Does subwoofers make a big difference? (1 Viewer)

[Kheng Hong]

I have a HT in my small bedroom about 5m by 6m consisting of the Sony ES9000 pre/power amp and 5 Cabasse Farella speakers. Due to the size of my room, my assumption is that having a sub would cause boom instead of giving better bass. Am I wrong to say that or have I been missing something without the sub?
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Sony ES Poster Boy

 

[Dustin B]

Well giving the specs on the 400, 401 and 402 a quick look I'd say yes you are missing quite a bit. Each one has a rated frequency response from 50-20000hz. So anything in the low 30hz and below you are missing. For some music and movies I doubt you'd notice the sub. For Classical Thunder type music, most modern popular music as well as any action flick you will notice a huge difference. A decent 10" sub would give you the high 20hz and low 30hz and a good 15 or 18 inch sub would not hurt the sonic performance of your system in anyway, it would only improve it.
Possiblities would be any of the servo subs from Velodyne or Paradigm. Rel and the like. There are also a meriad of great DIY options as well.
As for room size, 20' x 16' is bigger than my living room that houses my Tempest. It's anything but boom. A well designed, well placed, well calibrated sub cannot detract from your systems performance, it will only improve it.
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Dustin
[email protected]
My Adire Tempest Sonosub
[Edited last by Dustin B on October 19, 2001 at 01:26 AM]

 

[Jerome Grate]

Sean Con said

Heck yea!! Get a SUB!!

I say:
Heck yea!! Get a SUB!!
as far as boom is concerned you can control that with the frequency range of the sub and the subs position.
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ONCE, I CONSIDERED SPARING YOUR RETCHED LITTLE PLANET CYBERTRON, NOW.., YOU SHALL WITNESS IT'S
DISMEMBERMENT...
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[Jonathan_M]

As we say in the South: "Heck yea! Get a sub!"
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"We're hosed. We lost the remote."

 

[BryanZ]

Absolutely! In your situation, I'd look at something from Paradigm, such as the PW-2200. If you comfortable with paying high shipping costs, look at something from SVS, Adire Audio, ACI, HSU, etc.

 

[Kheng Hong]

Thanks guys! I am very interested in the SVS subs but I guess it would be a problem if it breaks down as I'll have to send it back to the US for repairs, and each trip costs $300 one way. I might have to settle for the lesser subs like Velodyne or Paradigm which I'll need your help in recommending a model. Price is not the most important factor here, quality comes first.
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Sony ES Poster Boy

 

[John Desmond]

Since you said quality is first, I'd recommend a serious look at the ACI Titan II LE. It is built extremely well, I own a pair of the earlier, non LE models and absolutely love them. I've yet to hear of anyone having any problems and the Titan series has been selling for at least 5-8 years. ACI is very serious about quality. The new LEs look awesome! Just for the heck of it, see if ACI might help you out with the expensive overseas shipping.

 

[Jerry Gracia]

I'd say a powered subwoofer is a must for a 5.1 set-up.
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LuvLBX

 

[Neil Joseph]

5m x 6m is really not all that small and yes, you are missing a great deal by having no sub. A nice 12" sub would do .... nicely in your size of room and will pick up the lower 3 octaves.
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My Favourite Movie

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

If you have local Paradigm and Velodyne dealers..look into the Pw2200 and the servo15 from Paradigm. From VEL...look into the HGS15/18s.
Make sure your calibrate the system and set all speakers to small.(starting out with a 60-80hz XO point).
TV

 

[Tom Brennan]

This one is a no brainer. Any home theater is naked without a subwoofer.
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http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/...ML/003753.html

 

[Thomas_Berg]

Any home theater is naked without a subwoofer.

agreed. there's a HUGE amount of sound that you're missing without a sub. it's the difference between night and day, black & white.
as for the boom, it all depends on the sub and placement. just get something decent (heh, SVS!!) and calibrate. you'll be wondering how you could've ever listened without a sub!

 

[Kheng Hong]

Are Cabasse subwoofers good? The Pluton has a frequency response range of 35 - 200 Hz, is this good enough? I may get a Cabasse to match my Cabasse speakers.
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Sony ES Poster Boy
[Edited last by Kheng Hong on October 22, 2001 at 09:21 AM]

 

[Bill Slack]

I have a 10x10 (ft) room with a Mirage 15" sub. I want to upgrade to something better... Certainly not too big for the room!

 

[Manuel Delaflor]

... this is only in the case that you still have ANY doubt...
YES! subwoofers will make a HUGE BIG AWESOME difference for you!

 

[Kheng Hong]

Thanks Guys! I'm totally convinced. I'll take a look at Velodyne and Paradigm. SVS is definitely out of the question (sigh!) since I'm in Singapore.
Are Cabasse subs equivalent in performance and quality to these brands?
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Sony ES Poster Boy

 

[SVS-Ron]

Kheng,
First, we don't much care what sub you get but by all means get one! A quality sub is easily the biggest, most cost-effective upgrade you can make after DVD and Dolby Digital processing.
As for SVS "being out of the question" we'll I can only say you would not be our first customer in Singapore. Send us your complete address and nearest international airport and we'll work up a quote for shipping on a 20-39PC (just as an example, it's our most popular powered sub though). Send your address to our shipping expert Erik Kroner at [email protected]
We're now using Bax Global for international orders and they tend to be MUCH cheaper than UPS.
On service. I'd be shocked if anyone, including local dealers could help much more on a warranty call. Our subs are totally modular and very simple/elegant designs. Swapping out an amp or even a woofer can be done in a matter of minutes with nothing more than a screwdriver. We nearly never need to have subs returned to get them back on line 100% (frankly any problems are rare).
If you can get good deals on any of the models listed above go for it (please!), but if any of them are costly you might still find SVS competitive even with shipping costs rolled in.
Ron

 

[Henry Carmona]

The Pluton has a frequency response range of 35 - 200 Hz, is this good enough?

If you want quality, then no, that is not very good
The recommended Paradigms and Velodynes can pretty much get down to about 20hz which is starting to get very good
Under 20hz and you cant really hear it, but you can FEEL it, and that is very, very, good
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"Charlie don't surf."

 

[Kheng Hong]

Ron,
Can you recommend me a SVS sub that will suit the dimensions of my room and the HT setup? Is the 20-39PC suitable in my case? And also, are you saying that trouble shooting can be done over the net/phone and damage parts can be replaced easily by myself when parts are shipped to me?
Oh yeah, I noticed the Cylinder-Series does not have its own power source. How do I use my Sony amp (E9000ES/N9000ES) to power it? Do I need the Samson thingy?
Thanks
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Sony ES Poster Boy
[Edited last by Kheng Hong on October 23, 2001 at 05:25 AM]

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

Kheng,
With a room about 2000 cu-ft(ish)...Even the 25-31PC would offer outstanding output down to about 20-22hz. A 20-39PC would extend even deeper...but you'll have to decide if the increase in extension is worth it to you.(the 25-31PC might be a little less expensive to ship too).
You could *service* the sub components if need be...but that's sort of a rare situation.
The PC series has an amp built in that's 110/220v switchable. And the CS series would be packaged with a SAMSON S700 that's set for 220v. If you have an older amp collecting dust in the closet or something....you might be able to save quite a bit of money and use that.
Let me know if you have any other questions,
TV