Quote Originally Posted by taigovinda View Post
N Boros, Alex,

Yes, consensus from what I've read in various places is that the two form factors are equivalent in sound or maybe side-firing is a bit better. My concern is indeed that my son likes to climb on my current sub and smash toys against it; also the look of down-firing could appear more like an end table and less like audio equipment, even by purchasing a stock one and adding veneer. The fact that the down-firing is not readily available does change things for me - guess I'll have to either train my kid or else pay about 2x.

For an 8000 sq ft room, would F15HP x 2 (non-vented) be right? In terms of output levels, I don't have a sense of how it would compare to what I have currently, the one vented Outlaw... or how it would compare to just one F15HP. I've read somewhere that output gain from adding identical subs is a lot less than going up a size, but I'm not sure that when the 18 does come out it would be the right form factor for me trying to be at end table height. The room is 33 x 15 x 16 (high point of sloped ceiling), the sub(s) would go against the side wall(s) close to halfway back in the room.

Thanks.
Tai
Tai,

You and I have a couple of things in common. I too own the Outlaw LFM-1 (though you have the "+") and it is in far too large of a room to properly do its job well. I am currently in a almost 10,000 cubic foot basement, since it is an open floor plan down there. I originally bought the subwoofer for my 12 by 16 foot living room in a small starter home. Even though the room was partially open to the rest of the house, it still did a wonderful job of pressurizing the space and adding an extra sense of realism when playing movies and music. That is no longer the case in this huge space. If I run sweeps I can technically hear the bass frequencies, but there is very little "feel" to the bass. Honestly, it is almost as if I don't have a subwoofer at all in this large space.

What I am planning to do is to put up a couple of walls in my finished basement to get the size of the space down smaller. This way I don't have to get such large outputting subwoofers and speakers to contend with the large space. But, if I were to leave it open I would be looking at the largest ported offerings from various manufacturers: Rythmik FV15Hp, or the new upcoming bigger models, JTR 1400, SVS PB 16 Ultra, HSU VTF-15H MK 2, Powersound Audio's ported offerings, etc. On this thread a large part of the discussion has been focused on the added performance benefits of the technology used in the Rythmik subs, so if you can fit it in your budget I think it is worth it. I know that I plan to go with a Rythmik to fit my room size when I save up the money.