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Will I benefit from upgrading REL subwoofer pair

Hi Audiogoners,

I am only about 4 years into my quality audio journey. As a result, I bought elements of my set up at different times in the journey. Right now, I am using a Lumin T2 feeding a Hegel H390 amp which animate Focal Kanta 2 speakers. All cables upgraded. I also have duel REL Tx/7 subwoofers - which I thought were great until I upgraded my ethernet switch.

This small change lowered the noise floor in my largish (25' x 20') room and suddenly the subs started to sound a little flabby. So I upgraded their hi-level connection to the REL Bassline Blue cables. Much much better. 

But it led me to wonder if I should sell the duel Tx/7 subs and get a single REL S510 (and eventually 2 of the S510s). 

I *think* the speed of the Tx/7 s is sufficient but they may not be a match for the Kanta 2 speakers.... 

Does anyone have any experience with these components? Or advice?

Thanks Nadine

atanarjuat99

Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,592 posts
 

OP:  Strongly recommend you get some way to measure your system, OmniMic or Room EQ Wizard with a calibrated mic will put you years ahead in getting proper speaker to room and speaker to sub integration.

erik_squires
16,592 posts
 

I think there’s a couple of things going on, and none of it is cabling. More likely your flabbiness has to do with changing speaker locations or room acoustics/seating.

Two 7" drivers don’t have enough surface area to provide a lot of deep bass. Combined they offer about the same surface area as a single 10" driver. You would be much better off getting a single 12-15" subwoofer with proper EQ control.

Also, the room probably has some gnarly room modes. Use the AM Acoustics Room mode simulator to give yourself an idea. Try to keep all your speakers and your listening room out of the lowest modes.

Use measurements to see what remains. When you have that you should consider:

  1. Appropriate bass traps if the room modes are severe
  2. EQ to clip the biggest peaks (hopefully in the sub). If you have Roon, use built-in DSP for this.
  3. Plugging the ports in the Kantas to relieve them of the distortion in the lowest octaves and allowing a good sub to take over more. Some users have found that plugging only 1 gives them optimal in-room bass.
  4. High-pass your main speakers (in addition to the port plugging) if possible.

You might also want to look at this blog post. I don’t know if you need a sub or not but it may help you see how measurements can help you.

 

https://speakermakersjourney.blogspot.com/2021/12/room-speakers-eq.html

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