I am looking at spending a lot more $ now. Perhaps $5000 a sub
Chasing infrasonic (sub 20Hz) perfection is a very expensive proposition. It’s also fraught with the peril of dealing with bass frequencies themselves.
There is a reason you see HT guys with 8-12 subs scattered around their rooms. Yes, people are looking for correcting and minimizing room modes, but they are also looking for SPL where they want it.
Most Subs are dropping in efficiency with Frequency. This is largely a design decision as most manufacturers don’t want you blowing up their subs and complaining or returning them.
This means you get limiters in DSP Amps that cut output pretty hard between 18-20 Hz.
While I do not personally agree with the designs, many people like PSA (Power Sound Audio) subs. Tom is an old hand in the business and was one of the founders of SVS. His Subs are claimed to go very low, but there is no 3rd party measurements to confirm this. But his customers insist the buzz is true with almost cult like fervor.
Another source for very good Subs would be Harbottle. Cody is the engineer and owner. His older subwoofer drivers have measured by Josh at Data Bass (as Harbottle/Ridge and as Funk (he and Funk Audio have a close working relationship). Anyway, his drivers have amazing output capabilities with very clean distortion measurements. The people I’ve talked to are all bashed and they all say the same thing: the bass his designs create is so clean that it is unlike everything else they’ve owned.
After that, it is the usual players: SVS, Arendal, Hsu, Rythmik… also GSG audio… some of the Monolith Subs measure exceptionally well, but there have been longevity concerns and questionable customer service.
Regardless, if you want low output at 16hz, you need to look at long term output sweeps, not just frequency response. Compression at low frequency and high SPL is a killer. Also watch for good group delay measurements which should stay below 1.5 cycles.
I would recommend only ported subs with few exceptions. Sealed subs will want a lot of power to do what you want. Ported subs will be more efficient. They will also need to be kinda big: you can’t cheat physics.
Please don’t fall for the BS claims that ported subs are not musical. This myth is busted by any competently designed modern ported sub.
FWIW, I use two Outlaw ultra x-13 subs that do pretty well. They might not be perfect, but they are as clean as I could get and they do deliver.
Happy hunting!
Not making fun, been there myself. I went overkill for my medium to small room and got Arendal's flagship 1723 2V sub, just because of the FOMO syndrome. I would probably have to start to listen regularly to church organ music to justify the expenditure, because for most of the music I normally listen to, I don't need this kind of subwoofer capacity.
www.jtrspeakers.com
