Sub advice needed
I've been using a Dspeaker anti-mode 2.0 as a bass pre-amp and it has a remote - I use it constantly to adjust levels between tracks. You can also use it for room correction when you add the sub. You could use MSB sub isolators to add a sub to the signal chain, but they are kinda expensive, especially if you get a pair. |
My concerns are: Not a problem. Human beings hear low bass frequencies so much differently than mid-bass and up that its simply not a concern at all. Subs can be placed anywhere in the room and unless crossed over too high you will never be able to localize them. Please note: subs. Plural. One sub is only slightly better than no sub. One sub inevitably results in one set of big room modes, ie lumpy slow bass. Multiple subs, 4 is recommended, results in less sub having less output producing more smaller modes for much smoother more articulate bass. Multiple subs is the secret to really deep, articulate bass. The kind of bass that accurately recreates the low frequencies of a large space. This kind of bass actually improves imaging. 2. Remote volume control on the sub since different songs may need different amount of sub? Well are you after accurate bass? Or a tone control? A proper distributed bass array with truly smooth, accurate and articulate bass will be there when the music calls for it, and unnoticed when it does not. If you're looking for advice on how to get a lot of boomy bass whenever you think it should be there look elsewhere. Not my bag. I can place the sub in any area of the room. Excellent. Except remember its subs, not sub. Best placement usually will be asymmetrically distributed around the room. But if starting with just one be aware you will have to move it around a lot trying to find the least bad location. I also read on this forum somewhere about the pros and cons of connecting subwoofer to speaker outputs, but can't seem to find the thread, nor do I recall it ending with an answer if it can potentially cause amplifier problems or not. This ones easy. If your sub accepts speaker level inputs then use em. If not then the easiest solution is what's called a Line Out Converter or LOC. Quality does not matter, except for appearance. So buy cheap, parts-express.com has about the best, by which I mean cheapest, because quality does not matter! Or if you are comfortable soldering, or even if you just want to know what the heck is going on, this is the single best page on the web http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/speaker_to_line.html With this circuit and the $2 worth of resistors it calls for I was able to convert my tube integrated to add a pre-amp out that I have been using to run my two Dayton amps powering my distributed bass array for nearly a year now. So you can be sure all the info above is accurate and based on actual experience. As opposed to say what you may have "read on this forum somewhere". |
I prefer accurate, tight bass without boominess. Me too. The importance of having four cannot be overstated. Ported or sealed, driver size and wattage all pale in comparison. Nothing I ever heard anywhere comes close to what I have now with my distributed bass array. Duke himself, if I remember correctly, had a client with a $30k budget (just for subs) and compared went with the Swarm over a lot of much bigger, more powerful, and more expensive options. The Audiokinesis Swarm is a complete 4 sub system that will get you true state of the art bass for about $3-4k. Duke builds them ported and they come shipped with plugs to enable them to be run sealed if needed to get your desired in-room response. Tim, aka noble_100 has this and has posted lots of positive comments on it. Another option, I built my 4 subs using Morel 10" drivers and cabs from partsexpress.com where I also bought the same Dayton amps Duke (Audiokinesis) uses. This option is under $3k even with two amps and premium rosewood veneer. It does however involve a lot of DIY skills. Third option, buy 4 powered subs. Whatever size/power/design you like. This does matter, but a whole lot less than you’d think. By far the most important decision you have to make is not which but how many. |
I have a pair of Velodyne HGS-15s and a pair of HGS-10s. Does that count as four subs, or do they need to be the same size? Tim seems to think it does. He's been urging me to give up my idea of separate pairs of subs for stereo and HT setups. Do multiple small subs extend the lower end of the frequency range by multiplying the radiation area? For example, might three HGS-10s be the equivalent of two HGS-15s with a total radiation area of 30" in each case? I don't understand acoustic propagation well enough to know the answer. db |
