Always? No. Placement is very important.
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Are more subwoofers always better?
Or can you actually have worse bass response in a room by having too many? What about in small rooms? Would more always be better for bass response?
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Placement AND proper integration between them. Without proper integration, it can be way, way worse regardless of ideal placement. Some AVRs can do this natively pretty well today. Sometimes you might need some additional equipment and/or expertise.
poorly located and aligned multiple subs can and likely will be worse than a well calibrated/located/aligned single sub.Or can you actually have worse bass response in a room by having too many? What about in small rooms? Would more always be better for bass response?
Thanks.
Say you have 4 passive subwoofers (2 in the front and 2 in the rear) connected to a single 4-channel amp. The amp is connected to the subwoofer/LFE out on the processor. Will the processor be able to calibrate the subwoofers effectively while only seeing all 4 subwoofers as one subwoofer?
Say you have 4 passive subwoofers (2 in the front and 2 in the rear) connected to a single 4-channel amp. The amp is connected to the subwoofer/LFE out on the processor. Will the processor be able to calibrate the subwoofers effectively while only seeing all 4 subwoofers as one subwoofer?
Not effectively. The processor, in this case, only has one channel so all 4 subs act like 1 sub in the eyes of the processor. The subs need to be setup to work well with one another and THEN presented to the processor as a single, well-performing sub.Thanks.
Say you have 4 passive subwoofers (2 in the front and 2 in the rear) connected to a single 4-channel amp. The amp is connected to the subwoofer/LFE out on the processor. Will the processor be able to calibrate the subwoofers effectively while only seeing all 4 subwoofers as one subwoofer?
This is the exact use case for a miniDSP-based sub calibration process. Single LFE out that is split into 4 independent channels within the miniDSP. Each sub is placed individually onto one of those channels. Then the integration happens within the miniDSP.
You will likely need some method of delaying either the rear (or front) subs (or flipping the phase on front or rear)Thanks.
Say you have 4 passive subwoofers (2 in the front and 2 in the rear) connected to a single 4-channel amp. The amp is connected to the subwoofer/LFE out on the processor. Will the processor be able to calibrate the subwoofers effectively while only seeing all 4 subwoofers as one subwoofer?
I have 3 SubMersives, with all 3 just run together off 1 output I get a worse frequency response, but by adding delay to the sub on the sidewall, I get a much better response.I ended up needing to add 8ms delay to the sidewall sub to get it to play nice. I did this 1 ms at a time,running sweeps in between, and with each additional ms the response improved greatly (till it started to go the other way)
Two subs from a receiver with two independent sub outputs was better than 1 sub in my room. 4 is even better - but required a Mini DSP HD to really implement properly.
Nope.... Say you have 4 passive subwoofers ... connected to a single 4-channel amp. The amp is connected to the subwoofer/LFE out on the processor. Will the processor be able to calibrate the subwoofers effectively while only seeing all 4 subwoofers as one subwoofer?
To guarantee improved results, you'll need to be able control each sub independently from the others. This means each sub needs its own amp channel and the amp would need a dedicated input for each sub channel. Then upstream of that you need a DSP of some kind to set the delay for each sub channel independently.Thanks.
Say you have 4 passive subwoofers (2 in the front and 2 in the rear) connected to a single 4-channel amp. The amp is connected to the subwoofer/LFE out on the processor. Will the processor be able to calibrate the subwoofers effectively while only seeing all 4 subwoofers as one subwoofer?
Your question and more are answered in this "white paper". Althouth it's technical and scientific, it's written at an understandable level for most and the sections/issues are divided by the questions and key points to the left of the text.
If you read and understand this and another white paper Harmon has on line you'll get a pretty good understanding of Subs, placement, what works and what doesn't and why. Happy reading. https://www.harman.com/documents/multsubs_0.pdf
If you read and understand this and another white paper Harmon has on line you'll get a pretty good understanding of Subs, placement, what works and what doesn't and why. Happy reading. https://www.harman.com/documents/multsubs_0.pdf
Lol it’s good to know that 5000 subwoofers in a room eliminate all nulls 😂Your question and more are answered in this "white paper". Althouth it's technical and scientific, it's written at an understandable level for most and the sections/issues are divided by the questions and key points to the left of the text.
If you read and understand this and another white paper Harmon has on line you'll get a pretty good understanding of Subs, placement, what works and what doesn't and why. Happy reading. https://www.harman.com/documents/multsubs_0.pdf
More or less same story for me. I will also add for sound quality combined frequency response does not tell the whole story.Two subs from a receiver with two independent sub outputs was better than 1 sub in my room. 4 is even better - but required a Mini DSP HD to really implement properly.
If one chosen location introduces ringing or localization in a key area that's what you'll hear, even if the combined response isn't bad and there's no issue with the other subs. The "weak link in the chain" will bring things down.
For 4 subs a minidsp or similar is a must if sound quality is a priority IMO.
A caveat with the Harmon work is that is it done on the basis of a symmetrical room. If you have an asymmetrical room or a "room" that is part of a larger open/semi-open floor plan, it tends to complicate things further. Not to say that the work isn't valid or even still quite valuable for such rooms, but just want to point that out to any interested parties.Your question and more are answered in this "white paper". Althouth it's technical and scientific, it's written at an understandable level for most and the sections/issues are divided by the questions and key points to the left of the text.
If you read and understand this and another white paper Harmon has on line you'll get a pretty good understanding of Subs, placement, what works and what doesn't and why. Happy reading. https://www.harman.com/documents/multsubs_0.pdf
Bass traps and acoustic treatments also helped a lot !More or less same story for me. I will also add for sound quality combined frequency response does not tell the whole story.
If one chosen location introduces ringing or localization in a key area that's what you'll hear, even if the combined response isn't bad and there's no issue with the other subs. The "weak link in the chain" will bring things down.
For 4 subs a minidsp or similar is a must if sound quality is a priority IMO.
Always be addin subwoofers
Here's a decent article on placement in a non symetrical room. Subwoofer Placement In Non-Rectangular RoomsA caveat with the Harmon work is that is it done on the basis of a symmetrical room. If you have an asymmetrical room or a "room" that is part of a larger open/semi-open floor plan, it tends to complicate things further. Not to say that the work isn't valid or even still quite valuable for such rooms, but just want to point that out to any interested parties.
No. Claiming that multiple subs is ALWAYS better is a dumb blanket statement that doesn't take into account unique rooms, goals, and setups. I always tell people to buy the best single sub they can find, set it up properly in their room, and give it a few months to see how it performs. If a second sub would help, they can always buy another later.
It’s not coincidental that many sub companies offer a small discount when buying a pair and their literature rarely deviates from the “more is better” mantra. Because they want to make more money, increase their profits, and make their shareholders/owners richer. So always start with one and add later if needed.
It’s not coincidental that many sub companies offer a small discount when buying a pair and their literature rarely deviates from the “more is better” mantra. Because they want to make more money, increase their profits, and make their shareholders/owners richer. So always start with one and add later if needed.
Watch this video from about 5:00 to 10:00 and you'll see that without placement/eq the answer can be a resounding no. it's why I'm not going to get a second sub until I can also get a mini DSP with it.
After watching Audioholics 2-3 videos on Acoustics and bass wave response, I'm pretty convinced that your best bet is to get 4 subwoofers that fit in your budget to cancel nulls around the room. If you have a room that you and only you will watch movies in you can probably get away with one sub, but the rest of the seating will suffer. 4 Subs (even of smaller size) will resonate bass everywhere and across the entire spectrum rather than finding that one sweet spot that will still have dips across certain octaves.
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