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#1 ·
 http://www.rythmikaudio.com/index.html


There never seems to be an 'Official' Rythmik thread so....


Hopefully members can post here and representatives from Rythmik (Brian) can more readily answer questions that are normally strewn about in many threads.


Rythmik now offers complete subwoofers as well as the traditional kits.


Maybe Brian will subscribe.
 
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#33,621 · (Edited)
Its so hard to read this thread and listen to everybody talk about the fv18.

I bought my fv15hp at the end of 2016 and absolutely love it. Then they release the fv 18 and i cant help but wonder what im missing (even though the fv15hp is probably more than enough). I want to go duals... do i just add another fv15hp, or sell my current one and go dual fv18s?
It's hard to give any advice on what you should do without knowing your room size. Do you have a room where a door can be closed and it is sealed off to the rest of the house? Or do you you have subs in a open concept living room? In either case we need to know what we are dealing with and what the approximate cubic feet of the entire space is.
 
#33,622 ·
[/QUOTE] It's hard to give any advice on what you should do without knowing your room size. Do you have a room where a door can be closed and it is sealed off to the rest of the house? Or do you you have subs in a open concept living room? In either case we need to know what we are dealing with and what the approximate cubic feet of the entire space is.[/QUOTE]

My setup is in our living room which is vaulted (probably 13' ceiling at peak). Im attaching an estimated diagram of the room. The room is open to stairs, hallway, and two entrances (no doors) into the kitchen.

I have an old picture of part of the room, but it doesnt show much. I need to take a pic to ahow the whole room.
 

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#33,623 · (Edited)
Its so hard to read this thread and listen to everybody talk about the fv18.

I bought my fv15hp at the end of 2016 and absolutely love it. Then they release the fv 18 and i cant help but wonder what im missing (even though the fv15hp is probably more than enough). I want to go duals... do i just add another fv15hp, or sell my current one and go dual fv18s?
My setup is in our living room which is vaulted (probably 13' ceiling at peak). Im attaching an estimated diagram of the room. The room is open to stairs, hallway, and two entrances (no doors) into the kitchen.

I have an old picture of part of the room, but it doesnt show much. I need to take a pic to ahow the whole room.
That sounds like a huge space. At least 6,000 cubic feet, but potential much more since the room is open to everything. In your case a FV15HP, FV18 or even an FV25HP would be reasonable choices. But, if your aren't listening at reference volume and are happy with what you have, there is also the case to just simply stick what you have right now and perhaps add a second one down the road. The point of adding a second subwoofer is not for extra output, but to get similar frequency responses for multiple seats and to help to possibly get rid of big nulls that can't be fixed with EQ.

I don't think that mixing a FV18 with a FV15HP is the best idea, simply because what you are going to hear is the weakest link. You are hoping that going with the FV18 you would be getting the extra performance advantages, being a little extra extension, the ability to play a bit louder with lower distortion than the FV15HP could do at those levels. But, you will not hear that. If you are pushing the subs to the point where you would hear the extra advantage of the FV18, at the same time you would hear where the FV15HP would be struggling. You gain very little, so why not just get a second FV15HP and save a little bit of money.
 
#33,624 ·
That sounds like a huge space. At least 6,000 cubic feet, but potential much more since the room is open to everything. In your case a FV15HP, FV18 or even an FV25HP would be reasonable choices. But, if your aren't listening at reference volume and are happy with what you have, there is also the case to just simply stick what you have right now and perhaps add a second one down the road. The point of adding a second subwoofer is not for extra output, but to get similar frequency responses for multiple seats and to help to possibly get rid of big nulls that can't be fixed with EQ.

I don't think that mixing a FV18 with a FV15HP is the best idea, simply because what you are going to hear is the weakest link. You are hoping that going with the FV18 you would be getting the extra performance advantages, being a little extra extension, the ability to play a bit louder with lower distortion than the FV15HP could do at those levels. But, you will not hear that. If you are pushing the subs to the point where you would hear the extra advantage of the FV18, at the same time you would hear where the FV15HP would be struggling. You gain very little, so why not just get a second FV15HP and save a little bit of money.
Id like to be able to listen to movies at reference levels. Adding a second sub is supposed to add up to 6 db correct? Ive got some psa mt 110s on the way which will play a lot louder than my polk tsi's, and i want to mke sure i have a rocking sub setup to keep up with everything else.

Im still slightly torn. I reviewed the numbers on data bass, and the curves for the 1 port fv 15hp and the fv18 12hz tune look identical until you get down to 10hz. I reached out to rythmik and they said either will match perfectly. I feel like the fv18 is more future proof, but if the second fv15hp will get me plenty of power that would be good too.

Ive currently got the gain set to 3 o'clock. Im hesitant to keep cranking the gain, because i dont want to puch the amp too hard. Ideally, there is plenty of power left on tap just in case. Am i crazy for thinking that? How high on the gain can i go and still be ok?
 
#33,625 ·
data bass tests at max gain if not mistaken
 
#33,627 ·
Unless they mean something else, for the fv15hp (1 port) they say in the settings that the "level" was set to 12 O'Clock. I assumed that meant volume.
idk...this was from fv25hp test...

Settings as testedVolume: Maximum
Input: XLR LFE
PEQ: Bypassed
Damping: Low
Extension: 12Hz
Rumble Filter: On
Limiter: On
 
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#33,628 ·
if he doesnt test all the sbs at max, i think his tests arent conclusive
 
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#33,630 ·
The way the Hum-X works it is going to have to be on the M25 amplifier to work. Moving to a NAD preamp will likely fix the issue as well.

