Need sub recommendation for second floor apartment

[Argonil]

I have the Adam T5V studio monitors and I'm looking for a fitting 10" sub. The matching Adam T10S sub has an annoying standby feature which makes it a no-go. I live on the second floor so I want to be mindful of the people living downstairs. That means down-firing and bottom-ported subs are probably not ideal. My budget is $400, give or take. I live in Denmark. My DAC is a DO100 Pro which supports balanced cables.

Any suggestions? I looked at the sub spreadsheet but many of them haven't been tested and there's a lot I don't understand.

 

[ppataki]

Although it is not a pro-audio sub but have you considered the Yamaha NS-SW300?
If you search here on ASR about the NS-SW series you will find some great comments about it
It has a servo feature that makes it even more tempting (especially at that price point....)

 

[dweeeeb2]

Something to consider, and please correct me anyone if I am wrong but IME one important factor that impacts bass leakage outside of the listening space is incorrectly placing the sub / having the MLP on a node.
If the MLP is not getting the benefits of room modes then you will keep boosting the sub just to have sufficient bass at the MLP.
Also as an example, in my 2.1 system I can get some interference between the sub and my mains down low. If I do not have a HPF on my mains the sub gets cranked up and the bass SPL in my hallway is terrible.

 

[Argonil]

Although it is not a pro-audio sub but have you considered the Yamaha NS-SW300?
If you search here on ASR about the NS-SW series you will find some great comments about it
It has a servo feature that makes it even more tempting (especially at that price point....)

It looks good, but people say it easily gets really loud? Makes me think you can just turn the volume down, no?
I'm having a hard time figuring out the difference between it and the other subs in the NS-SW series, since several of them appear to have 10" woofers. Yet somehow they differ in their measurements. The NS-SW300 looks to be sold out at the cheapest retailers though, so I'd have to widen my search for it.

Anyone else have some recommendations or do you endorse ppataki's?

 

[Argonil]

Something to consider, and please correct me anyone if I am wrong but IME one important factor that impacts bass leakage outside of the listening space is incorrectly placing the sub / having the MLP on a node.
If the MLP is not getting the benefits of room modes then you will keep boosting the sub just to have sufficient bass at the MLP.
Also as an example, in my 2.1 system I can get some interference between the sub and my mains down low. If I do not have a HPF on my mains the sub gets cranked up and the bass SPL in my hallway is terrible.

I only really have one place I can put it, which is in the corner of a square room next to my computer table. The room is not very big. The opposing corner down the wall has a door, so there isn't any corner there, it's a flat surface facing the center of the room. I suppose the bass might reflect off the surface and get projected into the center of the room.

 

[Sacha]

If you want to stick to the pro audio world the Dynaudio 9S looks pretty good to me.

 

[Timcognito]

Muro | Subwoofer | SUB2010 | Best Audiophile Speakers

Elac - The life of sound | Best Audiophile Speakers

www.elac.com

Muro | Subwoofer | SUB2020 | Best Audiophile Speakers

Elac - The life of sound | Best Audiophile Speakers

www.elac.com

 

[Argonil]

If you want to stick to the pro audio world the Dynaudio 9S looks pretty good to me.

Way too expensive. I specified I'd like to get something in the $400 range.

Muro | Subwoofer | SUB2010 | Best Audiophile Speakers

Elac - The life of sound | Best Audiophile Speakers

www.elac.com

Muro | Subwoofer | SUB2020 | Best Audiophile Speakers

Elac - The life of sound | Best Audiophile Speakers

www.elac.com

These seem to only go as low as 35 Hz. The design is great but they're probably not the best pick.

 

[Rick63]

https://rslspeakers.com/speedwoofer-10e/#specifications

 

[Timcognito]

These seem to only go as low as 35 Hz. The design is great but they're probably not the best pick.

Well your neighbors may like that fact. Most people don't hear much below 30 and start to feel it. These are good because they allow for a lot placement options with the size and onboard DSP BT app to quell room modes and they are discounted in price. No experience with these but the app is good. Do a little research on them. The choice is of course yours. Good luck

 

[soundflo_w]

You might also consider the Kali Audio WS-6.2, which was recently measured by Erin.

