Subwoofers.... one 10" or two 8"?

The most effective use of subs are to cancel nodes in the room.  By doing proper placement of 2, 3, 4, subs, you actually make the mids and highs cleaner and clearer.  The result of proper subbing is not to hear the subs as their own speaker (pumping booming lows into the room), but rather the effortless reproduction of your recordings.

Yep thats why i am a fan of treatment 

Here’s a thought. I suggest building your own subs. I just ordered 2 Dayton audio 12" Sub drivers and all the other items to build them (cabinets, stuffing, etc.) I will be using them in a 14 x11 x8ft room to supplement the (ahem) polite bass of a set of Ascent i speakers I bought used. I am using the Gallo sub amp, but there are many choices in sub amp available. From $100-$1000. Some of these amps have EQ built in as well. I am using a dSpeaker Antimode 2.0 to EQ the bass.
The Gallo amp pushed my Gallo reference 3.1 to beautifully powerful, fast and accurate bass. I am hoping the dual 12s will do the same.

Get at least one 12. Make sure it is sealed, not ported. Give it power and judicious EQ ,and you will be in heaven.

Remember- Bass production needs air movement. Period! Go with two 12s, and don't look back!

As for the myth of 12s being slow- pish posh. The reason bass seems slow is because of overhang, room modes/nulls, and poor sub placement. This is where good EQ can help. Good room treatments help here as well.
Good luck, and have fun!

The latest Music in the Round from Stereophile features the use of two JL subs, and charts showing how they fill in.

Still, it's not unreasonable to get one very good sub, see if you need two. :)

I most certainly am more than happy with 1 Hsu 15" sub. My listening space does not lend itself well to characterization and I have bass traps where they need to go. YMMV.

Best,


Erik

        I have an  Sunfire hsu12 .( az cable rca's from preout) I am pretty impressed with it in general .Althoough i did put 3 . 1.5" audiopoints under it which just made a real deal difference in the overall sound ).I would consider grabbing another, which is somewhat shocking to me with it being a 12"in the grand price range . i have generally preferred a pair of 10".If i had the money i would buy the jl audios probly 10". For yrs we tauted there power in audio apps and boats etc. There new subs are serious but are like 3-5k a pair.The sunfire ,svs rythmic etc would much less.
       Like i said Larstusor hook that 8" up and see what you get then let us know whats happening (easy to resale that sub).
       Also op  has limits on treatment and wife constraints as many do
.      Eric
 Although i do run a big velodyne 15" in my ht room its huge front ported. that hsu has to rattle the walls,my velo is nuts just not a good audio sub imo ..i would go sealed myself