I can come over with my fluke and help you try and fix the hum without resorting to the Hum-X. Just let me know when you are ready for company in the new place!
That depends upon the source and path of the ground loop. Often enough just putting it on the preamp works; sometimes putting it on a power strip from which all the low-level components are powered works, sometimes it takes an RF (cable) isolator, etc.



@kyzer soze -- Ready or not, you should jump all over this and take Marc up on his offer. Sooo many things we spend thousands of words and days or weeks debating and speculating about on-line can be solved with a few minutes or hour of in-person time.
Thank you gentlemen I will have to give you call and coordinate a day Marc. Thank you for the offer :cool:
 
#33,632 ·
Hi guys,

Is it better to let all ports open or plug one in the middle for dual FV25hp 12hz extension in a sealed room for ht?
The FV25HP doesn't come with port plugs because it's not multi tune. You have to run it with all port opens. That's the only option. If yours came with a port plug then discard it, most likely was a mistake we made during packaging.
 
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#33,633 ·
Id like to be able to listen to movies at reference levels. Adding a second sub is supposed to add up to 6 db correct? Ive got some psa mt 110s on the way which will play a lot louder than my polk tsi's, and i want to mke sure i have a rocking sub setup to keep up with everything else.

Im still slightly torn. I reviewed the numbers on data bass, and the curves for the 1 port fv 15hp and the fv18 12hz tune look identical until you get down to 10hz. I reached out to rythmik and they said either will match perfectly. I feel like the fv18 is more future proof, but if the second fv15hp will get me plenty of power that would be good too.

Ive currently got the gain set to 3 o'clock. Im hesitant to keep cranking the gain, because i dont want to puch the amp too hard. Ideally, there is plenty of power left on tap just in case. Am i crazy for thinking that? How high on the gain can i go and still be ok?

Hi,

How far you can keep cranking the gain without hearing distortion/compression is a question that only you can answer. But, I expect that you are getting pretty close to that single sub's limits. Adding a second similar type of subwoofer will give you an additional 6db averaged across the subs' passband. And, it will give you 6db more at most low-frequencies.

FWIW, though, the FV15 and the FV18 don't look identical to me from 20Hz down. At most frequencies below about 25Hz, the FV18 has about a 2db advantage. That doesn't sound like much until you remember that
 
#33,635 ·
It's been a few weeks since the last update on the FV18s. Are there any firm dates on when they'll be back in stock?
End of May.
 
#33,636 ·
Im still slightly torn. I reviewed the numbers on data bass, and the curves for the 1 port fv 15hp and the fv18 12hz tune look identical until you get down to 10hz. I reached out to rythmik and they said either will match perfectly. I feel like the fv18 is more future proof, but if the second fv15hp will get me plenty of power that would be good too.
This is the downside of CEA/CTA MAX BURST numbers. They may lead one to believe the is little difference between the FV15HP and FV18. This is far from reality. Take a look at the THD numbers of the FV18 vs FV15HP. If we set a limit of 10% THD the FV18 should have over 3dB of headroom over the FV15HP.

@kyzer soze and I traded FV15HP for FV18 and IME the FV18 is starkly superior in 12Hz mode. The FV18 CEA/CTA numbers would actually be higher if not for the port resonance ~200Hz. Listening indoors, this resonance is not audible. Also in the 12Hz mode the FV15HP can be made to chuff severely. There is no significant chuffing on the FV18 with the Rumble Filter Engaged.

IME never disengage the limiter. I damaged a FV18 driver which was the result of me trying to make the system misbehave! It is really that good with the limiter on. With duals I suspect you don't even need the rumble filter engaged on the FV18/25s (something I think @serith should try) for even more ULF.
 
#33,637 ·
i have been quite happy with my fv25hp 17ft away and fv15hp 5ft away. I havent heard the fv15hp chuff since I added fv25hp so I must of combined them pretty well :)

by adding the fv25hp I think I gained almost 10 db over just the single 15hp in my 20k cuft space with a max of 127db with music at my mlp...many spots in my space dont get that high tho.
 
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#33,638 ·
Its nice to hear what everybody else has done.sounds like i should just save up and go straight for the big boy. Then there is no doubt about needing to have gone bigger.
 
#33,639 ·
Id like to be able to listen to movies at reference levels. Adding a second sub is supposed to add up to 6 db correct? Ive got some psa mt 110s on the way which will play a lot louder than my polk tsi's, and i want to mke sure i have a rocking sub setup to keep up with everything else.
Before you think that you need reference volume, go ahead and try to watch a movie at that level, if you haven’t already. Reference level to me at the movie theaters is just fine, even in the few cases where I watched back to back movies. At home it is a very different story, in a small room. I find it waaay too loud and mostly listen at around -20dB to -15 dB. Just something to consider, as it might save you a lot of money that you might not need to spend.

As far as gaining 6dB, that would only be if you stacked them or put them side by side. This would defeat the purpose of having multiple subs, which is to even out the response in the room from one seat to the next. If you place them across the room from one another, you will only get about 3dB gain, which isn’t a lot.
 
#33,640 ·
This is the downside of CEA/CTA MAX BURST numbers. They may lead one to believe the is little difference between the FV15HP and FV18. This is far from reality. Take a look at the THD numbers of the FV18 vs FV15HP. If we set a limit of 10% THD the FV18 should have over 3dB of headroom over the FV15HP.
If I remember correctly, Josh left the limiter off on the FV15HP and on for the FV18 and other new subs from last year. The outputs between the FV15HP and FV18 look similar, but not when you take into account THD. If you had the limiter on for the FV15HP and ran the same measurements, I think that you would get similar results, except the 3 to 4 dB more output from the FV18. Also the FV18 can have more extension, obviously.
 
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