My system which is posted here is in a small room. I’ve got a large house with stuff in every room. My wife and I came to an agreement that this would be my domain, so a larger room is out of the question. I use KEF 201/2 three way stand mount speakers with BHK 300’s and a BHK Pre. I’m going to incorporate a subwoofer for a little more punch.
Am I better off with two smaller REL woofers like the T/7i or would I be better off with a single SVS SB4000.
I can get REL T/7i locally for a good price and another source has the SVS SB4000.
I have 2 REL S-3 subs to go along with Sonus Faber Elipsa SE’s. I would not want to be without the 2 REL’s. They add an atmosphere and depth that is astounding.
I just bought a REL T/5i for my office, which is a bit smaller than your space appears to be. It really pressurizes the room and with a little tweaking blends nicely (and disappears) with my stand-mounted Anthony Gallo Acoustics Reference Strada (MK I) speakers. Check out the “ti” line here: REL ti series. You appear to have the means, so I would recommend that you try/buy two (2) of one of these nice, compact models and plop them down somewhere close to your L & R’s as a stereo pair. My He-man rig has a big, dual 12 inch driver, down-firing SVS ported subwoofer with a 1000 watt amplifier; but I am really impressed with how powerful and “clean-sounding” the little REL is. FWIW.
In my experience, go with two units that reach the depths you’re trying to achieve. I have two 12" sealed servo-controlled, driven by M700 outputs. I need not for pressurization! They barely break a sweat but they are solely missed when turned off.
It’s not completely clear how small your space but I would expect there will be several modal frequencies to try and deal with, two sources makes the problem a fair bit more manageable.
Search for a calculator that will, based on the dimensions of the space, tell you which frequencies will be a problem.
A tool like REW and a $100 microphone are invaluable in truly dialing them in…by ear can be very good but I find the measurements get one there so much quicker.
Yeah, what they said, get the two. To place them correctly, put the first on your listening chair, turn it on, and crawl around the room in the corners and listen for what bass sounds the most natural. Mark this spot. Put the first sub there. Turn on that sub, then repeat with the second sub with it in your chair and you crawling around the room looking for the good sounding spot. When you find it, put the second sub there. Chances are the first will go in back of one of the speakers far enough away from a corner, then the other will be around the same place for the other channel, but your room may vary.
I have 2-REL S3 that compliment a pair of Audio Physic Avanti’s and they transform the acoustic presentation to a completely different level. The presentation has that authority that is convincing and visceral. The subs will transform your experience, REL’s seem to intergrate well to the main speakers.! Nice setup, what are the acoustic devices in the corners?
That is not what the measurements show. Two or more, though I believe beyond 3 is case of rapidly diminishing returns, are much more capable of smoothing the peaks and valleys of response in a given space. It’s less about head room, though this is a nice benefit, it’s about smoothing the response in more areas of the space.
As an update, I listened to the REL T/7 i’s and SVS SB2000’s and briefly a smaller JL. I ultimately went with the SVS Sealed Box subs. For the same price point I ended up with 12" woofers Versus 8" in the REL and a well made case in Piano Black to match my KEF’s. I’ve got one installed and one on order from my local SVS dealer. The REL would have been a smaller footprint but I’m going to install these in a Video setup eventually when i get full range floorstanders. I’ve done this as a bridge to PS Audio AN Speakers one day?
I’ve installed a pair of SVS SB2000’s. I wasn’t sold on subwoofers so I didn’t get the top of the line (bigger with remote) I have a playlist engaged to give the woofers a break in. The most challenging issue without remote controlled woofers is matching levels. Many recodings are louder or quieter. There is no standard. Many engineers boost the levels. I find myself needing to alter the levels to match different outputs. I know count my blessings. The next upgrade will involve remote control. As of now I’m sold on pairs of subs.
You need to pull the right one in to the same relative position as the left one if you are going to use that type of configuration. As to the level if you can actually hear and identify them with music they are too loud. If you are running the subs line level then use test tones to set a volume for the mains then turn the BHK’s off and using a tone below the cutoff frequency set the subs volume one at a time while leaving the preamp level at where it was when you did the mains with the subs off. Using an RS SPL meter or phone app won’t be perfect but is better than by ear. There are more sophisticated methods for sure but this will get you in the ball park.
Thanks for the advice, those are things I’ll address. The right sub is where it was when I had a single sub. I had just put on a playlist to break them in. I’ve since moved it to a more mirrored location. As for levels, I have everything set verylow and I’m working on the right location. I’ll be tweaking and trying to tune this set up for a while to come.
Hello jlm,
Found your post; intriguing. You suggest a severely non-symmetrical configuration. I am considering 2 RELs. Problem is I do not want to mess up layout of my living room / listening room. It is already organized for my audio system. (Magneplanar 1.7s, 2 TubeTraps, PS M700s, Rogue tube pre., … Room is 15’w x 21.5’L x 9.75’h.) So, if I could place one behind and to the left of the left Maggie, and one at about the middle of the right side wall, 5 feet forward of and outside the edge of the right Maggie, it would work perfectly for me. Does this sound like a good idea?
I was sceptical at first but the explanation for asymmetrical subwoofer placement was intriguing. I pushed one sub closer to the corner and I haven’t looked back. I had two friends over and they both have well into six digit systems and both were pleased and surprised at the sound.
