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Short list of musical subwoofers

I plan to invest a "musical" subwoofer to augment the music listening experience of my current two-channel sound system. After a few digging over the acting forum and on-line reviews, it seems the following budgetary sealed (primarily) subwoofers are often mentioned and raved:

- Rythmic L12 (18Hz; sealed, servo controlled; 300 watts RMS; $609);

- RSL Speedwoofer 10S (24Hz; front ported; 350 watts; $428);

- Rel T5x (8 in; 32Hz@-6db; 125 watts; $680)

- SVS SB 1000 (24Hz, sealed; 300 watts; $450) or 2000 (19Hz; sealed; 500 watts; $600);

All above claim to have quick, accurate bass that is good for music listening. Rel, although not being able to extend to 20Hz, has been highly rated for easy integration into the sound system. I am not even sure if being able to get down low and/or the wattage of the active amp are critical to the musical application. My living room is about 25 ft wide and 20 ft deep. I do have limited budget but if others are warranted for a higher price tag in your opinion I am willing to bump up the budget. You inputs are highly appreciated.

lanx0003

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phusis
1,136 posts
 

@lanx0003 --

"It is interesting that you disapprove the high level connection. May I know your reason why."

Can’t speak for poster @mijostyn, but maybe it’s at least partially due to the simple fact that using the high level output from the main speaker amp to feed the corresponding high level speaker input of the sub requires for the signal to be full range, and not high-passed - which would of course defeat the purpose. Some prefer running the main speakers full range when augmenting with subs, while others - like @mijostyn and also myself - prefer high-passing the mains here to relieve them of LF, which usually means using a higher cross-over frequency to the subs. Configured this way (i.e.: high-passing the mains with a XO point to the subs, say, no lower than 80Hz) the mains will have lower distortion and a cleaner reproduction in the audio band taking over from the sub, while also adding more headroom.

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