Vandersteen Sub woofers v Rythmik Subs

@mr_m - yup.  That seems to support my recollection that the 2Wq was designed to sit in a corner.  It's actually not that surprising at all.

Richard Vandersteen recommends corner placement for 2Wq sub.

Hi enginedr1960,

     I'm glad you responded on this thread.  And thanks for reminding me that you're the other user on this forum, that I couldn't recall the user ID of, who also uses a distributed bass array system with 4 subs.Your bass system details, experiences and opinions are all valuable contributions to this discussion.

     Your custom distributed bass array system, using the DSPeaker antimode 2.0  to electronically control crossover and room correction, is a bit more complex and sophisticated than my all in one Swarm system that utilizes the sub amp's built in crossover (with my panel mains running full frequency) and precise sub positioning instead of any DSP or room correction.

     I think it's important that readers of this thread realize that very good in room bass response is attainable using either method.  Having no experience using the DSPeaker or room correction of any kind, I know I'm not qualified to declare that either method is superior.  It seems like we both have achieved excellent perceived bass responses in our individual rooms using different methods, with the only common denominator being 4 subs.  

Hi lewnskiH01,

      It's very appropriate that you mentioned Earl Gettes and his advocacy of multiple subs for achieving very good in room bass response in virtually any room.  His research and published white papers on the subject, along with the research and results of Floyd O'Toole and Todd Welti, formed the basis of my understanding and the actual performance potential of deploying multiple subs in a specific positioning method to achieve optimum bass response in any given room.  All of this supporting scientific research was crucial in my decision to buy and use the Swarm bass system in my home music and ht system. 

     However, I have the impression that the OP of this thread, bstatman, may prefer to use a more standard approach to attaining better bass response in his system such as 1 or 2 Vandersteen or Rhythmic subs.  
     If this is the case, I'd just like to say to him that I know it's still possible to achieve good bass response utilizing 1 or 2 conventional subs in his room provided he's satisfied with the good bass response being constrained to a single 'sweet spot'.  I'm certain of this because I've achieved good bass response at a specific listening position using both 1 and 2 good subs in my own and friends' systems.  

     Again, I would caution to use the positioning method I described in my second post on this thread:

1. Hookup your sub and place it at your desired listening position.
2. Play music that has good and repetitive bass.
3. Walk around your room in a systematic manner listening for an exact spot where the bass sounds the best to you.
4. Once this spot is located, reposition your sub to this exact spot.
5. To test results, sit at your designated listening position and repay the same music.
     As you would expect, bass response will be improved as additional subs are added to the room. 2 subs, properly positioned, will give better results than 1.

     In my experience, the Swarm 4 sub distributed bass array system will definitely perform better than either a 1 or 2 sub system. I perceived the 4 smaller sub Swarm system as sounding more accurate, natural, effortless and life-like for music while providing more weight, authority, impact and a bottomless quality to the bass on both music and ht.  These great bass qualities are also now perceived at all 6 seating positions in my room, not just at my single preferred listening 'sweet spot'.

      In retrospect, I believe the Swarm system has been the most significant and unmistakable upgrade I've ever made in my system.  I'll conclude my excessive praise of the distributed array concept and Swarm product by just sincerely claiming I don't think I can overstate how well they both perform.

Tim


      

Noble100 (Tim), indeed I also have Floyd Toole's Sound Reproduction and keep coming back to it for his research with multiple subs. A piece of work with learnings that take time to sink in - at least for me. 

I also agree there are multiple ways to get low bass right and we are probably overloading the OP with info about multiple subs when he's considering 1 or 2. For such a case I would seriously look into a DSPeaker unit to complement the sub/s, and go with 2 subs if budget allows, but still one well integrated sub is generally better than no sub (of course depends on the speakers at play, the sub, the patience, the willingness to learn, etc).

Looks just like 2wq. with more power and a new eq. Can't wait for some reviews. Thanks for posting that.