Comparison of various subwoofers for 2 channel audio

@drbond i recommend searching the forum for ‘swarm’ to find threads on swarm distributed subwoofer array. 

Another vote for REL and also to swarm subs. 

REL subs are truly tuned differently...they seem to add a lot of space and air to the signal and aren't just about thump.  They are also very fast. 

Swarming has helped eliminate bass nodes. 

@rhg3

yes, it looks like the swarm arrangement for subwoofers was a popular topic about 5 years ago: seems like many agreed that 4 subwoofers was ideal, and that using 4 subwoofers even precluded the need for DSP.

@mijostyn

No crossovers in use: just the LPF on the subs set at 55 Hz, and the low frequency knob on the Sound Lab electrostatic speakers turned to its lowest setting of -6, which I assume works as some sort of low level HPF. I don’t have any DSP, as I did not want to affect the SQ, since the tone of my system is reproducing acoustic music is so sublime. Even when I tried the REQ for the subs, while the bass sounded slightly sharper, it also sounded more artificial, and caused listening fatigue, which I had not previously experienced.

Your bi-amping of the speakers sounds like a real project!

@phusis So do you consider the bone-shaking thump of a dance club or the bass in the car next to you at a stop light that shakes your car "natural"?

@carlsbad2 — 

Of course not - why would you believe that from what I just wrote above?