How does adding a second subwoofer improve your systems SQ?

markj941 OP
Thanks ggc. I just ordered my second sub. Actually, thanks too all
that contributed to this discussion. It was informative and at times entertaining.

Good for you, getting the second sub.

I just did an experiment last night with myself my wife and son, where I played an alternating left to right 100hz sine wave for 5 seconds in each channel for a total of a 30sec run only through the L and R active subs, the main speakers amp amp turned off.

All of us with eyes shut could easily detect which side of the room the 100hz sine wave was emitting from within the first left to right change over in 10sec!!!.

This is proof that digital with it’s over 100db of channel separation will be stereo in the bass to your ears if produced by the recording engineer, and you’d be surprised just how many are.

Like I said before, I have many cd’s where you can hear the very low bass from just one side. Another good one is Brian Bromberg’s "Wood" double bass’ist

It’s better to have 2 subwoofers powered individually from left and right channels, "not from the single rca subwoofer output" if using a HT pre or amp.

Cheers George

@mike_in_nc wrote: " I thought Erik’s linked essay was useful except for that tack"

Agreed. Erik contributes a great deal of highly useful information and well thought-out ideas.  When I'm skimming a thread, I'll stop and read each of his posts. 

Duke

I know you have convinced yourself you have easily detected 100Hz bass frequencies in 10 seconds (why not instantly?), but no, you have not proved stereo bass, far more likely is that you proved your system has a room signature that varies from left to right, distortion, vibration, etc., hence why it took you 10 seconds, technically two switch-overs, to detect. Proper experiments for things like this are not as easy as they sound, and most people are not set up to do them.

p.s. If your eyes were closed, how did you know which was left and which was right, as opposed to just noticing a difference?  Didn't you set up the experiment as randomized left/right, record your results, then check after?

What speakers/amplifier?

All of us with eyes shut could easily detect which side of the room the 100hz sine wave was emitting from within the first left to right change over in 10sec!!!.

This is proof that digital with it’s over 100db of channel separation will be stereo in the bass to your ears if produced by the recording engineer, and you’d be surprised just how many are.

you have easily detected 100Hz bass frequencies in 10 seconds (why not instantly?)

Really??
Because the left plays for 5 sec then the right for 5 seconds, keep doubting and "you’ll be the looser" on this one.

If your eyes were closed, how did you know which was left and which was right, as opposed to just noticing a difference?

Same as you can tell left from right with eyes shut for anything heard.

What speakers/amplifier?

Just search for what I have as my main system
It’s the family TV room, HT setup, not my main audio room.
Elac FS-249
Marantz SR5014
2 x Yamaha linear amps, servo controlled, YST-SW305 classic subs xover at 60hz.

I won't be the "looser". 25+ years of acoustics with personal contacts with many of the leading people in the field, a bunch of peer reviewed papers, a deep understanding of the science of sound, psychoacoustics, and enough interaction with the research community, often helping to design experiments, and well beyond the need to prove anything to anyone in my community.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, I care enough about audio that it gets my back up with people who think they know what they are talking about, but have no clue how to even design an experiment, let alone the underlying principles of what they are trying to test, speak with complete conviction and lead other people astray, causing them to waste precious time and hard earned money to achieve inferior results.


While your main seem to be of good quality, the subs are not very good quality. They were inexpensive new, and used are quite low cost. When they say "servo" they don't mean a servo in that their is position feedback on the amplifier, it is just a marketing term essentially for what appears to perhaps be a current feedback output design as opposed to voltage feedback. Odds are the distortion is not insignificant given the cost constraints.

So the left plays for 5 seconds and the right for 5. You still said it took 10 seconds, i.e. one complete cycle. Normally you can tell source location near instantly. You wouldn't have to wait till the switch back to be sure. This is a "really" moment, because it goes back to the difference between actually localizing bass frequencies, and detecting a differential room signature (potentially exacerbated by distortion).

Are you subs placed in close proximity to your mains?