subwoofer recomendation

The need for SVS, Ultra's is for power and authority in replicating movie sound tracks. Unless you like it incredibly loud in your bedroom, you won't have need for a pair of "Ultra's"

You state they're going be used in the master bedroom, how loud do you want it? Is this your main viewing venue as opposed to a living room/family room situation? Just saying, in my opinion, for normal use, a pair of Ultra's is a lot of subwoofer system for a master bedroom based listening environment.

Your bedroom is 3, 400 sq feet?

If mostly for movies, again, much of your choice is dependent on available budget and how loud you want it and at this point, first things first, one must have a budget to move forward with recommendations.

In this price range one has many excellent choices but to make the proper recommendation, the $3,000.00 limit may get broken by a bit.

If you need good lows, in a room that size, in the simple, pressurization might take three or four subs. It will depend on if the room is open, high ceiling or closed with low ceiling. If going with two subs, based on your above, a PSA, XV30 comes to mind. Now I have to ask about wife approval (physical appearance) and how much room do you have for subwoofer boxes as these are large boxes.

In your price range, one will find some beautiful and functional subs but in your price range, you'll only be able to get one of these beautiful subs and subs best serve their acoustical purpose in quantities of two or more due to the acoustical (sonic) room smoothing, multiple subs provide.

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Edited by BeeMan458 - 2/13/13 at 6:52am

A few options, in alphabetical order:
- Funk Audio 18.0
- PSA XS30 x 2
- Rythmik FV15HP x 2
- Seaton SubMersiveHP
- SVS PB12-Plus x 2
Edited by eljaycanuck - 2/13/13 at 6:52am

From that image, I'd go with three subs. One in each corner, to the side of the bed and one under the movie screen.

How hard can you realistically push your budget?

You want multiple subs to fill in sound voids that naturally occur and it's a lot of effort to fill these nulls in. Hence why four subs is the minimum ideal. Everything is about the Benjamins, that I understand but on the other hand, subwoofer acoustics don't care so we serve them as opposed to them serving us. They think they're cats.

Four subs is the minimal ideal? Less than two weeks ago, the standard was a two sub system.

OP, fwiw, I run two sealed subs @ ~475W/sub in a 3,375 cu.ft. basement (laminate over concrete) room. They're more than "minimally ideal", even though (IMO) they don't come close to offering the kind of performance you can get from subs like the ones I listed earlier.

The recommended minimum standard should not be confused with the recommended minimum ideal. Two subs is the minimum recommended standard but one sub on the middle of each wall is considered the "minimum" ideal.

You weren't able to substantiate your "minimum recommended standard" claim: Although you did state that "many acoustical studies have been done", you didn't provide a link to any generally-accepted standards document or study.

Could you at least substantiate your "minimum ideal" claim? Could you please provide a link to a generally-accepted standards document or study which supports your assertion that "one sub on the middle of each wall is considered the 'minimum' ideal"?

Thanks.
Edited by eljaycanuck - 2/13/13 at 7:59am

These are self imposed standards and "minimums". Of course multiple subs will sound better than a single in any room, but that doesn't mean a single wouldn't sound good/great. I think most agree that two subs are better than one, and that four may be better than two, but they wouldn't suggest someone up their budget of $3000 in order to have four subs. Four subs in a bedroom I might add.

I think the OP could go with duals of the Rythmik FV15HP, PSA XV30, HSU VTF-15H, or SVS PB12-Plus. Any of those subs would be awesome

LOL, I know, I thought a celebrity was on here for a minute

I have dual Power Sound Audio XV-30's and I love them. They are priced well and two of the best guys in the buisness to deal with!! If you have the room and want deep powerful bass, XV-30's are your sub!

Assuming no complaint from Big Momma, better know as the "Wife Approval Factor" (WAF) a pair of either of the below:

PSA, XV30 or XS30

Rythmik, F15, F15HP or FV15HP

SVS, PC13-Ultra, SB13-Ultra

And based on all you've shared, if Big Momma will go along with my recommendation, I'd give first consideration to a pair of the XS30's. All recommendations should come close to your stated max of $3k and yes, I know I've pushed the budget boundary a bit but in doing so, hopefully I'm giving you the best possible recommendations within your stated parameters.

The positions would be best determined once you have them and can do a bit of testing. Literally just trying different positions until you find the most ideal.

Since you're looking at two right off the bat, I'd go with the Rythmik FV15HP. It's a very well-regarded sub. As for placement, I can't really say. If it were me, I'd start with symmetrical placement on the display wall. I'm a sucker for symmetry.

Realistically, I think you'd need to do a sub crawl to find optimal placement locations and experiment with the ones that offer the best compromise between output, FR, placement restrictions, etc.

You sleeping on the sofa.

IIRC, price, size and appearance aside, in a room when cranking, the performance should be close with normal sealed vs ported being considered. As a suggestion, give SVS a call and ask.