subwoofers and panels don't mix

11-21-11: Lightminer
Hsu has a new subwoofer ... called the VTF-15H ... [which] ... has a 'sealed mode' (meaning --> quick/fast) *and* it has extensive tunability features that may make it so we can tune it to a more panel-friendly state.

SVS also offers this feature in their top line box sub, the PB13-Ultra. It has three ports and three plugs, making for four lower extent rolloff profiles. The 13" driver itself is massive and built for very long throw--reminds me of the JL driver. Follow the live link to see the description, the pic of the driver, and the four frequency response curves from sealed, one, two, or three open ports.

It's been five years since this thread was started. In the last few years, I think several sub contenders have come out with more configurability, speed, and power to mesh with panel speakers. Candidates include JL, the Velodyne DD+ series, the top line Hsu's, and the SVS's.

I've heard a pair of JL Fathom F212s mated to a pair of Magnepan 20.1s and it was seamless. I heard it for a couple hours with a professional setup driven by Ayre electronics and Transparent cable throughout.

I'd believe that - a pair of F212's seems to be the current state of the art from what I've read, never heard them. The fun part of the Hsu 15H is they are 850 each! Basically free compared to the JLs :).

I still think its crazy that we are doing this for 16 - 45 Hz, but on those few tracks, it sure does make a gigantic difference!

The problem with matching subs to panels is poor transient response in many subwoofers, excessive driver excursions and the problem of the sub sounding best in placements that doesn't mate best to loudspeaker in the position sub sounds best in. With panels 2 or more large cone limited excursion drivers match best. Multiple sub bass sources again are the better match.

11-23-11: Lightminer
I'd believe that - a pair of F212's seems to be the current state of the art from what I've read, never heard them....
I still think its crazy that we are doing this for 16 - 45 Hz, but on those few tracks, it sure does make a gigantic difference!

According to the review of twin JL Gotham G213s in Issue 26 of ToneAudio, the infrasonic information conveyed by the subwoofers that go lower than 20 Hz is relevant to any kind of music, and recreates the room ambience that so often distinguishes the sound of live music from reproduced. The review says in part:

Two subwoofers does not mean that I’m shaking the rafters with the Gothams. Quite the contrary. It allows me to run them at lower levels and to produce a more refulgent, satisfying sound. But that sound can be hard to pin down because, as I tried to suggest above, the Gothams are often out of the picture when no real deep bass frequencies are present. But they are producing ambience all the time. Turn the two subs off and it sounds as though the mains shrank in size and volume – even on a Bach solo guitar piece. Weird? Definitely. But impossible to refute. There is apparently information in the subsonic region that fills out the sound of a concert hall. Once you’ve heard it, you can’t go back.

Now I'm dying to get a pair of sealed subs that'll put that sensation in *my* listening room.