just bought a 2nd matching subwoofer, have one subwoofer output on my WiiM. What do I lose using a splitter?

[Shrek6]

I just bought a 2nd RSL 10e. I’m using a WiiM Amp Ultra which has one subwoofer out, so I’ll be using an RCA splitter.

For doing bass management and room correction, what I’m I losing out on doing it this way vs adding a miniDSP or equivalent on the subwoofer output?
The 10e has a phase dial, so I figured time alignment could be done even with a splitter, and since they’re identical subwoofers, I assume they don’t need independent EQ settings.

Is there anything to be gained adding miniDSP or similar to manage both subwoofers independently?

 

[Mort]

Try to place them equidistant from walls and your MLP. Your timing could be a little off but it's unlikely to be noticable.

The bigger thing you are missing is the ability to use a second sub in a very different location to combat room modes. To many of us that's a big advantage but it also can be hard to achieve in practice.

 

[sigbergaudio]

They might need different EQ settings if you place them at different locations in the room. But there are different schools here. Should you EQ the sum of the subwoofers (then you're good), or should you EQ each sub individually (more difficult with your setup).

EQing the sum response usually works fairly well, so using a splitter like you suggest is a good solution given what you have available to you.

 

[DVDdoug]

Is there anything to be gained adding miniDSP or similar to manage both subwoofers independently?

Possibly, if the room and placement isn't symmetrical so the subs behave differently. But I wouldn't expect a big difference and any differences might actually "average out" room modes. Check out Multiple Sub Optimizer.

Time alignment shouldn't be a big problem unless you have large distance-differences. At 80Hz the wavelength is 14 feet. If one sub is 7-feet closer to your ears than the other (or the same difference with the mains) that's a half-wavelength and the waves will be out-of-phase and cancel.

You don't normally hear an actual time delay (echo) until around 40 milliseconds (40 feet) and it might require a bigger time delay at low frequencies.



...I have a pair of subs run from a splitter. The room is almost symmetrical and the subs are on the bottom of my left & right "speaker stacks" so there are no timing differences.