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Seeking Your Suggestions re Subwoofer in My Audio Setup

Kaval

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I am using Cadence Diva floorstanding speakers 2.0 (two-way, 8-ohm, front-ported speakers with a stated frequency range of 42 Hz to 25 kHz, a sensitivity of 88.5 dB, and a power handling range of 50 to 200 watts).

I have recently got an SMSL DA-9 Amplifier that has a sub out.

Some days back, I thought of using sub out of amp by adding Edifier T5 subwoofer (8" Speaker Driver, low pass filter with 38Hz frequency response). I can only afford this subwoofer and is readily available in my country. So other subwoofers are out of my consideration.

A forum member who is well versed in these matters suggested I won't gain much in terms of lower frequencies by adding a T5 woofer into my setup as my floorstanders' frequency range starts from 42 Hz while of Edifier at 37 Hz.

Plus, the subwoofer may require proper adjustment and tuning to gel with my floorstanders, which may not be worthwhile the efforts, money, and space.

So I dropped off the idea but since the T5 sub is now cheaply available in my country as a part of festival season, I could buy it.

Attached is a pic of my living room where I listen to music.

Since there is hardly any place to keep a woofer next to my speakers, I was thinking of keeping the woofer inside a no-door wooden closet (see red circle) that is located behind the curtain, which means at least 1 foot behind the speakers and also behind the curtains.

What do you think about the proposed location of the woofer?

Feel free to suggest better locations as minor adjustment with the furniture is possible.

Or do you also think that I should drop the idea altogether?

thanks in advance
 

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Trdat

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Go with minimum two subs, three is better of course. You can't go wrong with corner placement.

Your last question is contemplating adding a subwoofer? And someone recommended not to go with subs because your floorstanders provide enough bass? A system is not a system without subs, I hope that well versed member is one of the experts so I understand his take on why he has recommended what he has but I can tell you that subs is the single best upgrade and the more you add the better your system gets.

But you need proper integration, the sub out of your amp can work and might work well, its touch and go. If you don't have delay from DSP then you have to place it slighlty closer to the listening position. Also depends how much the bass frequencies overlap.
 

Willem

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That is a nice and tasteful room. I agree that that particular subwoofer may not add too much to your main speakers. On the other hand, subs really are the icing on the cake. So my suggestion would be to save a bit longer, and since I also agree that two subs are a better idea if you want smooth response over a wider listening area, save for two. You will only need one bigger more expensive sub that goes deep, the other can be much smaller: http://archimago.blogspot.com/2020/05/musings-measurements-subwoofers-to.html
 

bravomail

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Or do you also think that I should drop the idea altogether?

thanks in advance
8" is not that big for a subwoofer. u should go 12" or 15". U wanna reach 20Hz. If u don't have space in your room - then forget it. U can compare what u hear in speakers and good headphones - if u don't feel u r missing subbass - u might be fine.
 

Head_Unit

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Cadence Diva floorstanding speakers...my country
Which country? Just curious.
Your Cadence already have 8" woofers so let me say as a loudspeaker engineer that a sub should be like 12" and several hundred watts, otherwise don't bother. Why do you want to add a sub? Do you feel the bass from your Divas is somehow lacking?
- Have you ever considered stuffing the speakers inside? Not near the port opening, but in the rest. It can cut internal reflection, and might lower the port tuning a bit which could modify the bass.
- I like that room, it looks relaxed. I'd try moving both speakers to the right somewhat and see if the response is better or worse. I'd also experiment with toe-in to lessen reflections from the discs.
 
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Kaval

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India.

Thanks for your suggestions. I have dropped off my plan of buying an 8-inch woofer.

I experimented with a 10-inch woofer borrowed from a friend and I found no gain but a lot of pain (placement, time spent, etc).

I would experiment toe-in, as suggested by you.
 

sgent

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Look at @sweetchaos spreadsheet and use that as a basis of selection. Without measurements, you are just going by "gut" feel and manufacturer specs. There are 8" subs that can get to 25hz at -3 db, and 12" subs that can barely hit 35, so size alone is not the deciding factor -- although that will factor into volume attainable without distortion. Ideally, you would want something that can get down to 20hz at a minimum, and two of them -- and remember that you get a 6db bump from having two subs.

Buying a sub that only gets down to 37hz when your mains go to 44hz won't be worth it.
 

sweetchaos

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and remember that you get a 6db bump from having two subs.
Not exactly.

The cool thing about bass summation is that it’s frequency dependent. Well really, wavelength dependent. That means that with multiple subs you only get a 3dB increase for each doubling of subwoofers. But you really are getting a 6dB increase below about 30hz.
 
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