One big subwoofer or two weaker subwoofers?

One better sub is allways allways better than two of anything else equalling the same price! Assuming you do not buy too big of a sub for the room and that the one sub in it's best position in the room, provides the correct amount of bass at the listening position! This sometimes is not possable no matter how big the sub is in which case two (in mono!) will smooth out the room nodes. Stereo subs is an absolute joke and shows no knowledge of how bass loads a room. Stereo bass with evenly placed subs will just cancel out the bass at the listening position period. TAS covered this topic perfectly a few issues back so the statements I make can be proven by those who should know.

How about two big subs instead of two small subs or one big sub? If you want low frequencies with authority, you can't do that with a small box and keep things "tight" with good transient response : ) Sean
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i would agree with Sdcampbell and Sugarbrie, it's the quality that counts. I have had a REL subwoofer in the past and they are very good, and imo, one of the best out there. For audio, i never heard a subwoofer that I liked with a bigger than a 10" woofer (some had multiple woofers). imo, the best speakers that i have heard had 10" or less woofers (most have multiple smaller (10" or less) woofers).

Size matters. Of course so does quality, but 20 Hz sound at any reasonable volume is an uphill battle for an 8-10 inch driver.

It is possible to make a small cone vibrate at subwoofer frequencies, but what happens when the sound goes out into the room? It spreads out and becomes less loud. And with a small driver, the SPL falls off rapidly. If you have a small room, and listen close up, a small subwoofer is OK. In the extreme case, tiny earphone diaphrams can reproduce LF very well, but require immediate proximity to the ear.

Take a look at what the cone of a small subwoofer is doing...long excursion is necessary. For any dynamic loudspeaker, (good ones and bad ones alike) performance deteriorates as cone excursion increases. A large cone will need much less excursion to move the same volume of air.

In keeping with rules of full disclosure, I state that my SW system consists of three 15" plus three 12" drivers mounted in large sealed enclosures embedded (for cosmetic reasons) in the wall of my room. These systems "drive" the entire room, so that the sound is very uniform throughout, and there is an effortless quality that I miss with even excellent smaller subwoofers. Ideally, I would have the entire wall consist of drivers, and it would not matter if it was 20 15" cones, or 120 8" cones. My subwoofer design philosopy is consistent with the nature of my main speakers...three planar MG1.6.

Eldatford: interesting! But if your drivers are IN the wall, why have you sealed them?? Why not IB? Or am I missing s/thing?

BTW, is that 6 low frequency drivers per channel - or is it ONE s/woof (with 6 drivers)?
Pls excuse my confusion.