Subwoofers
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I’ve seen videos and read articles explaining how running multiple subwoofers (spread out in different locations);in a home theater can help to “even out response” or something like that… It seems that these articles/videos are typically referring to running multiples of the same subwoofer.
Would there be any advantage to running different woofers in a setup? Whether that be sizes (say, a 21″, and 2x 15″), or different form factors (sealed and ported), drivers, or a mix of them all?
People talk about how the Dayton Ultimax’s are preferred for HT, and how the HO series are better suited for music. Would running both make your system more well-rounded, or would it be subtractive from over all sound quality?
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Im not really sure how much of an effect of mixing form factors alone will make in a home audio scenario but mixing driver sizes, either matched or mixed form factor, can absolutely work. To execute this properly you will want to make a 2 way crossover (active via DSP before amplification ideally) for the subwoofers. Nothing says you cant apply 2 way or even 3 way crossover concepts of main speakers to subwoofers yet few people ever think of trying it in DIY/home audio, we do this quite often in pro audio applications. For example the 21 would do 5hz-50hz and the 2x 15 would do 50hz-120hz. This gives you the raw power of LFE rumble fx from the larger 21 and at the same time you should theoretically get a tighter, faster response with less harmonic distortion to musical upper bass notes from the 15s. The individual subwoofer cabinets would then get time aligned and ideally DSP FIR phase aligned to act as 1 cohesive low frequency array.
This is a concept I use regularly for large format live PA subwoofer configurations. One of my go to options for 500-1200 seat theatres is 2x dual 18 with 4x single 18 on top. The dual 18s are optomised for and play 32hz-70hz whilst the single 18s can be tuned to play from 50hz-150hz. With some eq correction to flatten the bump around 60hz that builds up they combine acoustically and act as 1 monolithic sub block playing from 32-150hz at over 135db! I have literally winded myself many times when setting it up as so much air is moved!
This behemoth sub stack is 2.2m wide by 1.3m tall, weighs 468kg and has power handling of 5,200W continuous and 20,800W peak (hint – thats a hell of a lot of power behind a kick drum and how I end up winding myself so much lol 😆)
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Excellent response! You explained exactly what my question really was getting at.
Currently I’m running 2x REL HT/1003’s on bass duty. They’re great at filling the room with sound, but they’re not deep enough or powerful enough to “energize” the room much. I’ll be building more subs soon (a sealed UM18 first, and UM18 sonosubs somewhere in the next 6 months), and was hoping I could add to my system, instead of having to do away with the RELs immediately. I know I’ll get rid of them eventually, as they’ll be sold to fund future builds and upgrades.
Note to self: DSP for the subs. I know Toids have a video on this already… time to re-watch and research further
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