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Subwoofer recommendation and wisdom

So I have a relatively difficult room 19' x 19' x 9'. I have made a bunch of sound absorbing panels which made a massive improvement. I have worked on speaker placement and landed on the 5/8 ratio......5x from the back wall, 8x from the side walls. I use Harbeth 30.1 speakers on appropriate stands, driven by a Luxman L505 xII integrated. I am very pleased with the sound but sometimes wish I had a bit more foundation on the bottom end. I will listen mostly to classic rock and jazz. I would like to consider adding a sub, but not sure where to start. I don't want sledgehammer bass, I just want a nice, blended bottom end on my music. I think that is one of the only improvements I can reasonably and cost effectively make. Looking for recommendations on a sealed sub that would have a good chance of integrating well in my room.

My preference would be for a single sub solution. Thanks
 

stuartbmw3
vetsc5
115 posts
 

Hello stuartbmw3,

Just brief response to your question as posed regarding sub recommendation Suggest that you check out Hsu (pronounced "shoe") subwoofers at https://hsuresearch.com.  I have enjoyed two of Dr. Hsu's subwoofers for several years and could not be more pleased with their performance. I want my subs to be tight, right and go low.  Oh and they will not break the bank. I've been to the Hsu facility in Anaheim, Ca and Dr. Hsu is always on hand.  If you call either Dr. Hsu (Electrical Engineering Phd from MIT) or Kevin will answer and they love to talk subs.

Enjoy the music

sfgak
210 posts
 

@bartsw 

I have a real life example where this simulation is wrong. Running two speakers full range in the front of the room + two subs in the back of the room will give you much larger and even coverage than simply using two subs. Four is better than two.

I don’t doubt you. My sub placement is constrained by room layout. The stereo is at one side of a great room. To put subs in the back, analogous to your situation, would require subs in the island of an open kitchen. Ain’t gonna happen. 
 

Given my constraints on the where to place the subs, simulations show that cutting the lows to the mains is actually helpful. This is why I said “The only way to know for sure is to place the subs in the real space” but simulations are useful until you can do so.

I will have the option to run my mains full range, and may in the end do so, but for now I need to take my best guesses as to where to put conduit. For that, I use simulations rather than intuition.

mylogic
839 posts
 

@soix ”Two subs are much better than one”

Just like two ears are so much better than one.

maam522a
161 posts
 

+1 Rythmik

Their sealed subwoofers are very good.  Although they are not talked about as much as REL and SVS, most of the reviewers like Nemopropoganda have reviewed them and all state that they are the best they have heard for clean and articulate bass.  I use them with Apogee Stage (quasi ribbon) speakers.

mitchagain
506 posts
 

I have always used one subwoofer in my setup, for a variety of reasons. The sub that finally solved my standing waves issue and also integrated best with my main speakers was the Golden Ear SuperSub X. It retails for $1500 new. The larger model (SuperSub XXL) retails for $2,000. Audio Advisor and Crutchfield are retailers, and both have "buy it, try it" policies. I don't see any used ones on the market right now. 

While there are no user reviews on Audio Advisor, Crutchfield has 10 reviews of the SS - X and 14 reviews of the SS-XXL. Plus, there are some video reviews of it on YouTube. While this sub doesn't get mentioned much in these forums, I'd say it's at least worth a look. Best of luck in your search!

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