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
I employ the swarm from Audiokinesis/James Romeyn. The waterfalls below reveal the impressive degree of modal reduction, also known as ringing. There are valleys where once there were mountains.The bass extension is a nice bonus but the main gain is the acoustic benefit, since most high end subs can go as low. While I have a dedicated room now, their prior presence in the living room did not upset my wife because I could hide two behind furniture and the other two served as pedestals.
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@tcutter Now my eyes know what my ears are experiencing! That's cool. |
@stuartbmw3 Definitely two subs minimum because of the dimensions of your room--not its size per se but because it's square. Single subs in a square room are problematic as i learned consulting with Jim Smith on my old music room which was square. He said the peaks would massively stack in the same place and same frequency and the nulls stack in the same place, creating boomy bass where it stacked and nothing where it didn't--but he and Todd Welti both say two subs in opposing corners or midwalls will eliminate this effect in square rooms and create smooth bass throughout the room, although you will probably still have to do some crawling. There are a lot of complicated reasons for this but understanding your room modes, their frequencies and where they are will go a long way to understanding why you need at least two. I put your dimensions into Amroc's room mode app and it said 29.7 Hz and its harmonics is where they would massively stack. |
Dated, absolutely. I'm certain it was used before it was shown to me in 1967 without the crawling around and the moniker of course. Through all the years of HiFi subwoofer periodical dismissiveness this hack assumed this simple method was common knowledge in this community. Not even close even today. I've owned two pair of Studio and in home auditioned S8 Paradigm speakers. At a show not long ago I was allowed to run a short test recording from my iphone through an Anthem / Audyssey / Paradigm system with a sub in each front wall corner. Clearly this manufacturer's presentation goals remain foreign to me. Without any Dirac knowledge I'm guessing the resulting crawl standing bass wave room locations are close to the Dirac conclusions? If so, the crawl may be considered for an approximate -3dB sub to room free integration positioning? Can Dirac digitally control the subwoofer system leaving the full bandwidth to the main system in the analog domain, and for about how much? In 1967 the Octavium came with a dolly. I've dollied and further decoupled all my subwoofers over the years. Currently using dense latex and closed cell boogie board foam under the cabinets and extra soft rubber casters. |
