[Theronbo]

This is a rant post.

I have a nice system.

7.2.4 surround with Samsung 85” TV.

I built every speaker except the surrounds subwoofers…
A Klipsch & a Polk. Both ported subs with 12” or better drivers.

I have a pair of GR research Double Troubles as well with high bad pass filters to the X-Statics I use for L&R


Nice system for music & video.

</RANT ON>
Both the commercial subwoofer plate amps died in 12-18 months.

These are relatively inexpensive, but not cheap, pieces of gear.

Upon researching replacement or repair….

1. Neither Polk nor Klipsch offer replacement parts for sale.

There are some people on EBay that will send you a repaired amp for $200 & you send them your broken one. Not a bad deal.

Except…. IF YOU CANNOT BUILD A DISCRETE ELECTRONIC COMPONENT _WITH NO MOVING PARTS_ THAT CANT LAST FOR 2 YEARS!!! You suck! F’k You I ain’t buying your shit.

So, to Parts Express I go….
Found a 300watt plate amp that conveniently had the same mount dimensions.

I did the same for my Polk Sub a couple of years ago… which is why I went with the Klipsch.


Also, research revealed that both these products had a high failure rate after one year.


Note, the Parts Express 300watt amp seems to have significantly more real power than the 400watt amp from Klipsch.

[Jon L]

Lots of people have subwoofers with dead plate amps everywhere.  It's a darn shame, especially if stock plate amp size doesn't match any plate amps available (like myself). 
Luckily, one of the options these days to buy something like Aiyima A70 Monoblock (one) which has built-in subwoofer amp and crossover function 
https://www.amazon.com/AIYIMA-Amplifier-Receiver-Subwoofer-Bookshelf/dp/B0DFM7DNVN

[WGH]

I never heard of the Aiyima A70 amp so I Googled, it has a lot of positive reviews. Your 7.2.4 system can be improved with proper home theater subs. I noticed both the Klipsch and the Aiyima only have a line input, a compromise when it comes to home theater subs which usually have a Low Frequency Effects (LFE) input PLUS high and/or line inputs. The advantage of two inputs is movies use the LFE input so the L&R, center and surround speakers no longer need to reproduce low bass and movie sound can be fine tuned using the DSP in modern receivers and processors. Stereo music is untouched and uses the high or line inputs.

I wouldn't throw good money after bad and make a Frankensub, instead I would put the money into two REL HT/1205 MKII 12" Powered Subwoofers. My first real stereo/home theater sub was a REL G2 bought used from The Music Room. I loved how that sub performed but some action movies bottomed out the 10" driver. It was not the sub's fault, the G2 was designed in 2009 right at the beginning of the Blu-ray disk, no one could have predicted the massive 20-30 Hz effects sound designers started adding to the soundtrack. I sold the REL G2 to a friend with a music only setup and I got a REL G1 MkII at a closeout price and haven't bottomed out the driver yet.

My old REL G2 is now 13 years old and still working perfectly and if anything did go wrong REL would be able to repair it.

The Music Room is selling the REL HT/1205 MKII 12" Powered Subwoofer for $899. Something to think about.

https://tmraudio.com/subwoofers/rel-ht-1205-mkii-12-powered-subwoofer/

[Theronbo]

@WGH thank you for the reply.

It appears you not only read my post but did some additional research as well.

Also, it seems you are very pleased with your REL subwoofers. I wish I’d started with a better product to begin with.

I did reference my stereo music listening subwoofers as a pair of GR Research Double Trouble subwoofers. These are kind of unique in that they are open baffle servo controlled subwoofers. The plate amp is from Rythmik, probably one of the best manufacturers of subwoofers…. Except they only produce sealed or  ported subs. No open baffles product is available directly from  Rythmik.

These operate in stereo & Surround modes.

The Klipsch & Polk only operate in surround mode & via LFE connects. Low Frequency Effects is exactly what they are intended for…. Ie. Producing explosions or earthquakes…. Despite being ‘Franken Subs’ they perform this function quite well… they’ve rattled objects off shelves during some energetic scenes.


The Double Trouble s play down to 20Hz & provide extraordinary reproduction of double bass instruments or Japanese drum performances…. I’m only into Asian drums as a sound test…. But, listening to Nenad Vasilic  perform

Cest La Vie is pretty awesome.

Yeah, the ported subs are boomers that are only enabled in surround modes…. Intended for sound effects … not music.

I spent $1,200 on the two commercial subs, including buying replacement 3rd party plate amps … The Double Troubles were $4k for the pair & I had to build them from kits.  I’m probably biased as the act of assembling them  gives you added pride of ownership…  they do sound good… & I’m surprised out how much more music has  first octave components I didn’t even notice before… just gives a lot of tracks a foundation they didn’t have before.  But $4 grand is a lot of money…  if I did it over again… I’d have built the Triples… my listening room is 20x30’.