Add a Subwoofer?

[dbarila]

I've recently started using my stereo speakers as my TV speakers as well and was considering adding a subwoofer for some more thump mainly for TV watching. However, I think it also might be nice to add some lower end to my music listening as well? What are people's thoughts about subwoofers in general? It's a small basement so I'm pretty sure something like Polk Audio PSW10 which can be found for $99 would be enough but I don't know what else I should be considering. For reference my speakers are Elac Debut B6 and the amp is a Onkyo TX-8020.

 

[displayname]

I've recently started using my stereo speakers as my TV speakers as well and was considering adding a subwoofer for some more thump mainly for TV watching. However, I think it also might be nice to add some lower end to my music listening as well? What are people's thoughts about subwoofers in general? It's a small basement so I'm pretty sure something like Polk Audio PSW10 which can be found for $99 would be enough but I don't know what else I should be considering. For reference my speakers are Elac Debut B6 and the amp is a Onkyo TX-8020.

Personally I think lower price subs aren't worth the money. The SVS NSD-SB12 is as low as I'd go personally. The SB1000/2000 would be the current lines to consider. I also recently have been finding myself more attracted to bass speed over absolute depth, but that's a preference thing. I'm just finding I'd rather take something that gets down to 40hz and is VERY fast vs something that gets down to 25hz but is slow and muddy. But generally if you want that thunder or kick in the chest, something digging into the 20's with power will give you more impact than something with speed a lot of the time.

Luckily in a small room it's easier to create impact. In a basement, you might find it hard to tame the bass too, just depends on the room.

 

[TheMythOfSisyphus]

Personally I think lower price subs aren't worth the money. The SVS NSD-SB12 is as low as I'd go personally. The SB1000/2000 would be the current lines to consider. I also recently have been finding myself more attracted to bass speed over absolute depth, but that's a preference thing. I'm just finding I'd rather take something that gets down to 40hz and is VERY fast vs something that gets down to 25hz but is slow and muddy. But generally if you want that thunder or kick in the chest, something digging into the 20's with power will give you more impact than something with speed a lot of the time.

Luckily in a small room it's easier to create impact. In a basement, you might find it hard to tame the bass too, just depends on the room.

+1 on the SVS SB2000

ive has one for last couple years and I really like it. If I find the amount of bass coming out of it doesn’t work on a particular album then I adjust its output accordingly. I like a 2.1

 

[displayname]

If I find the amount of bass coming out of it doesn’t work on a particular album then I adjust its output accordingly.

This is another perfect example of personal preference. Personally I never found a truly perfect sweet spot for the sub, and found myself either accepting things slightly off, or slightly tweaking the sub output. I really only tweaked every few months once I got close, but it never felt perfect across the board. This was also exaggerated with a notable 50(ish)Hz room hump.

I moved to an amp that had a power supply that allowed me to get the most depth out of my speakers, and I don't miss the sub. Things might not go technically as deep, but it feels more balanced from album to album now and I don't every find myself missing the sub, which surprised me.

 

[TheMythOfSisyphus]

In general I prefer a sealed box. A ported sub gets a lot of its “noise” from the distortion of it farting, which isn’t musical

 

[Satchmo2go]

+1 on the SVS SB2000

ive has one for last couple years and I really like it. If I find the amount of bass coming out of it doesn’t work on a particular album then I adjust its output accordingly. I like a 2.1

+2. I went this exact same direction for my main record and tv spot. Now have a 2.1 set up with a SVS SB2000. it’s a very nice unit.

 

[HiFi Guy]

Inexpensive subwoofers aren't good, and good subwoofers aren't inexpensive.

Don't get hung up on subwoofer specs. Sound waves get longer at low frequencies (why thunder travels and the sound of bees doesn't is an example.)

You have to have a fairly large room for a 20Hz tone to fully develop. But- speakers that are setup properly can play plenty deep. Mine are rated to 45 Hz, and although I know there is a small bit I'm missing below that, I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Speaker setup may take a few hours, but it's time well spent.

Also, most people set the volume too high on their subwoofers. If you notice the subwoofer, it's too loud. A correctly setup subwoofer should be sonically invisible: you don't notice when it's on, only when it's off.

 

[PVDUBBER]

Interestingly enough I was anti-sub woofer for many years, but I bought two SB1000's one night while laying in bed. I figured I could sell them at a minimal loss if I did not like it. Lets just say they are here to say. I would say if you can swing for two that is the way to go, and as mentioned above the inexpensive subs tend to add more distortion than clean tight bass.

 

[dbarila]

I guess I'll just hold off for now. I don't have that much to spend on a sub right now.

 

[Corycm]

I guess I'll just hold off for now. I don't have that much to spend on a sub right now.

