Are big subwoofers viable for 2 channel music?

To smodtactical,

Imo the sheer size of your large listening space bodes well for bass reproduction. Arguably what the Swarm does in a smaller room is, approximate the in-room response that we’d get with fewer subs in a much larger room. I do think your square footprint makes asymmetrical sub placement worth a shot, and you may well get very good results with only two big subs. As an alternative to asymmetrical, particularly if your two subs have phase controls, I suggest center of the left and right walls, and then dial in 90 degrees of phase difference between the two subs.

Despite the fact that I use four relatively "small" subs, I do not subscribe to the school of thought that says small woofers are "faster". What we perceive as "speed" in the bass region is directly related to the in-room frequency response curve. To the extent that small woofers tend to have less low bass they may be perceived as "faster", but that’s not a direct result of the cone diameter in and of itself.

I do not have first-hand experience with very many of my competitor’s subs, but ime the Rhythmiks are very good. A pair of big Rhythmiks in your big room would be hard to beat.

Duke

Outstanding room and rig indeed

Thank you, it is actually a lazy rig, I have several problems, one is the wife doesn't want dual racks so I can put my turntable in, another one is the wife won't allow a fixed coach / chair on the sweet spot, so I have to listen from the side or move every time a chair to the sweet spot to listen. The other one is her decorations are on the way kind of blocking direct hearing. So is either these conditions or we divorce. Eventually I will get a separate room just for my stuff, we'll see

@smodtactical, I have been using two JL F212 in my 2 channel system fro the last 7 years. Last year I decided to add two more subs to attain a 4 subwoofer array. So instead of getting two more JL subs, I bought two BIG subwoofers from Funk Audio 21.0LX. I tried to integrate the four subwoofers to my 2 channel music but finally the BEST integration if just the two BIG subs. Now the JL F212 is used for HT. The bass quality from the 21.0LX is so well control and fast. the tonal texture is awesome. I am super happy that I go for the BIG subs, may be the 24 inch subs in the next upgrade.

Hi tyray,

There’s just one caveat, My subs do not have phase (switchable or continuously variable). My PSA subs have 2 pots for:

Time Delay from 0ms to 16ms and
Room Size from small to large

In your case the time delay pot is your phase control.

I do not know what the room size pot controls. I will try to find out and get back to you.

What other controls does your PSA have?

@tyray

The room size pot appears to be a low frequency attenuation filter with 0 attenuation when set to large room and maximum attenuation when set to small room. I do not know if the pot adjusts the slope of the attenuation, the frequency where the attenuation starts or both.