Subwoofer Selection Criteria

[Thomas savage]

The cat walking isn't my idea -- it's the wife's. Yes, I agree it's ludicrous.

But she sees cat walking videos on YouTube, and it gives her ideas:

And, you're right....I know I'm not going to get the sub dialed in optimally by ear.

But, for now, it's better than nothing. And, given my upcoming business travel and family vacation obligations, I probably won't have time to do it better until November when Thanksgiving rolls around.

Bung them down in stereo config near your mains , cross over at 80Hz and do a bit of math for the delay via the distance from MLP of speakers Vs subs . Make sure all the notes on a bass sound about right , EQ the peaks you reckon are there.

Forget about it then till your sick of the sight of turkey and can't stand family a moment longer, Thanksgiving.

 

[Krunok]

Oh, it's not an unwillingness...it's a matter of time.

I only get about 40 minutes a day, on a good day, to listen to music. Often not even that. After a long day at work plus working out plus chores plus cooking for family plus walking dog, etc, when I finally get around to playing with my stereo between the hours of 9:30 and 10:00 pm, the last thing I want to do is spend my time setting up UMIK and measuring stuff.

I basically have to wait for a holiday.

And yet you have no trouble at all finding time to write all these posts - maybe you more enjoy talking about SW integration than actually doing it?

 

[watchnerd]

And yet you have no trouble at all finding time to write all these posts - maybe you more enjoy talking about SW integration than actually doing it?

I can post to ASR when I'm not even at home -- for example, today, at the airport, departing for a business trip.

 

[egellings]

Small subs with DSP may be fine in some settings, but you can't send a 6" woofer out to do a man's job. It may be possible to place the sub anywhere in the room and let the DSP fix up the response, which DSP can certainly do. Problem I see with that is, what if the selected placement causes a severe LF suckout at some frequency at your listening position, and the DSP has to push the driver to its limits to even the response out? I'd rather fix that with a placement adjustment to reduce the stress on the driver. Of course, I might not like the placement option either if I have to stub my toe on the sub every time I enter the room. Compromises, darn them!

 

[watchnerd]

Small subs with DSP may be fine in some settings, but you can't send a 6" woofer out to do a man's job. It may be possible to place the sub anywhere in the room and let the DSP fix up the response, which DSP can certainly do. Problem I see with that is, what if the selected placement causes a severe LF suckout at some frequency at your listening position, and the DSP has to push the driver to its limits to even the response out? I'd rather fix that with a placement adjustment to reduce the stress on the driver. Of course, I might not like the placement option either if I have to stub my toe on the sub every time I enter the room. Compromises, darn them!

That's why you buy big subs with DSP.

 

[A800]

12 inch is enough

 

[raistlin65]

I can post to ASR when I'm not even at home -- for example, today, at the airport, departing for a business trip.

Hopefully you have some good headphones so you get to enjoy some music when you travel

 

[maesc]

I think the criteria for a good sub experience is to have it properly integrated into your system with your main speakers. This can be attempted the old school way, with the sub crawl and fine tuning by ear - with varying levels of success, this is very difficult to do manually.

Let me suggest another tact - combining the sub with DSP. I have the new Martin Logan Dynamo 800x with built in DSP. Downloaded an app, ran a setup routine using my phone, and within minutes I have room nodes and lulls corrected for and bass dialed in for my listening position. My bass is tight, punchy, controlled, powerful and not bloated or boomy at all. It sounds just right. I'm sure it's not perfect but probably gets me 90% there with minimal fuss.

Introducing this or something like a miniDSP product (https://www.minidsp.com/) into a system can make a significant difference, especially with bass and sub integration.
So, my 2 cents is whatever sub(s) you go with, plan on DSP as part of the purchase and I think you will be very happy with the results.
Cheers!

Are you still happy with your ML 800x sub(s)? I'm a newbie and found an open box 800x for <$500. Would you still recomend in 2023? My new AVR has Dirac (Arcam AVR10), so is a sub w/ built in room correction redundant? Wondering if it's better to get a "normal" sub e.g. SVS sb1000/RSL 10s and use Dirac and maybe get a miniDSP. Would appreciate your thoughts. (I also posted a thread in General asking about subs with room correction)

 

[Olli]

Are you still happy with your ML 800x sub(s)? I'm a newbie and found an open box 800x for <$500. Would you still recomend in 2023? My new AVR has Dirac (Arcam AVR10), so is a sub w/ built in room correction redundant? Wondering if it's better to get a "normal" sub e.g. SVS sb1000/RSL 10s and use Dirac and maybe get a miniDSP. Would appreciate your thoughts. (I also posted a thread in General asking about subs with room correction)

you don‘t need bulit in dsp if you have dirac in your avr. i would rather get a SVS or if you‘re in the US a rythmik

Rythmik L12 Subwoofer Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Rythmik L12 subwoofer. It is kindly purchased by a member and drop shipped to me. The L12 costs US $559 in two colors (black oak and matte) and US $619 (gloss white). If you buy a white one to stick in your home theater, you and I will never...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[dkinric]

Are you still happy with your ML 800x sub(s)? I'm a newbie and found an open box 800x for <$500. Would you still recomend in 2023? My new AVR has Dirac (Arcam AVR10), so is a sub w/ built in room correction redundant? Wondering if it's better to get a "normal" sub e.g. SVS sb1000/RSL 10s and use Dirac and maybe get a miniDSP. Would appreciate your thoughts. (I also posted a thread in General asking about subs with room correction)

Yes, although if you have Dirac that would be better than the built in ML dsp. Then the real appeal of these subs is size and look. They are only about 12" cubed, so very compact. When placed downfiring, they are very unassuming gray cubes, don't look like subs and fit unobtrusively into most any decor. They are well performing subs for 10 inch driver / 350 watt class. The app lets you make level adjustments on the fly from your couch, which is a must-have feature IMO. I'd rather have 2 smaller subs than one big box. If these attributes sound appealing, then the ML 800 is a nice option. You can get more performance with a basic SVS or Rythmic, but these will be huge hulking boxes compared to the ML. So, depends on what is more important to you. I'm very happy with my pair and don't really need more with the room I'm in.

Edit: Lol, just realized you are quoting a 4 yr old post by me. Since then, I have added a second ML sub and Dirac through MiniDSP Flex. I've actually upgraded evrything else in my system except the MLs. Cheers!