On 08-22-96, Matt Ion was found by police, naked and mumbling:
MI> JA> That is also why several smaller (10" and 12") drivers moving a
MI> JA> shorter distance, pressurize and control the bass better than
MI> JA> say one large (18") driver
MI>Yup.  Better off building a system with cheap components designed to
MI>work together, than slapped-together, mismatched expensive pieces.
        There is more truth than fiction to this statement. Perhaps that 
would explain why Bose and the like are selling like they do. 
        In order to make a true high end sub that addresses all the 
concerns, your costs go straight up. I had wondered why the great gap 
between the run of the mill "me too" powered subs from JBL, Kenwood, 
Pioneer, etc, etc and the high end subs. A jump from $599 and below to
$1500 and straight up seemed quite steep. But once explained, the much 
higher prices are quite reasonable.....well, reasonable considering what 
goes into them.
        My youngest son builds KILLER car subs. He has the LEAP app and 
several others, as well as 3D modeling apps that pretty well leave no 
surprises in his projects. He uses the materials required to get the job 
done right, regardless of the cost difference, etc. One in particular 
was a self contained ported box. It required very little power to make 
you think the windshield was going to end up on the hood the moment the 
bass drum hit. Yet when he brought the box in the house and we plugged 
it into an even bigger amp (same ohm rating) it was barely audible. It 
was dull and lifeless. A real dud for a home system. We reversed 
polarity and moved it into the different corners of the room. We checked 
the amp and cables. The cones were pumping and air was pumping through 
the ports. But almost notta for deep bass. 
        I expected this to some extent, as did my son. But both of us 
were shocked at just how much was lost to the size of the room, 
boundaries themselves, mismatch in sensitivity to the main sys, etc.
Now I understand this a little better. We had apples and oranges, and 
one cannot be the other. No matter how hard we try.
        Something else caught my attention to. I have read numerous 
warnings about employing two subs in a listening area. There are fears 
that they will cancel one another out, etc. To some extent that is true 
if both are set to the exact same settings, cutoffs, polarities, and 
gain. But by varying these you can  overcome this and "pressurize" the 
listening area more efficiently, with less power, and exercise much 
tighter control over the drivers.
        Now, all I need is several very large stacks of money to go try 
out all this new found knowledge. As they say, "a little knowledge in 
the wrong hands can be very dangerous". Or so says my wife.
Cheers, John
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