Experts!!!!!!!!!!! need your help on subwoofer delima (1 Viewer)

[Andre Baptiste]

Hey experts.....amm this may sound stupid but i was wondering....my room is rather small and i want biiiiiiiiig bass right i want the bass tooo rattle my teeth....but i was wondering would a big subwoofer make sense in my rather small room??? or would i be better off using a smaller subwoofer by big i mean 15 inch tempest or sumtin.....in a nutshell what i would like to ask is would a ig subwoofer make any sense in a small room......without dimensions just generally speaking

 

[ChrisWiggles]

A small room is a smaller volume to pressurize, thus you should *need* less "subwooferage" to reach strong SPLs. However, very small rooms also won't have room gain down very low, so if you want really flat bass down deep you may need a tad bit of EQ.

that's my broad generalization. How small is your actual room? HxLxW? And is is closed, or does it open into other areas?

 

[Andre Baptiste]

Orrrrrr you say hat small rooms dont have gain down very low and that i might need an EQ....... cant i just use a bigger sub and get all the gain i need?????? what would he effect be in using a bigger sub in a small room???? and yes the room is not sealed it leads to another room and a passage way connecing o the living room......thanks for your inpu.......i kinda of a noob

 

[ChrisWiggles]

No, just response. I wouldn't worry about this too much, but i mentioned it to be somewhat more complete.

More importantly, though, smaller room need less subwooferage overall.

 

[John S]

Get the meanest sub you can, always, period, is my general suggestion to people.

 

[Andre Baptiste]

orrrrr thanks everyone sooooo the sub wont really overpower the mids and heights right.......ah mean ah good big sub is a good sub anywhere right......whether he room is small or big am i right????????????

 

[Robert Hoffman]

I've got a big (SVS PC+ 25-31) in a small room (8'x14' approx). As long as you calibrate it correctly, it won't overpower the rest of your system. That being said, you'll have a ton of headroom

 

[Lew Crippen]

There is no real need for concern about overpowering your system with a powerful sub. The trick is to use a disk like AVIA of Video Essentials and a SPL meter to calibrate all of the speakers, including your sub. This calibration will ensure that your sub is putting out sound levels consistent with the rest of your speakers in your room

You will only need an equalizer if you are concerned about your sub putting out the same levels across its frequency spectrum. Many subs have a built-in equalizer that can be adjusted for the sonic characteristic of the room in which it is located.

There are normally some adjustments that need to be made when measuring levels with a SPL meter at low frequencies. Should you get to this point just make another post with your questions and we will be happy to help.

Don’t get too hung up on the size of a sub. There are some 10” subs that sound great and some 15” ones that are not quite so good.

edit: looks like Robert mentioned calibration while I was writing.

 

[Edward J M]

A smaller room will exhibit more room gain than a larger room.

"Room gain" is a phenomenon that boosts the deepest frequencies in a listening area. In a typical 2500 ft3 living area, you might see 2-4dB of room gain in the 15-30 Hz region. In smaller well sealed room, you might experience double that, and in a larger more open room you won't see much room gain at all.

 

[Andre Baptiste]

Okay thanks folks i was just wondering nah..........it was very helpful of you to take ime to answer my question bes of the new years to all by the way i am going to use a sealed tempest the low q design for music.....byeeeee

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Yes you are right my response was worded poorly, and I think, not really applicable to this slightly more basic question. What I meant to say, is that the larger the room, the deeper that gain will go. A very small room is not large enough to support standing waves at such low frequencies (they are too long), so the reinforcement down low will not be significant, while that up high will be more significant, making for strange response. That's what I was trying to say, and said poorly.
:b

so in conclusion, the room definitely comes into play, so you may not need the biggest baddest sub out there to reach very loud SPLs, but also dispel the notion that there is such thing as "too much" sub. If you have "overkill" it just means that you have a lot of headroom and capabilities. Calibrated well, it should still blend perfectly with your mains. I.e. just turn it down.