Dual Subwoofer Placement

Tim,

We use the HT setup mostly for Cox Cable.  The Bryston SP3 processor, NAD M22 amp, KEF LS50 speakers, and Velodyne HGS-15 subs are used for energy efficiency. The Ayre KX-5/20 preamp and KV-5/20 amp are used with the QX-5/20 for Roon and DX-5 DSD for discs where audio quality is paramount.  The KEF Reference 1s are supplemented by two Velodyne HGS-10s, (likely to be expanded to four).  They are separate setups with separate goals: energy efficient v audio quality.

db

Tim,

A bit off-topic, but I hadn't realized OLED technology was energy efficient.  I'll keep that in mind when we move to an apartment in a local retirement community.  The apartments have so much glass a projector seems impractical, yet we enjoy the immersive experience of a large screen.  (The retirement community is celebrating Julia Child who lived there in her final years.)

db

Tim & millercarbon,

I envision adding another pair of Velodyne HGS-10s to the room.  To review, the stereo setup is comprised of a pair of KEF Reference 1s and a pair of HGS-15s crossed at 40 Hz 4th order by a SMS-1 bass manager that provides acoustic room correction.  The HT setup uses six KEF LS50s and a pair of HGS-10s crossed at 80 Hz 4th order by Bryston SP3 processor with correction by a second SMS-1.  Would it be preferable to use the subs 3 & 3 or 4 & 2?

db

millercarbon, I assumed it was obvious that I have two setups, one stereo, the other HT.  I choose to keep these setup separate for energy efficiency -- the three HT amps are Class D.  Question was whether to use three subs for stereo and three for HT or four for stereo and two for HT.  I know Tim favors a four sub array.

Tim, the manual for the SMS-1 suggests a variation on the crawl method in which the sub is placed in the listening position and the crawl is with the microphone while watching the video display.

db

Tim,

The idea behind the SMS-1 method is that it's easier to crawl with a microphone in hand than move a sub.

db

Tim,

I'm thinking about using the pair of Velodyne HGS-15s to supplement the six KEF LS50s I use for HT -- the big subs are great for LFE, and add another pair of HGS-10s to supplement the KEF Reference 1s with a distributed bass array for stereo.  Both setups will use SMS-1 bass managers.  What do you think?

db