Which sub setup?

[Odorb]

I'm looking to get some subs for my room, say 70% movies, and wondering if I should go with 2 large (PB3000 for example), 2 smaller subs (PB1000 Pro) or some other suggestions, like 3 mixed ported with one really large, or even 4 sealed (SB3000) if the subs near the LR speakers need more clearance.

I can't get some brands like HSU but Monolith and Rythmik are a possibility. SVS are the easiest to obtain and don't seem as long as the others which helps.

Room dimensions are 16'2" W x 12'9' D x 8'10" H (1,820 ft3), with two proposed birds-eye layouts below (actually a 7.x.4 system but other speakers not shown). I can't really change the orientation of the seating due to WAF so it's going to have to do.

I have the two large subs at side mid-points, as size becomes an issue elsewhere, while I could squeeze in 4 x PB1000s if I use 1/4 points at the front and corners at the back. This would be a starting point for aligning with a miniDSP anyway.

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Duke]

If the priority is deepest loudest bass, two big subs will almost always give you more of that than the same-dollar-equivalent in four smaller subs.

If the priority is sound quality throughout the room, then four smaller subs makes more sense imo. I would suggest one sub in a corner, two of them along the walls opposite that corner, and the fourth one somewhere else but fairly far from the other subs. For the three subs which are not in corners, I suggest each be a different distance from its nearest corner. Bonus points if you can elevate one or more of the subs closer to the ceiling than to the floor, which would give you significantly-distributed bass sources in all three dimensions. The idea is, maximum practical asymmetry.

This way each of the four subs will interact with the room very differently, resulting in each sub producing a significantly different peak-and-dip pattern at any location throughout the room. The sum of these four different peak-and-dip patterns will be much smoother than any one alone, and this improved smoothness will hold up throughout the room. And "smooth bass" = "fast bass"; I can explain if you'd like.

There will be far less variation in frequency response from one location to another, which makes correction via EQ much more practical. Any remaining large frequency response issues will probably be global (throughout the room) rather than isolated to a specific microphone location, such that corrective EQ will probably be solving a room-wide problem instead of solving a problem for one listening position while making things worse elsewhere.

Another thing to be aware of is, the output of the four subs will combine in semi-random phase at the top end of the subwoofer region, gradually transitioning to very close to in-phase at the bottom end of the subwoofer region. This is because the distance between the subs becomes a smaller and smaller fraction of a wavelength as we go down in frequency. The net effect is, the summed in-room frequency response of the four subs will tend to rise a bit as we go down in frequency, compared to the trend with a single sub. Therefore in general four sealed subs is probably a safer be than four ported subs, as the latter could easily end up having too much low end. On the other hand if you plan on EQing them anyway, four ported subs will have more output capability, such that after EQ you'll probably have more headroom as well as deeper extension (compared with four similar sealed subs). You can also combine sealed and ported subs. I use ported subs with pluggable ports, and three of my four subs have the ports plugged.

 

[Chrispy]

What are the current subs?

 

[Odorb]

What are the current subs?

I'm about to move house and got rid of my old subs. These would all be new purchases.

 

[Chrispy]

Rooms dims are from the new room?

 

[OldHvyMec]

As usual Mr. Duke, is giving sage advise and covers ways to improve even on that.

Regards

 

[Odorb]

Rooms dims are from the new room?

Yeah. It's a new build. Not optimal but the best I could manage. There's a pelmet around the perimeter (I wish I hadn't got this now) and a ceiling fan too.