2 Subs

Congrats on the acquistions.

Most subs placement are on the floor (without stands) with several manufacters using spikes.

Getting good bass from subs usually begins by corner placement. Adjusting the distance such as towards a corner or away from the corner, while you listen helps smooth and extended deep bass response.

It's all about the Placement of the subs and the X over point. I would not put them on stands.

I use 2 subs. I wanted something lively and quick, and that would fit into a very small spaces, so I got a pair of MIrage MM8s, which are 9" cubes. They don't go down to 20Hz, but they fill out the 32-50 Hz region where so many speakers are down 10dB or more. As with your experience, I found these $800 subs on sale for $270 each, so I also thought, "Why not buy two?" They have aluminum cone 8" drivers in sealed cabinets supplemented by two passive radiators. They're tight and quick and blend easily with the main speakers.

I position mine against the wall, each directly behind its corresponding main speaker. This gives me significantly more room reinforcement than placing them alongside the main speakers. These subs have continuously adjustable phase from 0-360, so dialing in the time alignment was painstaking but not really difficult. I get more low end drive or rock and pop and better scale and foundation for orchestral music. Listening to Beethoven's "Eroica" as I write this.

The trick now is integrating the subs properly.

A room corrected sub controller, either stand-alone (Velodyne SMS-1) or built-in (Audyssey, as found in many pre-pros and AVRs, or the TI version in the HK990 integrated amp) greatly increases your chances of nailing this task. If you do nail it, you may be astonished at just how good a 2.2 system can sound.

Marty

I'm using a DSpeaker Antimode 8033s ($500.00) on my two subs and have the best bass I have ever heard. A lot has been written about the Antimode if you do a search you will find all the info you need. A good thing about the Antimode is that sub placement really doesn't matter as much.

Good-luck

I am using two REL Strata 5 subs. Keeps excellent pace with my horn speakers. I have them on granite blocks placed on 3 point isolation brass cones. This really makes the bass tighter. I also weigh them down with custom cut granite for the top. Again another improvement plus the matt mirror top looks nice. The granite really works to 'focus' the very deep notes to my ears. The low end is 16hz on the subs.All the additions made incremental gains to the sound from the basic subs.

Thanks to all for the great advice. I just received sub #2 and hooked it up today. I'll try some different positions and tweeks. These little M&K 8" subs really crank. I'm only sitting 7' away, but someday I may move the system downstairs to a 38x14 ft 8' ceilings and really crank um up. I never thought I'd like the sound as much as I do, and for just over 400.00 for both delivered, Im glad I did this. Thanks again to all.

I use 2 Velodyne HGS-15s controlled by an SMS-1. They're mounted essentially in the corners, but pulled out a bit. The system is used for both music and HT. A listener is unaware of the subs, except for the realization that the mains could not be producing certain sounds, the felt more than heard vibration when a low pedal note is opened on a pipe organ, for example. HT LFE does its own thing, so an explosion can make you feel the pressure wave.

I think one sub is essential, and two are better.

db