Sub w/ built-in Room correction (ML Dynamo) - vs AVR / MiniDSP?

[maesc]

Hi everyone. Would appreciate some advice as I'm fairly new to home audio/theater. Been upgrading from a low end 5.1 system and the sub is next in line. Looking at a Martin Logan Dynamo 800x, and curious how good the room correction is compared to systems run from an AVR (Audyssey/Dirac) or PC/miniDSP based (Dirac/REW). Besides the Anthem ARC room correction, the ML app is a nice convenience (same with the SVS pro models).

As I understand it, the Martin Logan subs are compact but not especially well performing at their high retail price but I can get a 800x for <$500 rather than the $900 retail. I gather it's similar to the SVS sb100 pro though a bit less output than the SVS and more focused on music. Not many knowledgeable reviews on these ML/Paradigm subs with ARC so hoping someone who's heard them can weigh in.

5.1 system (70/30 movies/music). ShieldTV and AppleTV > Arcam AVR10 (w/Dirac) > Kef R3/R2C LCR and DefTech surrounds. Room is on a concrete slab, 15x12x8 ft WxDxH, semi-open to a hallway (no door to close off space). Just got the Arcam, but I don't have the original mic or a Umik-1, or similar. I like the small form factor of the 10" ML sub and the "quality of life" of remote control via the app. I'm sure I'll get a Umik-1 and may end up getting a miniDSP and try to learn REW.

Is a sub with built-in room correction only useful if used in a system without any other means of auto EQ/room correction from AVR/PC or would it still be helpful to run ARC on the sub before running Dirac? (ARC is well regarded as I understand) Or would I be better served by getting one of the commonly suggested compact ~$500 subs e.g. sb1000 pro, RSL 10s mk2? Space is tight so don't want to go bigger than the RSL 10s (PB1000 too big).

Looking to expand to 5.1.4 and will prob do on-ceilings as I'm considering rearranging the TV and couch. Would welcome any thoughts and suggestions. Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance.

 

[Willem]

I recently bought the re-introduced SVS SB2000 nonpro. It was quite a bit cheaper than the new SB2000 Pro, but lacks the filters. So I added a miniDSP 2x4HD, plus MSO. I think this saved me money, and gave me rather better sound quality. I would also suggest to consider a second sub. Two smallish subs often give a better result than one larger one. My only warning is that MSO is a bit of challenge.

 

[maesc]

Thanks. I've watched a few youtube vids on the miniDSP and I half follow. Do you basically use REW to take measurements for each sub individually at multiple listening positions and then MSO uses these sub/room responses to calculate and set PEQ to optimize the interaction/interference between multiple subs to best match the desired in room response?

 

[Willem]

Yes this is precisely what MSO does. Equalization of one sub for one listening position is quite easy, but for a wider listening area two or more subs in uncorrelated positions are almost invariably required. Equalizing multiple individual subs for multiple positions is a complex computational challenge that MSO is very good at.
So unless you are only ever listening alone in one position, multiple subs are the way forward. They can be smaller and do not have to be identical. However, it appears that mixing sealed and ported subs is not a good idea. My three subs are all sealed and are flat to below 20 Hz. The SB2000 is the biggest and as per Earl Geddes it sits in the front corner for additional reinforcement. The other two serve mostly to smoothen the response.
The system sounds tight and clear, although I think I can make some further improvements. The first thing I will have to do is raise the level of the small 8 inch sub at the side. As it is now its level turns out to be a bit low so MSO turned down the level of the front and rear subs. The result is that I lost quite a bit of headroom. If the side sub cannot handle the higher level I may have to buy a fourth smallish sub. This will also allow me to raise one of the side subs to also equalize at a higher listening position. As it is now the response is not quite as tight when I stand up compared to the seated positions that I measured.

 

[ZolaIII]

Well Anthem ARC ain't as good as claimed because after you do measurements with other independent software as REW afterwards it's far from how ARC shows it smooth and nice. Arguably it's better than lot's of AVR implementations and their newer mics are on pair with UMIK-1 (al do even older one's weren't bad).
Avoid Martin and go for SVS, SB-1000 can this day's be found for about 500$ new and paird with MiniDSP Flex (and UMIK-1) it's a good all around solution but you will have to learn to import FIR filters to it from REW, that way you really don't need Dirac Live (which is a option that costs you +200$).