Upgrading sub to get a live feel.


I currently have a set of JBL 4319 which has its history as 4310. They are studio monitors and as a result they sound like studio monitors you hear everything, but they lack the physical presence on the low end. They have wonderful mid range and voice presence. I also have a pair of SVS SB1000 to help with the low end. 

I want to eventually upgrade to JBL 4367 with upgraded pair of subs, for this reason, but in the mean time would a sub upgrade be considered before the speakers. 


thewatcher101
Got a few more hours in last night, 

Sub set up is now staggered, with one PB against the wall distance between speaker and seating position, one PB a little behind the seating position. 

Turned down the PBs to 50Hz and volume set to 30%. 

The speaker still feel larger, but less so now. 

Bass blends well at this point, but i am still experiencing a tiny bit of harshness in the music. Noticeable in the lower-mid/upper bass regions.  It lacks the cohesiveness of my original set up.   

I think this evening I will try to turn down the SB too and see if that helps. 


Hello Watcher,

     Sorry about mcreyn and phusis having a discussion on the benefits of horn tapped subs in the middle of your thread.  I just found out they're both longtime members of the Church of Latter Day Bass. A little rude but no big deal.
     I'm going to give you a step by step procedure for how to position each of the four subs and set the controls on each very soon but I need to know a few things before we get started to make sure we have everything we'll need:

1. What are the brand and model numbers of your other components?  I need to know whether you're using an AV receiver, integrated amp or preamp and power amp setup.

2. How do you currently have both of your SB-1000s connected? I need to know what method, line level or speaker level connections, you currently use and how you planned to connect all four subs.  If you don't already have a plan, I'll figure it out but it may require you buying a few things before we can begin.

3.  Are your JBL 4319 main speakers positioned on the floor, on stands or a different method?

    Depending on your other components, mainly your amp, we need to determine whether you should limit the bass reproduced or run them full range. W'll pick backup once you give me your answers to my 


Tim
1. What are the brand and model numbers of your other components? I need to know whether you're using an AV receiver, integrated amp or preamp and power amp setup.

Resonessence Mirus DAC > Pathos Atrium Preamp > Odyssey Kismet Mono-Block
 
2. How do you currently have both of your SB-1000s connected? I need to know what method, line level or speaker level connections, you currently use and how you planned to connect all four subs. If you don't already have a plan, I'll figure it out but it may require you buying a few things before we can begin.

SB are connected using speaker level input, the PB are tapping the speaker level from the SB. 

3. Are your JBL 4319 main speakers positioned on the floor, on stands or a different method?

The speaker currently sit on top of the SB 

The amp has pretty big bass, the DAC also has very detailed and articulated bass, the preamp is neutral. 
Sorry about mcreyn and phusis having a discussion on the benefits of horn tapped subs in the middle of your thread. I just found out they're both longtime members of the Church of Latter Day Bass. A little rude but no big deal.

"Church of Latter Day Bass" - good one, thanks for the early night (local time) chuckle here. 

Tim, being you're a rather frequent collaborator and advocate of a "four-and-only" sub approach many of us know all too well by now - one that certainly has its merits (and one I don't necessarily disapprove of per se) - it would nonetheless only seem prudent, in a effort to diversify the subject a bit, to throw in an alternative bass-augmentation dish, so to speak; one, or in essence most everything else you'd obviously not approve of. 

Truth be told I'm not on a mission to willfully oppose your views, but simply to recommend what I feel would be one heck of subwoofer pairing with a future main speaker acquisition the OP appears to have in mind. But you don't want to hear that, right? You're all over the place with your "my (sub-)way or the highway," and when a couple of guys have a few challenging thoughts on the matter you're choking on your morning smoothie. 

I'd actually let poster @mcreyn get off the hook here as he simply sided with my fondness for tapped horns, apart from delivering some very worthwhile info.
thewatcher101
They are 6 inches away from the wall,


You keep mentioning hardness in the lower midrange. This right here could be the reason. We all have room constraints so maybe this is forced, but if its not then you might want to try moving the speakers in a few feet from the side walls. 

Being so close to a side wall the critical first reflection arrives within a millisecond or so, well within the roughly 4 milliseconds within which the human ear perceives sound to be coming from the same source. What this means in plain English, its smearing and ruining your imaging.

But that's not all. That's so close the wall is practically acting like a horn, reflecting and reinforcing the speaker but not in a good way. I could never understand your comment trying to link sub placement with this low midrange hardness. Can't see it happening. What I can see happening though is the bass changes distract from hearing the reflection problem that is there all the time. Move the speakers and see.

While you're at it get them off the subs. You'll get better bass and improve imaging in one fell swoop.