subwoofer question

Marty,

I should add that I cross the sub very low for two channel, below 40Hz, to best blend with the speakers, so going by your 100Hz limit I could go with the mono setup. I would still use the JL room corrector.

Marty,

I read through some of the HT/Sub posts but dont find any info on bigger driver being faster, maybe I didnt looke close enough, can you point me in the right direction?
I have tried using the reciever with its EQ in the 2ch chain and the sound is clearly worse for me.

Bob,

when you say the room is too small for bass management from the subs and priferable to go with the full range EQ, what size would you think is approriate before that problem dissapears?

Also what do you guys think about mixing same brand subs but with different driver sizes, a 10" with a 12 or 13"?

It's hard to speculate as to what will work in any given space, although Bob's point is a good one:

Smaller rooms are generally tougher all around.

You tried the full range EQ and determined that it was "clearly worse", so we now know that this approach doesn't work for you. You could try my approach ("bass-only" DRC), but I'm not sure about the best way to implement it for you. I don't think that you can use the internal Audyssey circuit in this fashion - you'd need to go with external hardware, like an SMS-1 between the sub out on your HTR and the subwoofer's input. This approach seems kind of duplicative, but it might work.

OTOH, you could simply go with dual subs and experiment with placement until you find the best locations and leave it at that.

As to driver size vs speed. There's some disagreement, but a lot of the knowledgeable writers point out that large drivers in subs are usually operating WELL below the frequency at which they'd exhibit any problems. IOW a small driver producing 60hz, isn't "faster" producing 60hz than a large driver producing 60hz.

I've speculated that some people might be using "fast" to describe a highly damped sub, since damping is related to the system's momentum/inertia (which, it appears to me, is the issue behind the objection to large "slow" drivers in subwoofers). I'm speculating here about people's issues, so please be aware - this is nothing more than speculation.

OTOH, highly damped systems actually do produce "tighter" bass (no speculation here). Just note that this characteristic is more a function of cabinet size and type relative to its given driver, rather than the size of the driver used. A well designed, giant driver can be highly damped in the right box.

Bottom line: IMHO, if you want a "fast" sub, buy a highly damped sub and driver size isn't particularly relevant. Again IMHO. A highly damped 15" sub will sound "faster" than an underdamped 8" sub. Once more, IMHO. Please understand that many folks here will disagree with these statements.

As to mixing driver sizes, I have no personal experience, nor has anyone shared such with me, so I can't really offer advice.

Good Luck.

Marty

Marty,

thanks for your answer! I must add that the "clearly worse" was for 2 channel listening. I think the more electronics in the chain is not beneficial.
My system is 95% about 2ch and 5% movies. So its 95% musicality and 5% big effects for me. I run the full Audessey for movies though. but for 2ch the reciever is out of the system.

If your highly damped theory would be applied to two subs from the same brand, in my case the JL Audio Fathoms, it would probably come down to size of box as the decider for if the sub is "fast" or not, but my guess would still be the 10" is faster than the 12". I havent heard both in my system but I found the 10" faster than the 13" in the F113. But still if both the F110 and F112 are equally damped your theory might extend to the possibility of integrating different sized drivers successfully.