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Subwoofer pair choice

Ron Texas

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I originally wanted to get a pair of Rythmik L12's but they are out of stock and I am afraid the mess in China could turn into an extended delay. I am also looking at the SVS SB2000 Pro and SVS SB3000. They would go with a pair of LS50's. Any thoughts/alternatives. I consider the SB3000 to be the top of the price range, so no for a few hundred more suggestions. The room is medium size, around 2400 CF. Typical US frame construction, plywood floor covered with carpet. Considering setting the crossover high, 100 to 120 hz.
 

phoenixdogfan

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I have a single SB2000 which I pair with my LS50s and I use a miniDSP 2 X 4 HD as their xover. I think its sound great, and with the miniDSP not too difficult to set up. With the introduction of the SB 3000 and SB 2000 Pro, I would bet there are discounts to be had on the originals. I paid $600 for the standard finish b/c the seller claimed the box they came in was damaged. For the life of me I couldn't find so much as a scratch (on the box, no less). I'd bet you could find a pair for an even $1000 with careful shopping.

There may also be deep discounts for Kef's own sub, the RB 400 which is being discontinued.
 
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Ron Texas

Ron Texas

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I have a single SB2000 which I pair with my LS50s and I use a miniDSP 2 X 4 HD as their xover. I think its sound great, and with the miniDSP not too difficult to set up. With the introduction of the SB 3000 and SB 2000 Pro, I would bet there are discounts to be had on the originals. I paid $600 for the standard finish b/c the seller claimed the box they came in was damaged. For the life of me I couldn't find so much as a scratch (on the box, no less). I'd bet you could find a pair for an even $1000 with careful shopping.

There may also be deep discounts for Kef's own sub, the RB 400 which is being discontinued.

There are discounts. I have looked at them, but there are some things I want like a 24db/octave low pass slope. I suppose with the MiniDSP that becomes irrelevant.
 
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phoenixdogfan

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There are discounts. I have looked at them, but there are some things I want like a 24db/octave low pass slope. I suppose with the MiniDSP that becomes irrelevant.
Say your budget is $2000 total. If you got the SB2000 for $1000-1050, you would have enough left over for something like a miniDSP SHD Studio, which has all the DSP and flexibility you could ever need for $900, plus all the digital connectivity as well, including Dirac Live 2.
 

Milan

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Hsu uls-15 mk2, if you are considering 15s. I use them in eq2 since I have smaller room, crossing them around 100-110. For your room, eq1 is gonna make them flat down to 20hz.They do have 24db/Hz low pass, small footprint (as far as 15s go), balanced inputs. Magnetic plates are nice, they can shake the entire house (and my neighbors house apparently). I don't know the benefits of dsp controls of svs, xt32 does all the work for me and I am pretty happy with the results. Made in USA!

Yeah, don't order from china right now, it's a mess with shipping.

Edit: I don't know what kind of bass management you need or have, but you can get 2 uls-15 mk2 and minidsp ddrc24 with Dirac live for $2000.. Talking about money well spent
 
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wje

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I had 2 SB2000s that I had for about 3 years. I wanted a bit more, so opted for a pair of PB3000 subs, but that was a mistake for me in the condominium. They were huge and overbearing. Granted, this was just before the SB2000 pro models were announced/released. Ended up losing $360 in restocking fees for the PB3000s. I think I would have been been springing for the SB3000s instead. In the end, I sold my 2 SB2000s for about $850 and ended up getting a pair of 10" Monolith ported subs for $700 - one was bought locally for $300 (nearly new in the box) and the other for $400 from Monoprice as an open box unit. Since music listening comprises of 90% of my listening, I keep the port plugs in the Monolith subs. I ended up moving my Sound Path isolation feet over to the Monoliths and have been quite content for them. They are solid subs @ 72 Lbs., each. While this might seem more of a side-grade or down-grade, it feels and sounds like an upgrade for me. The drivers in the Monolith subs have a cast frame and are great performers.


Main System.JPG
 
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Ron Texas

Ron Texas

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@Soniclife Present setup is a single Martin Logan Dynamo W1000.

@Absolute Adrenal appears to be an EU outfit, prices were in Euros.

@Milan Hsu makes great gear, but it lacks some features I am looking for. I am using the built in DSP in my Crown XLS 1502 for bass management.

I would like to avoid needing something like the MiniDSP by using subs with enough controls built in plus the DSP in the Crown.
 

