Feedback on cheap 10" monitoring subwoofers ?

[jmf11]

I'm lurking around buying small monitors and a subwooofer to experiement. I'm not settled yet on a precise monitor model but candidates are JBL 305P, Neumann KH80 (second had), Kali LP or ADAM TV5.... For the subwoofer, it seems that some obvious choices in US are not available in Europe (like Monoprice) or significantly more expensive (like SVS).

Thomman.de sales ranking gives: Presonus Eris Sub8, KRK S10G4, KRKS8G4, ADAM T10S, Presonus Tremblor T10, Swisssonic Sub10 (I skipped Genelec, Neumann ones). JBL LSR310S is also on my list.

The super sweetchaos subwoofer database does not contains yet measurements for those 8" or 10" monitoring subwoofers. However, they are normally designed for monitoring, and to work with appreciated mains models. So we could expect them to be technically correct for usage with those type of mains. They have XLR in/out. Some of them have RCA In which I would appreciate. They are priced between 200€ and 500€ (SVS SB 1000 PRO will be 750€).

Could we expect good value from those? Would you have experience about them?

Very different from a 10" Neumann KH750 (sealed), Genelec equivalent, Dynaudio 9S or SVS?

My use case is about listening to music (not reeally heavy bass one), 1.5m listening distance, at about 70-80dB SPL average. Volume of the sub can be a concern, so smaller looks better (without going to micro 3000 or KC62).

Feedback welcomed,

Best regards,

JMF

 

[Spyart]

Subscribing to the topic because looking exactly the same for jbl 305mk2 (jbl 310s may be obvious but too big? too loud? no bypass switch?)

 

[MachOne]

A big part of a sub working well in the room is being able to EQ it. Maybe factor in buying a minidsp EQ or similar if the budget allows.

 

[jmf11]

A big part of a sub working well in the room is being able to EQ it. Maybe factor in buying a minidsp EQ or similar if the budget allows.

Hi,

I can DSP. I use a RPi with CamillaDSP upstream (or EqualizerAPO). I have a UMIK microphone and have already played with REW. Part of the intention in this project started with the rankings of Spinorama.org and statistics that show that great scores (like 8.5) can be achieved with small and cheap monitors + EQ + Subwoofer. So EQ is defintively on the table here.

I also have my amps that do some DSP. But going to passive subwoofers looks more expensive than those off-the-shelf active ones. Dayton 10" at 400€ here without the plate amp (https://www.soundimports.eu/en/dayton-audio-300-7091.html).

So either those subwoofers looks like a bargain... or they are crap ;-). Would be happy to know !

JMF

 

[MachOne]

I'd probably go with the JBL or the Presonus 10in just on the specs, personally. The KRK might be fine too but I don't like the yellow ;-)

 

[Spyart]

I'm personally not only interesting on adding sub octave content to 305s but really curious on how well a sub would improve distortion performance or even clarity around 100hz (right after crossover point) then. For monitoring purpose for sure ;-)

 

[ZolaIII]

This is with single Wharphadale WH-D10 in half treated small room (4x2.5 m) at 2.5 m and enough for reference calibration point (83 dB mono, 86 dB stereo):

its PEQ-ed of course. Its nothing special and suffers from same flaws as many not expensive subs like not precise setinggs (so you have to measure it...), got it on discount and it fits the need being close enclosure and with fixed point high pass (80 Hz) trough RCA I/O.
Of course there is more to it then it meats the eye and decoupling from floor (deacent thick rug, pack's or silicone seaters under it) make a quiet a difrece, on other hand there are and people who like it rough and vibrant (I don't). After who knows which rearrange of room I am happy (for now) as it is.

 

[staticV3]

Could we expect good value from those?

Studio subs do not usually present good value.
Early roll-off and low SPL is commonly the price you pay for XLR I/O and a built-in Xover with high-passed mains.

 

[MachOne]

Erin tested a bunch of budget 12in subs a while back

and 10in ~ 2 year ago

 

[jmf11]

Hummm, have to dig further:
- thread steer to NOT using studio subs, but "Hifi" subs instead,
- but Hifi subs don't always have the correct connectivity (XLR), nor all provide hipass filtering,
- then monitor speakers (at least those I looked at) can't be high passed using their internal DSP, so has to be done either by the sub, or externally multi channels between the DSP, the speakers and the sub...

So it gets more complex at the end...

I will still look at Erin's videos.