Merits of second subwoofer

[admin_exported]

Hi there.

I have the setup in my signature that i am using. It works well together. I would like to ask whether or not a second subwoofer would be likely to add anything to the setup?

Also if a second subwoofer is to be added would you use a similar subwoofer with similar frequency range or add a different type?

Any input appreciated, even if you just tell me not to bother getting a second tx

 

[Paul.]

I you have subwoofers with high level inputs, you can run a left and right sub off of your left and right speaker posts. This will give you stereo effect with your sub. This is what REL recomend, but they would say that as it means buying more subwoofers

 

[CnoEvil]

There was some good discussion here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/home-cinema/2-subwoofers-better-than-one-0
and here: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/home-cinema/one-or-two-sub-for-ht

 

[super]

If you're going to have a second sub you should have the same make and model in the system.

 

[ric71]

2 good quality subs set up properly will give a smoother more powerful bass response with more headroom Both subs will only have to work half as hard to pressurise the listening room. You will not get deeper bass as this is dependant on driver size etc.

 

[ellisdj]

One good sub setup right is enough - setup wrong it may appear thats its not

REL Q 100 was their best sub - thats a 100w 12" sub, thats all it was and its still likely enough sub for 90% of rooms

Best to look up setting up a sub mate and get the right place in your room

I have recently found that nearfield placement is much easier to integrate as the room has less of an effect on the sound (less modes) its placed in a corner closest to me and the sound doesnt come from there - bass is omni directional, however subs sound directional when you have room modes / cancellation

Might be worth looking up / reading about and trying before buying another sub - long sub cables are cheap - Van Damme Ultra Custom sub cable 15m £40 cracking cable

Setting up 2 subs will likely be even harder as you may end up cancelling out more bass than you create by adding the second one in if the phases are wrong etc

 

[ric71]

Yes one high quality sub will out perform 2 mediocre subs. As I said 2 quality subs set up properly will smooth out room response,give greater headroom and give higher spl. You should try and place them on opposing walls but experimentation is all part of the fun.

If you have problems with phase then you adjust the phase on the subs with the phase dial/switch.

Even better would be to eq the subs with an Antimode or similar.

 

[bigboss]

I you have subwoofers with high level inputs, you can run a left and right sub off of your left and right speaker posts. This will give you stereo effect with your sub. This is what REL recomend, but they would say that as it means buying more subwoofers

But aren't you meant to not be able to locate where the subwoofer is placed when in action, if it's placed properly & working well? Then how can you get "stereo effect"?

 

[ellisdj]

That is exactly right! I was tempted to get another sub to try and compensate the diretcionality of my exisiting - my mind set if I get that same directional bass down both sides of the room that will sound better - I am guessing that sounds familiar or similar

That was WRONG - the same sub in a better room position now gives me uniform, non directional excellent bass

You dont need 2 in an average room if the first 1 is setup properly / in the right place - providing the one sub is of adequate output which a lot are.

However you do need to consider your sub design / output

I use a sealed box sub - these types of subs all rely on the room to boost the low frequencies - their best location is in the corner of a room. I used to have mine out from the corner of the room as it sounded boomy when I put it in that corner

Simple answer to that - That was the wrong corner to put it in. Its taken me a fair few months and some encouragement to try the sub somewhere else - its made all the difference in the world - even when I bypass the anitmode the bass is still a 1000 times better than before

 

[ric71]

Agreed you don't need 2 subs in an average UK room. A single well designed sub set up and properly located is all that is required. However 2 well designed properly set up/located subs can be for some the icing on the cake.

I agree 100% that a sub should not just be placed anywhere and experimentation is a must.

I used to run 4 serious subs at one time and all I can say is that as each sub was added over a period of time each brought a worthwhile improvement. Those were crazy days!!!

 

[Paul.]

I you have subwoofers with high level inputs, you can run a left and right sub off of your left and right speaker posts. This will give you stereo effect with your sub. This is what REL recomend, but they would say that as it means buying more subwoofers

But aren't you meant to not be able to locate where the subwoofer is placed when in action, if it's placed properly & working well? Then how can you get "stereo effect"?

Hey I'm just repeating what REL say in their manual, not tried it myself .

 

[Clare Newsome]

A second sub - as well calibrated as the first - really does underpin and enlarge a home-cinema system's sound incredibly effectively, in my opinion (and personal experience)

 

[super]

I have two subs and it works for me and they are just in a average size living room.

 

[naughty573]

I think that it depends on the sizing and shape of the room as well as the adjustability of the sub. My buddy bought two veldyne DD10 subs - and i tried one out at my place. The one sub in my room was far more than adequate for my stereo and HT needs but then we took all of his stuff back to his place when his home renovation was completed and we tried both subs in his room.

Even with all the adjustment capability inherent in the DD10 subs we struggled to get two subs to integrate properly. No matter what we did we could not adjust anything to get those subs to work together so in certain rooms you will struggle to get it working.

This definitely should not have happened with these velodyne subs because they have a very complicated system of autosetup and you would think that this would make it all work properly - but the more we tried the worse it got - so we gave up and purchased a Crown XTI PA amplifier with a Velodyne SMS1 DSP unit and built a DIY box for an MTX thunder 15" car DVC driver, and this worked better than the velodyne subs despite costing around 1/5th what those two velodyne subs did.

So IMHO rather get one sub thats going to properly integrate into your system which has adequate output for your needs instead of going to the unneccesary complication of trying to make the two subs work properly (and yes we tried lots of things including RTA measurements and playing around with positioning and lot of room treatment tricks that should have helped to make it work but in the end it still did not integrate well enough and honestly he could have had similar results from subs that cost 10% what those velodynes did ..... problem is that it wasnt the subs fault but rather the rooms - so why I say that it depends on your room as well to a certain extent)

 

[ellisdj]

its the subs placement in the room for sure - I was thinking maybe another sub would add a touch more to the real bottom end.

So I increased the SW level on the amp +1db and there it was - anymore and the neighbours will complain

You dont need 2 subs

A BK Electronics XXLS400 is amazing - watched Hannah last night - weird / good film but amazing sound track with some serious controlled, but deep and rumbling / rumping bass and I had to turn it straight back down.

Its only up just over a 1/4 of they way on the sub with the amp setting on -3.5db (nearfield placement)

There is no way I could have 2 subs unless as I say I wanted the neighbours at my door with pitch forks