OT: Audio Part 7 - Talk to me about Subs

[William]

Thinking about adding a sub to round out the low end. I'm not really talking about the chrome rattling rust disturbing THUMP THUMP you hear from some teens car (though that could occasionally happen when Mrs. William isn't home ), rather I'm really just looking to fill in the lower end of the audio spectrum.

Passive, powered, bi-amped, tri-amped, what are you running?








W.

[glepore]

Get a bowl of popcorn and google "el pipe o" .

[William]

Originally Posted by glepore

Get a bowl of popcorn and google "el pipe o" .

OMG!

What am I looking at here???








W.

[Tony Edwards]

I have a Hsu Research VTF-3 I bought about 10 years ago. Always been happy with it - they do a great job from a price/performance standpoint.

[mcteague]

https://www.lifewire.com/before-you-...woofer-1847583

https://www.themasterswitch.com/best-subwoofers

I don’t have a subwoofer as my speakers go down to about 20Hz, although not with much force, as is. For music, that is plenty. For serious home theater use subs appear to be essential.

Tim

[glepore]

Originally Posted by William

OMG!

What am I looking at here???








W.

They are classic transmission line subs. I went down a rabbit hole for a day or so reading about them. More workable in 10 or 8 in, as the length is fs x some factor so the smaller ones get shorter. Nelson Pass claims Dark Side thru these will blow your mind.

[mtechnica]

Sub for car or house? If it’s for a house you want a big ported box and as much power as possible, in a car I like sealed boxes with a good 10” sub and about 300wrms

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by William

OMG!

What am I looking at here???


W.

This is what happens when you find out about ports and also don’t have a wife

[William]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

This is what happens when you find out about ports and also don’t have a wife

LOL, yeah I don't see that one flying with Mrs. William.

My main system in the house is good, this would be for a secondary system that has a smaller set of speakers that have amazing highs and mids but the low end is a little lacking. I'm looking to beef that up a little bit. I have a friend who is trying to sell me on dual subs powered by a separate amp. Overkill? Maybe, but is that necessarily a bad thing?







W.

[kingpin75s]

Subs are great for low end extension if your speakers do not go down to 20Hz.

Even if your speakers do go that low, they can still add a lot of value especially if you have a large space where the additional SPLs can help "fil the room" without overloading).

I strongly prefer subs in pairs and generally position them outside and to the rear of my main speakers.

I run a low crossover at around 55Hz and keep my gain settings relatively low. Subs should be effortless to integrate without becoming "boomy".

Whether you run 1,2,3,4 or a 6-pack of subs, they should not dominate your sound. Dialing in low crossover and gain are key in addition to any EQ or other functions they may provide.

I run 4 x Revel B10 800W 10" subs stacked in pairs outside of my mains. If I were to recommend subs however, I am a big fan of the Velodyne DD series and the 12, 15 or 18" ones are great.

[kingpin75s]

Originally Posted by William

I have a friend who is trying to sell me on dual subs powered by a separate amp. Overkill? Maybe, but is that necessarily a bad thing?

W.

You friend isn't giving bad advice.

[glepore]

In all seriousness, class d amps have made decent subs cheap. Cross them over really low, like 50, and even the cheap Dayton Audio subs do what you need. I like them enough to run them with serious speakers and tube amps for the full range.

Good subs should be invisible in the sonic sense. You should only notice them when they're gone.

[mtechnica]

I have a Dayton audio and it’s good enough for me. The crossover and positioning is pretty important.

[C40_guy]

Need to know a bit more about your environment -- taste in music, primary speakers, electronics, size of room, etc.

And speaking of subs...if you have a decent sounding standalone tv, adding a small active sub will make a huge difference. Just connect the sub input to one of the tv line outputs.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by glepore

They are classic transmission line subs.

The folks at Wisdom Audio have developed some slightly more practical variations on classic transmission line subwoofers (emphasis on the word "slightly") that sound pretty darn remarkable: Effortless extension, smooth blending with the mains at a variety of xover frequencies, capable of bowel-rattling levels without ever sounding like your neighbor's Jeep.

Their SCS model could fit under a (tall) sofa or discreetly in the corners/along the walls of most living spaces. Their S90i model can be installed inwall, fitting in a standard depth studbay. Their STS model is almost as impractical as those "el pipe o" subs, but holy crap does it sound good.


PMC Loudspeakers also uses a variation on classic transmission lines for their fullrange speakers and subwoofers. They're some of the finest speakers I have heard anywhere at any pricepoint.


Given my fondness for both Wisdom and PMC stuff, I'm wondering if it's specifically because of the transmission line design? Maybe I'd actually like those "el pipe o" subs? Ha! The missus will ensure I never find out!