Loudest Sealed Subwoofer with Denon AVR 1507

[jc7711]

Hello everyone. I'm trying to build myself a large subwoofer for my home audio system. I want to build the most powerful subwoofer I can with the amp I already have. The Denon AVR-1507 (specs here https://www.cnet.com/products/denon-avr-1507/specs/) is the current amp I use for my two speakers. They are JBL's with 8 ohm impedance each. I'm not sure what calculations I need to make to make the best choice on what kind of driver to get and whether or not I should get a plate amplifier for the sub. It looks like most of the amplifiers needed for a large sub are over 300 ohms (my amp is 75 watt at 8 ohm or 110 watt at 6 ohm,) and I want to build a sub has around and 18 inch driver. If someone could give me some reccommendations on how to my current amplifier with my current speakers and a new subwoofer that I'd build myself, I'd greatly appreciate it. EDIT: I'd prefer to do a sealed subwoofer because those seem to have greater sound quality, but am open to the idea of a ported sub. I'm building this myself, so my end goal is making the loudest sound possible with the best sound quality I can for a price around $500

 

[ivandezande]

Powering the subwoofer with that small home theater amp is 1: probably not possible unless you can route the subwoofer pre out to the zone two input if there even is one. 2: That's not nearly enough power for a sealed large sub, even ported. If you really want to, go to Parts Express and get one of there reference series subs and the matching cabinet. You'd be much better off getting a $100 Polk sub off Amazon or finding something in my opinion.
I don't mean to crush your idea in any way, I just think there are better solutions.

 

[awillia6]

You've been given good advice. Suggest you take it.

 

[jc7711]

Powering the subwoofer with that small home theater amp is 1: probably not possible unless you can route the subwoofer pre out to the zone two input if there even is one. 2: That's not nearly enough power for a sealed large sub, even ported. If you really want to, go to Parts Express and get one of there reference series subs and the matching cabinet. You'd be much better off getting a $100 Polk sub off Amazon or finding something in my opinion.
I don't mean to crush your idea in any way, I just think there are better solutions.

So is there no way to make a powerful subwoofer even with a plate amplifier? The wood and construction of the box isn't an issue for me since my sister is a great woodworker and looking for a new project. I've looked around and seen some good plate amplifiers for $150 and some drivers for under $200 that I'm interested in. I know it'd be easier to spend $100-200 on a premade sub that'll get the job done, but I want the experience of building it plus having something a little more badass. Thanks!

EDIT: I found a sub on amazon, the Polk PSW505 12-in sub. It is $400 off and has a "high current 300 Watt Continuous (460 Watt Dynamic) power amplifier." The Acoustic Audio PSW600-15 15" sub also looks like it could really pack a punch. Are these going to be better than something I build myself for $500? And since it's amplified itself, I can just hook it up to my Denon amplifier and should be good to go right?
Sorry, I'm kinda a nube at this.

 

[jc7711]

Just for clarity, I lived in a house a few years ago that had a humongous sub that shook the walls when playing music. I love a lot of bass heavy music, like trap, and since I'm in a secluded enough area I'd love to have that experience again. At this point I think whatever way I could replicate that experience would be amazing. I've since lost touch with the owner of that subwoofer, so I can't get the specs on it. I know it was a powered sub, since he just hooked it up to a standard home audio amplifier. Thanks for the help!

 

[Inscrutable]

So is there no way to make a powerful subwoofer even with a plate amplifier? The wood and construction of the box isn't an issue for me since my sister is a great woodworker and looking for a new project. I've looked around and seen some good plate amplifiers for $150 and some drivers for under $200 that I'm interested in. I know it'd be easier to spend $100-200 on a premade sub that'll get the job done, but I want the experience of building it plus having something a little more badass. Thanks!

Of course you can with a dedicated amp for it, plate or otherwise. I suspect the responder picked up on your receiver thinking you planned to drive it with just that (and I agree wholeheartedly with his opinion if based on that).

Even if you don't have low level outputs (sub or pre-outs), if you go plate some have high level inputs (speaker out to the sub, then out from sub to the mains. Often this have just a fixed crossover frequency rather then adjustable, but c'est la vie.

FWIW, I made a large (about 90 liters) sealed Adire Shiva 12" with a PE plate amp, and it delivered tightly/articulated, with pretty good low extension and reasonable output. Google their 'white paper' on that. Can be done with many driver choices.

 

[sKiZo]

Just another voice in the choir here - run your sub off line level and power it with an external amp. Something with adjustable crossover and pass filters would be nice, and the sky's the limit on power.

PS ... is LOUD necessarily better? For me, it's more about accuracy. In either case, both can require substantial amounts of watts to pull it off right.

 

[ivandezande]

I apologize, yes a plate amp will do great. Or an outboard amp like Skizo suggested, which can be nice because you can get a really nice pro audio amp if you're lucky for it off Craigslist on the cheap for example. There is a price point where you can buy nicer for the same cost building, but the price range it sounds like you could build a very nice sub for the money. Good luck!