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RE: Need HELP with Subwoofer Choice

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on December 30, 2016 at 11:11:17

In Reply to: Need HELP with Subwoofer Choice posted by RandyB&W on December 29, 2016 at 20:06:23:

I owned the REL Storm III which is a rather hefty down-firing subwoofer. I drove it off the amp speaker terminals which is very common for REL subs (rather than using line level outputs from a preamp or LFE from a processor).

I had the REL in a fairly large open concept family room / dining room area in my first home before I got married. As a single guy I had the freedom to put my stereo and AV stuff anywhere I pleased!

That room had a vaulted ceiling and carpeted floor and a major 'bass suckout' issue so I thought the REL would help. It helped but I learned that I didn't like the indistinct imaging or soundstaging of lower notes with a down-firing sub. The bass was there but it wasn't 'fast, agile, or snappy'. And it came from no particular direction or all directions.

I ended up placing the REL on it's side so the woofer was firing at me directly, rather than at the floor. It actually sounded better that way.

When we downsized and moved to our new place my home office became one of my listening rooms. I believe this room is about the same size as yours (10 x 12 x 10h) so there's not a lot of volume (cubic feet) to 'pressurize'. I'm getting outstanding bass w/o a sub just through speaker placement and room enforcement. Depending on where I place my speakers relative to the walls I can get more or less bass. In fact, I can get too much bass!

What I'm getting at is, I'm not sure why you need a sub. Everyone has their preferences but I would consider experimenting with the placement of your B&W speakers and your listening position.

As an aside, I have come to understand my preference for NOT having a sub at all. They complicate setup, require more cables, take up extra space, require fine tuning to sound seamless (and rarely do sound completely seamless). My answer? Just get bigger main speakers, properly placed, with a hefty amp.

Good luck!

P.S. I'm talking about a 2-ch stereo setup above. I WOULD own a decent sub for Home Theater duty.... explosions, car crashes, thunder and gun fire, etc. ;-)

Edits: 12/30/16 12/30/16

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