Two subwoofers in smallish HT room?


My home theater system is set up in a 16x11x8 ft room. I currently have one line-level HT subwoofer in the front-right corner. It's a very good subwoofer (Vandersteen V2W), but it needs to play pretty loud to produce good LFE. When it plays loud, it seems to localize.

I've been thinking about getting a 2nd sub and locating it near, but not in, the back left corner of the room in an attempt to smooth out bass response and give me the opportunity to turn down the volume on the front sub.

Does this make sense, or will it make in-room bass response worse? Is the room too small for two subs?
rex

Showing 1 response by donbellphd

A question was raised about using subs of different sizes, but seems to have been dropped.

I was looking for a second Velodyne HGS-10, when an opportunity to buy a local HGS-15 arose. The HGS-15 was delivered by a system integrator who is very familiar with high-end equipment. He recommended I set my pre-amp to send everything below 80 Hz to the sub. Relieving the smaller KEF 102/2s of handling these frequencies really opened them up; I was surprised that the effect was the same with the 104/2s. The sub sits on an Auralex SubDude. I set all speakers, including the sub, to equal SPL, using the C scale of my Radio Shack sound level meter with slow integration. The pre-amp generates white noise for this purpose. The result is seamless open sound without boom or heaviness, and a grand sound stage with precise imaging.

Now the question: Is it worth hooking up the HGS-10 next to the left 104/2, or should I move it downstairs to use with a pair of 102/2s, and someday look for another HGS-15. The room is 14' X 19', with an opening leading to a dressing area and bathroom. The existing setup seems quite free of peaks, and the single HGS-15 is quite able to deliver the goods for movies. Stereo music is about as good as I've heard.

db