Audio Kinesis Swarm Subwoofer Awarded 2019 Golden Ear Award by Robert E. Greene

Hello davekayc,

       I'm guessing from your huge room dimensions that you live in a loft.  I've learned that getting the bass right in most home rooms is a key factor in building a high quality, realistic home audio system but it's also usually the hardest part of the audio spectrum to get right.  
     Most people can very quickly tell the difference between music heard in person played live and the same music played back via a recording on a home audio system.  I believe bass that is felt as well as heard, detailed, textured, solid, impactful and with a powerful dynamic range, basically bass that has the qualities of bass played live and heard in person, is required to be replicated on a home audio system in order for the experience to be perceived as realistic and of very high quality.  
     The main reason good bass performance is so difficult to obtain in most domestic rooms is that bass soundwaves behave very differently than midrange and treble soundwaves behave in any given room.  Here are some important facts to understand and keep in mind:


1. Humans generally have an audible hearing range from deep tones to high tones of 20 Hz (deepest tone) to 20,000 Hz (highest tone).

2. The deeper the tone, the longer the corresponding soundwave produced.  The higher the tone, the shorter the corresponding soundwave produced.  For example, the full cycle soundwave length of a very deep 20 Hz tone is 56 feet and the full cycle soundwave length of a very high 20,000 Hz tone is only a fraction of an inch.
     It's also been proven that the entire length of a full cycle soundwave must exist in a room before it is detected by our ears, our brains process this information and the perception is created of a sound tone at a certain frequency being present in the room.

3. Most humans cannot localize bass tones below about 80 Hz, meaning we cannot determine exactly where the sound is originating from.  But we are progressively better at localizing sound tones as their soundwave frequencies rise from about 80 Hz all the way to about 20,000 Hz. 

4.  The radiation pattern of deep bass soundwaves is 360 degrees meaning the soundwaves radiate out from the speaker in all directions.  The radiation pattern of midrange and treble soundwaves are much more directional meaning the soundwaves radiate outward from the speaker more in a straight line, like a beam of light. 

     You're on the right track thinking about all the angles of reflections in your room.  As you can see from the above fact #2, one of the reasons it's difficult to get good bass performance in domestic sized rooms is that the length of some deep bass tone soundwaves may exceed one or more of the dimensions of the room.  This means the long bass soundwaves must reflect off a room barrier (wall, floor or ceiling) before its entire length exists in the room, the ear can then detect it and the brain can process it as a bass tone sound at a certain frequency. 
      In smaller rooms, multiple long bass soundwaves reflecting off room boundaries, that are closer together, often meet or collide which causes bass at these spots in the room to sound exaggerated, attenuated or even absent.   Actually, you're fortunate again because your room is so large it can better accommodate multiple long bass soundwaves, which means fewer reflections off room boundaries that results in better bass response performance overall in your room.
     
Did you buy those lottery tickets yet? 
                   Tim

Oddly enough my room is 56’ and 36’ deep . The waves can stretch their legs in here . After a day of listening and adjusting,  my main system included , I’m pretty happy with the sound . Soon as particular types of music come on I tour the room listening for the effects . I want a seamless integration of all components , anything less will drive my crazy. I do not want to be able to tell they are there. Right this minute i am listening to Robert Plant , In the Mood .  Very good track for repetitive bass notes with out extra sounds confusing things. Sound via a mcintosh mr78 tuner . My favorite station has the odd station identification that dips into the subsonics which all in all its a good place to get your bearings from. After I’m done tweaking i will turn on tidal with bluesound and see how i did. Try out a few ridiculous bass tunes . As well they have a selection of test tones .    My main subs are 12cuft 18” jbl 2245h , the enclosures are a greg timbers design . Powered by two mc2300 amps. I had divine bass response already . The rear subs really evened out the sound . As mentioned before i no longer feel the need for room treatments . It improved the highs reminiscent of the days when i built car audio systems in the late 80s .( jbl / harman amps ) You are in it, and not a bystander.   Thanks again Tim 

Hello davekayc,

     Are you stating you're using 2 Greg Timbers designed 12 cu.ft.  sub cabinets with an18" JBL 2245h driver in each as DIY main subs and you're also using 2 JBL sp-150 subs for a total of 4 subs in your room?
   
Thanks,
  Tim  

Thank you all for the information provided. I have two Syzygy SLF 870 12" subs, matched to Emerald Physics EP 4.7 open baffle speakers. I am interested in the Audio Kinesis Swarm concept and have a question. The subs have an eq function which works well, but only independently. In other words, I can't set up one sub, and then use equalization on the other sub taking into account the bass output of the speaker and other sub. Is it better to use both subs without the room eq, place them in different locations and adjust the individual crossovers and output level by ear? Equalizing them independently doesn't seem to be consistent with the "swarm" concept. I am having trouble integrating the subs with my EP 4.7s, which are running full range. Thoughts? 

Yes Tim 
two 18” and two 10” .  In front of the 18s requires no augmentation from the 10” Its what they do for the rest of the room. By having them faintly adjusted so they are invisible to point at, creates sort of a swarm effect in areas that felt outside the sweetspot . More like you were at a live cabaret setting or even small concert venue . You are standing outside of the listening center or the imaging of left and right but none the less placed in the middle of the venue.  The listening chair  is dead center of the room in every way aimed at the middle of a 56 x15 wall . Kitchen to the far rear left bar to the far rear right . So i still have the makings of a “swarm idea” i just do not have all the subs running at the same output as the fronts .The effects of that would be undesirable for the rest of the room. They are connected to output 2 on my c46 . I can shut them on and off from my chair. I will try them adjusted up to reach the center seating tomorrow and report back. Tonight i played test tones with tidal to see how different frequencies acted in the room. 
Most every frequency had a standing wave in a slightly different location from each other . But most landed where i had each of the rear subs. (Rear subs off )  sound right to you tim ?  Felt like i should be putting them in the obviously quiet spots . A couple spots would almost cancel out.