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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
m-db's avatar
m-db
972 posts
 
My apologies, The Velodyne User Interface Manual is no longer coupled with the link I provided.  
https://www.velodyneacoustics.com/pdf/digitaldriveplus/DD+UserInterfaceManual.pdf
tuberculin
81 posts
 
@slimpikins

I know what you are saying. The class D is a switching amp, just like a wall wart. I don’t like the sound. SS amps typically sound similar to me.
Series T/i uses the same Class A/B power amplifier sections with large, high current power supplies, precision-wound toroidal transformers and an amazing reliability record that has powered almost 100,000 RELs.
In this case I take exception. The RELs are beyond your expectations. That is why I chose it over the Class D JL.

If you look at the way a Class D operates is chops the signal up similar to digitizing it. Yes they can make them sound pretty good with lots of power, but it don't sound as good to me.

Thank you and have a nice day.
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
plenty good discussion and advice here

i will add my 2 cents

pair of rel's ... done... :)
m-db's avatar
m-db
972 posts
 
   
  If you look at the way a Class D operates is chops the signal up similar to digitizing it. Yes they can make them sound pretty good with lots of power, but it don't sound as good to me.
Was your assessment of both subwoofers compared in the relitivly same position during the same A/B listening session?
slimpikins5's avatar
slimpikins5
191 posts
 
Just as an opposing point of view, I'd like to say that I have done a fair amount of comparison evaluation of Class A/Ab and Class D amps.
The switching power supplies are another story all together as I feel they don't cut it with powerful subwoofers.  The heavy toroidal type transformers with a lot of reserve capacitance just has the massive headroom for large dynamic power demands.   Take a look at the Bryston 28B3 monoblock amps (Google image these monsters and you cannot believe the power supply section), They are pumping out around 1800 watts into 4 ohms with what I am told is almost unimaginable dynamic power when under heavy loading.  I have not had the luxury to try these out yet, but I'd love to.
I have a nice Parasound A51 amp which is Class A operation up to around 10 watts output and then migrates into a Class Ab amp when the power goes up as it can do 400 watts per channel into 4 ohms.  It's a great amp, very smooth and musical.  I was sent one of their new design Class D amps to try out and I must say that on the lower end, it was impressive with its 600 watts per channel and gut wrenching bass response.  I did not like it much on the upper mids into upper range as I found it harsh on my ears after a period of time listening.  But it is not an expensive amp and it uses the typical off the shelf Class D power modules which many companies elect to go with.
From there I installed a pair of Anthem Statement M1 monoblock amps which are gorgeous Class D slim pancakes vs. the A51 Parasound A/Ab amp.  The M1's are connected to my main panel via dedicated 240V 15 amp circuits, one for each amp.... and running them on 240V vs. 120 V 20 amp lines made a huge difference in performance.  At  4 ohms, these babies pump at a minimum of 2000 watts per channel and all I can say is that it was a major WOW moment when I turned them on with some music I am very familiar with.  Massive low end, super silky mids and smooth/articulate Upper range.   It was almost too good to be true and I wanted to hear how they were on me after a night of long listening.... just fabulous, absolutely no harshness at all.  These amps have liquid cooled output devices and very proprietary feedback loop design along with an excellent power supply section.  There are no off the shelf Class D modules in the M1's they are all Anthem of Canada design and built in Toronto and expensive at $7K.

Now after a few days of use, I decided to swap out to my trusty Parasound Halo A51 A/Ab amp just to get back into Class A again.  After about 1 hour of use, I removed it from the rack and went back to the heavenly M1 monos.... no contest!   The Class A amp was just blah and lacking in articulation vs. the M1's in Class D.  The M1's are still here, I didn't use the A51 for about a year or so until I decided to use it for a surround system where it is doing duty as the center/surround/rear speakers which it does well for.  But for critical listening on two channel stereo vinyl with my VPI Ares3/SME Series IV tonearm/Ortofon A90 MC, not much will come close to the M1's.   Again I have not had the luxury to try the monster Bryston's, but at $30K for a pair of those monoblocks, I might be waiting.
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