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one 12" or two 10" subs?

2684 Views 19 Replies 11 Participants Last post by TumaraBaap, May 13, 2006

Tom Bley

Discussion Starter · May 5, 2006

I currently have an old Velodyne VA-1215X in my 15x21x8 room and was looking to upgrade...I've actually had a nasty popping sound from my velodyne once in a while on really heavy bass movie material and it's only at the 9-10 o'clock position on the gain. I was thinking of going larger than my 12" sub but, I wanted to know what some of you thought about two 10" subs in place of one 12"? I also listen to some music as well. They would be located along my front wall flanking my center channel. Klipsch chorus II's for mains and Heresy II for center channel.

Also, to hook up two subs do I just use a Y-cable and go into each sub? I have one sub out of a Yamaha RX-V2600.

Thanks guys.

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SethH

· #2 · May 5, 2006

What subs are you looking at? The reason I ask is this: The Dayton 12" subwoofer can be had for around $150. The SVS PB-10 can be had for around $450 (x2 = $900). In this case, it's pretty obvious that the two 10" subs would be better.

If you assume that the 2 10's will cost the same as the one 12" then you'll probably have lower quality subs, but the advantage will be that you may be able to smooth your frequency response a little by having the two subs in different locations.

Tom Bley

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 5, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by SethH
What subs are you looking at? The reason I ask is this: The Dayton 12" subwoofer can be had for around $150. The SVS PB-10 can be had for around $450 (x2 = $900). In this case, it's pretty obvious that the two 10" subs would be better.

If you assume that the 2 10's will cost the same as the one 12" then you'll probably have lower quality subs, but the advantage will be that you may be able to smooth your frequency response a little by having the two subs in different locations.

Hi Seth,

I'm figuring that two 10's will cost more than one 12. I don't want super high-end, middle of the road on cost. I kind of want to listen to the subs rather than buy online. I really don't like the looks of the svs subs although, I keep hearing great things about them. My theater and speakers are more old school looking.

DMF

· #4 · May 7, 2006

You don't say how loud you like to listen. The volume setting on the sub has little to do with anything.

The Chorus has one of the best bottoms of any reasonable sized speaker I've ever heard. It has a 15" woofer with a 15" passive radiator for efficiency (and to keep driver excursion down). Flat to 39 Hz, -8 dB @ 30 Hz, -15 dB @ 20 Hz. That's pretty darn good, and as good as low-cost 10" subs will give you (even two).

All you really need is the bottom octave, so look for a sub that is tuned low. Say one that claims 16 Hz extension.

Cross over very low (if your receiver will let you) - maybe 40 Hz. Or try running without a sub. Maybe you've forgotten how good the bottom end on these speakers is!

Russdawg

· #5 · May 8, 2006

I ran two Mirage S10's together for awhile....it didn't last to long though. I went with a SVS PB12+2 which was a gigantic step up all around.

I would never run two ten's again, it was more of a headache than what it was worth.

Tom Bley

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 8, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMF
You don't say how loud you like to listen. The volume setting on the sub has little to do with anything.

The Chorus has one of the best bottoms of any reasonable sized speaker I've ever heard. It has a 15" woofer with a 15" passive radiator for efficiency (and to keep driver excursion down). Flat to 39 Hz, -8 dB @ 30 Hz, -15 dB @ 20 Hz. That's pretty darn good, and as good as low-cost 10" subs will give you (even two).

All you really need is the bottom octave, so look for a sub that is tuned low. Say one that claims 16 Hz extension.

Cross over very low (if your receiver will let you) - maybe 40 Hz. Or try running without a sub. Maybe you've forgotten how good the bottom end on these speakers is!

I actually have been looking at the SVS subs now....I thought they only made the cylinder style subs that I didn't really like. I really like their box subs the PB12-Plus/2 looks bad ash! Wish I could hear it. It's size is a little big for me I think. I like tight accurated bass that is integrated well with the other speakers and doesn't sound like it's own entity. The PB12 Plus would probably suit me plenty. It would probably smoke my Velodyne VA1215X. I listen probably under reference levels but, it still plenty loud. The klipschs don't sound like they have a lot of bass down low....the mid horns on those are amazing. Very efficient speakers. I keep all my speakers crossed over at 80Hz and let my sub take over the lower Fq.

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vitod

· #7 · May 8, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Bley
I currently have an old Velodyne VA-1215X in my 15x21x8 room and was looking to upgrade...I've actually had a nasty popping sound from my velodyne once in a while on really heavy bass movie material and it's only at the 9-10 o'clock position on the gain. I was thinking of going larger than my 12" sub but, I wanted to know what some of you thought about two 10" subs in place of one 12"? I also listen to some music as well. They would be located along my front wall flanking my center channel. Klipsch chorus II's for mains and Heresy II for center channel.

Also, to hook up two subs do I just use a Y-cable and go into each sub? I have one sub out of a Yamaha RX-V2600.

Thanks guys.

Your room is a little wider than mine and I have 2 SVS tube subs. I think 1 PB12+2 would be more than enough.

