Has anyone actually auditioned various subs in their system and can meaningfully describe the sonic signature of say, REL vs JL vs Velodyne vs. anything else?
I happen to think that a subwoofer is fairly crucial IF you happen to use smaller speakers, whether they be stand mount or floor standing. However, I also think that the size of the sub is also crucial, and needs to be appropriate for the size of your room. I am VERY pleased with the smaller REL, it's a great music sub and appropriate size wise for my room size. One of my pet peeves, is to listen to a system that utilizes large subs in a too small room. Result: boomy and overpowering bass; which drives me from the room quickly.
IMHO, IF you can hear the subwoofer in the system, then something is wrong. BTW, the REL offers one main advantage that the others under discussion do not... that is their hook-up system. Direct to the amp outputs via a speakon cable, resulting in an exact signal to the sub that the amp to main speaker sees. I am unaware of any other make that employs this system and IMO, it's what gives the REL's a leg up.
I happen to think that a subwoofer is fairly crucial IF you happen to use smaller speakers, whether they be stand mount or floor standing. However, I also think that the size of the sub is also crucial, and needs to be appropriate for the size of your room. I am VERY pleased with the smaller REL, it's a great music sub and appropriate size wise for my room size. One of my pet peeves, is to listen to a system that utilizes large subs in a too small room. Result: boomy and overpowering bass; which drives me from the room quickly.
IMHO, IF you can hear the subwoofer in the system, then something is wrong. BTW, the REL offers one main advantage that the others under discussion do not... that is their hook-up system. Direct to the amp outputs via a speakon cable, resulting in an exact signal to the sub that the amp to main speaker sees. I am unaware of any other make that employs this system and IMO, it's what gives the REL's a leg up.
One reason that larger or multiple subs could be more boomy and overpowering is because their level is set too high. It's most likely a matter of setup. Another reason could be that they are of inferior quality to the sub you are using. Larger and or multiple subs of the same quality will have more headroom and therefore will play more cleanly. Multiple subs also have the advantage of smoothing out the frequency response.
While I'm sure all of that is true, sometimes I think they just plain put out too much, too deep. I know to the HT guys that's like saying "too much sex," but if you want good, musical, controlled bass performance and your subs are putting out high volume waves that can't even complete before they hit a wall, isn't that going to be a problem?
Tim
While I'm sure all of that is true, sometimes I think they just plain put out too much, too deep. I know to the HT guys that's like saying "too much sex," but if you want good, musical, controlled bass performance and your subs are putting out high volume waves that can't even complete before they hit a wall, isn't that going to be a problem?
Tim
Has anyone actually auditioned various subs in their system and can meaningfully describe the sonic signature of say, REL vs JL vs Velodyne vs. anything else?
(...) The ultimate in subwoofing from my experience is DIY. In particular Infinite Baffle subwoofer. No commercial subwoofer can even close to a well executed Infinite baffle and they are not that expensive .. $5000 of IB will surpass anything commercial.. Let me repeat: anything commercial. Yet there seems to be just ONE person on this list with an IB ... I would have gone that route in a hurry ... but condo living is not IB friendly so ...
(...)
I don't think that bass waves need to complete before they hit a wall to sound right personally. I think the most important things are low distortion (which is hard to achieve under 30 hz), smooth frequency response, and the correct level to blend with the main speakers. I also think that the subs should fire from the same plane as the mains to achieve the best integration. This is not practical in most settings though. You can also get smoother response by placing them in different positions but I personally prefer them in the same plane if possible.
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