Kef HTB2 or BK Gemini ?

[spedhent]

Hi there,

How would the Gemini compare in performance to the KEF HTB2 subwoofer ?

Theres seems to be a big price difference between them both, but from reading up on this forum it seems as though you get a £400 subwoofer for the price of £200 with the Gemini.

I will be using it for both music and movies

Many thanks

[spedhent]

How much would I have to pay for a current model of the MJ Acoustics line of subwoofers to equal that of a BK Gemini subwoofer ?

Many thanks Guys

[russ.will]

One has to be very careful when drawing direct comparisons, especially where there isn't one, but there are a lot of obvious similarities to MJ's, so I'll stick my neck out.

The Gemini is comparable to the Mark 1 MJ Pro 50. Similar size, driver and amp compliment. The Mk2 has upped the driver to 10" (from 8), although on paper it's still 30w down on power. I imagine the biggest real difference between them in practice is the £100 extra the MJ costs, although I've no personal experience of the Gemini to compare.

The value star of the show is the XLS-200 which looses the 'digitally accurate' crossover of the MJ Ref 200 but compensates with an additional 75w for £300. A staggering £350 less than the MJ. Go figure.

I haven't heard the HT2B to compare to any of the above.

Russell

[spedhent]

"digitally accurate", what exactly would I benefit from having that ?

You mention comparing the XLS-200 to MJ's REF 200, in terms of quality bass output which would you recommend ?

I'am looking to buy 2 subwoofers to use along side a pair of KEF FIVETWO MODEL 7 Speakers. But I dont know if to get the matching KEF subwoofer for £500. Or buy 2 MJ PRO 50 MK2 SUBS for £260 each with one at each side of my room. Or get 2 Gemini subwoofers instead for £200 each.

Anybody else who could help me out here.

Thanks Russ for the reply.

[russ.will]

I have no idea what the benefit of the 'digitally accurate' crossover is, considering I've never met a speaker with a digitally accurate roll off to integrate a sub with.

As regards bass quality? That's harder to quantify as I've yet to meet anybody whose had both. If you've bought an XLS-200, you already know the Ref 200 isn't worth any differences that may exist and Ref 200 owners are unlikely to look at the XLS as the next step.

FWIW, I had a Ref 200 and in it's position in the market place, its a good enough sub. If I knew then, what I know now, I wouldn't have bought it.

The Pro 50 MkII I heard at the Bristol show, rumbled along well enough, but didn't offer anything in the way of deep extension. Shows are notoriously poor places for demos though.

Objective testing of subs goes further to defining the potential quality of a sub than it would with loudspeakers. Thus far, only the XLS-200 has made it into the hands of the two most respected online testers and it frankly delivers astonishing results for a sub of it's price, never mind size.

My advice would be get one bigger (or more capable small) sub than two lesser ones. It's hard enough to get the position and tuning of one sub right, without complicating the issue.

Of course, with a lot of time and effort, two can yield better results than one sub. They won't go any deeper, will only offer 3-6dB of increased loudness capability, or a drop in distortion. All of which is available in higher quality sub twice the price without the agro of making two work together.

Given your apparent budget, I'd be letting the side down if I didn't point you at one of these. Hand on heart, this will best any pair of anything mentioned above.

Russell

[spedhent]

Looked at that sub you point to and looks good. But I've always preferred two subwoofers going at once rather than one. Currently I have two Aiwa TSW-9 subwoofers which costed me approx £300 each way back in 1996, and have given me great pleasure over the years but I think now maybe the time to move on. When ever I run two subwoofers though I find the bass covers the whole room rather than it sounding from more one end. So I'm asumming this will be the case if I buy just a single subwoofer of any of the current subwoofers. Or am I wrong in asumming this ?

Oh by the way does the SVS SB12 have a auto standby feature or any of the BK range ? I cant seem to find out if they have or not, this is quite an important feature for me.

[russ.will]

Being able to aurally locate a subwoofer is normally a sign of either really poor placement/setup or more often, high levels of distortion.

The frequencies we're talking about here (below 100Hz) should not be localizable due to the omni directional nature of bass. What does, is the sub generating high levels of harmonic distortion as it struggles to plumb the depths asked of it.

Ask a poor sub to produce 30Hz at a decent volumes and it will produce harmonics at 60, 90, 120Hz etc, generally reducing in volume with increasing frequency. By the time you get above 120Hz, the harmonics will make it's location seriously obvious. A good sub will not do this.

One side effect of people meeting a sub capable of such feats for the first time is the "Where did all the bass go?" reaction. The absence of previously familiar distortion, tends to make clean bass sound initially underwhelming, but once you get used to it, there's no going back.

Take advantage of AV Sales 45day money back guarantee. It'll give you time to play and adjust both the sub and yourself!

Neither the SVS or BK have auto off features, but there are plenty of remote control wall switches available for under £20 which is an even better solution if green issues affect you.

Russell

[spedhent]

Thats really made a difference Russ, I think I'll just opt for one subwoofer for now and see how I go on with that. Also I'll look into the switch you mention for the auto standby feature. The advice you have just given me has not only given me more of a wider choice of subs, but has most likely saved me abit of money as well.

cheers for that Russ

[russ.will]

Where in the world are you?

If you can make it to AV Sales (known as Kent Home Cinema in the non-cyber world) can demo any number of subs to pit the SVS against. It's well worth the trip.

Unless you live in the Hebrides, that is.

Cheers

Russell

[spedhent]

I live in Stockport, Manchester.

Kent would be abit of a trek