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
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  
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

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 !
Hello kgveteran,

Being a surgeon for over 40 years, I have developed a deep appreciation for accuracy, detail and precision. I’ve always strived to utilize the optimum instrument for every procedure, acutely realizing that utilizing the optimum instrument has the possible consequences of literally life or death.
In my 50 years of building and configuring my personal home audio/video systems, however, I’ve discovered that failing to utilize the optimum instruments in configuring and positioning my system transducers has possible consequences that are significantly less dire.
The truth is that there are at least two methods of optimally locating subs that individuals can utilize, the free crawl method I mentioned and the more expensive and technical method you mentioned.
Just as the Joker suggested to the Thief, there’s no reason for us to get excited, right?  Individuals are rightly free to utilize either method or try both and adopt the configuration they perceive as best. Based on my experience, I can predict with confidence that the resulting sub room positions of the subs, no matter how many subs positioned, will not be significantly different and, more likely, will be remarkably similar.
Can we agree on this?

Timmie
 Okay listen first off its not gonna sound like it but I totally get it. People with HT setups love their HT setups in spite of the horrid sound. Or maybe even because of the horrid sound. I get that. Do not understand why anyone would want to waste their money on horrid sound but they do and so I totally get that.


Thought I would clear things up and expand on this, being the guy who wrote it and all.

Its not satirical, and only a little over the top, which I love, for trigger value if nothing else. 

First off, not talking about the 0.01% of cinemaphiles who really do want to watch movies with the best sound they can get. If that is what I meant to say then that is what I would have said. Instead I said, "People with HT setups love their HT setups" the emphasis being on "HT setups" and NOT getting the best sound.

This to me is the whole problem in a nutshell. The whole HT industry has pushed their multi-channel approach from THX on down to where people are totally brainwashed to the point they seem to think watching movies with less than 7 channels isn't even watching movies. So much so that when it comes to HT they aren't even capable of giving serious consideration to the patently obvious fact that two speakers are perfectly capable of better performance than 4 or 5 or 7 or even 7.1.

Think about it. Multi-channel is so horrid, to stick with the original term, it was abandoned for serious music not years ago but decades ago. Why? Many reasons, but by far the most important is that when it comes to being believable quality matters far more than quantity. More in this case is not better.

Anyone seriously into this, especially if shopping for HT, should do what I did. Go and listen. Compare. What you will find, without exception and without a doubt, nothing multi-channel sounds anywhere near as good as stereo, at least not without spending many times as much money. Which is bad enough. But worse, above a certain threshold, which is reached a whole lot sooner than you might think, no amount of money will get you surround anywhere near as good as stereo. 

Just to beat this dead horse to pulp, take any $5000 A/V component you can find, new or used, don't care. Best one you can find. Hook it up and compare side by side with any $5k integrated amp. Any. Worst one you can find, brand new, whatever. Does not matter. Won't even be close. Compared side by side with stereo the HT component will sound.... not even close. Horrid.

And yet a lot of HT people love their demonstrably horrid sounding HT systems. Listen to what they say- because stereo is missing surround. They love the extra channels. That create the horrid sound. Therefore, logically, they literally do love their HT setups because of the horrid sound.

Its not satirical at all. Its actually a pretty straightforward conclusion.