Question regarding subwoofers


I have an RHLabs SB-1 that’s served me pretty well for many years and use with it with my Acoustat 1+1s. (Had it refoamed a couple years back.) As well as the 1+1s image, I’ve always been slightly annoyed by having a single subwoofer between the panels. When playing something with a large sonic image like orchestral music the setup works fine. However when playing something more intimate like Jazz it’s easy to "see" where the lower frequencies are coming from: The middle. As my listening has gotten more refined it’s getting to be less acceptable to me. So I’m looking possibly at a pair of smaller, powered subwoofers. Why powered? Simple: If I do this, I’d rather the ARC VS-110 just power the panels. So, my questions:

1) The SB-1 has a single 10 or 12" driver. I’ve seen subs anywhere from 8" to huge. What folks experiences been with a pair of 8-10" powered subwoofers? Too much? Not enough?
2) Did a pair of subs affect imaging much? IOW, could you discern enough left/right to make it worthwhile?
3) How tough was it to balance them?
4) Do I run another set of interconnects from my SP11? Or do I get a set of Y adapters to feed both subs and amp?

Let me close by saying that like with most things audio there’s going to be a lot of "it depends". I get it. But I’d still like to hear of folks’ experiences as I do see a lot of systems with subs.

As always, thank you much for your time and comments!

musicfan2349

Showing 2 responses by soix

Below 80 you can’t tell where the sub is, you can only tell there’s more bass. Where the bass is coming from, your main speakers provide those location cues. Also since you can’t localize there is no L and no R.”
Totally agree, but one thing I’ve noticed — and I have no data or other knowledge to back this up — is that with one sub as compared to multiple I do notice what I’ll call a “pressure” difference coming from the direction of the single sub that doesn’t exist with two or more subs.  Everything “sounds” even, it just doesn’t “feel” as even, if that makes any sense.  Not sure if this was addressed at all above, but just a personal observation. 

2) Did a pair of subs affect imaging much? IOW, could you discern enough left/right to make it worthwhile?
I’ll just answer this one from personal experience and give a resounding “yes!” I’ve heard several $$$ systems that employed dual powered subs, and when the subs were turned off the whole soundstage and sense of space literally collapsed. I’d call that more than worthwhile. Just do it!