Subwoofer recommendation and wisdom

@soix ”Two subs are much better than one”

Just like two ears are so much better than one.

+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.

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!

Welcome to the deep end, you may never go back.

You can definitely augment your extra low frequency presentation using just one -3dB rated subwoofer with one caveat. The subwoofer must be positioned within one of your rooms standing wave bass modes insuring proper room integration and allowing its full potential for speaker integration.

Since identically dimensioned rooms can have different mode locations it's imperative the very first step is to preform the subwoofer crawl to identify your rooms multiple mode locations. This will identify your rooms most ergonomically convenient subwoofer positions. Manufacture position diagrams are worthless and mathematically calculated positions do not include a rooms furnishings and treatments.

Using a repeatable low frequency cadence between 20-35Hz, found on line will make identifying your rooms standing wave much easier than a musical passage. Custom length interconnects from Blue Jeans or Monoprice Cable are economically sufficient for subwoofers. 

Once positioned proceed by using the subs available adjustments to integrate it with your speakers to your personal taste.

-6dB rated sub-bass woofers which are usually sold as 'subwoofers' are typically so rolled off as to not excite a rooms standing waves enough to identify the rooms modes. They can be located most anywhere at the expense of the delicate extra low frequency (not sledge hammer) content present on much of contemporary recordings. 

A quality subwoofer investment can be used with many future speaker replacements. Enjoy.

Was in this situation, added one sub. It was great, but still lacking. Added another cheap sub and it was much better, but still lacking. 

Then purchased 2 new modern subs with DSP, this was a total game changer, never knew bass could be this powerful, full, have so much texture. 

Weirdly, it will make your main speakers sound better, not sure if it's due to turning down the bass on the mains, the crossover or what. After dialing in the sub, sound stage was deeper, everything was cleaner, fuller, more detail. My main amp is working far less, and I'm getting far more out of my system.

One thing of note, usually if you are getting 2 subs, you can go down a size/level and still get more out of 2 smaller subs over 1 bigger. Where you would spend $1500 on one sub, 2 $700 subs will give you more bass. Currently using 2 10in subs, gain is set at 26 out of 100, no tone controls or loudness being used. At half volume on my system, pictures can fall off the wall. It very much pressurizes the room.