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Odd subwoofer question.

I am not a sub woofer guy. Have played around with a few. Both high end and mid level. They never did much for my primary system (Aerial Acoustics 7B towers, AR tube pre, Levinson amp). But, I don’t really know anything about subs or how to optimize them.

Anyway, in my living room my secondary system for casual listening consists of a pair of inherited Aerial Acoustics 6T towers driven by a Sonos Amp. I know. Long story. But in truth the Sonos Amp does a really good job and ties the 6Ts into the house system.

I’d say 75% of the time I am totally happy with how this system sounds. At times I’m amazed how good it sounds. But, sometimes I do wonder if a sub would add anything.

My audio fetish is tight, precise bass.

I’m looking for advice on a sub woofer to try. Given the nature of this system I am not looking for anything high end or complicated. But also wondering if a modestly priced sub is just going to muddy the waters. All advice appreciated.

The Sonos Amp does have sub output.

Thanks.

 

n80

Showing 3 responses by holmz

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

Using the sub output, then a sealed box will have a lower group delay than a ported box, so it should be ‘tighter’…

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

Has anyone else tried a Vandersteen 2W?

They are around the OPs budget used, however it is uncertain whether the OP’s woofers are in polarity there, or whether they are inverted… in a 3 way the woofer and tweeter are often OK and the MR is inverted…

The invert switches are on a lot of gear, which suggests that they can be needed often.

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

… The problem with the vast majority of commercial subwoofers is that they are built to a price and take short cuts to make implementing them easier and less expensive.

Even F1 cars are built to a price point.
And spaceships.

 

… No subwoofer should be crossed over below 80 Hz. If  a subwoofer can not run up to 80 Hz without a noticeable degradation in sound quality it is a poor design. The best drivers are perfectly capable of running cleaning up to 150 Hz. The problems usually arise with the enclosure, crossover and amplifier.

You forgot port noise. 😁

… on an LFE then there may be good reasons to go from <20 to 80 Hz. And distortion harmonics can quickly get into the localisation freqs at 3rd or 4th harmonic.

Most people have a high threshold for distortion at sub frequencies.
(I am not sure 80Hz is a commandment, 50-120 Hz is a typical “range”, and 60-100Hz likely where the bell curve is thickest..

 

I prefer passive subwoofers because IMHE large class AB and A amplifiers make more dynamic bass than the class D amplifiers used in practically all subwoofers. I find it interesting that many audiophiles are willing to go to great lengths isolating their electronics from vibration but are willing to accept an amplifier in a vibration pressure cooker…

If there is any place for the efficiency of Class-D… it is in a subwoofer.
I am not sure there is any factual evidence that the Class-A is better for dynamic range than Class-D in kW sized subwoofer applications?

 

in my case eight 12" drivers, lots of power, each pair gets 2000 watts and digital bass management (crossovers and room control)

That is a lot of bass, and likely over the OP’s budget.
If one can tell if the subwoofer is on, then it is almost too much bass.

(IMO) It should be a bit hard to tell if it is on, but obvious when it is shut off. That hits a nice level relative to the rest of the spectrum.

Assuming that it is mostly used for reinforcing the bass, and not replacing the whole spectrum.

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