Best bass in Earth! Bass that just smells right...


Bass ,room acoustics, attack, delay, headroom, pressurization, and integration with the main speakers. So this has been my quest. Perfect bass that enhances everything yet detracts from nothing...

Over the 25 plus years as a hobbyist (mostly Audiophile/Music lover) yet also a mechanical engineer and Virgo perfection is a must. Once I heard the swarm/distributed bass array done right I was sold. I probably have spent 10s of thousand over the years buying and selling just bass/subwoofers and every gizmo to aid in this process.

I finally find myself with 26 10 inch woofers (only using 20 at the moment)  from four Kinergetics sw 800's in a small 20 x 16 room. 4 towers with 5 10 inch Seas each and 2 of the smaller subs with 3 10 inch woofers each. They are all in great condition given age the drivers are tight and work perfectly. Of all the money I have spent in home audio this has been my most difficult challenge to achieve perfection. I love Stats and Maggies but also like AC/DC and other music that the plannars are not the best at. Dyna Audio and Dunlavy speakers are the fastest coned sealed speakers (I am sure there are a million speakers out there that equal or better them not here to debate speakers) . I personally have always preferred the sound of FAST sealed cone speakers.

Back to the bottom foundation which I feel all speakers need regardless of price and woofer size. Trying to get four Sub woofers correct in a room is not easy. I probably have 200 hours into these SW 800's and now trying different AMPs and configurations. Im close but not there Id give it 88-91 percent but that last 10 percent is the magic.

So for they peeps out there getting into this can of worms. First unless your a sadomasochist like me it's probably best to buy a system like the Audio Kinesis or Debra system. It's just guaranteed results. Second this is for music not HT there is a difference. Although I had the HSU ULS 15's sealed 2 of em and they are darn good, Revel b 15' A's, Muse Model 18's along with several others. These SW 800's are more like actual speakers that require a lot of work to get right. They also use a funky forward distortion feedback Compusound circuitry (Im not an EE but from what little I was able to read it sounds like a forward servo design in their BSC cross overs) tons of pros and cons to the design but the fact they were meant to mate with the original Martin Logan full panel CLS says volumes when it comes to transparency. Although I dont use the high pass just the low pass.

So if you are into real music and enjoy room pressurization with out destroying (actually increasing, presence, timing, and smell of the music) multiple subwoofers are a mandatory.

I am writing this post for all the peeps getting into real bass so you dont make all the mistakes I have made. We all know how expensive mistakes are that is and why we are members of Agon and other groups. I do want to Thank a couple of members on here for their help and wisdom. I wont name them they know who they are. And special Thank you and Happy New Year to the moderators and founders of Agon for giving all of us a place to gain view points, experiences, and wisdom!

-Allgood
128x128haywood310
Decoupling bass frequency from mains allows for smoother room response using multiple subs, but I wonder how anchored in the soundstage 40-80Hz notes from stand up bass would sound
They would sound great.
Duke, how do you handle the adjustment of phase at -90 degrees between the two (or four) passive subwoofers while using only one amplifier in the Swarm system? Does this approach require two or more amplifiers each with a separate phase control? 
Kalali asked, "Duke, how do you handle the adjustment of phase at -90 degrees between the two (or four) passive subwoofers while using only one amplifier in the Swarm system? Does this approach require two or more amplifiers each with a separate phase control? " 

In a Swarm system, the 90 degrees apart adjustment calls for a second amplifier.

The amp that I use has a 0-180 degrees continuously-variable phase control. It’s the Dayton Audio SA-1000, available from Parts Express, in case anybody wants to "roll their own" passive multi-sub system.

Duke
I played bass through a Sunn Sceptre with 4-12's (412) in the late '60's and early '70's and got a GREAT bass sound, so multiple small drivers can work quite well--at lease 4, anyway.  Options included one or 2 15-inch JBL D-140's.  The 412 was a bit "tighter" and the 115 and 215 cabs were a bit "deeper" in sound (Fender Precision bass).

We also built cabs for the Levinson HQD systems in the mid-'70's using Hartley 24" woofers.  LARGE cab, but pretty impressive bass, especially on good recordings. 

You can get wonderful bass (reproduction) from several types of transducers.  Choose the ones that sound like YOU want them to in YOUR room.

Cheers!
I bought a Dayton SW 1000 rack amp and its a great AMP for cheap. But I felt my 16 ohm Kinergetics were not a good fit all in Mono. Plus it has a thump when the AMP is turned off. Sure its 1 in 1000 defect and Parts Express is graciously taking it back. No volume control over the rear and front is driving me crazy. Im hoping stereo and fade (rear and front) volume will be the best possible. I Did just find a a Kinergetics SW 200v mono with a Compusound II circutry as well as an older BSC 200 stereo Sub AMP on Ebay both 100 bucks plus shipping and I won the bids so lil less than 300. The Mono SW 200 Amp is already here and sounds great just running my two fronts. And non adjustable X over at 100 HZ which makes me cringe but these Kinergetics SW 800's are really really good and sound great crossed over that high. This set up once I get the other stereo AMP should allow me Stereo up front and a volume control for the rear. Unless any experts here say try somethings else??? Next will be an used Aragon, Levinson, or Krell in stereo for the front and try to make the rest of em work. Im guessing if I get my stereo perfect then add the swarm I should be in good shape. 

Side note... super jealous of that guy with 4 SVS 16's and a Audio Engineered room!!! I wanna be him when I am reincarnated... haha or at least his dog so I get to listen and get treats!


"The mono-vs-stereo subwoofers issue is most likely to come up for a system like my Swarm, where all four subs are passive and can be driven by a single amplifier for mono bass, or by two amplifiers (at additional cost) for stereo bass. If you have two (or more) powered subs, imo you might as well connect them in stereo if that’s feasible.

My understanding that stereo bass is rare is largely based on a conversation with Earl Geddes wherein he described working as a consultant for Ford and the question arose of whether or not to provide stereo low bass for a high-end sound system. So he asked all of the engineers to bring in their CD’s. I don’t recall how many he analyzed, but he did not find a single one with stereo information below either 80 Hz or 100 Hz (my memory is foggy on the exact figure). I think there are audiophile recordings with true stereo bass, seems to me I read about some many years ago, but I didn’t make note of what they were. If anyone reading this knows of any recordings with true stereo south of 80 Hz, I’d be very interested in knowing about them.

Duke"