Are big subwoofers viable for 2 channel music?

oops, needed a double negative there .... "doesn’t mean ringing isn’t occurring"

Has anyone directly compared Rel offerings to JTR, PSA or Rhythmik

I have a REL S5/SHO and a Rythmik F12SE in my system. They both cycle low enough and are loud enough for my needs which is 2 ch. audio. The main difference between them is the notes reproduced by the REL have noticeably more sustain and a longer decay than the Rythmik.

Some people really like the longer sustain and decay because it gives the bass a thicker, richer feel. Some people despise the longer sustain and decay because it can mask punch and detail. 

This is by no means an absolute, but here's my experience. I had dual JL Audio F110 v2 subs and replaced them with a single JL Audio F112 v2. It wasn't close to my ears, as I preferred the single, bigger F112 v2. I recently sold dual REL Carbon Limited subs and replaced them with dual REL G1 mkII subs. For a couple of days I only had one REL G1 mkII, but once again I preferred the single larger subwoofer over dual smaller subs. Bigger subs pressurize my room better, open the soundstage, provides more detail, and space between instruments. We often talk about adding subwoofers to improve bass, but good subwoofers improve everything across the entire audio spectrum.

    I agree with millercarbon and brotw, DBAs  excel at providing very fast, smooth, detailed bass throughout the entire room, not just at a designated LP.  The bass is also capable of being as powerful and dynamic as the music or HT content calls for because there's 4 of them operating in mono as a collective group.
     Based on my experience utilizing a 4-sub Audio Kinesis Debra DBA system for the past 5 years, the main benefit is the perception that there is a complete absence of bass peaks, dips, nulls, muddiness, boominess and ringing.  I consider the bass quality as near state of the art in my room/system and cannot identify any actual bass deficencies.
     As I understand it, the benefits of utilizing multiple subs begin to be realized with the deployment of 2 subs in a given room, especially when both subs are optimally and precisely positioned in relation to the LP.  It's also very important that the volume, crossover frequency and phase controls are optimally set on each sub for these benefits to be realized.  
     Based on my prior usage of 2 self-amplified subs in my room/system, I would describe these benefits as the beginning of realizing the benefits of using a 4-sub DBA system.  The bass begins to sound faster, smoother, more detailed, more powerful and dynamic, better blended with the main speakers and very good overall.  My experience transitioning to 4 subs resulted in even further improvements in all of these bass qualities and the overall bass quality improved from very good to what I consider near state of the art.
     To answer brotw's question about whether one can attain an approximation of a DBA's bass quality performance utilizing just 2 higher powered subs with room correction, therefore, I believe the answer is a qualified yes, depending on whether an individual is satisfied having this high quality bass restricted to a single designated LP in the room. 
     However, I'm less convinced of the positive effects of room correction hardware/software and room treatments on overall in-room bass performance.  Of course, this could be the result of never utilizing room correction, and only recently utilizing room treatments, in any of my own multi-sub room/system configurations. I was concerned about adding bass room treatments recommended by GIK after a room analysis, 2 stacked TriTrap bass traps in all 4 corners and some other 5.5" thick bass trap panels spread about, but they've had no negative bass effects in my room.
     As to room correction hardware/software, I suspect that having ruler flat bass response in a room may not sound as good as we might expect.
     So brotw, my best answer to your question is a definite...... maybe.  

Tim

I suspect that having ruler flat bass response in a room may not sound as good as we might expect

Thanks for the sharing Tim. I believe room correction has the benefit of improving the tonality of the rooms bass response at the LP. Of all the speakers and amps that have made their way through my listening room, not one did not benefit from dsp. Music sounded more coherent and live with tighter bass and imaging every time I flipped on the Dirac filter. The mixed phase filters are great, and perhaps they are correcting the speaker crossovers and room all in one.

That being said, dsp is no silver bullet. Can't fix reflection points nor extended decay from a "lumpy" single sub bass response, only DBA appears to do that.

One area of interest include using room correction to help integrate dual subs better after level and phase matching to the mains at the crossover frequency. Another curiousity is seeing if using bass management in my newly acquired Parasound P5 produces better sound by unloading my tube integrated LM508ia from sub 50-80Hz duty driving Tekton DI's and simultaneously reducing the SBIR effect from the mains below 50Hz. That falls into the "to high pass or not" category.

Xovers like the JL CR-1 potentially disturb the pristine signal coming out of really nice preamp, then again, the same is said of dsp. I have neither so I'll dip my toes in the water with the P5 which allows funds for a pair of good subs.