Subwoofer advice

Hello pkatsuleas,

     I notice you seem to have 2 amp setups, a tube setup with a Jolida tube integrated amp and a solid-state separates setup with a ss Schiit preamp and a ss McCormak .5 amp.  
     All good stuff but I need a bit more info before I can offer meaningful advice:
1. Do you alternate use between both of these systems?

2. Are they used for music only or do you also use for some form of home theater audio?

3. What's your budget range minimum to maximum?

4. REL are nice subs but there are other high quality subs at more reasonable prices.  Are you willing to use other brands of subs?

5. Are your speakers set up along the long 30' wall or the shorter 14' wall?

Thanks,
  Tim

My two cents. You aren’t getting much by going to the Rel T9i, their -6db point is 28hz and they are expensive for what you get. If it were me, assuming at $2,200 budget (the cost of 2 T9i on sale) I would do the following:

1) Purchase a HSU High Pass filter for $100.00 to run between your preamp and amp for the Snells. Roll the Snells off below 80hz to relieve them of the deep bass duties.

2) Purchase two subwoofers, either 1) a pair of Rythmik F12 ($1960 a pair), or 2) a pair of SVS SB3000 ($1999 a pair).

The Rythmiks offer a bit of a tighter, drier sound, with one band of parametric eq. The SVS have a three band parametric. With the Rythmik, you can use the parametric to treat your primary mode peak at 37 hz, with the SVS, you can treat that and the second at 56hz. Fortunately because your room is pretty large, you will have less mode issues than most, the primary being driven by your ceiling height.

Either pair of subs will give you far more adjustability than the RELs (which offers no parametric), far greater output, and true flat response down to 20hz. Relieving the Snell’s of deep bass will allow them to play cleaner and sound more open.

Enjoy, the Snell D speakers are one of my all time favorite speakers.

Should have known to provide more info!  Noble, the rig I am using right now is the Schiit Saga (tube/passive) with the McCormack.  Sounds great but I know the tubes will be calling me back eventually.  2 channel only.  Budget really is $1k but could stretch just a bit.  Been looking at used but nothing good yet.  Missed a local HSU that seemed promising.  Not stuck on REL, just seems a safe bet from the research I've done so far.  And recommendations from a few dealers, one who doesn't even sell REL.  Speakers on the short wall pulled out about 4'.

Mcreyn, I have been researching the high pass filter and one day I might go that route.  Does seem like the most logical way to maximize potential.  For now I would just like to get a sub in my system to experiment.  I will look deeper into the SVS.  Thanks for the knowledge! 

And yes, love the Type D.  Spent $700 on them 10yrs ago and they've been great.  Auditioned many more in the sub $2k range and for me they were the favorite.  The McCormack tightened everything up and makes them shine even more.  The Saga pre at close-out B stock pricing was a big surprise!  Sounds great

Thanks!

The Audiokinesis Swarm is one of the better sub systems made and its not expensive. What's better is that it works best if placed against the walls, and the most important bit is that unlike single or dual woofer systems you don't have standing waves in the room that can cause the bass to be missing at the listening chair- its evenly distributed throughout the room.http://www.audiokinesis.com/

Hello pkatsuleas,

    Atmasphere's suggestion of the 4-sub Audio Kinesis Swarm bass system would definitely provide near state of the art bass performance throughout your entire room and integrate seamlessly with your Snells but you'd need to stretch your budget to about $3,000. 
     I own this system and can attest to it being a great performer, likely the last sub bass system you'll ever need to buy since it will work extremely well with virtually any pair of speakers and in any room.  This is your ideal solution.
     If you can't currently afford this and you mainly just want good bass response at your listening seat, however, a pair of good quality subs will also provide good bass performance that has good integration with your main speakers if positioned and configured optimally.  This requires optimally positioning each sub utilizing the crawl method and optimally setting the volume, crossover frequency and phase control settings on each sub.  The advantage of the Swarm system is that the 3 configuration settings only need to be set once collectively for all 4 subs on the supplied 1,000 watt class AB sub amp/control unit.
     To give you an overall summary of your options, here's a list of 3 possible sub options listed from least expensive and lowest bass performance quality to most expensive and highest bass performance quality:

1.  Good Bargain system- a pair of SVS SB-1000 (sealed subs) or PB-1000 (ported subs) for about $1,000/pair.  These are bargain priced but very good quality subs that have the 3 crucially important configuration controls of volume, crossover frequency and phase; any subs you decide to purchase absolutely must have at least these 3 controls.

2. Better Middle-Range system- as mcreyn suggested, a pair of either Rythmil F12 subs for $1,960/pair or SVS PB3000 subs for $1,999/pair. Utilizing higher quality and priced pairs of subs will provide noticeably deeper bass extension as well as bass that is faster, smoother, more accurate, more detailed, more dynamic and more natural.

3. Best Performance system- Audio Kinesis 4-sub Swarm for $3,000. This option will clearly outperform the other options since it will provide deep, fast, smooth, accurate, highly detailed and dynamic bass that will be perceived as the most effortless, the most natural and the best integrated with your main speakers. It will also be the most convenient option to configure since all settings are made once on the amp/control unit for the 4 subs collectively rather than separately on each individual sub. 

Good luck,
  Tim