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"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
erik_squires
16,138 posts
 
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
curlyhifi
157 posts
 
Very happy with the Rel S/510. Mainly listen to music. I have two of them. IMO the JL is better for Cinema.
diamonddupree's avatar
diamonddupree
75 posts
 
@erik_squires yes, definitely. I don’t hear the amp straining at higher decibels anymore. I think a combination of the 7” drivers not having to go so low and the extra headroom from the amp not having to drive as low cleaned up the distortion. Very happy with the results. Thanks for all your recommendations. Definitely helped a lot!
erik_squires
16,138 posts
 
You are welcome, @diamonddupree

Yeah, you probably cut the power the amps make, and speakers try to play, by 70%.  It is going to be very very hard for you to switch to a floor standing speaker now. :)

Best,

E
erik_squires
16,138 posts
 

The F110 does a fantastic job of EQing the room from the listening space.



<< sigh >> yeah. I sigh because I love the results of the JL auto-calibration/correction system, but the price premium is a big step up. Still, much cheaper than switching to floor-standing speakers which won’t integrate with the room as well.

I recommend JL Audio subs a lot, but with fear about the cost, but there’s a reason for it.

If you are either very experienced with room measurements or have another way to achieve room calibration like through an ARC equipped miniDSP or Anthem pre/integrated you can achieve very similar results with far less expensive subs from Hsu or SVS.
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