@kulo
I suspect you know the truth. You’re very fortunate to have great sounding highly resolving speakers. Imagine swapping out one of the Focals mid/bass drivers for a lower quality one- you probably wouldn’t have liked the lack of cohesion/sound and wouldn’t have purchased in the first place.Another analogy is if you heard a larger Focal speaker with bigger bass drivers but these bass drivers were also sub par, you’d likely reject them also.
On the cheap, you may get away with extending linearly your bass registers such as the AudioKinesis Swarm (which I believe is an great price/performance product) while maintaining cohesion and detail, but if you want both excellent performance on par with your Focals AND increased bass power, you’re going to have to spend more $ to the level of Rel or JR Audio for instance for the larger units. Otherwise, you’ll have to compromise.
Single subwoofers can be very problematic due to room modes, and multiple subwoofers can damage your pocketbook.
If I were in your shoes, though not ideal, I’d seriously consider the Swarm. It would definitely elevate your system significantly towards both goals, level out room modes, and hopefully may be satisfying enough.
Another option is to use cheaper less fidelity subwoofers used exclusively for HT.
Also, you may consider the used market to save $ and/or upgrade. However, I haven’t researched whether or not the wear and tear of used subwoofers should be a concern/issue.
I suspect you know the truth. You’re very fortunate to have great sounding highly resolving speakers. Imagine swapping out one of the Focals mid/bass drivers for a lower quality one- you probably wouldn’t have liked the lack of cohesion/sound and wouldn’t have purchased in the first place.Another analogy is if you heard a larger Focal speaker with bigger bass drivers but these bass drivers were also sub par, you’d likely reject them also.
On the cheap, you may get away with extending linearly your bass registers such as the AudioKinesis Swarm (which I believe is an great price/performance product) while maintaining cohesion and detail, but if you want both excellent performance on par with your Focals AND increased bass power, you’re going to have to spend more $ to the level of Rel or JR Audio for instance for the larger units. Otherwise, you’ll have to compromise.
Single subwoofers can be very problematic due to room modes, and multiple subwoofers can damage your pocketbook.
If I were in your shoes, though not ideal, I’d seriously consider the Swarm. It would definitely elevate your system significantly towards both goals, level out room modes, and hopefully may be satisfying enough.
Another option is to use cheaper less fidelity subwoofers used exclusively for HT.
Also, you may consider the used market to save $ and/or upgrade. However, I haven’t researched whether or not the wear and tear of used subwoofers should be a concern/issue.