I’ve been looking at subs for awhile now and have discovered that there could be some difficulty meshing subwoofers with ported speakers. I have Audio Note an-e/lx and am looking to add 2 subs. Originally, I was was going Rel but now Rythmik has piqued my interest. Rythmik, f12, seems to have more options to help integration. Just wondering if this is wasted money trying to integrate subs. The subs would have to have speaker level connections and is being used with a tube amp, 300b. Can anyone with experience mating ported speakers with subwoofers offer any advice? Greatly appreciated.
Ported speakers here. No problem integrating a Rel T7i. Sounds awesome and will be even more awesome when I add a 2nd Rel. First time I ever read that ported speakers should be a problem for a sub. Maybe you meant a ported sub (to be avoided for music)?
Ported speakers want to see a 24dB/octave low pass filter slope on the sub. Sealed speakers like to see a 12dB/octave low pass slope. Some subs let you choose the low pass slope, some don't. Most of the subs that I've seen have a default 24dB slope.
I’m a big fan of subwoofers and enjoy using them with ported speakers, but your speakers (which are awesome BTW) already go down to 18Hz. Is there something about the bass they produce that’s unpleasing? Just want to understand a bit more context about your request. Cheers!
Front ported Aerial 5T's w/a JL Audio D-110 sub sitting on a iso-acoustics sub isolation stand. Excellent results. Bass tight and tuneful.
Thank you btw way for the nice speaker comment. They’re awesome and I’m very lucky to be in a position to buy them. With the set amp, 9 watts or 20 in parallel, I find the bass slightly lacking. Not in my sitting chair, but once I move around, I find I’m wanting a little more that’s all.
Just wanted to add that they aren’t lacking when I use the 50 watt push pull. I hope that adding subs to the set amp will just give it the slight increase. If that occurs, near perfection!
No way I would add subwoofers to your AN speakers. They deliver full range response and are efficient and super fast and dynamic. I had the AN/J hemp for a while and was amazed at the 25Hz bass, yours play even lower. Any sub you add will not be able to keep up with the quickness of your AN/Es. If you are not getting the bass you like definitely try experimenting with positioning- near corners firing almost on axis is where these like to be.
The issue is they are near corners but not in them. I might try the faux wall to each side of the speaker and see if that adds bass. Keep the home made wall, 3/4 inch plywood painted wall color, speaker height and come out a couple of feet past the speakers. I’m going to try that before purchasing any subs.
Don’t know why I’m quoting myself! I just put up plywood outside of each speaker and the bass increase is quite noticeable. Removed and put back a few times and there’s no doubt. May have just saved a few grand!
How close are they to the wall? My AN dealer recommended angled on axis and the rear corner of the speaker 2 inches from the wall.
Right now about 4 inches from back wall which has baseboard and 1 inch from side wall. Will push them back an inch or so.
As soon as I cut, paint and put footers on the plywood, I will start fiddling for best sound and soundstage. Next weekend project!
-6 dB at 18 Hz That is amazing for an 8" woofer/mid driver in a 31 x 14 x 11 enclosure. How loud do you listen? What musical genre? What is the largest dimension in your room? Not sure what the slope is but if 12 dB/oct roll off starts at ~ 24 Hz. Maybe 36 Hz if 6 dB/oct Either way imo it will be hard to integrate. The sub will need a cutoff below 36 Hz or lower. You do not want it to overlap those beautiful speakers and mess with >50 Hz
I listen at about 65-75 decibel’s and the room is 16x21 but I listen across the 16. My heavy rock and metal days are few and far between. Mainly easy rock and jazz. Having the walls in place I think should be enough. Starting to feel I shouldn’t mess with the speakers. Also, the Aric 300b has an Aric preamp that’s done and will be picked up this weekend. Kind of curious to see how it changes the sound. Plan on putting some “bassier” tube in the preamp. I think that should do the trick.
Is this the speaker? Audio Note AN-E Lexus Signature loudspeaker Measurements I know this might be heresy but perhaps more power may help? Bi-amp, the manual shows how to do it.
Can always experiment with stuffing the ports with something like a foam Nerf ball, often this helps with the phasey stuff that can happen with a sub matched to ported speakers.
Not recommending subwoofers for the OP (per the other posts) but in general many ported speakers lend themselves quite well to subwoofer integration. Ported speakers tend to have a rapidly falling frequency response after their peak bass frequency- basically an acoustic crossover. Much easier to find the subwoofer's ideal crossover point. One exception I have witnessed is with bottom firing flared ports and transmission line designs. This type of speaker plays well into sub bass territory and is almost impossible to integrate well.
