donmathew90
Active Member
Hey Everyone - It's been a while since I last posted and figured I'll give an update on my HT journey.
The experience around 21" Custom Sealed DIY Subwoofer was a mixed bag initially. It just wasn't going low enough but the mid-bass was extraordinary. Some extremely kind people tried helping me out with calibrations via UMIK-1 and MiniDSP but it was just way too much work for someone like me. In fact, it sucked out all the joy that I had for this hobby so I just quit (for now)!
To sort out the low frequencies, like any normal person would, I bought a Tonewinner D4000
(That cable across the room isn't there anymore. It was only for calibrations)
This brought back the lows for me. And now, I'm using both the subwoofers at either ends of the recliner pointed towards me.
Calibrated it using OCA's A1 Maestro and I'm back to enjoying my HT. It isn't perfect by any means but the only thing that matters is that I'm happy once again
All of the above happened last year. Once this year started, I started getting that familiar itch to add onto my HT
But I didn't want to spend a lot of money. So I ended up getting a pair of Dayton Audio BST-1 Bass Shakers from the US for $110.
Received them last night and fixed them to my recliners (one each). The installation was fairly straightforward. Wired them in series to get an 8ohm load and connected it to my Crown XLS 2502 amp. Set the LPF crossover at 80hz (as per Dayton Audio's recco) and watched the ending of Top Gun: Maverick. Couldn't crank it up because it was late night but I have a feeling that I'll reduce the crossover to 60 or 50hz. But all in all, this is a nice and relatively cheap upgrade and I'm sure I'll have fun with it
Note: For the eagle eyed viewers, you might have noticed that the top mounting holes are empty. That's because the bass shaker was hitting the recliner's mechanism when fully reclined. When I have more patience, I'll get a wide plank of wood as a platform so that I'm able to screw in all 4 mounting holes. But even in this configuration, it's mounted solidly.
More importantly, the huge lesson I learnt last year was to just enjoy this hobby and the journey instead of fussing over the details
When I'm able to do a dedicated HT, I'll bring in the professionals. Until then, I'm going to choose to be happy with my imperfect HT . That doesn't mean you guys can't point out what I've done wrong (I'm sure there's a lot of room for improvement). I appreciate feedback but I'll get to it when I can 
The experience around 21" Custom Sealed DIY Subwoofer was a mixed bag initially. It just wasn't going low enough but the mid-bass was extraordinary. Some extremely kind people tried helping me out with calibrations via UMIK-1 and MiniDSP but it was just way too much work for someone like me. In fact, it sucked out all the joy that I had for this hobby so I just quit (for now)!
To sort out the low frequencies, like any normal person would, I bought a Tonewinner D4000
(That cable across the room isn't there anymore. It was only for calibrations)
This brought back the lows for me. And now, I'm using both the subwoofers at either ends of the recliner pointed towards me.
Calibrated it using OCA's A1 Maestro and I'm back to enjoying my HT. It isn't perfect by any means but the only thing that matters is that I'm happy once again
All of the above happened last year. Once this year started, I started getting that familiar itch to add onto my HT
But I didn't want to spend a lot of money. So I ended up getting a pair of Dayton Audio BST-1 Bass Shakers from the US for $110.Received them last night and fixed them to my recliners (one each). The installation was fairly straightforward. Wired them in series to get an 8ohm load and connected it to my Crown XLS 2502 amp. Set the LPF crossover at 80hz (as per Dayton Audio's recco) and watched the ending of Top Gun: Maverick. Couldn't crank it up because it was late night but I have a feeling that I'll reduce the crossover to 60 or 50hz. But all in all, this is a nice and relatively cheap upgrade and I'm sure I'll have fun with it
Note: For the eagle eyed viewers, you might have noticed that the top mounting holes are empty. That's because the bass shaker was hitting the recliner's mechanism when fully reclined. When I have more patience, I'll get a wide plank of wood as a platform so that I'm able to screw in all 4 mounting holes. But even in this configuration, it's mounted solidly.
More importantly, the huge lesson I learnt last year was to just enjoy this hobby and the journey instead of fussing over the details
When I'm able to do a dedicated HT, I'll bring in the professionals. Until then, I'm going to choose to be happy with my imperfect HT . That doesn't mean you guys can't point out what I've done wrong (I'm sure there's a lot of room for improvement). I appreciate feedback but I'll get to it when I can 
