Here is your next upgrade suggestion (hope you don’t mind):
Buy three of these (they are very, very reasonably priced at their MSRP) and place them abreast of each other on the floor between your speakers. I think you will appreciate the aesthetics as well as the acoustics.
Also (as one or more folks mentioned earlier in this thread), if you listen to a lot of classical music, here is a nitpick suggestion for you –
Swap the subwoofer to the stage left side of your room and aim the transducer so that it sweeps across your primary listening position.
Here is my reasoning: In stereo mode when a subwoofer is properly set up to blend with the main speakers, not all lower frequencies are truly omnidirectional. Since many (most probably?) larger ensembles and orchestral works are recorded such that they reflect the convention of grouping lower-frequency instruments on stage to the right of the conductor (to the audience’s right-hand side), you tend to get a more accurate/cohesive playback of such instruments with a single sub placed “stage-left” in a stereo set up.
I actually have the same sub in my family/home theater room as in my dedicated music room. I’ve tried only two positions for performance of the HT room sub, as too much furniture and too little living space area exist to accommodate possibly the “best sound location”!
However, now that I’ve released the music room’s single sub “Kraken” from it’s earthly confines (between monitors with a village of components on it’s back), I installed carpet plastic sliders on it’s clawed feet. I was easily able to slide it around the dedicated 2.1 music room for optimum “listening position” response. To my ears, just left of the left monitor (see pic above) is still the ideal location!
I think the addition of wireless modules for some subs will make more interesting sub placements more realistic, if one is okay with the quality of wireless v wired.
Great idea for component placements! Thought about that but instead, went with a 4-shelf Monoprice audio rack (see pic). This arrangement messed with the huge soundstage when set between the monitors, but sounded Absolutely Stunning when placed to the left side of the 10ft wall (under double french door windows) leaving “nothing-but-air” between the monitors!!!
Agree on the sub placement (see post #39)! However, “stage left” in my room is a 32" entry door way…no can do!
I have new speaker wire on order to accommodate the extra reach to the right monitor and will have room set up pics once complete!
Once this arrangement is complete, believe it Will be the “Single Best Improvement” in my intimate quasi-near-field music room’s stereo presentation capability (90sf and 990cf-9’W x 10’L x 11’H)!
Rethinking your stage-left suggestion, I do have the single sub low pass at 50Hz and the monitors high pass at 50Hz. In large orchestral holographic recordings, the basses are clearly located stage-left, right where they should be! When the well integrated very low/sub-audible bass bandwidths present themselves, they are totally non-directional and very natural sounding!
I do have a small challenging room, but to date, bass energy, tonality and balance has always been a relatively “solid performer” for me, extending well below 20Hz!
You might try experimenting with setting the low-pass crossover on your subwoofer a bit higher than your monitors’ high pass setting – to see if things smooth out even further.
When I have the new component rack arrangement complete, I’ll try your suggestion (pre has fully adjustable LP & HP settings) to maximize balance and smoothness…Thanks!
REL essentially suggests this in their manual. To have the single sub sweep at an angle across the room towards the listening position.
For listening, I pull the Maggie’s out from the wall, and then slide the sub to the corner (a short distance) and rotate the sub angle to sweep across the listening position.
By doing this, I can’t easily here the location of the sub. With one sub to one side, with a perpendicular orientation, it’s easy to hear exactly where the bass is coming from.
I tend to shy away from corner placement for this reason. Very difficult to get impactful, “clean” bass at adequate, but not imposing, levels in corners, IME.
Yep! I first tried my 20" deep sub cabinet set hard in the corner and angled toward my listening position…bad idea with poorly defined, mushy and sloppy bass performance! Pulled the cabinet out about 12" away (front sub baffle and port 33" from the corner) and it tightened up tremendously, with really great definition, tonality and depth! LP crossed over at 50Hz, it sounds like it’s lower bandwidth is still coming from center of the room!
Maybe you have large space and those big boxes do not occupy the last piece of free space and are relatively small compared to the room.
If I could get the LF sound without the big boxes I’d go for it. Which is why I like the KEF KC62 most of all subwoofers. Followed by the Velodyne DD10.
Nevertheless I do not consider subwoofers adding beauty to the room, other than improving sound, which isn’t all that easy and certain either.
Well dimensioned and crafted full range floor standing mains speakers is what the best compromise to me. I do not see the point of putting bookshelf sized speakers on stands, the stands occupy the space anyway.
In my home office I have no space to position for full range floor standing speakers anyway sensible, there I consider to add a KEF KC62.
I do not blame people seeking the low frequencies, when done well it enriches the sound. Not artificially. I do not suppose audiophiles enjoy boomy bass. When done right it is amazing to hear which details are revealed. Also the sound stage becomes much deeper, 3D really, when lowest frequencies are generated.
So my search for those floor standing speakers is a long one. But I am getting there.
