Vandersteen Sub woofers v Rythmik Subs

The Audiokinesis swarm makes sense, but then if you could put 4 or more subs of any brand in your room, you would probably get the same result. The whole idea is to balance room aberrations.
As I posted in other threads, the new Vandy sub is probably going to make the 2wq prices drop. So, you might be able to pick up a pair with less impact on your wallet.
FWIW, I still own a pair of 2w subs. They function as they should and that despite being more than 20 years old. I asked Johnny Rutan if I should send them in for a checkup. He said if they work, don't worry.
Mr. V. really builds his speakers to last.
Bob

"Wow, thanks Tim, I had no idea a product like this was out there and at a comparatively low price to boot. Here are the things I would worry about: the WAF (yep the WAF strikes again for this one)
Integration with the mains - Does it do it the way the Vandersteens do with an external cross-over that lowers the output 6db? Also the Vandersteens keep the signal in the analog realm. Is my understanding of the AudioKenesis that a DSP would be involved to manage the bass? If so, I think that would turn me off. I want that signal as analog as possible.

Hi bstatmeister,

1. WAF- I think the waf, along with concerns about fitting 4 subs physically in their room, are the biggest obstacles most people think of when considering using a distributed bass array system.
I can just describe my experiences with my use of the Swarm and hope it helps you a bit.
I am fortunate in having an understanding wife who also enjoys listening to music and ht through my system. If your wife is less understanding, I’d suggest trying to get her involved with discussing your system and let her make some choices about the music you listen to and the ht you play.
The optimum position of my 4 subs in my 23 x16 foot living room turned out better than I expected, too. Two of my subs are located along my room’s front 16 ft. wall, each about a foot in from each 23 ft. side wall. Each sub is also mostly hidden from view by my l+r main speakers (6 ft. tall by 2 ft. wide Magnepan panels) that are positioned about 3 ft. in front of them.
My other two subs are located along each 23 ft. side wall about 3 ft. in from the 16 ft. rear wall, one on each side. One sub is mostly hidden from view behind an end table while the other is out in the open but my wife likes how it looks like a wooden art gallery pedestal and she usually has a vase full of fresh flowers on it.
2. Mains integration and DSP- The Swarm’s supplied 1K watt class AB amp only accepts l+r unbalanced rca signal inputs and cannot accept speaker level inputs as the Vandersteens can. I don’t view this as a negative, however, since the analog rca inputs result in a seamless integration with my main speakers
There is also no DSP, microphones, room analysis software or digital equalization involved with the Swarm bass system. The signal remains in the analog domain from input to output. But each sub does have its output lowered by 6db by design.

Hoped this helped a bit,
Tim

Hi Tim,
I have a vintage $30 Scott AM FM Stereo 355R receiver and a $50 KLH Model 17 pair of speakers that I purchased at the ’antique shop’ years ago that has been sitting in my ’Hi-Fi storage closet’ that I had planned to restore but never got around to. They were to be for my garage setup. You know, so I can get rid of the ole ’boom box’ I use when working on projects out there. When I saw the SVS PB12 Plus/2 sub for sale on ebay I had a ’flashback’ of the time I had owned one before and sold it and wished I hadn’t after the fact later. Not to mention it had the rare dual down firing 12.3 woofers too! Yep, it was a pure impulse buy, but I knew it would work with my Scott receiver. So there won’t be any ’sub crawling’ going on in the garage. I’ll put it in a corner and fine tune it there.

@bstatmeister, On my main rig I have dual Power Sound Audio (vented) V1801’s. I ended up buying them because they:

1) Were used and at a good price for the both which came to a total of $300 off the list price, if new.
2) I got the full as if new 5 year warranty.
3) Free shipping.
4) 60 day trial period with shipping paid by PSA upon return in the 60 day time frame.
5) American made which I’ve found is much easier to deal with if something goes wrong with your sub (or any other audio item) you can ship it directly back to the manufacturer where the only thing they do is build subs for PSA, instead of sending it to a dealer cause Rythmik (or any other sub manufacturer) subs are built in China, and you hope and pray that ’Johnny tech’ has the requisite experience and parts to work on your Rythmik sub.
6) PSA has a trade in and trade up policy which helps PSA in keeping your business.
7) Customer service is second to none.
8) PSA has a ton of information and free software on how to fine tune a sub and sub placement on their AVS Forum for PSA subs.

I don’t know of any other sub manufacturer that has such generous purchasing and warranty policies.

I did some digging into the Vandersteen subs and I seems they are built to last a long long time! Which is very rare indeed and also are American made. I think you’ve made the right decision. Check and see ALL of what policies RV has, you will never know until you ask. Also ask if there is a history of certain times of the year RV may have sales on his subs. You might get a good price on that Sub Three you want after all, especially if you want to buy 2.

I hope this helps.

tyray

“RV is hard on the wallet”...

omg that is funny, I will let the frugal Dutchman know....

funny ( pucker story ) when our 7’s were being delivered the truck driver had to surf the pallet jack with brake down a short but steep section of the street. As we looked down the hill, the driver asked me “ new speakers, huh ? Expensive? I said all the stuff on that single pallet is about a new Corvette... driver grinned and said He$$ yes I can do it !!!!
they arrived safely

have fun

My main speakers are in front and to the sides of a gas fireplace that protrudes nearly 2 feet into the room (Klipsch Heresy III horn speakers so the fireplace has zero effect on the tone, and they’re 7 feet apart). The corner made by the fireplace behind the left one has the smaller REL Q108II downward firing sub. That little corner is GREAT for that sub...a fake plant sits on top of it (I care). The larger sub is to the right near a corner, but I have vinyl "spikes" and long enough cables on it that I can move it around...put it in the window for outdoor subbing, move it closer to my listening spot, more toward the corner...this works as all recordings are a little different and the possibility of tripping over it exists. However, having the 2 subs on the same page (not in stereo) makes for great sound in my room, which is maybe 20X30 feet with a very tall sloped ceiling.