Subwoofer. Great one song. Not so great the next song.


I'm not a subwoofer guy. Played around with one in my primary system (Aerial Acoustics 7Bs, Proceed 250w amp, AR LS-16 tube preamp). Big B&W powered, not sure which. Didn't think it added anything. Ditched it.


Recently got a pair of Aerial Acoustic 6Ts for my secondary system. They have no place to be but right up against the wall. Maybe a foot out. Can't decide if they sound better with a sock in the rear facing bass port or not. Its a wash. Overall they sound pretty dang good though.


But, I played around with a JL Audio e110 sub. Pretty nice unit. Put the socks back in the bass ports.

On some songs the combo with the sub just sounds stellar. On others it sounds boomy and thumpy. My audiophile hang up is taught, clear, concise bass. I do not like boomy and thumpy at all. I can get up and turn the output on the sub down a little and it sounds okay again.

But I don't want to do that every time a different song comes on.

Now, on this sub you can change crossover frequencies, phase and also a polarity switch. I don't know _anything_ about that stuff. I've got it set on the more or less default settings in the manual. The only thing I've messed with is the polarity switch and for reasons I don't understand it sounds better on 180 than 0. I have not messed with the crossover frequency and phase dials.

Is there any chance that changing any of those settings would allow me to reach a sweet spot where I don't have to change settings on the sub frequently? I may or may not keep this sub. If I can't find that sweet spot I'll let it go as alone the 6Ts don't sound bad by any measure.

Thanks,
George


n80
George,
if you are constrained with placement options and number of subs (two is better, a DSA is best), this little dsp device works wonders:
http://www.dspeaker.com/en/products/anti-mode-8033.shtml
You will notice a virtually complete elimination of the room modes (causing the boomy bass).
Connection wise you run your speakers full range and insert this little unit between line out and sub.
Good luck.


Hmm yeah well looking at specs for your mains which go down to 32hz and the 10” sub which only goes to 25 hz, on paper, it does not seem like the sub adds much. Maybe in a larger room and/or if main amp is underpowered to drive the speakers to their full capacity. Also relatively few recordings will have enough going on at those frequencies to tell. Sounds like a tough task with very marginal benefit at best. Losing the sub may not be a bad idea. You probably do not really need one.
To everyone’s credit in this thread, I saw info & equipment resources either I would use or recommend to empower others.

To all I MUST emphasize caution using EQ boosting more than 2-3dB to “correct” system frequency response. If you take on the mindset of a wood or stone carver, using an EQ* to remove to shape the response, you’re far less LIKELY** to blow your speakers or sub. Too much EQ often introduces other artifacts. YMMV
*I much prefer PEQs over graphic.
** boosting much below a sealed sub’s F3, can cause trouble FAST. I would NOT the same a ported sub the bottom octave or so unless I had the $ to replace - but that’s me

OP: Consider listening to just the sub at length using different cutoff frequencies. Also moving your sub and/mains an inch or two in one direction or another can make a big diff in room response. 

Also the “mains” F3 vs the sub F3: the main’s driver handling 100hz up to the mid range, typically though several factors govern same etc, that driver’s octave, octave and a half MAY not be it’s strong suit in bass quality. YMMV on this.

I agree that using a sub to relieve the mains below 100 hz benefits the mids by reducing Doppler effects.

To be fair, my 5.5 Home Theatre, before I deployed a dedicated sub* for each corner* channel*, I listened to music full range, NO sub(s) because of what the OP and others w/integration struggle.
*each corner channel sub**, thanks to extensive DSP driven XO use, receives the sub signal just for that channel. The System LFE/sub*** handles the Center frequencies below 80hz.
** a 12 1/2” WAF cube that’s accurate, but not loud, to 27hz
*** a bigger brother, like** but accurate to 20hz

Thanks for reading this far, tony