I have speakers and a sub *just* for tv/movies. I’m nowhere near as picky about audio when I watch something and it was cheaper to do that than try to build a go-everywhere-do-everything sound system for both my music and the tv. YMMV, depending on how much of a video nerd you are, but it’s an option.

 

[dbarila]

I have speakers and a sub *just* for tv/movies. I’m nowhere near as picky about audio when I watch something and it was cheaper to do that than try to build a go-everywhere-do-everything sound system for both my music and the tv. YMMV, depending on how much of a video nerd you are, but it’s an option.

I'm not nearly as picky when it comes to video. Maybe I'll give a cheap sub a try for TV. See how I like it for music and id it's not great I'll just use it for TV and movies. If I like using a sub I'll save for a nicer one.

 

[Joe Mac]

I have speakers and a sub *just* for tv/movies. I’m nowhere near as picky about audio when I watch something and it was cheaper to do that than try to build a go-everywhere-do-everything sound system for both my music and the tv. YMMV, depending on how much of a video nerd you are, but it’s an option.

Exactly the same. The Sonos base speaker thingy and the two small ones at the rear are plenty good enough for my tv and leaves the stereo free to give me that music goodness!

 

[Corycm]

Exactly the same. The Sonos base speaker thingy and the two small ones at the rear are plenty good enough for my tv and leaves the stereo free to give me that music goodness!

I use a big soundbar with a sub. LG maybe? The bar makes an appearance in most of my “now playing” photos since it lives in front of the table. It performs exactly how I want it to, provides enough separation and the system has enough control to make EQ and balance adjustments to how I want the sound. The big selling feature being I don’t have to monkey with the sound on my stereo (which has no monkey-able controls except volume) to get things balanced like tv voices up front and more atmospheric bass.

 

[debianlinux]

If you're watching movies or listening to certain types of music a sub is non negotiable. I recently upgraded my sub and have to agree about the typical price to performance curves. That said, the same system without the sub feels fairly anemic on a lot of the more electronic music I listen to. Most systems roll off hard around the 50hz mark. Having strong extension into the 20's will open a lot of bass specific music up.

 

[displayname]

I guess I'll just hold off for now. I don't have that much to spend on a sub right now.

One thing to consider as you're saving... will adding a sub offer more than upgrading speakers? For example, instead of investing in a sub or two, would upgrading to the Elac F6.2 be equally (or more) satisfying without needing to integrate anything?

Open that discussion to the used tower speakers and you would have a decent number of upgrade options. Personally, I think with the Elac's it makes more sense to upgrade speakers. There is a threshold for everything. For example, your speakers, I would upgrade to towers. But I've heard some $4K monitors that I REALLY liked, but I would need subs with those. And in that case it makes sense because the corresponding towers are $8k, and the next model up on monitors are $7K. So in that case spending $2k on subs completely makes sense to help augment the speakers.

But in the more reasonable price brackets, I would look at upgrading to towers before adding subs. But like most things, that's just my opinion.

 

[dbarila]

So against the advice of the board I got the Polk Subwoofer with my gift card. I'm still messing around with the location but so far it's doing what I wanted it to do and doesn't sound bad at all. Tested it out with The Comet Is Coming and it filled in the bottom end nicely!

 

[Haimez40]

So against the advice of the board I got the Polk Subwoofer with my gift card. I'm still messing around with the location but so far it's doing what I wanted it to do and doesn't sound bad at all. Tested it out with The Comet Is Coming and it filled in the bottom end nicely!

Your opinion is the only one that matters. I got the SVS NSD12SB and it is amazing. When looking I also considered that Polk. Room acoustics plays a huge part here. I'm impressed with mini sub came with my soundbar but that is a tight space. Long story short with subs preferences and situation play an even bigger role than our other purchases. In my opinion of course.
Edit: I love bass too and keep my sub at around 35-40%

 

[dbarila]

So what exactly does a Phase switch do on the back of the Subwoofer? The manual doesn't really explain it, it basically just says use whichever setting sounds best.

 

[debianlinux]

So what exactly does a Phase switch do on the back of the Subwoofer? The manual doesn't really explain it, it basically just says use whichever setting sounds best.

The most simple switch would have the same effect as swapping the polarity of the wires to the speaker. Some more advanced circuits allow dialing in values outside of 180.

 

[apholden]

So what exactly does a Phase switch do on the back of the Subwoofer? The manual doesn't really explain it, it basically just says use whichever setting sounds best.

The oversimplified answer is that it controls whether a positive voltage should cause the speaker cone to push forward or pull back. Assuming it's right next to your regular speaker, you want the subwoofer to push forward the same time as the regular speaker. That would cause both speakers to work in harmony. The other phase would mean the subwoofer is pulling back while the regular speaker is pushing forward, and they would try to cancel each other out.
Of course, it gets a lot more complicated when you move the subwoofer away from your stereo speakers, as most people do. In which case, yeah, just play with the switch until it sounds okay from your chair.