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Subs and the quest for bass.

I recently picked up a Rythmik Audio F12SE subwoofer to compliment my B&W 805S. Happy with it, and the Rythmik has very musical bass. I am using an active crossover (NHT-X2 crossing at 80hz) and a Velodyne SMS-1 sub equalizer to even out the low end response. (I have a lot of bass modes.) The SMS-1 is very useful, and with help of quite a bit of EQ, my low end response is almost perfectly flat.

While it sounds great, I keep wondering how different the sound would be if I didn't have to use so much EQ. Then I started thinking maybe I should add another sub? When I started I told myself I would not do it. Also I had so much trouble getting good placement and setup with the first sub, I don't know if I even want to further complicate things.
nemesis1218

Showing 9 responses by nemesis1218

nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
Are you placing your rythmiks in back corners as well? Do you have any sort of delay for your mains? How far are your mains from your sub? Have you noticed any delay in when the sub hits?
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
If I get the second sub, I'm guessing the best possible placement would be to pair one with each speaker, correct? Another benefit of that is I could also cross over higher. Right now my room is set up so the speakers are in the exact middle of the room. Should I place one sub on each side wall, lined up with it's respective speaker?

Also right now my speakers are in a dedicated room and have nothing to the right or left of them. Would placing subs near them affect the sound of the speakers any, or cause any negative impact in imaging? The bottom of each speaker (using b&w 805s bookshelfs on stands) is 7 inches taller than the subs.
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
Also if it means anything, the side-wall distance to each speaker is 3 1/2ft.
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
Sorry for the triple post, but one last thing, if I were to use the above mentioned placement, how would I set the phaseof each sub? Would it be the same on each of them? (0 I'm guessing?)
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
Well I also have no way to time delay my main speakers, which is also why I like the idea of placing them near the speakers.
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
So are you using two SMS-1s so each SMS-1 gets it's own seperate signal? (true stereo)
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
If I were to go the stereo bass route, how would I eq for 2 subs? Each sub would be getting it's own singal (right sub gets the right channel signal, left gets left) What process should I use for EQing? After level matching the subs, should I just EQ them together to get a combined flat response? What I am wondering about though, is if a certain track has the bass on one side of the soundstage, then it will only come out of one sub, right? wouldn't that make it no longer have a flat response?
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
So i got my second rythmik... Having some problems. I actually had to EQ MORE with 2 subs. Is it maybe becuase of my non symmetric room setup? Also even though everything is EQed to flat just like it was before, it seems like I have slightly less bass now. The only real benefit I've noticed so far is the sub is I can no longer localize the subs.
nemesis1218 OP
39 posts
 
Here is a pic of how I have the subs set up right now in my room:
http://i42.tinypic.com/1zf518h.jpg

The subs are placed symmetrically, but as you can see, one corner of my room sticks out farther than the other (about 2 feet) I'm wondering if this is causing me problems. Any suggestions?
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