2. home-theater
  3. 150588-2164

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
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dbphd OP
1,630 posts
 
Tim,

As luck would have it, the Velodyne HGS-15 and HGS-10 that were not recently repaired have now developed problems.  So I'm using a single HGS-15 with 4th order crossover at 40 Hz.  I think the sound is quite good: bass in jazz is free of boom while organ pedal notes are well portrayed.  I'll try adding the repaired HGS-10 later today for a two sub setup, albeit a very asymmetrical one.

db  
kgveteran
377 posts
 

   Tim,
            We will agree to disagree, cheers mate !
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 
Hello dbphd,

     I've missed talking with you!  I think you forgot the basic truth about deploying subs in any given room:
Two subs perform twice as well as one, 4 subs perform twice as well as two and eight subs are valid grounds for divorce. 
     I know you realize that, unfortunately, the best course of action is to repair both non-functioning subs.  The spectacular bass results of a 4-sub DBA system can only be realized with four functioning subs and non working subs have almost zero dollar value since they're of no use to almost everyone.
     What repairs were done on the first subs you had repaired?  The sooner you have them repaired, the sooner you'll be enjoying world-class bass performance on both music and HT.

Later,
  Tim  
noble100's avatar
noble100
2,419 posts
 
kgveteran: " Tim,
            We will agree to disagree, cheers mate !"

Hello cagey veteran,
     
     How about we agree that the crawl method, even after 6,000 years of continuous successful usage, continues to be an excellent tool for optimally positioning subs in any room and it's free? You're always free to use your expensive measuring equipment to validate optimum sub positioning if you'd like.

Cheers to you, mate!
         Tim
kgveteran
377 posts
 

Timmie,
Keep Crawlin brother :0)

Cheers and best to you

KG

  ps: i understand your fear in not really being able to operate test equipment, you’ll get it if you really try, the investment will pay off in. Good luck Timmie, you add a lot of useful advice here !
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