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Subwoofer suggestion to Integrate w/ Meyer HD-1's

As I have been breaking in my new Meyer Sound HD-1's I keep thinking a sub would improve things (their response is flat to 40 Hz and within +/-3db at 32 Hz). They do double duty in the Home Theater so the LFE stuff is somewhat lacking and the bottom octave seems to be missing on music tracks as well. I am thinking it will get better as the drivers loosen up but I don't know if it will be enough. I once heard some Quad ESL-989's that I thought were full-range until a REL sub was turned on that was crossed over at about 30Hz. The Quads seems to be more effortless and the room was "loaded" with sound. I am wondering if I will notice the same thing with my monitors.

The details most people leave out:

--My room is approx. 17'd x 28'w x 9’h and I don’t have a ton of floor space available.

--Other equipment is a Denon 5910 with Upgrade Co. signature mods, Bel Canto Pre3 or a Odyssey Candela Tube pre, a Boston Acoustics Pre/pro that
may all be replaced soon with a Meridian g68 or 861.

--In addition to TV and movies, I listen to a lot of music. About 50% of the time you’ll find live Grateful Dead (I have most Dick’s Picks and many other live recordings in addition to newer DSO live recordings) in the player. The remainder is pretty randomly split between bluegrass, acoustic and electric blues, acoustic and electric jazz, reggae, Motown, rock (mostly from 60’s and 70’s), jam bands, and folk/singer-songwriter stuff. I do not listen to classical, electronic, rap or pop music.

--Budget is as little as I have to spend to do it well. I guess that means I would like to spend $2000-3000 (used) but if I need to spend more to make things integrate and work right I can go quite a bit higher.

Thanks.
stearnsn
stearnsn OP
89 posts
 
Thanks Shadorne,

I am concerned that the X-800's might be too much for my space. Am I wrong?

I noticed in your system you use a sub with your ATC's which have similar freq. response as the Meyers. How is that working for you?
tim916
52 posts
 
The Bluesky Sub15 might be worth a look, too. It measures very well.

www.abluesky.com
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Stearnsn,

The sub integrates well but ultra LF bass is always a mess because of any room. In my case I needed a PEQ to tame bass room modes (room modes not just from the sub but from the mains also). This is not ideal but it is practical (idealy it is better to plaster every square foot of the room wall spaces with massive bass traps rather than EQ down the modal bumps in the main signal with notch filters). I do have four monster sized corner traps and they do work to create a larger sweetspot with more even bass around the room and better clarity in the lower mid but they are pretty much ineffective below 60 Hz (biggest benefit seems to be 100 to 1000 Hz but I haven't confirmed this with precise measurements).

Specifically I run the sub up to 90 Hz and the speakers full range and then use a PEQ to EQ ONLY the sub to get a reasonably flat room response - in all honesty it is still far from ruler flat! It is probably the best compromise as the primary signal from the speakers being nearly full range leads to some good room bass modes whilst the sub more more than helps fill in any nulls due to its different position from the mains. This setup leaves me with copious bass (way too much) which then allows me to apply notch filtering to the sub wherever there are room modal peaks.

It is easiest to start out with way too much bass and then tame room modes. If you lack bass and have a problem with nulls then you are stuck with moving the main speakers around for the best compromise (as you can't boost nulls - a null being a null means it ain't there at the listening position!).
stearnsn OP
89 posts
 
Thanks! Do you use your ears to adjust the EQ or do you use some sort of analyzer?
stearnsn OP
89 posts
 
I bought a couple of organ music CD's and these do go pretty low. I bought a JL Audio F113 though to help out with the LFE channel in my home theater and I hope it adds to the music party too.
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