Question Additional sub??

[speed1268]

Hi all, Replaced my XTZ 12:17 last year with a PSA S1500 which is fantastic. Can’t afford to money or space wise get another PSA so wondered if a smaller sub would further improve things whilst being tucked away behind a settee!
Have seen on the bay MJ acoustics pro 50 type thing or I know many rate BK or the Wharfedale sw150.

Thoughts appreciated.

Cheers speed

 

[Ultrasonic]

I think trying to pair a much less capable sub with an S1500 would be a bad idea. Be happy with what you have is my advice.

 

[MI55ION]

Hi all, Replaced my XTZ 12:17 last year with a PSA S1500 which is fantastic. Can’t afford to money or space wise get another PSA so wondered if a smaller sub would further improve things whilst being tucked away behind a settee!
Have seen on the bay MJ acoustics pro 50 type thing or I know many rate BK or the Wharfedale sw150.

Thoughts appreciated.

Cheers speed

Have you taken any measurements, if so, can you put them up?

As above, first thing to do is ensure the single sub is fully optimised in terms of its placement, integration with mains and your MLP. Proper way is with a usb microphone and REW.

Once that's complete and your listening habits and preferences are established we could make further recommendations.

 

[speed1268]

Thanks @Ultrasonic hmm definitely see where you are coming from
Good to hear from you @MI55ION it’s been awhile. Have the sub placed at the front next to an ATC40 then a stand. Integration has just been through T778 using full Dirac with a Sound Counsel filter!
Cheers speed

 

[Gasp3621]

I think trying to pair a much less capable sub with an S1500 would be a bad idea. Be happy with what you have is my advice.

1500£ costing product with 150£ costing Wharf SW-150 which one member cursed to deepest hell, bloated boomy peace of ****! Even the cheap BK sounded night and day better. Yeah horrible idea.

Tom is introducing 12" sealed 14inch cube soon.. If the S1500 is placed 2-4meters away and the smaller as nearfield then it may work depending what one is after. For extra impact the nearfield sub directly behind listener driver cm´s away from couch can be quite brutal.

 

[MI55ION]

Thanks @Ultrasonic hmm definitely see where you are coming from
Good to hear from you @MI55ION it’s been awhile. Have the sub placed at the front next to an ATC40 then a stand. Integration has just been through T778 using full Dirac with a Sound Counsel filter!
Cheers speed

Hi speed, its been a while indeed!

Without any measurement data its hard to predict what you are getting at the moment or if indeed a second sub would add anything. You also have to define what you mean to "further improve things".

In the absence of this data the next best thing is to use REW room simulator if your room is of a standard rectangular shape. If you do a rough sketch with the dimensions along with location of 1st sub and your MLP and proposed location of 2nd sub, we'd have something to work with.

Generally the consensus seems to be that when mixing subs, especially ones that are significantly different in design and performance to one another, the result could be a downgrade in performance overall. Under rare circumstances you could make them work together to fill a null in the response but that needs to be precision targeted.

The "lesser" sub could drag the performance down of the better sub, hence the advise is to proceed with caution.

 

[speed1268]

@Gasp3621 Hahaha well put! My sensible side thought as much!

Cheers speed

 

[speed1268]

Basic measurements with help from an angry teenager

 

[BriD]

I'm not advocating a bad sub at all, and I'd absolutely stick to a sealed sub, but I found adding a small old DIY sealed 12" sub made a massive improvement once integrated nicely. I do think though you need something like a MiniDSP to do so (and a decent mic and REW). Without blending it nicely it did sound odd.

At which point you can spend the £300 for a MiniDSP and mic on a better 2nd sub ;-)

 

[Ultrasonic]

@speed1268 what do you feel is lacking currently? Given your room size I'd expect a pretty impressive result if your PSA sub is well set up.

 

[rccarguy2]

How about one of these to pair with the s1500?

 

[speed1268]

Yep that’ll do!

 

[rccarguy2]

I have a sw-150 in the upstairs bedroom 4.1 system, room is 4.5x 3.5 and it's fine, sub is under pc desk for systems
It's a good sub but I wouldn't try and match it with such a high end sub, a bit pointless.

I had a 12" 425w svs sealed box paired with svs sbu13 and it coped well enough, so I'd be aiming at something like that a as minimum.