Help me choose a subwoofer

[spmkd]

Hello all,

The setup is Marantz pm 11 s1, KEF LS50 Meta and source comes through Marantz CD 6005 or Wiim Pro. I would like to add a sub to the mix.

The room is about 4.5 x 5.5m.

Listening only to music, no movies, mainly at lower volume. All styles of music: Jazz, Blues, Rock, Metal, Vocals, Pop… almost all.

I’m currently in between REL T5/x, REL T7/(x but can afford i) and SVS SB 1000 pro.

Thanks!

 

[staticV3]

Which country are you located in?

 

[Keith_W]

Well that's easy. Buy anything you like, just not a REL.

 

[vsch]

In general, the most important properties of a subwoofer are low-end extension and SPL capability. However, as you listen to music and at low volumes, the latter is less of a concern.

If you're in Europe, SVS SB-1000 (classic or pro), Arendal 1961 1S, and XTZ 10.17 / 12.17 EDGE all have excellent price-performance ratios. In the US, there are even more strong options. This is an excellent comparison thread with measurements:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/i-measured-10-subwoofers.49042/

For your stated use case, the SB-1000 should be perfectly adequate.

More important than the specific sub is proper integration. This requires measurements and some form of DSP for crossover, delay (time/phase alignment), and EQ to tame room modes. Your WiiM Pro already provides PEQ and — if I’m not mistaken — some delay functionality, which help with room-correction and time-alignment of the sub. Adding a cheap measurement mic (e.g. UMIK-1) and using REW to optimally integrate the sub will make a way bigger difference than the actual model.