4 identical smaller subs vs vs 1 svs16 and other sh*t subs

[Adam5022]

Hey guys, I have a great dedicated home theatre, I currently have 1 svs sb16 and a couple other 10" subs ( energy and psb)

 

Would I get better bass ( hard hitting chest slam/ room responce) from my current set up or from 4 identical 12" svs? I'm thinking maybe the svs sb12 or even the 13" 

 

Thanks in advance peoples

 

 

[Quark]

For chest slam you want a big sub like the SB16. However setup is critical to get good response.

 

What size is the room and is it sealed? Large windows?

 

Have you done the sub crawl? What AVR are you running and have you setup the EQ thoroughly?

[Adam5022]

Room is basically 4.5x4.5m 2.7. High

I'm running the new anthem 1140 with a mini dsp

 

All subs are sealed.

 

Was just wondering because the price of the svs has gone up to much, I can probably sell mine for a small profit and then buy 4 of the same sub. Or do I just get 1 extra and keep what I have 

 

I'll be getting the room calibrated by home theatre engineering in the near future 

[Snoopy8]

4 minutes ago, Adam5022 said:

I'm running the new anthem 1140 with a mini dsp

 

All subs are sealed.

 

Was just wondering because the price of the svs has gone up to much, I can probably sell mine for a small profit and then buy 4 of the same sub. Or do I just get 1 extra and keep what I have 

 

I'll be getting the room calibrated by home theatre engineering in the near future 

The key is even bass.  Given you have a mini DSP, are you willing to learn how to integrate the existing subs together using MSO ?

 

If you know how to measure using REW and a USB microphone (sorry, cannot use the Anthem provided microphone!),  I can help you get MSO going.   It is likely that your existing 3 subs may be enough!

 

2 hours ago, Quark said:

Have you done the sub crawl?

Sub crawl will not work for multi subs because of the complex interactions between them and the room...

[Yamaha_man]

Two 18’s will give you the desired result.

[Quark]

1 hour ago, Adam5022 said:

Room is basically 4.5x4.5m 2.7. High

I'm running the new anthem 1140 with a mini dsp

 

All subs are sealed.

 

Was just wondering because the price of the svs has gone up to much, I can probably sell mine for a small profit and then buy 4 of the same sub. Or do I just get 1 extra and keep what I have 

 

I'll be getting the room calibrated by home theatre engineering in the near future 

 

 

I wouldn't change any hardware until you have things calibrated. The square room won't be helping and I wouldn't be surprised if HTE recommend some large bass traps over any other change.

[Cloth Ears]

1 hour ago, Adam5022 said:

Room is basically 4.5x4.5m 2.7. High

I'm running the new anthem 1140 with a mini dsp

 

All subs are sealed.

 

Was just wondering because the price of the svs has gone up to much, I can probably sell mine for a small profit and then buy 4 of the same sub. Or do I just get 1 extra and keep what I have 

 

I'll be getting the room calibrated by home theatre engineering in the near future 

Do you have any 'room' outside your HT for an IB install? Like a ceiling cavity or a garage on the other side of one of those walls. 4 (8 or 12) 15" drivers would give you effortless bass at around the same cost as a high-end sub.

But, if you're like me (and told 'no'), something like YM's set-up would probably work also.

[davewantsmoore]

On 15/06/2021 at 7:07 PM, Adam5022 said:

hard hitting chest slam/ room responce

 

 

Ultimately, it doesn't matter how many subs.. or how big they are.

 

Only that you have a flat frequency response in the listening seats, with low distortion at your desired SPL.

 

 

Multiple subs can make it easier to achieve a flat response, especially over multiple seats ..... but 4x is usually hitting the point of diminishing returns.    Positioning and EQ are critical to this aspect though.

 

4x 12" has more cone area than 1x 16 and 2x 10 ... but not by a lot.    it depends on the distortion vs SPL of each sub too.

 

 

[betty boop]

On 15/06/2021 at 7:07 PM, Adam5022 said:

hard hitting chest slam/ room responce

you want the hardest hitting deepest diving sub ...rather than 4 wannabes  who wont go as deep or dig as deep ...

 

Id go the SB`16... this is a dedicated room you should be able to not only place but also integrate it optimally  

 

1 sub is a lot easier to place, setup, eq and integrate well than 4 !  

[muon*]

Lots of bass is easy, lots of good bass is not as easy

 

Edit: what every the approach personally I'd go for a pair of subs that do quality bass, rather than a bunch of cheapies that do poor bass.

Edited June 24, 2021 by muon*

[sir sanders zingmore]

and then there's the "swarm"

 

http://www.audiokinesis.com/the-swarm-subwoofer-system-1.html

[davewantsmoore]

14 hours ago, betty boop said:

you want the hardest hitting deepest diving sub ...rather than 4 wannabes  who wont go as deep or dig as deep ...

