I recently purhcased a custom built subwoofer from Brian Bunge at Rutledge Audio Design and wanted to share my experience with anyone thinking of purchasing from Brian. Here is my story....
I built a dedicated home theater in my basement and purchased a lot of my equipment over the internet based upon reviews and things I read in the various forums. When it came time for a sub, it seemed the overwhelming consensus for "best bang for the buck" was to get an SVS sub. So after much deliberation, I ordered and SVS 20-39CS and a Samson 700 watt amp from SVS. I was actually very happy with the sub, except for the fact that it would bottom out on the very heavy bass scenes such as the beginning of Toy Story 2 and the explosion in the THX demo. When I spoke with the SVS guys about it, they basically said that I was pushing the sub too hard and that I needed to take it easy on those types of scenes or I needed to get one of their upper end models or a second 20-39CS. Since my room is only about 10' x 17', I was not happy about spending as much as I had and having to worry about how loud I played movies and about damaging the sub, so I returned the SVS and looked into getting one of their upper end Plus subs and also started considering the Hsu VTF-3.
As I was debating between the SVS and the Hsu, a couple of people on the various forums suggested I look into DIY or having a custom sub built and recommended Brian and a guy named Kyle out in Utah. Since Brian was so close to me (about 1.5 hours away) and a guy who he had just built some speaker cabinets for highly recommended him, I decided to go with him. I told him my goals were to be able to spend the same or less than what the SVS or Hsu sub would cost and to outperform them both. ZHe designed a sub based upon my maximum height requirements (it had to fit below my screen) and my budget. The sub he built is base upon the DVC 15" woofer (Same as an Adire Tempest) and a Parts Express 250 watt plate amp. It is ported and downward firing and is in a 24" square cabinet (which is actually a lot bigger than it sounds!). He finished it in a black stained Oak veneer that looks very nice and matches the rest of my speakers. It is not a work of art or anything, but it is professional looking, has a nice finish and blends in very well with the rest of my equipment. I have it in a dark theater, so I did not want to spend any extra money on a fancy veneer or finish, although he would have done that if I had asked him.
As far as performance goes, it has exceeded my expectations. While the SVS sub sounded good and hit hard, this sub is in a whole different class. It runs through those demos that bottomed the SVS with ease and with the really heavy bass stuff, like The Haunting or Lord of The Rings, it actually takes your breath away. The first time I played the Haunting, my daughter came running down from her room (which is two floors above), scared because "the whole house was shaking". I honestly can not imagine wanting any more sub. When all the posts started coming out about how the new Star Wars ATOC DVD was a "sub killer" and was bottoming everyones subs, at well below reference levels, I was a little nervous. But again, my fears were unfounded as the sub ripped through the entire movie at reference levels with no signs of strain!
As far as music goes I think it sounds very good as well, although I thought the SVS sounded fine too. It is not boomy at all like my old Energy 10" that is now upstairs. Brian recommended putting a nerf football in the port for music listening, which would make it a sealed sub. I have tried this, but it does not seem to make that much difference, so I just leave the port open all the time.
As far Brian's service goes, we e-mailed back and forth about 100 times during the process and he was always quick to respond and even e-mailed me some photos of the work in progress. The sub ended up taking about a week or two longer to build than he had originally thought, due to some other speaker commitments, but I was in no big hurry, and it was well worth the wait.
Anyway, in conclusion, looking back I guess it was a little risky going the custom route, but the results were well worth it. Now that I have expereinced a custom sub, I can not see myself ever buying a commercial sub, as from what I have read, a sub like mine performs comparably to about a $2,000 commercial sub, for what ended up to be about 1/3 of the price. Brian was great to work with and I would not hesitate to have him build me a set of speakers or another sub in the future.