The pics show the subs.

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Zues

· #8 · May 11, 2006

Two 10s will always blow away one 12 if its hooked up right and has enough power going to the two.

Reginald Trent

· #9 · May 11, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zues
Two 10s will always blow away one 12 if its hooked up right and has enough power going to the two.

So two 10s of inferior quality will outperform a SVS PCplus or a Hsu HO turbo?

Ironmike86

· #10 · May 11, 2006

So two 10s of inferior quality will outperform a SVS PCplus or a Hsu HO turbo

I doubt that but 2 from the same manufacture probally will be better than one 12 from the same as long as the extension capability was the same. But I wouldn't do that unless the room has some size JME

Reginald Trent

· #11 · May 11, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zues
Two 10s will always blow away one 12 if its hooked up right and has enough power going to the two.

The keyword in his post is ALWAYS. What I got from his post was two 10s of any quality (inferior) or otherwise will ALWAYS blow away a 12" irrespective of the 12's quality.

Elguapo123

· #12 · May 11, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitod
Your room is a little wider than mine and I have 2 SVS tube subs. I think 1 PB12+2 would be more than enough.

The pics show the subs.

Those are some pretty bad pictures, but your room sure looks nice in the last one.

DMF

· #13 · May 11, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zues
Two 10s will always blow away one 12 if its hooked up right and has enough power going to the two.

There's so many exceptions and required qualifications to that statement that it is essentially meaningless.

Zues

· #14 · May 11, 2006

Not really meaningless. In car audio world everyone has at least a pair of 10s in their car. One 10 or 12, i dont care how good of quality it is, is not as good as two.

Reginald Trent

· #15 · May 12, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zues
Not really meaningless. In car audio world everyone has at least a pair of 10s in their car. One 10 or 12, i dont care how good of quality it is, is not as good as two.

Sure, two 10s are probably better than a single 12 if all three are of equal quality.

But you said any two 10s are better than any single 12" sub speaker. Now you mention car audio so do you think two 10s made by Boss are better than a one JLw7 sub speaker?

Zues

· #16 · May 12, 2006

Boss or bose

JlAudios are nice, but one 12 compared to say a pair of cheaper fosgate 12s the jl will still lose. I would say it would take some pretty horrible sounding subs were one of higher quality would be better than two cheaper, but decent quality subs. I run a cheap sony 12sub for home theater, could i buy a Jlaudio 12 and swap it out?

Reginald Trent

· #17 · May 12, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zues
Boss or bose

JlAudios are nice, but one 12 compared to say a pair of cheaper fosgate 12s the jl will still lose. I would say it would take some pretty horrible sounding subs were one of higher quality would be better than two cheaper, but decent quality subs. I run a cheap sony 12sub for home theater, could i buy a Jlaudio 12 and swap it out?

I said Boss not Bose and that's their name.

http://www.nextag.com/boss-subwoofer...B2C62B23436747

VS

http://froogle.google.com/froogle_cl...ring=mrd&hl=en

You would be better off buying a SVS PB12-NSD

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Greg_R

· #18 · May 12, 2006

Quote:

Not really meaningless. In car audio world everyone has at least a pair of 10s in their car. One 10 or 12, i dont care how good of quality it is, is not as good as two.

Car audio has a lot more room gain than home audio so you really can't directly compare the two.

However, if we use math, we can determine the total displacement of each system (assuming same amount of linear stroke):

12" system = 6^2 = 36 sq.in. * stroke

2x10" system = 2*(5^2) = 2*25 = 50 sq.in. * stroke

Thus, the 2 10s will be louder if everything else is equal. HOWEVER, doubling drivers will not necessarily increase bass extension (which is what most people are after in a HT environment). Also, for the same budget the 2 10s will likely not have the ability to be as musical as a single 12" sub.

Recommendation: if you want SPL and not a lot of extension, get 2 10" subs. If you want more extension and better quality (lower distortion, etc.) then get the 12".Not really meaningless. In car audio world everyone has at least a pair of 10s in their car. One 10 or 12, i dont care how good of quality it is, is not as good as two.

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Reginald Trent

· #19 · May 12, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg_R
Thus, the 2 10s will be louder if everything else is equal.

This is a key phrase that Zues failed to use in their initial post which is why I replied to clarify.

TumaraBaap

· #20 · May 13, 2006

Had you asked whether to go with two 12's or one 15, I'd have said two 12's. The caution with 10's is that most are barely entry level (as always, there are exceptions), targeted towards someone upgrading from their JVC HTIB. Quite a number of them may not play flat and clean and loud down to 30 Hz... problems that won't be entirely remedied by having two. Some here may cite a smoother response with two subs. Note that there are very few permutations of two sub locations that will yield such a result. Painstaking measurement and high resolution tools are a requisite with this route.

On the upside two smaller 10's may be less obtrusive than a big 12. If you're looking for good looking, musical and tight sounding 10's, do check out AV123's line of Rocket subs. Some are sold with a discount if you get two.

Tumara Baap

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