Running 2 subwoofers for music.

MeanandGreen

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Dec 26, 2012
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Hi Guys,

I've moved house and it has a large living area with marble floors. I had bought some Tannoy Mercury V4 floor standing speakers in preparation for moving in. I soon discovered that the large room created a bass problem, there was hardly any and what was there was in a very limited spot no where near my sofa.

So I've added not one, but two Tannoy HTS 101 subs to balance the bass throughout the room. My god the sound is awesome!

I've spent the whole weekend twiddling with settings and placement and the results are fantastic. I've listened to jazz, electronic pop/dance, rock, live recordings etc... The scale of the sound is incredible. I can shake the room with house/dance yet it always sounds totally controlled and clean. The double bass instruments in so many jazz recordings are so smooth, clean and full of scale. Kick drums can smack me in the chest if desired. It sounds powerful, effortless and natural not overblown or fake.

The good thing is the whole room benefits from this sound, not just one sweet spot. I've placed them diagonally opposite each other to even everything out.

I've never heard bass like this in a domestic setup, I am now a subwoofer convert. I've never needed one before, then suddenly I need two. The clean power is something I've never heard a pair of speakers achieve like this, it's another level and I always thought my system sounded good in the low end department before.

Just thought I'd share it is great to be happy with the hifi like this. I'm living alone in a detached property and making the most of it :)
 
MeanandGreen said:
Hi Guys,

I've moved house and it has a large living area with marble floors. I had bought some Tannoy Mercury V4 floor standing speakers in preparation for moving in. I soon discovered that the large room created a bass problem, there was hardly any and what was there was in a very limited spot no where near my sofa.

So I've added not one, but two Tannoy HTS 101 subs to balance the bass throughout the room. My god the sound is awesome!

I've spent the whole weekend twiddling with settings and placement and the results are fantastic. I've listened to jazz, electronic pop/dance, rock, live recordings etc... The scale of the sound is incredible. I can shake the room with house/dance yet it always sounds totally controlled and clean. The double bass instruments in so many jazz recordings are so smooth, clean and full of scale. Kick drums can smack me in the chest if desired. It sounds powerful, effortless and natural not overblown or fake.

The good thing is the whole room benefits from this sound, not just one sweet spot. I've placed them diagonally opposite each other to even everything out.

I've never heard bass like this in a domestic setup, I am now a subwoofer convert. I've never needed one before, then suddenly I need two. The clean power is something I've never heard a pair of speakers achieve like this, it's another level and I always thought my system sounded good in the low end department before.

Just thought I'd share it is great to be happy with the hifi like this. I'm living alone in a detached property and making the most of it :)

Hi MeanandGreen

Nice one
smiley-smile.gif
with some tlc the more subs the merrier :twisted:

I am currently using a pair of Focal JM Lab Electra 1008Be speakers which are paired to a JL Audio Fathom f212 and two E-112 (stack) sub woofers and like you (listening to tracks such as Ane Brun - These Days and Worship, Bjork - Hunter Skothus Mix) i also find the sound is awesome
smiley-cool.gif


All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 

MeanandGreen

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Dec 26, 2012
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MUSICRAFT said:
MeanandGreen said:
Hi Guys,

I've moved house and it has a large living area with marble floors. I had bought some Tannoy Mercury V4 floor standing speakers in preparation for moving in. I soon discovered that the large room created a bass problem, there was hardly any and what was there was in a very limited spot no where near my sofa.

So I've added not one, but two Tannoy HTS 101 subs to balance the bass throughout the room. My god the sound is awesome!

I've spent the whole weekend twiddling with settings and placement and the results are fantastic. I've listened to jazz, electronic pop/dance, rock, live recordings etc... The scale of the sound is incredible. I can shake the room with house/dance yet it always sounds totally controlled and clean. The double bass instruments in so many jazz recordings are so smooth, clean and full of scale. Kick drums can smack me in the chest if desired. It sounds powerful, effortless and natural not overblown or fake.

The good thing is the whole room benefits from this sound, not just one sweet spot. I've placed them diagonally opposite each other to even everything out.

I've never heard bass like this in a domestic setup, I am now a subwoofer convert. I've never needed one before, then suddenly I need two. The clean power is something I've never heard a pair of speakers achieve like this, it's another level and I always thought my system sounded good in the low end department before.

