"Musical" subwoofers? Advice please on comparing JL subs


I'm ready to be taught and I'm ready to be schooled. I've never owned a subwoofer and I'm not so hot with the physics of acoustics. I've had my eye on two 10" JL Audio subwoofers, the e110 ($1600) and the f110v2 ($3500). I hope this is a simple question: will the f110v2 be more "musical" than the e110?

Perhaps unnecessary details: I'm leaning into small bookshelf speakers, mini monitors with limited bass, for near-field listening in a small room. I don't want to rock the casbah and rattle the windows; I want to enhance the frequency range from roughly 28hZ to perhaps 90 or 100hZ: the lower notes of the piano, cello, bassoon, double bass, etc. I think I'm asking: will one of those subwoofers produce a more "musical" timbre in that range? Is spending the extra $2000 worth it in terms of acoustic warmth and pleasure? More generally, are some subs more musical than others? Or is that range just too low for the human ear to discern critically? 

I know there are a lot of variables and perhaps my question can't be answered in isolation. If it helps, let's put to the side topics such as room treatments, DSP and DARO, debates about multiple subs, debates about using subwoofers at all, and the difficulties of integration. Let's assume a fast main speaker with limited bass. I'm not going to put a 12" sub in the room. While I'm not going to put four subs in the small room, I would strongly consider putting in two, and it would of course be much more economical to put in two e110s. This, though, would only lead to the same question now doubled: would two f110v2 subs sound more musical than two e110s? Also, I'm sure there are other fine subs out there but I'm not looking for recommendations; if it helps to extrapolate, consider the REL S/510 and T/5i. 

I realize that I may be wildly off with all this, and I know that the best way to find out is to try them out. I'm not at that point yet. I'm simply curious about the "musicality" of different subwoofers. 
northman
Hi Northman, the F110s with the CR 1 crossover will be phenomenal. There are several issues you should be aware of.
As Duke noted, the bass response will vary throughout the room quite dramatically. The easy but expensive way to deal with this is to use 4 subs, otherwise you have to be careful how you set the room up. To start position all your speakers equidistant from the listening position. The best is to put the subs perhaps 3 feet apart against the wall in the center flanked buy the main speakers all on the radius of a circle with the center at the listening position. Hopefully, this will automatically phase the speakers. 
Now, the big problem is that if the listening position is at a "Null" point in the room DARO is going to try to correct this. If the null is bad enough DARO will clip the subwoofer amps. The way to deal with this is to move the listening position forwards or backwards to a point in the room where the bass is loudest. It may only take a couple of feet to do this! The way you tell is play a 50 Hz test tone and walk back and forth along the center radius. You will hear very obvious changes in the loudness of the tone. Mark the floor where it is loudest. If you do not trust your ears you can use a sound pressure meter. Given the circumstances of your room you may not be able to place the listening position at the peak but at least you can avoid the null taking some of the stress off the subs. After this run Daro. With the subs in the center do not be afraid of running the crossover up as high as 125 Hz. If you are using mini monitors like LS3 5As you drop the distortion of the little woofer quite dramatically. 

Please tell us how you make out!!
Strongly suggest Vandersteen Model 3 Subs if you want the most musical result.  I did that with my Apogee Scintillas, One Ohm and its a marvelous solution.  Got his best High Pass Crossover.  Talk to John Rutan an Audio Connection, he knows his stuff, and is a very knowledgeable Vandersteen dealer.
We were selling jl for years we really would not  recomend the brand huge issues with reliability 

Performance was good the paradigm subs wew bettet

Now we are importing a line of fantastic british sube mj acoustics

These are extremely musical subs with dual crossovers allowing for similtanous usaage for both theater and music

Dave and troy
Audiointellect nj
Us importer mj acoustics


Hey @diamonddupree

How do you feel about the dynamic range of your system now that the high pass filter is in?  Have your worries been addressed?

Erik
Very happy with the Rel S/510. Mainly listen to music. I have two of them. IMO the JL is better for Cinema.