Whatta Ya Think About Hsu Research Subwoofers?

bob540:
" I just posted a grainy photo in my profile showing the space I am working with.  Sorry it is so dark and fuzzy.  The doors to the right are to my garage and laundry room, so cannot block those.  The table that holds my electronics is centered under the TV — Martin Logan towers are to each side of that, but hard to make out.  There is space to the left, as I can move the tower that holds my CDs and the record albums.  I wish I had Bluetooth capability for the subwoofers, as I could place one further to the right out of the line of foot traffic, and then I have space for one on the left.  I could cover the cable with a small throw rug I suppose."

Hello Bob,

     Sorry, I got sidetracked having a bit of fun.
     I looked at the picture of your room and system.  It's clear enough that I understand your issues with space and traffic patterns.  I can't see the rest of the room, but I believe you mentioned earlier that there's a large sectional couch along the opposite 14' short wall in your 14'x19'x8' room.  Please correct me if I'm incorrect.
     The first solution that comes to my mind is to switch ends for your tv/equipment and your couch.  The back of your couch would be positioned about 3' away from the door to your laundry room/garage door to allow for traffic.  Your tv and equipment would be positioned along the 14' short wall where your couch was.  This format would allow for your main speakers to be moved out a bit from the wall with the pair of subs along this wall behind them.
     I understand there may be obstacles with this solution so I'll wait for your response before offering another possible solution.

Tim

Tim,

I'm a fairly good writer, but understand that sometimes things like sarcasm, jokes, and also rhetoric aren't always easy to pick up on in a medium like this forum.  

The system I mentioned with two subwoofers belongs to a member of our local music club.  I don't recall all of the equipment in his system, or the exact models of his subs, but he had Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers (which I purchased for my system after hearing his) and one JL Audio and one Rel sub. 

I'm not sure I have the vocabulary to describe it, but the bass in his system was immediate, articulate, and powerful when bass notes were present, but not overwhelming.  He had a lot of room treatment (bass traps, diffusers, absorption panels, maybe more) and if I recall, his subs were placed in opposite corners of the room.  He mentioned that he had endlessly tweaked his system to achieve the bass performance we heard. 

There were about six or seven of us there and we all took turns sitting in different seats during our listening.  There was of course a "sweet spot" for the best imaging from the speakers, but the bass had no noticeable peaks or nulls in any of the spots where I sat.  It was a relatively small room (maybe 16 X 20 feet?), but it opened into another room on one side.  To my ears, it was one of the best, maybe even the best system that I've heard.  The clarity of the speakers, the soundstage, the imaging, the integration between the subs and the speakers were all sublime.  That's not to say it might not have even been better with another sub or two, but it was a really involving and dynamic listening experience with no apparent flaws that jumped out at me.

My room is bigger and has a few nooks and crannies and opens into my kitchen/dining room.  I have four subs - two Rythmik F25 subs and two SVS SB13 Ultra subs in my system.  It sounds great, and I don't notice any peaks or null spots and when I listen from my kitchen, there's no "boominess" or "one note bass", but it's not as dynamic as his system was.  My guess is that has more to do with the quality/power of his subs and the sound treatment in his listening space.  I've been adding room treatments and continue to experiment with placement of both the speakers and subs, sub settings, and other variables. 

I enjoy my system, but that system set a benchmark for me of what's possible.  That includes comparisons to a $100K system in a dealer showroom, and a number of other systems, both in treated showrooms at dealers and other friends who have high-end systems.  I appreciate and enjoy my system and have put it together on a relatively modest budget.  Employing four subs definitely took it to another level, using equipment I already had, but had only used for home theater in the past.

Hi Tim. The layout of my room is a bit different than you are thinking.  The other short wall is the one with the windows — my sectional is beneath those windows and then around the corner and takes up the wall that is to the left of my stereo (when facing the stereo.  The other long wall, to the right of the stereo (where you see the two doors) is taken up by the fireplace.  So, the only walls I could mount the TV on are where it is or on the long wall where the sectional is — but that latter placement would have my seating backed up to the fireplace.  I put my TV on the only wall that made sense to me, and then I put my stereo equipment where the TV is (and can play TV sound through the stereo equipment.  

While trying to decide how many subs I will get, I will also look into some of the other sub brands others mentioned here . . JL Audio, Rythmik, Rel, Audio Kenisis?   Never hurts to explore options.  

I currently own a pair of uls 15 mk2 paired to goldenear 5 channel system...the subs have fantastic sound quality. Tight and Digs deep for a sealed sub. For music, It can reach the lower midbass to give that kick drum some power too if wanted. You can tune the sub to your taste with the built in eq.  I'm a constant tweeker, but that's the one part of the system I dont feel the need to upgrade.

Hello big_greg,

I definitely agree with you that it’s sometimes hard to pick up on rhetoric in posts since it just happened to me. I’m usually fairly good at picking up on satire, sarcasm and jokes but admit I may need some work on my rhetoric detection skills.
I think we resolved this little misunderstanding between us reasonably and amicably and really don’t think either one of us consider this a big deal or worth further attention. Thank you.
I noticed you wisely avoided answering my questions about our shared hobby of skinning cats. I was fairly sure you’d understand I was just having a bit of fun and have never skinned a live cat, at least as far as you know.
But thanks for elaborating on the very good 2-sub system your fellow music club member has.as well as your own systems. I really don’t consider myself someone who believes that what I use and like is what others should use and like. But I do realize I do get very enthusiastic about things that work very well in my system, such as the 4-sub DBA system, and I probably run the risk of being perceived that way on some of my posts.
I feel like I’m walking a really fine line with the 3-4 sub DBA system concept because it not only works so well for me even without any room treatments, EQ or DSP, it's also claimed to work well in virtually any room and with any pair of main speakers. This seems like the perfect exception to this axiom, a situation in which something that I use and like really is what others will likely use and like. It’s especially difficult not to get enthusiastic about a bass solution that apparently will work for everyone, regardless of their room and main speakers. Heck, not spreading the word seems to be the bigger crime with the 3-4 sub DBA concept.
As you and I know through personal experience, however, excellent bass performance can also be attained in a system and room by using as few as 1 or 2 subs. I think my best solution, when giving advice on this subject on future thread posts, is just to be honest and relate what I stated above on this post.
Thanks for spurring me to more fully explore and evolve my thinking on the subject of sub usage and effectiveness.

Tim