 

Indeed.

 

If they DON'T "go as deep or dig as deep" ... then you don't want them.

 

Assuming that 4x smaller ones won't do it... and 1x big one will..... isn't a good assumption to make.

 

It depends.

 

14 hours ago, betty boop said:

a lot easier

 

Yes.

[jamiebosco]

This is just my opinion...

 

First thing - grab a miniDSP umik-1 or Dayton umm-6 calibrated measurement mic - so you can actually SEE what's happening in your room. It really is indispensable when setting up subs. And more importantly, will help you properly integrate your subs with your speakers at the crossover point, which is critical to getting the "chest slam" you are after!, as this mostly resides in the midbass (IMHO)

 

In a dedicated room, with only a single row of seating (and some flexibility in moving the seating forward or backwards slightly) you should get excellent results at all 3 seats with 2 x  identical subs  placed on the front wall (under your screen) at the 25% and 75% positions. This should (mostly) cancel out all the width modes, giving a very similar (preEQ) response at each seat, that can then be easily EQ'd flat

Read the posts by Sudrani here:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/standing-wave-room-mode-correction-validation.3169002/

 

I have used this exact method in my last few setups, and it works extremely well

 

I would either get another SB16, or  sell the SB16 and get 2 x SB-3000s, which have excellent midbass performance

 

 

[davewantsmoore]

17 minutes ago, jamiebosco said:

First thing - grab a miniDSP umik-1 or Dayton umm-6 calibrated measurement mic - so you can actually SEE what's happening in your room.

 

... or for mere mortals  just get a processor which can calibrate the subwoofer(s) well... and follow the instructions.

 

 

... but you are right that positioning and EQ are the majority of the battle.

[jamiebosco]

30 minutes ago, davewantsmoore said:

 

... or for mere mortals  just get a processor which can calibrate the subwoofer(s) well... and follow the instructions.

 

 

... but you are right that positioning and EQ are the majority of the battle.

 Nah, I'm by far the dumbest person on here and I worked out REW in a 1/2hr

No matter what Processor you get, measuring first to make sure the subs and seating are in the best possible position to minimise how much EQ needs to be applied is still the best course of action IMHO

[Kaynin]

1 hour ago, jamiebosco said:

 

No matter what Processor you get, measuring first to make sure the subs and seating are in the best possible position

Yep, absolutely.   My subbie set-up varied greatly depending on whether I wanted the best possible result for the main listening position, or if I included 1 seat either side of that to be included.

[Allen Bowering]

On 6/24/2021 at 3:25 PM, Yamaha_man said:

Two 18’s will give you the desired result.

 

I second this, haven't looked back and they were literally the cheapest out there, will build new cabs soon.

[Calyx]

2 of these will do the trick 

 

https://www.funkaudio.ca/store/p9/Funk_Audio_-_18.2_Custom_Order.html

[AudioGeek]

Look at Krix slim line subs. Put 2 behind screen (either side of centre speaker) and wire up as 1 sub for AVR/processor. Put svs sub at 1 back corner as second sub.

 

Oh, and very nice build!

[STROP]

On 6/24/2021 at 6:21 PM, betty boop said:

Id go the SB`16... this is a dedicated room you should be able to not only place but also integrate it optimally

That is what I would be doing, keep your existing subs and wait till you get the experts out to calibrate your system and see how things go.

Or you can go down this proven way of getting chest slamming bass, the choice is yours...

 

 

[Ittaku]

All out of stock at the moment, but if you want chest slam at the lowest possible price, these are it:

https://djcity.com.au/product/mackie-thump-18-sa-18-inch-powered-subwoofer/

Note maximum SPL of 130dB

Edited July 26, 2021 by Ittaku

[Guest niterida]

2 hours ago, Ittaku said:

All out of stock at the moment, but if you want chest slam at the lowest possible price, these are it:

https://djcity.com.au/product/mackie-thump-18-sa-18-inch-powered-subwoofer/

Note maximum SPL of 130dB

$1200 and they only play down to 30hz !!!!!!!!!

[Ittaku]

7 minutes ago, niterida said:

$1200 and they only play down to 30hz !!!!!!!!!

"Punch in the chest" is almost exclusively at around 60Hz. I guarantee you you will not find anything else anywhere near as loud as an F18 jet at that price range.

[Ittaku]

And for what it's worth, I have two SB16 ultras, and there is no kick in the chest from them run flat out, even though I have a flat in-room frequency response down to 10Hz.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Ittaku

[davewantsmoore]

1 hour ago, niterida said:

$1200 and they only play down to 30hz !!!!!!!!!

 

They advertise 130dB at 30Hz.....  so we could say a very rough guess of 106dB @ 15Hz.

 

In other words...