Is Sub Gain Set&Forget Across Music Genres a Fallacy?

     
Hi Derek,

     I read your PM, thank you.  I PMed you my response.

Tim

     I also utilize 4 subs in a DBA/swarm configuration, with a pair of Magnepan 3.7i speakers run full range. I use my system for both stereo music and 5.4 HT surround sound audio and it performs extremely well on both as ’set and forget’ with a crossover setting of 40 Hz and a volume level of a touch under 50%.
     I know for certain, through prior and extensive personal experience, that it’s virtually impossible to attain an in-room bass performance quality level anywhere near the extremely high level that a 4-sub DBA system produces from utilizing only a single sub. However, utilizing 2 subs results in a significant performance improvement than a single sub, especially at a single designated listening position, and using 3 subs can sometimes even perform close to the optimal level of 4 subs in some rooms.
     From my perspective, I don’t consider this a matter of opinion but rather a matter of physics and room acoustics that has been proven and verified sufficiently, utilizing the empirical scientific method, to currently be qualified as an accepted fact.
     If you’re adamant on using only a single sub, I think your best solution is to first locate it optimally in the room using the ’sub crawl method’ to avoid obvious standing waves at your listening seat, then run any room correction program the sub has. The final steps would consist of listening to as many different musical genres and tracks as feasible while making adjustments to the crossover frequency and level controls until each track sounds best to you. If you record both settings on enough tracks and genres and weight the genres you listen to the most more heavily, you should be able to plot and determine a useful average weighted setting for each control.
     Of course, this won’t be ideal and is a bit of a compromise but it should be a serviceable solution until you’re ready to join the big leagues of in-room bass performance and utilize 3-4 subs in your systems.
     You should also be aware, however, that even 2 subs will provide an obviously noticeable improvement over a single sub. Also, the 2nd sub doesn’t need to be identical, the same quality, size or even the same rated bass extension as the other sub to provide significantly better overall bass response than just a single sub.

Best wishes,
Tim

Hello kren0006,

      I could be wrong but I don't think many individuals find the idea of constantly adjusting their sub's level and xover settings, to optimize the  bass by track, acceptable or even feasible. I know I wouldn't.
     I believe most would find setting both controls to a weighted average settings, based on data of your own preferences, or a (Goldilocks) happy medium to be much more acceptable and convenient method.  Unless you have OCD, I'd suggest this method as the best solution for most but, of course, not necessarily for you.  
     I also suggest the best way to achieve this optimum 'happy medium' is with at least 2 subs rather than 1 since 2 usually performs around twice as well as 1 both scientifically and subjectively. You're likely to perceive the bass as smoother, faster, more detailed, more powerful and dynamic as well as better integrated with your main speakers and more natural.
     The reason 2 subs produces more powerful and dynamic bass than a single sub is capable of, and why it may prove especially beneficial in your case, is that bass is cumulative in a room and 2 subs are capable of producing about twice as much high quality bass since there are double the number of subs and each sub is operating well below and within its limits.
     I think you'll also find 2 subs as being more efficient and flexible in easily producing more bass, or more powerful bass dynamics, in your room when each specific recording calls for it or demands it.

Best wishes,
     Tim
 

Hello kren0006,

    Unfortunately, full range speakers are not a guarantee, no matter their quality level or price, of obtaining good bass response where it counts- at your designated listening position.  
     This is primarily due to the fact that midrange and treble frequency sound waves behave very differently from bass frequency sound waves in a typical domestic sized room.  Deep bass frequency sound waves below about 80 Hz are very long, omnidirectional and humans are very poor at localizing them (determining specifically where the sound is coming from).  Midrange and treble frequencies are much shorter, are highly directional and humans are very adept at localizing them. 
      For example, a 20 Hz deep bass tone has a physical full cycle sound wave that is 56 feet long and omnidirectional while a 20,000 Hz very high treble tone has a physical full cycle sound wave that is a fraction of an inch long and highly directional.  
      My main point being that you'll probably position a pair of full range speakers in your room, and in relation to your listening seat, to optimize the midrange/treble and stereo imaging performance as most people do. 
     This is fine except you basically have to accept whatever bass response results exist since you can't simultaneously optimize the bass performance at your listening seat by independently positioning the bass drivers (woofers) that are usually permanently attached to the same full range speakers.  Adding a pair of good quality subs that are independently positioned in your room, and in relation to your listening seat, allows one to also optimize the bass whether they're utilizing full range tower type or smaller bookshelf speakers on stands.

Tim

Hello derekw_hwaii,

     I haven't heard that but it seems right to me.  I've always thought and felt that the most obvious telltale characteristic that you're listening to reproduced music on a home system, rather than the real thing being played live, is the power, impact, weight and dynamics of the lowest 2 octaves of deep bass, about 16-32 Hz, that is felt as well as heard.  
     This all makes sense to me since the bass is the hardest thing to get sounding and feeling right in almost any domestic sized room using typical mass market stereo components and conventional system configurations. 
     Of course, there are other telltale signs that distinguish recorded music playback from the real live thing, such as the seemingly unlimited dynamic range of instruments and the human voice at higher frequencies, but these are easier to get sounding and feeling right in a domestic sized room using good quality stereo components and conventional system configurations.
     However, I believe high quality bass reproduction requires a minimum of 2 good quality subs in the room that are properly positioned and configured.  I also still believe that 3-4 subs, properly positioned and configured, are required to optimize the bass performance in virtually any room.

Tim