Separate subs for music and HT/surround


My stereo setup is comprised of Ayre 5/20 series digital hub, preamp and amp that drive KEF Ref 1s through a passive Marchand high-pass filter. For HT and surround, LR side and rear surround from an SP3 go to NAD Class D amps that drive LS50s. The SP3 receives HDMI from an Ayre DX-5 DSD, and its front LR output goes to a balanced by-pass input of the KX-5/20. I have two Velodyne SMS-1 bass managers that provide acoustic room correction, two HGS-10 subs, and two HGS-15 subs.

Question: Should I use one SMS-1 with the two HGS-10s for stereo and the other SMS-1 with the two HGS-15s for HT and surround music? I realize there are advocates for using 4 subs, and I could daisy-chain the SMS-1s, but separating the SMS-1s seems a neat way to keep stereo separate from HT.

db
Ag insider logo xs@2xdbphd
My inclination is to separate the subs, but I was looking for arguments against that inclination.
Post removed 
Hello DB,

     Oh ye of little faith.  The goal is to use all four subs for both stereo music and HT to have near state of the art bass performance on both.  Run all four subs in mono because none of your music recordings were recorded with stereo bass below about 100 Hz anyway, they all have the bass summed to mono.  
     But don't worry, you'll perceive the bass as stereo.  Even though the fundamental bass tones below 80 Hz,  that you're not able to localize (tell where they are coming from), are reproduced in mono by the four subs,  the higher frequency harmonics or overtones of the fundamental tones that reach to frequencies above 80 Hz and are reproduced through the pair of Ref1s in stereo, are able to be localized.  Your brain does the rest by associating the harmonics or overtones to the fundamental tones and this allows you to perceive where the tones below 80 Hz are coming from within the soundstage image.
     Just trust me and give it a try, it works like a charm and you're going to love it.

Tim
     
noble100
... Run all four subs in mono because none of your music recordings were recorded with stereo bass below about 100 Hz anyway, they all have the bass summed to mono.
We’ve been through this before, and you’ve been provided with authoritative references to dispel your notion that all LF is monophonic/non-directional. I’m not sure why you choose to reject the science on the directionality of LF. In particular, 100 hZ is not especially low bass, and it pretty easily localizeable.

That many recordings have mono bass certainly doesn’t mean that all recordings have mono bass, as Richard Vandersteen noted.

Of course, if you connect your system so that all bass is mono, then it will not allow you the benefit of stereo bass. And mono bass can sound very, very good, especially in some rooms. Perhaps that’s the source of your confusion.
I don't have a separate music room, so my main music system is right in the family room with my home theater/general TV watching setup that my kids are using all the time.

But the music and HT systems are completely separate (electronics, speakers, subs) and kids not allowed to touch the music stuff.

Regarding subs, I use a REL S5 for music and unwilling to each time HT/Tv being watched by me or family to disconnect/reconnect the sub from my integrated amp to my receiver behind the rack, so I prefer to just use an older Energy sub that I had for HT, and it does a fine job there.

This way never have to reconnect anything, kids are clear on what they can operate and what they cannot, and I get highest quality music in general area of house.

Would 2 subs perhaps sound better for either application?  Maybe, but unwilling to go to that amount of effort when listening time is already short in a busy work/family/spouse filled week.