What 4 subwoofers to buy?

elate,

Couple of things, what are your room dimensions and budget?

Personally I don’t like to clutter my room with a sub in every corner. So I end up going with pair of mid-level subs from REL. For my room (15’D x 30’W x 8’H), the pair of REL’s (500W ea.) were more than adequate. IMO for two channel audio, the high-level input connection offers far superior system integration of the sub-bass with the main system.

I would recommend you start with atleast two high quality subs and add more later, if needed. Also, is your room acoustically treated or untreated?

What is your definition of a "lower end sub"?
- Is it based on price point?, or performance?

Are you looking to augment music or LFE’s

What do you hope to gain with 4 subs? why not just two subs?

I see the SVS SB1000s have a 12" driver and cost $599 each
- have you considered 10", 8" or 6" drivers?

My current A/V system sub has an 8" driver and my previous sub was 2 x 6.5" in a push-pull configuration. Both of those subs handled LFE’s with amazing dexterity and detail. Both of those subs had 200 WATT amp built in, and both went pretty deep into the low end. So is a 12" driver really necessary?

A well built sub with a 12" speaker would probably require upwards of 400 watts to effectively control a 12" speaker - and around 300 watts to control a 10" speaker

I also play bass guitar and the driver in my amp and many other professional quality amps are 10" these days, because they convey greater detail with less power

The reason for the smaller driver is the ease with which the amp can control the cone IN BOTH directions.

Once you have the subs you have to match it to your other speakers and having four subs will make that process more complex to "get it right"

Based on your budget of around 4 x $599 you could do much better with just two subs at @1200 each.

One thing that puts me off the SVS SB1000 Sub is that silly little two pin power plug. To drive a long-throw speaker effectively with 300 watts takes considerable current and that little socket is not capable of delivering enough current in the time required.

Transient spikes suck A LOT of current

Take look at subs like KEF
https://www.visions.ca/product-detail/9463/kef_r_series_dual_9_500w_subwoofer_piano_black_high_gloss...
Paradigm has a few offerings
https://www.paradigm.com/en/subwoofers
Or maybe Klipsh
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00NVPMJNC?linkCode=gs2&tag=dotdashca-20

BTW - I haven’t heard any of these subs - but the first two at least have a reasonable reputation for quality and Klipsh are actually brining out some pretty good speakers these days.

After all, isn’t QUALITY the REAL GOAL here?

Good luck with your choice - Steve

I know both the Cornwall and Heresy well. Sure, they play really loud - but sound overly bright (and irritating). Lack of bass below 50 hz in both only makes them sound worse! Adding subs will not improve the sound. A pair of Altec Valencia's would be a significant upgrade (had 'em!). A much better-balanced speaker!

Elate wrote: "I have been reading alot lately about the DBA thing, and without even trying it, I am positive that it will be the best thing for me."

You must be pretty good at wrapping your head around new ideas, because the idea that four subs spread around the room = QUALITY instead of merely QUANTITY is fairly counter-intuitive.

Elac: "... the high level speaker input which I will need for hooking up to my vintage integrated amp..."

It is possible to make a passive "voltage divider network" which would derive a line-level signal from your integrated amp’s speaker-level signal. I assume REL subs have a built-in voltage divider network which performs this function. In other words you are not necessarily limited to subs which have speaker-level inputs.

Elate: " Will 4 lower end subs work for enhancing my system or do I need to go higher up in the chain as far as quality is concerned? "

Assuming your requirements are not exceptionally demanding in SPL capability or low-end extension, you probably don’t need four top-of-the-line subs. The SVS SB2000 looks good to me; imo the SB1000 would probably need EQ.

@williewonka wrote: "What do you hope to gain with 4 subs? why not just two subs?"

Imo the advantage of four subs over two subs is, smoother in-room response. And "smooth bass" = "fast bass". As a ballpark rule of thumb, the more intelligently-distributed bass sources in a room, the smoother the in-room bass. So two subs are potentially about twice as smooth as one; four subs are potentially about twice as smooth as two; and eight subs are grounds for a divorce.

Roberjerman wrote: "I know both the Cornwall and Heresy well. Sure, they play really loud - but sound overly bright... Adding subs will not improve the sound."

Imo adding subs can in some cases significantly improve the sound of bright speakers.

You can think of the tonal balance of a speaker system as a see-saw with the balance point at about 700 Hz. Brightness is a symptom of too much "weight" north of 700 Hz. By adding more "weight" well south of 700 Hz, subs can improve the overall spectral balance.

Subs can’t actually fix problems north of the subwoofer region of course, but if a speaker is good except for a lack of energy in the bottom octave or two, subs can be very helpful.

Imo, ime, ymmv, etc.

Duke
kinda into that four-sub thing