1 or 2 subs?

[swampwiz]

I'd like to get opinions on whether it would be better to get 1 or 2 subwoofers, assuming the same total cost (i.e., the 2 subwoofers would each cost half the price of the 1.) For what it's worth, I am looking at spending about $2-3K on the sub(s) (powered). It seems that a single Velodyne DD-12 or 15 would be a good match for my Gershman X-1's, but that perhaps having 2 subs would overall be better? OR perhaps these Velos are so good that getting something at half the price would a much lower level of quality that it far outwieghts any benefit from having 2 subs.

Is there really a benefit to getting 2 subs?

[Guest " "]

2 seperate sub woofer boxes - Only higher max sound pressure levels and perhaps, if you have an unusually shaped listening room it may help sound distribution.But in normal room conditions...since low frequencies are omi-directional....think you will have alot of unused capacity.

2 woofers in the same box - depending on the design.....distortion could be cancelled out providing cleaner sounding bass.

[Colin]

One subwoofer at each wall midpoint is the best in terms of Std, Max-ave and Max-min but does not support low frequencies particularly well. Two subwoofers, at opposingwall midpoints, performs very nearly as well as four at the midpoints and gives a much better LF factor. One subwoofer in each corner also has good low frequency<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

support, but does not perform quite as well as one subwoofer at each wall midpoint, in terms of Std, Max-ave

and Max-min. If cost and aesthetics are considered, subwoofers at 2 wall midpoints is preferred.

read this:

http://www.audioc.com/library1/subprimer.htm

then this:

http://www.harman.com/wp/index.jsp?articleId=1003

[Spkrdctr]

Get one high end sub. Getting two cheaper subs will deny you the engineering and auto room set up abilities of the best subs. The new RT12d or the top of the line Velos would be appropriate. Or if you want a fist slammed in your face of low frequency sound, the guys with the Klipsch THX setup say it is awesome. All should be in your price range. Good Luck!

[Jay481985]

but if you get two with half the price, the LF may not go as deep as a very good single woofer designed to dig deeper. Two subwoofer or 4 or as many as possible are better as long as they are the same as the original single. Unless you do that then the weaker subwoofer will drown out the better one (that is the case for one strong and one weak) but if their two of the same..... I am not quite sure

[Jay481985]

Get one high end sub. Getting two cheaper subs will deny you the engineering and auto room set up abilities of the best subs. The new RT12d or the top of the line Velos would be appropriate. Or if you want a fist slammed in your face of low frequency sound, the guys with the Klipsch THX setup say it is awesome. All should be in your price range. Good Luck!

well get the best of both worlds then, the RT12D msrp is 1999 but should go around 1500 or so, get two of them? They also have the automatic eq that the Klipsch Engineers claim to be a better system then the velodyne.

[DrWho]

You will always get more output and more extension by going with a single subwoofer.

However, I find that it often results in an imbalanced stereo image

when listening to music and thus I prefer to have one sub on each side

to help balance things out. Just because a sub is omnidirectional (it

sprays sound in every direction) doesn't mean that is isn't

localizeable (the listener being able to hear where it is).

Once you break the $1500 mark you start getting into the realm where

you should seriously consider a DIY approach...especially an IB if your

room permits.

If you wanted to go commercial, then I would highly recommend the

Klipsch Ultra2 subwoofer system. It retails for $3500, but you should

be able to get it for under $3k with the right deals.

[Buckeye_Nut]

I'd like to get opinions on whether it would

be better to get 1 or 2 subwoofers, assuming the same total cost (i.e.,

the 2 subwoofers would each cost half the price of the 1.) For

what it's worth, I am looking at spending about $2-3K on the sub(s)

(powered). It seems that a single Velodyne DD-12 or 15

would be a good match for my Gershman X-1's, but that perhaps having 2

subs would overall be better? OR perhaps these Velos are so good

that getting something at half the price would a much lower level of

quality that it far outwieghts any benefit from having 2 subs.

Is there really a benefit to getting 2 subs?

