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If I am crossing to a sub at say 50 Hz, why do I need two subs? I understand and can hear the difference at say 100 hz or higher. But 50hz? Does not seem reasonable to me, other than more volume.
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usually.
So much depends on the main speakers and the room, it's impossible to generalize. I had two with my Vandy 3As and adding the second one was surely better with a wider, deeper soundstage. But in the end, the 3As went deep enough that the subs really weren't doing all that much and I sold them.
With my current Edgarhorns that drop like a rock a 80hz, two 15" front firing subs are the ticket and really add that kick drum punch. But then, the subs act more like low end woofers/subs in my configuration.
Then, I also ran some Straight 8s with a TrueSub and one worked out pretty well. One thing I learned from Richard at Audience is that a low crossover isn't always best. If the sub is near the speakers, try moving the crossover up. I ran my Truesub at the max, 100hz, I think, and it was definitely better.
The rule is that there is no rule. Experiment.
-Rod
...although one good one trumps two cheap subs.Two subs seem to provide more air and soundstage size.
Edits: 03/27/14
Actually, 2 subs will give a more even in room bass response.
I agree. I use one. It works for me. I place my subwoofer against a wall behind my listening chair and it blends seamlessly with my main stereo speakers.
Good luck,
John Elison
Nearfield with a single sub works very well if you're not going to move, or BARELY move, during listening. I frequently listen at a variety of locations, so my experiments with nearfield left me with too much variance, so instead I have a sub located behind each of my mains, firing at the back of the cabinet, which is used as a lowpass filter.
Multiple locations in non-nearfield is almost invariably better than a single sub, with lower distortion and thus lower localization and smoother room response.
Bass is supposed to sound big. 6.5" is not a woofer size.
Two carefully positioned subs can give a flatter and better-distributed frequency response around the listening area, particularly when room correction is used. I had one M&K sound in my major listening area used with Audyssey XT32, and I got much smoother bass frequency response when I moved a second sub (identical model) into the listening room and calibrated again with Audyssey. There isn't MORE bass or DEEPER bass, just SMOOTHER bass.
The reason for a lower crossover point (whether you have one or two subs) is to prevent the ear from localizing the sub--the bass tones should not seem to be separated from the other frequencies. A sub will start to be localized somewhere between 80 and 100 Hz (and higher). A crossover of 50 Hz will prevent that.
This is a good read. Jump to the conclusions if you want the short version.
placement yields some horrible room modes. The stereo subs are opposite each other and roughly at the front of the room. One sub is 12 feet from the listening chair, and the other is 15 feet. If I walk from the front of the room to the back, I can experience the hills and valleys of the room modes. Fortunately, at my listening position, the bass is at a peak. Just two feet in front of the listening position is a complete suck out. The Audyssey equalizer sounds very interesting also, in order to smooth out the bass response in the whole room.
One was always fine with me. I always placed in the center of the main speakers.
A lot of this depends on the speakers, listening style, and the room.Some smaller speakers might require two subs but most can do the basic job with one good sub. One good sub with EQ/bass management might sound as good or better than two good subs with or without any EQ, but if your speakers are small ones and don't go much below 80 hz. then two subs might be required for full stereo effect.
If lounging horizontally and/or walking around the room are part of your listening style, then you will probably appreciate a wide listening window or "sweet spot". In that case, multiple (more than 2) subs can be strategically placed to help eliminate or smooth out troublesome room modes.
Some rooms are simply more problematic than others are when it comes to troublesome room modes, space availablity, etc... Sometimes the only way to know for sure about the benefits of owning more than one sub is to experiment and that's why it might be best to start off by buying only one sub (w/ some sort of electronic bass management). Experiment with additional subs as you are able to borrow or demo them, over time.
While it can be fun to post "previously asked" questions publicly, using the SEARCH feature near the top of this page will net you tons more info than you will ever receive from one new thread. The archives = your friend.
Edits: 03/27/14 03/27/14 03/27/14 03/27/14
Two.
What's the slope? 6 dB/octave, 12 dB/octave? Even at 12 dB/octave, you're only down 12 dB at 100 Hz. I suppose you could get away with a single sub if you're doing 24 dB/octave.
I'm not sure why this is even a topic anymore.
Bigger soundstage is what I've been told. I have one sub at the moment and wouldn't mind adding another to see how this works.
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