1 vs 2 subwoofers for vinyl system?

I may have the opportunity in the near future to pick up an additional subwoofer of the exact same model as my current one. I heard that bass on most LP's is summed to mono, so a single subwoofer will actually sound better than 2 in stereo. (Also there is the fact that vertical modulation makes up a significant amount of rumble when reproducing an LP, which means that this out of phase information is reduced when summed to mono.)

Perhaps a dual mono setup will work? Any thoughts?

 

Nah; 2 subs can give you a better, more even soundstage than one. This of course is highly room-dependant, but I'd go for it if you have a dedicated listening room. Your sub is not listed on your profile BTW.

 

Hmmm...I guess it's something to consider then. It's an SW-110 BTW.

 

Run it dual stereo, that's the way I've got my setup and yes the soundstage is killer on the bottom end. Placement is everything. Also make sure to get the phase and crossover settings correct.

 

I've read about people using more than 2 (aka a "swarm" of subwoofers). Not sure that it matters vinyl vs digital. I think if my room was big enough I would go for more than one.

 

That's a terrific sub. (It's the one I'd own if I had a bigger room to place it. My JBL SUB 12 Venue series is a 12¨ as well but does fit its assigned place. It's the most compact 12 incher I've seen.

Indeed lps have bass summed to mono but only in a very low region of the spectrum (the one you can't locate by ear). Matter of fact the soundstage of drums seems richer, wider and more detailed on my Lps than on my CDs even when maths say otherwise; my cart stereo separation is just 30 db as opposed to 100 on my CD player. Go figure


With 2 subs you can also run a reasonably higher crossover point for added upper bass punch without risking localization issues. Only thing better than a Klipsch is 2 of them (at its price range, that is)

 

I listen with a sub all of the time. Except vinyl. I turn it off for vinyl. I just dislike the sound.

 

With subs, the more the merrier! I use the same front speakers and sub for stereo and HT. Don't have issues with vinyl and stereo.

In stereo,if there is not enough deep bass, the sub simply does not play. When you need it, it is there for you.

 

Definitely 2 or more subs - helps cancel out room nodes (all music sources, not just vinyl)

 

Bass traps also help control room nodes but that's another thread entirely

 

This is the key. There are strategies for placement of 2 subs that will reduce the boom from nodes you can accomplish with one, much less none. It's not about getting more bass, but reducing the lingering bass that is muddying up your midrange and highs

 

I daisy chained my second Sunfire Sub Junior to the first one (that's fed by a "Sub Out" output on my Anthem 225 Integrated).them I set up to supplement the base on my PSB Synchrony IIs and am as happy as a pig in slop.

 

Dislike how ? And why ?

 

I actually have heavy duty bass traps in my room, which is why I think I can place 2 vs 1.

Also, how would I go about hooking them up in stereo? A Y splitter from my preamplifier's L/R outputs?

 

Y's off from the preamp or connected to the outputs of your amp. Newer speakers are coming with bi-amp terminal boards on speakers so the unused pair can be used to run wire off to a single sub per channel or to a single sub for both channels.

Your amp will wire to the main speakers and the sub will wire off of the main speakers.

I connected a single sub for my Heresy's this way (off of the crossover board) but the sub seemed to smear the cleanliness of the Heresy's. I have a dedicated sub which is run from the .1 sub out anyway but I just wanted to find out how an additional sub, connected primarily off the main channels, would sound.

It seems that there isn't a whole lot of low frequency activity in most of the music I play. Then there's others that pack quite a punch.

 

This would work but the problem is you want to make sure that the sub and the main speakers don't both cover the same range. This means you'll most likely need a HPF for the mains. In my case it's just a series capacitor (for each channel) that gently rolls off the mains at about 70 Hz but it depends on your system.

If you have speakers that have a natural roll off on the lower end you can skip this but if there is an overlap it can seriously blur things.

Many subs have built in crossovers which will provide a feed for your main speakers. In that case you go from your preamp directly to your subs internal crossover and from there to your mains.

 

AFAIK the unused pair don't output any current; they're there in case you want to run another pair of cables from the amp's ¨B¨ speaker terminals (useless IMHO) or run an outboard crossover network so you can use 2 amps. Correct me if I'm wrong and since you claim to have done it yourself please clarify.

And since :

we can safely assume the OP is running his sub via signal level as opposed to hi-level, speaker-cable connections.

Maybe there's a way he can go wireless with the subs ?

 

The newer crossover terminal boards use metal jumper strips that connect the woofer connections to the mid/ tweeter connections. When bi-amping, these metal connector strips are removed.

My speakers have these jumpers in place so what comes in from the amp is also present at the other connectors too.

 

Nope. The OP will be much better off with an overlap that he should determine himself by ear or instruments. The SW-110s don't have that kind of outputs. My sub does and I had it connected using those for 2 years because the manual specified it as the only way to do it and when someone told me to run my mains full range with another pair of cables the improvement was nothing short of dramatic.

My sub internal crossover was doing a number on the signal, reducing overall volume on the one hand AND blurring the overall sound as well. No good; I would not use that method again even with mini monitors. Can't speak for another brands though.

 

So they OUTPUT the signal they're being fed ?! Good to know ! My towers have these kind of speaker connection terminal. Thanx.

 

As long as the jumpers are in place. If you bi-amp, you'll end up using all four just for your feeds.

 

Here is some reading material from the SVS web site on the use of Dual subs. One sub is harder to integrate smoothly, two subs are a blessing.



OPTIMAL SOUND QUALITY AT MORE LISTENING POSITIONS
Even with careful placement, a single subwoofer will not have an optimal frequency response at all listening positions in the room. In any given room location, a subwoofer has a unique 'modal pattern' (standing waves with peaks/nulls) and associated frequency response at the listening position. Listeners will often notice that moving even a few feet away from the 'sweet spot' will often result in notably worse bass sound quality. With properly located dual subwoofers, the respective modal patterns will overlap, which greatly increases the modal density in the room. The result is a smoother frequency response at more listening positions in the room, with less potential for obvious peaks/nulls in the frequency response. This also makes it easier for auto-set-up programs like Audyssey MultEQ to equalize the subwoofer channel.

 

For my two channel system I use two. I have B&W Nautilus 805 speakers on B&W stands and fill in their bottom end with two B&W 608 powered subwoofers. Nothing booming or thumping just a a little tight clean bass.

 

When you use the wire from your speakers to your sub inputs R+L, you are passing them the flavor of your amp. The input impedance on the subs is high, so they don't present a load on your amp. Only a tiny amount of power is needed to power the subs input.

When you use your pre-amp outs, you are bypassing the sound flavor of your power amp. You have to try it and see which sounds better in your application.

I use my pre-amp out's to a unused channel on my separate processor. I can control the crossover frequency, since I am taking the full range output the pre-amp. from the LFE's channel out of the pre-amp, I run to a Crown XLS-2000, run in bridged mono. Then it goes to the commercial UCS1 15" sub.

The Crown sits behind the TV in a 19" audio rack, I keep the volume turned up on the amp and I can control the level of the sub through the volume through the processor's remote.

 

Thanx; been a long time hi-level connections user since those same notions were passed to me by an audiophile friend.