I have a set of gloss black B&W DB4S subs I’m planning to list. How do these compare with what you’re looking for?
Looking for a new Subwoofer
I am looking to replace my Definitive Technology Supercube 6000 with a new subwoofer to augment my Fyne F-702 speakers. My listening room is about 13 x 22 ft with 8’ ceilings and an 8’ opening to the dining room to the left of the listening area. I try to avoid major products made in mainland China—in spite of their at times very good quality, and I have narrowed the brands down to Paradigm, Vandersteen, and JL Audio, specifically, a single Paradigm XR11 or dual Defiance X12s, the Vandersteen Sub Three with “required” crossover, and the JL Audio Fathom f110v2. My budget is about $4K, with the XR11 and Fathom right at that price, the dual X12s at about $3K, and the Vandersteen with required crossover at about $5300 (including two crossovers, as they are sold in pairs). I may be able to audition the Paradigms and the Vandersteen; a friend has told me the room correction software with the JL Audio sub is way behind that of the Paradigms. In light of the excellent advice I have received in this forum, I wonder if folks out there have had an experience with these subwoofers and what they might recommend. Many thanks.
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Ive owned my fair share of subs over the decades. Most are over-hyped for what we really need a sub/s for Check these out https://verafiaudiollc.com/products/vanguard-caldera-12-active-subwoofer |
i would go w GR research dual open baffle servo subs either a DIY kit if you have build skills or already made multiple subwoofer home theaters. The benefits include: ► more even bass distribution across the seating area ► better seat to seat consistency for more effective EQ ► more output and LF coupling factor for deep extended bass response Ever wonder why some AV receivers have only one subwoofer output while others have two or more? How do you determine if the dual subwoofer outputs are independent or parallel and why does that matter? We discuss all of this in this video and show you with measurements why it’s so important to get the proper time alignment in a multi-sub system. Multi-Subwoofer Set Up & Calibration •Choose your subs wisely-preferably all identical subs or subs with near equal f3 (3dB rolloff) points •Place your subs wisely-in home theater rooms, nothing is more important for achieving good bass than proper placement of your subwoofers and listening seats Multi-Subwoofer Set Up & Calibration •Make sure all your subs are playing the identical signal -all of your subs should be playing a mono signal that consists of summed bass from all speakers set to "Small" plus LFE info •Setup bass management-in your A/V processor/receiver, set all speakers to small, use 80Hz crossover setting as a start, and defeat the internal LPF of all of your subwoofers the common question of whether or not you can mix sealed and ported subs into your home theater system and get good bass. I discuss the problems in doing this and how to overcome them to ensure you get good bass integration and avoid losing very low frequency response due to phase cancellations. Many good YT videos on the topic! https://youtu.be/xo2xkjJ_-zk?si=iiUQTqK81djMtHaB https://youtu.be/w1LG1m1tR8w?si=a2vvxTyS46b6vxQk https://youtu.be/ypQu4FncAjk?si=t7sXlonDb-dLpBrY https://youtu.be/8XE1JsfqKtA?si=pjR9cPiF-RJXvXBz https://youtu.be/CbAO4-F5Ejo?si=erIyC3pXTW-ea0TP https://www.youtube.com/live/qxKRinIaGnc?si=w6fHQrNid6jkI8D9 https://youtu.be/7ieX40Ktaxs?si=ZSNaLN4w_m8vdChN
World Class Subwoofer KitsOur Open Baffle Subwoofers use Direct Servo Technology and offer the quickest, cleanest bass that money can buy. There is no other subwoofer system that will give you this level of control and customization.
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@quickjack1234 wrote: "multiple subwoofer... benefits include: ► more even bass distribution across the seating area ► better seat to seat consistency for more effective EQ ► more output and LF coupling factor for deep extended bass response" Agreed, and ime another benefit is significantly smoother in-room bass response. "Smooth" bass is "fast" bass because it is the in-room peaks which take longer to decay into inaudibility. Rooms effects are far greater than the variations between different high quality subwoofers one might choose between, so addressing the room interaction issue is addressing the thing that matters by far the most, from a sound quality standpoint. @quickjack1234 again: "Multi-Subwoofer Set Up & Calibration... •Place your subs wisely-in home theater rooms, nothing is more important for achieving good bass than proper placement of your subwoofers and listening seats" Agreed, and I’d like to suggest a distributed multi-sub placement strategy. I suggest deliberately asymmetrical positioning such that each sub is interacting with the room in a significantly different way, and the sum of their multiple dissimilar peak-and-dip patterns will be smoother bass throughout the room. The following is one possible placement strategy, drawing from Earl Geddes’ thoughts on the subject: Place one sub in a corner; place the second and third subs along each of the two walls opposite that corner; and if there is a fourth sub, place it not too close to any of the others, and not symmetrically with respect to any of the others. Bonus points if you are able to elevate one of the subs closer to the ceiling than to the floor, as this distributes the bass sources in all three dimensions. Two subs intelligently distributed are smoother than one; three subs intelligently distributed are smoother than two; and so forth. Duke dealer/manufacturer |
Go with two of the Vandersteen subs. Two are the minimum. Never consider just one. IMHO the problem for most commercial subwoofers is their enclosures. When auditioning a subwoofer put your hand on it, any vibration or shaking you feel is distortion. Martin Logan and KEF make "balanced force" subwoofers that are quieter. Another problem is the use of plain low pass filters for crossing over. A complete 2 way crossover removes bass from the main speakers lowering distortion |
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