Just thought I'd share it is great to be happy with the hifi like this. I'm living alone in a detached property and making the most of it :)

Hi MeanandGreen

Nice one
smiley-smile.gif
with some tlc the more subs the merrier :twisted:

I am currently using a pair of Focal JM Lab Electra 1008Be speakers which are paired to a JL Audio Fathom f212 and two E-112 (stack) sub woofers and like you (listening to tracks such as Ane Brun - These Days and Worship, Bjork - Hunter Skothus Mix) i also find the sound is awesome
smiley-cool.gif


All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Indeed, TLC in setting up is essential.

The result is incredibly good, I'm not a bass freak. I like it to sound well balanced, I'm pleased the subs achieve realistic bass in a large area like this. Madonna's Vogue has a fantastic baseline for setting up with.
 

lpv

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.. as a photograper I'm travelling a lot.. I've recently got the pleasure to listen in one of my clients home massive ATC 100 active speakers and guess what? with even bigger subwoofer.. the sound was absolutely out of this world.. my speakers and any other speakers I've heard in my life are nothing but rubbish.. however I bought subwoofer for my Dali's on my way back as a temporary solution... better but far from ATC monsters..if I see on a forum somebody having private performance in his living room in front of Kef LS50 I laugh.. got yourself a pleasure and visit ATC dealer and have a listen.

I revised my plans to go Electro/ Harbeth route:)
 

davedotco

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lpv said:
.. as a photograper I'm travelling a lot.. I've recently got the pleasure to listen in one of my clients home massive ATC 100 active speakers and guess what? with even bigger subwoofer.. the sound was absolutely out of this world.. my speakers and any other speakers I've heard in my life are nothing but rubbish.. however I bought subwoofer for my Dali's on my way back as a temporary solution... better but far from ATC monsters..if I see on a forum somebody having private performance in his living room in front of Kef LS50 I laugh.. got yourself a pleasure and visit ATC dealer and have a listen.

I revised my plans to go Electro/ Harbeth route:)

Interesting lpv.

Time to bang my (active) drum again......... :dance:

There is a 'quality' about good active speakers that is pretty difficult to get with conventional passive speakers, particularly so if you value the qualities that active speakers bring to the table.

It is my view that the scale and presence that make the big ATCs so impressive can be obtained from smaller active speaker/subwoofer options. Given that your client probably had the room to match his setup, the smaller systems can work well in more normal sized rooms.

Whilst not exactly unassuming a pair of Adam A7x and a Sub10 or Sub12 will get you a long way towards what you heard at a much more modest cost and if you want to trade a bit of scale and presence for refinement the 2.1 system from the 'men in a shed' in Nailsworth would do rather nicely.

There is something that a decent size active system does that is different, a lot of people don't hear it or don't 'get' it, but if you do, then it is game changing.
 
davedotco said:
lpv said:
.. as a photograper I'm travelling a lot.. I've recently got the pleasure to listen in one of my clients home massive ATC 100 active speakers and guess what? with even bigger subwoofer.. the sound was absolutely out of this world.. my speakers and any other speakers I've heard in my life are nothing but rubbish.. however I bought subwoofer for my Dali's on my way back as a temporary solution... better but far from ATC monsters..if I see on a forum somebody having private performance in his living room in front of Kef LS50 I laugh.. got yourself a pleasure and visit ATC dealer and have a listen.

I revised my plans to go Electro/ Harbeth route:)

Interesting lpv.

Time to bang my (active) drum again......... :dance:

There is a 'quality' about good active speakers that is pretty difficult to get with conventional passive speakers, particularly so if you value the qualities that active speakers bring to the table.

It is my view that the scale and presence that make the big ATCs so impressive can be obtained from smaller active speaker/subwoofer options. Given that your client probably had the room to match his setup, the smaller systems can work well in more normal sized rooms.

Whilst not exactly unassuming a pair of Adam A7x and a Sub10 or Sub12 will get you a long way towards what you heard at a much more modest cost and if you want to trade a bit of scale and presence for refinement the 2.1 system from the 'men in a shed' in Nailsworth would do rather nicely.

There is something that a decent size active system does that is different, a lot of people don't hear it or don't 'get' it, but if you do, then it is game changing.