My

recommendation would be to purchase one good subwoofer capable of doing

the job. Calibrating one subwoofer correctly can be daunting

enough let alone correctly dialing in 'duelling' subs.

Not to mention,

you'll get more SPL & deeper extension with a single biggun.

[rcarlton]

Here is another good source regarding two subwoofers.

[jdm56]

I get measurably smoother response in my room using two subs, but for a given amount of money, one bigger, badder sub will typically go lower than two smaller ones. It's all about compromise, but with a budget of $3000 you should be able to have the best of both worlds!

[Wrench722]

I have two RSW-15 in a 17x28 room and I have them both turned down to half and it is still a lot. But I have a lot left for those poor recording and poor movies. But it realy sounds better with two. It fills the room better.

[TheEAR]

Time for me to post dammit

Always get the best single sub you can afford,a great single sub will best two subs of the same total value.Each time

If you have two great subs you can play with positioning and get a better blance,the output will be more even across the sitting position,unless you have a lone listening chair in one precise spot.

When using dual subs it is very important to make sure they do not start wfighting eachother,or the results may be lousy.

[sfogg]

More info on stereo bass reproduction...

http://www.std.com/~griesngr/asa05.pdf

and....

http://www.std.com/~griesngr/sfaes.pdf

In a nutshell there is more to stereo subs the just gross localizations. Other factors effect our perception of the bass (inter-aural time differences) and it is why mono bass in a typical room sound so different then bass in a concert hall.

Shawn

[IndyKlipschFan]

I have the Klipsch THX subs in my HT. Since I also like music / concert dvd's, I will attest to the notion that 2 subs spread apart does sound better. These guys with one note wonder subs that also say you can place em anywhere in your room are just wrong.

If I was only going to use em for movies.. I would put em next to the center speaker under the picture for sure.

[CaptnBob]

Here is another good source regarding two subwoofers.

Excellent article. Roger Russell knows his onions.

An observation or two - bass may be omnidirectional, but subwoofers are not.

Subwoofers generally will still have considerable output well into the ususal audio range. If you have your subs any distance from your main speakers, you are inviting odd phasing and time delay effects.

Bass is not mono. I used to have a McIntosh 2300 drive my subwoofers, which nominally crossed over at 60 hz. It was easy to see that the meters were tracking differently on each channel. When the crossover's output was switched to mono, sound quality went down. When one subwoofer was switched off, sound quality went down even more. Adjusting the levels helped, but not much.

That said, I'm not denying the possibility that one $2,000 subwoofer might sound better than two $1,000 subs. But ideally, you should have two, and have them as near as possible to your main speakers.

[steamer]

More info on stereo bass reproduction...

http://www.std.com/~griesngr/asa05.pdf

and....

http://www.std.com/~griesngr/sfaes.pdf

In a nutshell there is more to stereo subs the just gross localizations. Other factors effect our perception of the bass (inter-aural time differences) and it is why mono bass in a typical room sound so different then bass in a concert hall.

Shawn

Amen,this is for real!!!!

I have expierienced ghost imagining with a couple dics since I went to my BagEnd dedicated sub system(2x18"w/integrator).On a Tool song where there is a recording of thunder my impression was that the sound was behind me,completely freaked me out the first time.I am like the speakers are in front of me,how can a sound like that be to my left behind me.Another song by Blues Traveler I had the impression I was in the middle of the crowd with people all around me clapping,being vocal,whistleing.I was hearing all this behind and to the sides of me.I have talked with another person that has had some similar expieriences and he has 2 subs.

Great post Shawn,I hope people go to the link and read it all,kind of boring but yes it is for real!

My recommendation is 2 quality subs.

I have run many different subs such as Velodyne(3 different 15"),NHT,Sunfire and 2 12" Velodynes at the same time.The best of the bunch was the 2 12" Velo's,just sounded right.My 2 BagEnd 18"'s walk all over the 2 12" Velo's not because of the cone diameter but by the way they integrate or blend so well with the freqencies above.

Greg