What process did you use to integrate multiple subwoofers for 2 channel listening?


Today I will be trying to integrate up to three subs. Two are matching Rythmiks F12SE, and one is a REL R-328. The Rythmiks have a variety of adjustable parameters, including phase, crossover, and gain. There are other switches and passes on the sub, but I'm going to try to keep it basic to begin with. The REL has variable gain and crossover; the phase on REL is either 0 or 180.

I have REW for measurement. I will be buying a few more furniture sliders this morning, on doctors orders. ;-)

QUESTION: If you have multiple subs, by what process did you integrate your subs? One at a time? More? Which adjustments did you try first and in what kinds of increment?

I know that trial, error, measuring, and listening will all take time. Rather than look for a needle in a haystack, I'm curious what sequence or process was most effective for you.

Thank you.
128x128hilde45
Jim Smith's Get Better Sound book has a good chapter on setting subwoofers for stereo music reproduction. He mentions some things I haven't seen mentioned in this thread.

https://www.getbettersound.com/
@audiokinesis Thank you for your questions. A few answers:

* I do not know if the bass bumpage is throughout the room. After a LOT of work yesterday, I got it down to about a pretty narrow peak which is +4db between 79hz and 93 hz with a +6.5db peak at 88 or so. In exchange for all my work knocking down a pretty big peak between 50hz and 80 hz, I wound up with continued/more nulls at 33.5 (-6.5db), 127 (-8db), 208 (-11db), 244 (-11db). These are now my major problems to figure out without retarding the bass progress I made.

* My front ported Salk SS 6M speakers are listed as rolling off at 35hz.

* These Rythmik F12SE subs have a wide range of controls, including variable phase, crossover, gain, low pass switch (50hz/24 vs. AVR12/80hz/24), a "Rumble filter,", Extension filtering switches for Frequence (14, 20, 28hz) and Damping (low, mid, hi). Details about these switches are here: https://www.rythmikaudio.com/download/PEQ3_sealed_quickguide.pdf

* I have a lot of freedom in this room. I did extensive listening, measuring, moving of speakers, etc. in the room and I think LP and Speakers are close to optimized but I’m open to revisiting.

Again, thank you for the questions. I feel like I made progress yesterday - I moved everything, turned and changed dials and knobs, moved treatments around, the works. I was systematic and cautious, changing one thing at a time. I listened at the end of the day and it sounded very satisfying. It’s now those big nulls which are leftover problems I feel compelled to solve.

Any suggestions you make will be experimented with ASAP. I'm a dog on a hunt.
@hilde45

Can you replace your old graph with a new one, and include measurements for the mains only. I think you'll find those nulls (127Hz, 208Hz, 244Hz) will remain unchanged with or without subs. This is where DSP might be of help to you if you're looking for perfection.