In the video titled “$499 Subwoofer Shootout: Kali Audio WS-6.2 vs Yamaha HS8S,” Erin’s Audio Corner compares the Kali Audio WS-6.2 subwoofer with the Yamaha HS8S. Here are the key points:

1. Products Compared:
   • Kali Audio WS-6.2: A compact subwoofer with two 6.5-inch horizontally opposed woofers.
   • Yamaha HS8S: Yamaha’s subwoofer designed to complement their HS series studio monitors.
2. Impressions:
   • The Kali WS-6.2 is described as a “BEAST.”
   • Erin discusses the performance, features, and overall experience of both subwoofers.

 

[GIEGAR]

I have the Adam T5V studio monitors and I'm looking for a fitting 10" sub. The matching Adam T10S sub has an annoying standby feature which makes it a no-go. I live on the second floor so I want to be mindful of the people living downstairs. That means down-firing and bottom-ported subs are probably not ideal. My budget is $400, give or take. I live in Denmark. My DAC is a DO100 Pro which supports balanced cables.

Any suggestions? I looked at the sub spreadsheet but many of them haven't been tested and there's a lot I don't understand.

That won't make any difference. Take a look at the wavelengths involved (eg. ƒ = 40Hz; λ = 8.6m). At these wavelengths, low bass radiates into the room omni-directionally and the orientation of drivers/ports (and the 'bulk' of the sub itself) is of no consequence.

Check out the range of compact subs at BK Electronics. The XLS300-FF/DF models appear within your budget.

BK Electronics

Manufacturer of award winning Home Cinema and Hi-Fi subwoofers buy direct and save pounds

bkelectronics.co.uk

 

[just1n]

You might also consider the Kali Audio WS-6.2, which was recently measured by Erin.

I second the Kali WS-6.2.

 

[Digby]

My suggestion would be to not do it, doubly so if the floors aren't thick concrete. If you're lacking bass, probably better to get bigger mains, given your living situation.

 

[Chromatischism]

Way too expensive. I specified I'd like to get something in the $400 range.


These seem to only go as low as 35 Hz. The design is great but they're probably not the best pick.

Output < 35 Hz isn't a feature of most subs in the $400 range. But in terms of bang for the buck, the best I've seen are those from https://hsuresearch.com/

 

[Argonil]

You might also consider the Kali Audio WS-6.2, which was recently measured by Erin.

This looks like a nice one but I see that it has nearly 50 ms group delay in the 20-30 Hz range. Would this be audible? What would it sound like in a real-world scenario?

It also looks like it only has an 80 Hz crossover frequency. My current sub is some trash I won't bore you with but it has a 150 Hz crossover frequency. I use it for my Adam T5Vs because those monitors don't sound as great if they have to handle the bass, it kinda muddies the mids, and some details in important game sounds are harder to distinguish because the bass drowns them out. I haven't tried the speakers with a 80 Hz crossover frequency, I hope it's enough. Ideally I could start at 80 Hz and turn it up if it isn't enough. Can I use free software such as Equalizer APO to set my own crossover frequency in case 80 Hz doesn't sound the way I'd like?

 

[mj30250]

https://rslspeakers.com/speedwoofer-10e/#specifications

Unless you are open to shopping used, I don't think you can do better than this at the moment within your budget.

 

[Argonil]

Unless you are open to shopping used, I don't think you can do better than this at the moment within your budget.

It does have a lot of bang for the buck. Think it's better than the Kali Audio WS-6.2?

 

[mj30250]

It does have a lot of bang for the buck. Think it's better than the Kali Audio WS-6.2?

If you can stretch to $500, the Kali is better, but then the RSL 10S MKII would also be in contention. I'd go with the latter as it offers deeper extension.

 

[Argonil]

If you can stretch to $500, the Kali is better, but then the RSL 10S MKII would also be in contention. I'd go with the latter as it offers deeper extension.

I can't find any retailers for the speedwoofers that ship to Denmark. I can find some for the Kali, but yeah, it's more expensive than I would've liked. Costs $650 here in Europe. Hmm.