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"Musical" subwoofers? Advice please on comparing JL subs

I'm ready to be taught and I'm ready to be schooled. I've never owned a subwoofer and I'm not so hot with the physics of acoustics. I've had my eye on two 10" JL Audio subwoofers, the e110 ($1600) and the f110v2 ($3500). I hope this is a simple question: will the f110v2 be more "musical" than the e110?

Perhaps unnecessary details: I'm leaning into small bookshelf speakers, mini monitors with limited bass, for near-field listening in a small room. I don't want to rock the casbah and rattle the windows; I want to enhance the frequency range from roughly 28hZ to perhaps 90 or 100hZ: the lower notes of the piano, cello, bassoon, double bass, etc. I think I'm asking: will one of those subwoofers produce a more "musical" timbre in that range? Is spending the extra $2000 worth it in terms of acoustic warmth and pleasure? More generally, are some subs more musical than others? Or is that range just too low for the human ear to discern critically? 

I know there are a lot of variables and perhaps my question can't be answered in isolation. If it helps, let's put to the side topics such as room treatments, DSP and DARO, debates about multiple subs, debates about using subwoofers at all, and the difficulties of integration. Let's assume a fast main speaker with limited bass. I'm not going to put a 12" sub in the room. While I'm not going to put four subs in the small room, I would strongly consider putting in two, and it would of course be much more economical to put in two e110s. This, though, would only lead to the same question now doubled: would two f110v2 subs sound more musical than two e110s? Also, I'm sure there are other fine subs out there but I'm not looking for recommendations; if it helps to extrapolate, consider the REL S/510 and T/5i. 

I realize that I may be wildly off with all this, and I know that the best way to find out is to try them out. I'm not at that point yet. I'm simply curious about the "musicality" of different subwoofers. 
northman

Showing 1 response by james633

james633
888 posts
 
The JL audio E110 will be fine. Don’t let anyone tell you different. The high pass crossover in then works well if you have separates (the sub goes between your pre amp and amp). 

 I would go with two smaller subs over one larger more expensive subs. 1 sub is hard to work with. 
I have two e112s in my system. I use the high pass crossovers. Best system change I ever made and it got me off the marry-go-round. The only down side to the duel subs with high pass is all the extra wires. Is what it is. 
I demoed the e110 and e112 back to back. The e112 is a better sub. It just goes lower and has more dynamics. The smaller sub is not “faster” or more “musical” or any other nonsense like that. Bigger is better, just means the driver moves less. 
The fathom line is a lot more money. They are what $4k each now? and you would still need a crossover IMO. 
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