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 turnbowm

rego199 posts10-28-2020 3:00pm
"....a sub enclosure with two drivers ( 8" for example )
will displace as much air as a single 16 " driver...."

That’s not quite correct. An 8" driver has a cone area of 50 sq.in so two 8" drivers would equal 100 sq.in. A 16" driver has a cone area of 201 sq.in. Cone area varies to the square of the radius.
To get a reference point, listen to jazz with the subwoofer turned OFF. Is the bass still centered? If so, the sub may NOT be to blame. Regardless, the sub crossover frequency should be set no higher than 80Hz or bass localization, as mentioned by MC, will result. If you know the LF -3dB of the Acoustats is, that's where I would set the sub crossover frequency. Then, it's simply a matter of adjusting the sub gain to suit your listening tastes.

As for new subs, the number and size would depend primarily on room size and listening preferences. I would work with what I had before going that route.