Active or not there is only so much bass you can get out of a given sized enclosure. The addition of a sub, or two, to an active speaker system rather defeats the point of a 'box limiting' setup. Putting all eggs in one basket limits your potential for a good adjustable system and god help you if one one the amps goes t*ts-up!
 

davedotco

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Al ears said:
davedotco said:
lpv said:
.. as a photograper I'm travelling a lot.. I've recently got the pleasure to listen in one of my clients home massive ATC 100 active speakers and guess what? with even bigger subwoofer.. the sound was absolutely out of this world.. my speakers and any other speakers I've heard in my life are nothing but rubbish.. however I bought subwoofer for my Dali's on my way back as a temporary solution... better but far from ATC monsters..if I see on a forum somebody having private performance in his living room in front of Kef LS50 I laugh.. got yourself a pleasure and visit ATC dealer and have a listen.

I revised my plans to go Electro/ Harbeth route:)

Interesting lpv.

Time to bang my (active) drum again......... :dance:

There is a 'quality' about good active speakers that is pretty difficult to get with conventional passive speakers, particularly so if you value the qualities that active speakers bring to the table.

It is my view that the scale and presence that make the big ATCs so impressive can be obtained from smaller active speaker/subwoofer options. Given that your client probably had the room to match his setup, the smaller systems can work well in more normal sized rooms.

Whilst not exactly unassuming a pair of Adam A7x and a Sub10 or Sub12 will get you a long way towards what you heard at a much more modest cost and if you want to trade a bit of scale and presence for refinement the 2.1 system from the 'men in a shed' in Nailsworth would do rather nicely.

There is something that a decent size active system does that is different, a lot of people don't hear it or don't 'get' it, but if you do, then it is game changing.

Active or not there is only so much bass you can get out of a given sized enclosure. The addition of a sub, or two, to an active speaker system rather defeats the point of a 'box limiting' setup. Putting all eggs in one basket limits your potential for a good adjustable system and god help you if one one the amps goes t*ts-up!

Not quite sure what you are getting at their Al, 'box limiting' setup......... :?

Really just pointing out that a pair of actives and a decent sub need not cost the earth and can give you a pretty good taste of what you get from a much more expensive system.

System of the type I mention are big on scale and presence and if that is your bag (as it is mine) then this is a relatively inexpensive way to get it.
 

skippy

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[/quote]

Interesting lpv.

Time to bang my (active) drum again......... :dance:

There is a 'quality' about good active speakers that is pretty difficult to get with conventional passive speakers, particularly so if you value the qualities that active speakers bring to the table.

It is my view that the scale and presence that make the big ATCs so impressive can be obtained from smaller active speaker/subwoofer options. Given that your client probably had the room to match his setup, the smaller systems can work well in more normal sized rooms.

Whilst not exactly unassuming a pair of Adam A7x and a Sub10 or Sub12 will get you a long way towards what you heard at a much more modest cost and if you want to trade a bit of scale and presence for refinement the 2.1 system from the 'men in a shed' in Nailsworth would do rather nicely.

There is something that a decent size active system does that is different, a lot of people don't hear it or don't 'get' it, but if you do, then it is game changing.

[/quote]

Dave,

Not heard the A7X yet, out of the monitors I've heard so far the Focal CMS65's come out on top.

At some stage I'd like to hear the Focal Solo6 be, but it seems that might be difficult in this neck of the woods. I've heard good things about Event Opals, but again getting them sounds like it's an issue, then if you have problems can be a nightmare.

Have you heard either and do you have any comparisons?

Basically is it worth paying the extra $1k for the more expensive options?
 

davedotco

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Hi Skip,

A lot of my recent exposure to studio monitors has taken place in a couple of pro-dealers in my neck of the woods. These a effectively retail outlets and concentrate on products at the more affordable end of the price spectrum.

I do not get to hear much above about £1k on a regular basis, Adam A7x and A8x and the big Mackies being about the limit. Out of interest the Genelecs seem less popular than might be imagined, at this price level anyway. I have heard the Adam S2x, which seen to have a capability comparable to the Opals but not for any great period of time, very impressive though.

The standout speaker in the £1-2k range has been, for me, the Quested Q7R, for £1.5k these speakers are very refined and perhaps more suited to hi-fi use than some of the more forthright studio systems. Seriously good speakers, slightly reminiscent of the Harbeth 30.1s with some serious amplification.

Edit for spelling.
 

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