JL Gotham F212 v2 vs ?

@smodtactical --

This is a pricey but seems to be a high quality well made sub. This is for a future listening space that would be 20x30. For some real power but control is there any other subs to consider at that price point or lower?

For my money the Gotham’s are simply too expensive, period. I’m sure they’re excellent subs (and, seriously, you’d want at least two of them, so do the price-math on that), but it’s high-end audiophilia moved into the subs arena with all that entails in exotic finishing and an overabundance in areas that aren’t strictly serviceable for bass capacity and overall quality.

You can get a lot more a lot cheaper, and with bass quantity in abundance translates into headroom which in turn equals lower distortion (= better, cleaner and more effortless bass), and finally their number, potentially in quads (placed spread-out) will minimize room modes to where PEQ is hardly needed.

The PSA sub mentioned would be a good choice, it seems, and I’d consider the vented twin 21" IPAL option as well. Both options will provide in-room extension and SPL to die for, and their number in quads would cost you roughly the same as a single Gotham V2. Any which way you bend this the quad PSA options would obliterate a single Gotham in quality/quantity.

If you care to investigate a bit further, and keep an open mind, I’d look into horn sub options as well. Why? Because bass horns sound different compared to direct radiated bass, and by ’different’ in this case and to my ears, I mean better. Quality horn bass appears smoother, more present, effortless and enveloping compared to DR’s, and just flows into the music very organically and viscerally. An interesting option here would be the JTR Orbit Shifter LFU with an 18" unit per horn, which is a classic Front Loaded Horn (with the driver hidden inside). You may give up a bit in extension compared to the PSA’s, but still have usable output to a claimed <10Hz in-room - more than sufficient for most any situation. 4 of these in the future space allotted to you would be quite the experience, I’m sure. Oh, and they’re only $3,000 a piece..

https://data-bass.com/#/systems/5c1d5aff45bca300046104e0?_k=vg02vq

@chazzzy007 --

It’s not just about smoothing out modes. Its about recreating the subtle spacial textures in greater detail. [...]

We certainly agree here, but I’d add smoothing out room modes could aid what you point out. Below the Schroeder frequency what needs to be addressed is, to a point, less about preference and more purely about parameters dictated by physics, and it’s why I gave up early chasing the proverbial "holy grail" of bass with the more typical segment of lower sensitivity, direct radiating subs. Apart from focusing on the importance of minimizing room modes with at least a pair of subs, symmetrical placement close to the mains (my hobbyhorse) and, not to forget, overall implementation, there are two aspects in particular that has caught my attention as being essential in attaining great bass reproduction:

One is the SPL capacity at hand and how its abundance (i.e.: LOADS of it) can lead to sufficient headroom, which has the sonic effect outlined in my earlier post. Many seem to believe this approach is mainly about challenging the structural integrity of one’s house/apartment, and that subs capable of this mayn’t be the last word in refinement and subtlety in their reproduction of the lowest frequencies at more sane levels. Given a well executed design, nothing could be further from the truth; the ease of reproduction that follows from huge headroom and low distortion results in a wholly relaxed and pure bass presentation, not least via horn iterations, that brings out the best in the perceived experience of this frequency spectrum. Indeed I’d wager that if more people actually had the opportunity to witness bass like that, fewer would argue against countering subjectivity as a prevailing point of view here.

Following the necessity of or even logic behind above mentioned, another important aspect to my ears is the horn loading of bass, and I’ve already explained why in above post. The rub of it all - achieving headroom, potential horn-loading and upping the number of subs to at least a pair - is BIG size and the need for a minimum of available space, not to mention usually implementing a DIY-approach, and few are willing to or capable of meeting these demands.