Sub subwoofer?

This is interesting - Fan Powered Sub

Believe it or not my dad kind of came up with this design before it happened here as he said a long time back (about 8 years) that he thought the ideal way to design a subwoofer was to have some sort of high power fan and a valve to control and alternate the airflow but a valve would have to be pretty large and very fast so it seems they have come up with a better solution here.

Its a pity they say it has to be in another room and it only goes UP to 20Hz but I think with some more work it could be a real new invention in Hi-Fi.

 

That is quite cunning. As I don't have an attick I wonder if the people in the flat above me would mind me putting it in there sitting room and cutting a hole in the floor.

 

Ten years ago in 1995 a company named Phoenix Gold made a revolutionary in car subwoofer called the Cyclone. This was a fan and perspex tube arrangement. It sounded very accurate with no overhang, if a touch quiet.

 

And the Intersonics use rotary motors rather than linear voice coils to move fairly conventional cones with their suspension limited travel. However this can be scaled to any ridiculous distance nowadays. There are plenty drivers that produce over +- 2cm excursion esp in the US

I agree with your dad, a compressor + pump, and a +ve and -ve reservoir tank and some fast valve would produce bass down to DC.

This one will always be a good but daft idea since it has a DC offset [ie a breeze..] and fan noise - which would get worse if you put a safety guard on it.

I like:

'They calculated that it would take ten 18" subwoofers to produce this level of sound'

or just 1 Intersonics Contrabass, Aura 18" or Adire Tumult, or loads of other OTT drivers..

Pretty small though, for what it achieves.