Avanti1960 wrote:
"I have successfully integrated one and two subwoofer solutions into my system when the main speakers had a natural roll off (acoustic crossover) that made for a near ideal low pass frequency relative to the subwoofers. However I was not so successful with a recent set of main speakers that had extended low frequency output to 20Hz from the transmission line port."
I’m not aware of anyone using a Swarm with main speakers that go down to 20 Hz. Overlapping that much with the mains wasn’t part of my game plan. What be inclined to I’d try is, reducing the output from the transmission line terminus (probably with open-cell foam) so that the subs can be turned up louder without making the low end too thick.
"I am now on a new set of main speakers and although I love the bass, measurements show that it reaches a certain output and levels off while the rest of the frequency spectrum can get louder. I miss the louder bass with more impact as the volume increases."
I’m not clear about what the issue is. Is the bass region compressing? Can you describe in more detail what the measurements show?
"Would the 4 sub array lend itself to better integration with main speakers that are near full range (avoiding bass quality and blurred midrange issues) without high passing them?"
So far we’ve been able to integrate well with unfiltered main speakers that go down as low as 30 Hz. Sometimes with overlap, sometimes not. Sometimes using the single band of parametric EQ and/or the phase control to reduce the amount of reinforcement in the region of overlap. "Blurred midrange" makes me think the subs were being rolled off too high and/or too shallow, and may have been too loud.
"In my two-sub setups I found that I needed to adjust the phase of each individually for best integration. Why wouldn’t I need to do this with the swarm system? "
I’m not an expert on optimizing two-sub setups, so I can’t thoroughly compare and contrast. But in general we want the in-room bass energy de-correlated for best results, and that includes for blending with the mains. You were introducing some de-correlation by having two subs instead of one, and some more via the different phase settings. The Swarm introduces a lot of decorrelation via the widely-spaced asymmetrical placement and reversing the polarity of one of the subs. Some Swarm systems use two amps, usually set 90 degees apart in phase.
I haven’t had anyone yet tell me that they can’t get a good blend between the Swarm and their mains, whether they are using one amp or two. I think the decorrelation that a distributed multi-sub system brings to the table help make that blend less problematic to achieve.
But you can certainly use multiple powered subs of your choosing and thereby be able to adjust phase and frequency and gain of each independently.
Duke
"I have successfully integrated one and two subwoofer solutions into my system when the main speakers had a natural roll off (acoustic crossover) that made for a near ideal low pass frequency relative to the subwoofers. However I was not so successful with a recent set of main speakers that had extended low frequency output to 20Hz from the transmission line port."
I’m not aware of anyone using a Swarm with main speakers that go down to 20 Hz. Overlapping that much with the mains wasn’t part of my game plan. What be inclined to I’d try is, reducing the output from the transmission line terminus (probably with open-cell foam) so that the subs can be turned up louder without making the low end too thick.
"I am now on a new set of main speakers and although I love the bass, measurements show that it reaches a certain output and levels off while the rest of the frequency spectrum can get louder. I miss the louder bass with more impact as the volume increases."
I’m not clear about what the issue is. Is the bass region compressing? Can you describe in more detail what the measurements show?
"Would the 4 sub array lend itself to better integration with main speakers that are near full range (avoiding bass quality and blurred midrange issues) without high passing them?"
So far we’ve been able to integrate well with unfiltered main speakers that go down as low as 30 Hz. Sometimes with overlap, sometimes not. Sometimes using the single band of parametric EQ and/or the phase control to reduce the amount of reinforcement in the region of overlap. "Blurred midrange" makes me think the subs were being rolled off too high and/or too shallow, and may have been too loud.
"In my two-sub setups I found that I needed to adjust the phase of each individually for best integration. Why wouldn’t I need to do this with the swarm system? "
I’m not an expert on optimizing two-sub setups, so I can’t thoroughly compare and contrast. But in general we want the in-room bass energy de-correlated for best results, and that includes for blending with the mains. You were introducing some de-correlation by having two subs instead of one, and some more via the different phase settings. The Swarm introduces a lot of decorrelation via the widely-spaced asymmetrical placement and reversing the polarity of one of the subs. Some Swarm systems use two amps, usually set 90 degees apart in phase.
I haven’t had anyone yet tell me that they can’t get a good blend between the Swarm and their mains, whether they are using one amp or two. I think the decorrelation that a distributed multi-sub system brings to the table help make that blend less problematic to achieve.
But you can certainly use multiple powered subs of your choosing and thereby be able to adjust phase and frequency and gain of each independently.
Duke