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Are big subwoofers viable for 2 channel music?

In thinking about subwoofers to get for a large future listening space (30' x 30'). So far there seems to be a lot of great options for smaller subs for music.. such as the rel s812. Now my main focus will be music but I do plan to do some home theater on the system and I do enjoy subs that reach low and have strong but clear sub-bass. Would a large sealed sub still be able to provide clean tight bass that digs low and thus satisfy both duties. Can it ever match the speed and precision of a pair or more of rel 812s? Something like PSA S7201 or Captivator RS2?

A realize a smaller sub has a smaller moving mass and thus for a given level of power would be faster than a bigger sub with a bigger moving mass (driver mass). But a large sub would have to move less to achieve the same SPL and would reach lower.

Anyhow what do you guys think? Thanks.
smodtactical

Showing 3 responses by mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@smodtactical , For that space you are going to need at least two 12" subs with excursions over a cm or you will be pissing into a forest fire. 

The idea that music requires different subwoofers than theater I find very odd. Any sub system that can reproduce down to 18 Hz accurately is perfectly acceptable for both. 

What is speed when it comes to driver performance? What does "faster" mean? The faster a driver can move the higher the frequency it can reproduce. If a driver can move fast enough to reproduce 500 Hz then 100 Hz should not be a problem at all. What everybody is referring to when they say "fast" or "faster" is transient response. The diameter of a driver is only one factor that can influence transient response. There is also the stiffness of the suspension, the weight of the moving system, and the power of the drive motor. The point is, when it comes to reproduction under 100 Hz an q18" driver is no slower than an 8" driver. Anyone who thinks so is just falling prey to "lay intuition," 

There are many excellent subwoofer drivers available today. The driver is usually not the source of problems. It is that enclosure that separates the men from the boys. 

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
No crawling required.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
To boil it down, properly designed larger subs are just as fast as smaller ones. You can see thi is their frequency response curves. The larger driver will have less distortion because it does not have to move as far to produce the same volume. Unfortunately the larger driver will require a larger enclosure and their is the trade off. Distortion vs Size. My approach has always been to take the smallest driver that will take you down where you want to go and use them in multiples to lower the distortion. With DSP and powerful amplifiers sealed enclosures are King. If you have DSP and can match the subs to the satellites in phase and time the absolute best place to put the subs for Hi Fi use is in the corners. If you want a really unified wavefront and fewer room interactions connect the subwoofers with more subwoofers every five feet. In my case with a 16 foot wall that would be 4 total. Since I cross over high at 125 Hz the subs are connected to their appropriate channels. If the drivers are closer together than 1/2 the wavelength of the highest frequency they are to reproduce they will act acoustically like one driver. So, since most bass is mixed mono I have a 16 foot subwoofer. Rock and Roll:)  
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