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More sub questions...plenty vs. overkill?


dewthedru

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i moved from a place that had a fairly small basement where my trusty old HSU STF-3 never failed to move me. my current HT is much larger and i'm thinking i need to upgrade. i'm torn between DIY 18"s or getting 1 or 2 HSU VTF-15H's. i've actually toyed with the idea of just picking up another stf-3 but i can't find one anywhere. i've searched craigslist for the last year or so without any luck. 

my HT space is about 550 sq ft with 8.5' tall ceilings and carpeted concrete floors.  i've included the layout.


what do you think? would a single VTF-15 be plenty? i know more is always better but if it's totally overkill, i don't want to just throw money away. and i know some of you have already recommended building a couple of stonehendge 18"s but i don't want the bass to be ridiculous compared to the rest of my setup. (RF-35 fronts, RC-35 center, and RS-35 surrounds)

thoughts?

post-50408-0-51880000-1424194451_thumb.j

post-50408-0-15240000-1424194719_thumb.j

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i don't want the bass to be ridiculous compared to the rest of my setup. 

 

Sorry but this misconception always amuses me.  The only way bass is ridiculous compared to the rest of your system is if you don't calibrate properly.  A couple ported 18's in that room would work well I'd imagine.

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That space is huge! And if you want a good subwoofer setup to me either a pair of ported 18's or a quad sealed setup with 4 18's like mine. Would be a minimum for me. If my room were ANY bigger I would build another four subs in a heartbeat. And mine is only 12x23 with 7.5 foot ceilings

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That space is huge! And if you want a good subwoofer setup to me either a pair of ported 18's or a quad sealed setup with 4 18's like mine. Would be a minimum for me. If my room were ANY bigger I would build another four subs in a heartbeat. And mine is only 12x23 with 7.5 foot ceilings

 

 

yes....but you're what we in the marketing community call...an outlier.   :D

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Yes, you can always turn the bass down to match the rest of the system. I believe it is almost always better to have equipment just loping along rather than all out and strained just to barely be good enough, at least with amplifiers and subwoofers.

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Yes, you can always turn the bass down to match the rest of the system. I believe it is almost always better to have equipment just loping along rather than all out and strained just to barely be good enough, at least with amplifiers and subwoofers.

 

 

I'm a firm believer in headroom as well.

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I believe it is almost always better to have equipment just loping along rather than all out and strained just to barely be good enough, at least with amplifiers and subwoofers.

 

Yes, but on the other end... and this is probably a misled and incorrect theory of mine, but I've always thought that subs were meant to actually flex, at least somewhat, and with that in mind, if you were going to listen to them at really low volumes, it would be better to have a smaller number of subs that flexed more rather than a larger number that are fed only a small fraction of what they are meant to handle.  I guess I envision somewhat of a threshold that is required to get them to move right and therefore sound right.  Not sure if this is true or not.  

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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4675ft3, that is a LARGE space acoustically. Let's consider that HT for THX purposes is a room of 3000 ft3 and the Klipsch THX system is built for that. All that being said, how loud do you listen and to what material? 

 

i listen to mostly movies and video games.  and the volume is just under what will piss my wife off.  haha.

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i moved from a place that had a fairly small basement where my trusty old HSU STF-3 never failed to move me. my current HT is much larger and i'm thinking i need to upgrade. i'm torn between DIY 18"s or getting 1 or 2 HSU VTF-15H's. i've actually toyed with the idea of just picking up another stf-3 but i can't find one anywhere. i've searched craigslist for the last year or so without any luck. 

my HT space is about 550 sq ft with 8.5' tall ceilings and carpeted concrete floors.  i've included the layout.

what do you think? would a single VTF-15 be plenty? i know more is always better but if it's totally overkill, i don't want to just throw money away. and i know some of you have already recommended building a couple of stonehendge 18"s but i don't want the bass to be ridiculous compared to the rest of my setup. (RF-35 fronts, RC-35 center, and RS-35 surrounds)

thoughts?

If your not a DIY guy , (2) of these would be nice to start with http://www.rythmikaudio.com/FV15HP.html

Edited by A1UC
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If your not a DIY guy , (2) of these would be nice to start with http://www.rythmikaudio.com/FV15HP.html

 

 

 

Those look nice.  I think I am going to try the DIY route if I don't opt for the HSU products.  I really like the idea of being able to point to them and tell people I assembled and tuned them myself.

 

DIY would get you more for your money for sure , Im going to buy a amp with DSP next time around you might want to look into that also

Edited by A1UC
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I believe it is almost always better to have equipment just loping along rather than all out and strained just to barely be good enough, at least with amplifiers and subwoofers.

Yes, but on the other end... and this is probably a misled and incorrect theory of mine, but I've always thought that subs were meant to actually flex, at least somewhat, and with that in mind, if you were going to listen to them at really low volumes, it would be better to have a smaller number of subs that flexed more rather than a larger number that are fed only a small fraction of what they are meant to handle. I guess I envision somewhat of a threshold that is required to get them to move right and therefore sound right. Not sure if this is true or not.

this would be completely untrue actually. The "flex" you refer to, the more there is the more distortion there is. If you had 30 18's in your room and they all only moved 2-3mm it would be the cleanest bass youve ever heard.
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I agree! My R-115SW's can overwhelm you in my room. It's 18.5 by 48

 

 

You are not a  bass head, he, he.

 

Two ported 18's and this guy will not be in the sub market anytime soon.  The OP may never crank his system but, some days when the wife is out of the house, it is ON!!!!

Edited by derrickdj1
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I believe it is almost always better to have equipment just loping along rather than all out and strained just to barely be good enough, at least with amplifiers and subwoofers.

Yes, but on the other end... and this is probably a misled and incorrect theory of mine, but I've always thought that subs were meant to actually flex, at least somewhat, and with that in mind, if you were going to listen to them at really low volumes, it would be better to have a smaller number of subs that flexed more rather than a larger number that are fed only a small fraction of what they are meant to handle. I guess I envision somewhat of a threshold that is required to get them to move right and therefore sound right. Not sure if this is true or not.

this would be completely untrue actually. The "flex" you refer to, the more there is the more distortion there is. If you had 30 18's in your room and they all only moved 2-3mm it would be the cleanest bass youve ever heard.

That would be loud as hell too, and they're still flexing somewhat. I'm talking about more quiet than that. Even with two subs at lower levels sometimes the bass is at a level that you actually have to feel the cones to realize that they are doing anything. I've always thought that maybe this doesn't exactly give the best response, that maybe a smaller number of subs flexing 2-3mm might provide more accurate feedback than several that wasn't hardly even moving, just kind of vibrating. I don't know if there is a threshold to get the things going properly at least after they are broken in. Before that there does seem to be.

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I listen to music most of the time in a range of -30 to -40 on the avr which is not very loud to most people.  The subs step in when called for.  The number of misconceptions regarding large vs small sub have been spouted to often by audio people and no measurements to backup  the belifes.

 

The whole ideal of correct subwoofer setup is for the subs not to call attention to themselves.  The subs are like gentelmen, they are polite most of the time and make their presence know with serious bass tracks, movies or music.  The key word is blend, not overpower the rest of the system.  Because I use my system the majority of the time for music, SQ is more important than spl.

Edited by derrickdj1
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