15hz Ported Build - AVS Forum
> 
> Each dual 18" enclosure is ~400 pounds and I guarantee will outperform anything from Wilson Audio.


Maybe but dear god is that fugly having all those speakers out in the open like that, just damn fugly. Between sound and aesthetics there is such a thing as a point of diminishing returns but whatever.


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## momax_powers (Oct 26, 2013)

Damn and i thought my one 8" off a lepai 2.1 was more than enough


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

Ultimateherts said:


> There is obviously a need for the company otherwise they would not exist!


The only reason companies like this exist is to make rich people feel good about buying into exclusivity. I'm sure their speakers sound good, but it's just Critical Mass marketing. 

The factory tour video on their website exemplifies this. They supposedly "test the limits of cnc milling technology" when cutting out their enclosure panels. As a cnc machinist myself, that made me laugh out loud. Another good one is "cabinets hand sanded to a tolerance of 1/4000 of an inch", which is .00025". Pure BS.


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## raamaudio (May 4, 2005)

At first glance and that is all I am going to take it looks like the 1000 is not enough, 2000 better but somebody has more so I want a 3000HP car....or I need an elevator to get in my truck, little wiggly, buy the big extender...sort of thing to me. 

Calling it low budget....ha.....buy a bigger house and do as mentioned not just by me but others, a huge horn loaded system for not much money and really have true bass, not forced. 

A bit difficult in a vehicle of course as not much room to work with but we have a bonus on our side, not much room to work with, done right it can be amazing.


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## ATOMICTECH62 (Jan 24, 2009)

Not trying to turn this into a contest but reading this reminded me of this 384cuft sub system.
There is a lot more on this whole system design somewhere I remember reading a few years back.

Maelstrom-X 21 tapped horn 384 cubic feet 5Hz-35Hz - Home Theater Forum and Systems - HomeTheaterShack.com

I think this was it.

http://www.royaldevice.com/useless.htm

I spend way too much time on the net.


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## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

hurrication said:


> The only reason companies like this exist is to make rich people feel good about buying into exclusivity. I'm sure their speakers sound good, but it's just Critical Mass marketing.
> 
> The factory tour video on their website exemplifies this. They supposedly "test the limits of cnc milling technology" when cutting out their enclosure panels. As a cnc machinist myself, that made me laugh out loud. Another good one is "cabinets hand sanded to a tolerance of 1/4000 of an inch", which is .00025". Pure BS.


Just because they have money they are now evil... Not to derail the topic as I saw a product I thought looked cool and posted it.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

impulse said:


> Maybe but dear god is that fugly having all those speakers out in the open like that, just damn fugly. Between sound and aesthetics there is such a thing as a point of diminishing returns but whatever.


Some framing w/ acoustic fabric stretched in front of them will make them disappear.


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

those grapes can't be sweet.


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

Ultimateherts said:


> Just because they have money they are now evil... Not to derail the topic as I saw a product I thought looked cool and posted it.


Not evil at all. But come on, two 15's that cost a couple hundred each to make in a ported box and they are asking more than the cost of some new cars for it?


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

The JL Gotham sub clocks in at 360 pounds...and is much much more technically advanced than the Wilson.

The Krell Master Reference subwoofer looks much cooler...and is machined from aluminum, not kitchen counter top material.


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## raamaudio (May 4, 2005)

I love that huge in the ground sub, that is cool to me

Hire a contractor if not DIY, you could do a smaller version for a reasonable price even then, you do not need massive drivers and a bunch of them, you do not need massive power, done right you will get massive bass than simply cannot be done better. 

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I do not care for hyped up BS to sell a hugely overpriced product. 

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I do understand a beautiful built piece of gear that is an art form in itself and happens to be a very well engineered audio product and some of those are super expensive, let them that can buy them, it keeps others gainfully employed and money flowing. 

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I took my son when he was 18 to CES, he had already heard great audio systems, some of the all time best in car audio and home audio and has keen ears and a brilliant mind.....We went to Alexis Park, not the best way to listen to some of the gear obviously but still valid in many ways. After about a dozen auditions he said he thought out truck sounded better and had just heard some $60k or something nuts speakers, we went back out and listened and both liked it much more. We did have the advantage of our system built for our Tacoma, a very good vehicle to make sound good. 

Back in we went, listened a bit more, I had a surprise for him, walked up the the door where Bruce Edgar had his Titans playing using a $3k Cyrus Brennigan(spelling) amp and not sure what the player was or DAC but dang good unit(s). After about 10 seconds he looks at me and asks (why do people buy that other stuff, can't there here the difference? These are f'n incredible!) I agreed and still do. We were listening to my reference disks we just listened to in the truck and on other systems before we went to see Doc Edgar(whom I personally know)

My son asked when I was going to get a set and I said when we move to the right house but unfortunately I blew a butt load of money on cars, last year sold a project that had $15k just in suspension, sure wish it had gone to the Titans instead

A set of those, a $3k amp, Oppo BD83SE as I now have(pop open one of those big name $3-5k players and see what you find or the newest version if a worthwhile upgrade, mine has quad 24bit DACS on the stereo outputs. Build a huge sub in the basement, single 15 is probably all it would need and not a ton of power. Get a CB 3 watt amp for the Titans......the only thing I can think of beyond this is just money down the toilet, wasted, spend more to get less.


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## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

raamaudio said:


> I love that huge in the ground sub, that is cool to me
> 
> Hire a contractor if not DIY, you could do a smaller version for a reasonable price even then, you do not need massive drivers and a bunch of them, you do not need massive power, done right you will get massive bass than simply cannot be done better.
> 
> ...


Also a lot of these companies use all the same DIY brands (TB, Scan Speak, SEAS, Dayton Audio ETC) we do they just have that unlimited time and cash to have R&D perfect the appearance and enclosure. Just think if money and time was unlimited what we could accomplish!


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## raamaudio (May 4, 2005)

I cannot recall what they were called but I built a set of little horns from some TV speakers when I was around 12 or so.....I thought they were pretty good back then

I built my first nice home audio speakers quite a few years later but still decades ago and used the same exact drivers, crossover parts and brands and same overall design but finished my nicer than these little satelite sub systems that were selling for many times the cost of the parts and I paid retail for the parts. 

The trick was matching the crossovers to each driver, using very exact tolerances in the caps, resistors, hand winding and testing the inductors, then fine tuning the enclosures, everything done to .01 or better tolerance, a bit excessive but had the help that was teaching this to me and it was fun to see just how good we could make them.

I took them to my local high end audio shop after breaking them, they carried the line of speakers I copied and sold a lot of them. They loved the look and sound and keep matching them up against more and more expensive systems, I forget how high before they were beaten but it was a big set of very costly big name speakers. 

Mine did not have the output of the big guns but everything else was dang close or as good on some pretty big bucks speakers. 

DIY every since except my Edgarhorns but they were a beat up set of demo's and even with higher end super tweeters and huge oil filled caps, I have less than $800 into them and heard nothing I would trade them for yet other than the Titans. I have heard some very fine speakers in my day and just prefer horns. 

They have $150 each super tweeters, mids out of defunct and damn hard to find JBL studio monitors(I have a spare set as well) and midbasses are some under $20 Pioneers that fit the bill and do the job very well. 

They have metal foil inductors, high end resistors and those giant old mil spec oil filled capacitors, I mean HUGE.


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