Bhh

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I'm waiting on those L12's as well. We'll find out soon enough if the mid-late Feb estimate is accurate. I'm willing to wait a bit as they do seem like great bang for the buck and the compact size is nice.
 

daftcombo

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I had 2 SB2000s that I had for about 3 years. I wanted a bit more, so opted for a pair of PB3000 subs, but that was a mistake for me in the condominium. They were huge and overbearing. Granted, this was just before the SB2000 pro models were announced/released. Ended up losing $360 in restocking fees for the PB3000s. I think I would have been been springing for the SB3000s instead. In the end, I sold my 2 SB2000s for about $850 and ended up getting a pair of 10" Monolith ported subs for $700 - one was bought locally for $300 (nearly new in the box) and the other for $400 from Monoprice as an open box unit. Since music listening comprises of 90% of my listening, I keep the port plugs in the Monolith subs. I ended up moving my Sound Path isolation feet over to the Monoliths and have been quite content for them. They are solid subs @ 72 Lbs., each. While this might seem more of a side-grade or down-grade, it feels and sounds like an upgrade for me. The drivers in the Monolith subs have a cast frame and are great performers.


View attachment 51094
They look pretty.

Here are measurements:

1582305701024.png

source: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24456
 
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snapsc

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For the most part, people want their subs to put out a lot of grunt below 50hz....where if you turn off your mains, you actually hear grunts, growls, thumps and not a lot of tone.

I'd like to give you two thoughts to ponder. First, crossing that high means that the subwoofer will actually be outputting frequencies that have to have good tone...otherwise, they will screw up the the lower midbass of the LS50s...I'd suggest you email or call the 2 or 3 companies you are thinking about and ask them which of their models will sound good in the 80-120 range.

Second, there is no way to really know how the sub and room are going to interact together until you put them together (and there will be weird interactons). The really nice thing about the SVS 2000 and 3000 is that they give you the 3 presets and the parametric equalizer...to help deal with room problems.

Finally, a good thing about SVS is their free return policy...subs can cost a lot of money to ship back. Full disclosure, I have a Power Sound Audio S1500...love it...but I don't think it is the best option for what you are trying to accomplish.
 
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Ron Texas

Ron Texas

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Crazy_Nate

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If you want Rythmik subs, I'd probably say to wait it out. If you feel like you compromised on your audio gear simply to get something earlier, you'll always be wondering what it would be like if you waited. :)

FYI, I'm patiently saving up for a pair of Rythmik subs. Likely F15HPs or maybe F25s if I'm feeling like spending the extra money.
 
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Ron Texas

Ron Texas

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If you want Rythmik subs, I'd probably say to wait it out. If you feel like you compromised on your audio gear simply to get something earlier, you'll always be wondering what it would be like if you waited. :)

FYI, I'm patiently saving up for a pair of Rythmik subs. Likely F15HPs or maybe F25s if I'm feeling like spending the extra money.

While this has been going on, my interest has shifted to SVS due to their array of features and great reviews.
 
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ironhorse128

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I have a similar setup. Two SB 2000 subs with LS50wireless in a 2000 QF room. I cross them over at 100hz using my miniDSP SHD. I could not made the XO lower as my speakers had some boundary interference at around 80 hz. I thinks the system sounds absolutely amazing.

But to make it work I utilized a lot of the miniDSP SHDs featutes. Especially, the individual time delay was important to get the speakers match well with the subs at the XO region. I also use dirac but as my room is well treated, so dirac does not make that big of a difference, both in measurements and in listening.

I would go with the SB2000s. the SB3000 are overkill. It would not sound better, just louder. The SB2000s are loud enough in such a room.
 

Crazy_Nate

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If you've already talked yourself into SVS, I'm not going to be able to change that.

However, I think I should point out that the objectivist in me would want performance over features. :) You can probably make any high performance sub integrate really with a variety of MiniDSP options and REW. Plus some subs will play fairly high frequencies so that you have a lot more choices in what frequency you use for the crossover (taking into account room modes, etc).
 

Bhh

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Well, their SB2000 has $150 off, right now.

I bet he wants the 2000 pro with app control though and I don’t think that one is on sale. It’s funny I want through this same exact thing, got impatient and was leaning towards the SVS and then moved back to the L15s once I measured them in my room because I am very space limited and that few extra inches in each direction made a big difference for me.

They are both awesome subs though (supposedly, we need tests!) so hard to go wrong with either. I’m hedging though b/c if the Rythmiks don’t come in soon, I may change my mind again back to the SVS ;)
 
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Ron Texas

Ron Texas

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What's an L15? SVS SB-2000 pro and Rythmik L12 are nearly the same size. SB-3000 is 1" wider and taller, 2" deeper. I'm leaning towards the SB-3000 partially because it received several great reviews and awards. Right now I am thinking of a more conventional crossover point, probably 100hz.
 
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