Do you subs have to be sonically matched? (1 Viewer)

[ChuckM]

Considering that subs only produce the lowest tones do they have to be sonically matched to your existing speakers. If so is there a way to do this without trying them out. Like finding a sub that matches frequency respone to my current sub or is it plain trial and error.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

no they don't need to be. Obviously you want quality subwoofers no matter what. You don't want to have one really nice sub and one crappy one, you want similarly equivalent performance. However, there is no concern about timbral matching between subs or between subs and speakers. There can be concern about the crossover if the speakers do not extend sufficiently to meet up well with the subwofer, but this usually only occurs with very very small speakers in satellite systems for instance.

 

[John Garcia]

The ideal way is to have two identical subs, so they have the same response in your room, but no they don't have to be the same.

 

[John S]

Did some tests with two very mismatched subs running dual over the weekend. On the curve response it sure looked like we ended up getting the best of what both had to offer, the curve was really impressive with both of them running.

 

[MikeNg]

Well, everyone who runs SVS is running a sub that is not 'sonically matched' to their mains.

I've run my SVS with a UFW10 with really good results. The SVS digs way deeper than the UFW and is superb for HT, but I find that the UFW handles the musical range of the low end better.

I've got the best of both worlds!

 

[ChuckM]

Thanks for the info guys. I went out and got a Velodyne dps-10 which has turned my ht from majorly amateurish to novice. The second sub really helped fill the air. Very cool when you feel the impact of an explosion hitting you in the chest.