Choice of subs for new setup - Help !

WTBMrBlonde

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Hi all,

After having a Sony 5.1 'all in one' jobbie for ten years I decided it wasn't enough for what I wanted so I've just splashed out on an Onkyo TX-NR515 receiver and the Jamo S608 HCS3 speaker set.

I haven't set them up properly yet as I'm waiting for new speaker cables for the rear but so far I'm underwhelmed with the bass given that they have 2 x 10" subs in each front floorstander and I'm hoping these will loosen up eventually !

Regardless of that though I would like to add a decent sub to the system now and I really want something loud and low to accommodate both film watching and awesome house parties ! :)

As the amp is 7.2 is was contemplating a £150-£200 budget for now and then maybe add a second higher powered sub later if that price range won't cover me for the house party phase ;) so I was thinking (as many others have) Wharfedale SW150 or BK Gemini 2

However, now I'm wondering whether to go to the £400 max range for a bigger BK or possibly an Acoustic Energy instead ?

So my basic requirements are the need to go really earth shakingly loud (I have horrible neighbours) and not to have to spend the earth if all the extra will do is make it sound audiophile cleaner rather than heavier and louder ! Can someone please point me in the right direction ??

Thanks in advance,

Dan.
 
Or maybe the Wharfedale Powercube SPC-10, anyone have experience with one ?
 
Those Jamos have a 10" woofer already built in - and dare I say it, at the volumes that you say you'll be listening your AVR might struggle to power it all without clipping etc; make sure you don't use ridiculously thin cable (even the 2.5mm copper stuff off ebay should suffice however). As long as it sounds fine to you once it all beds in then there's no issue really.

You won't get much sub in terms of depth and loudness for £200, however go £400 or so and you should be able to find a second hand BK Monolith which will definitely add quite a bit of punch and weight. For me at least, there's no point in spending money unless it will actually make a difference and it won't later on make you go "oh, but if I'd spent this much more then.."
 
Those Jamos have a 10" woofer already built in - and dare I say it, at the volumes that you say you'll be listening your AVR might struggle to power it all without clipping etc; make sure you don't use ridiculously thin cable (even the 2.5mm copper stuff off ebay should suffice however). As long as it sounds fine to you once it all beds in then there's no issue really.

You won't get much sub in terms of depth and loudness for £200, however go £400 or so and you should be able to find a second hand BK Monolith which will definitely add quite a bit of punch and weight. For me at least, there's no point in spending money unless it will actually make a difference and it won't later on make you go "oh, but if I'd spent this much more then.."

I'm planning on bi-amping them once I sort out my cable, until then I'm just running them and the centre speaker in a bit on a short amount of 16AWG at maximum half AVR volume, I figure bi amping should mean the subs in them are getting a better lower signal and more individual power to help out a bit.

I didn't really want to spend nearly the same amount on a sub as I did on the whole Jamo setup, although the monolith does look pretty good ! :)
 
Sadly when AVR manufacturer's quote power figures they give you the power when only driving one speaker, no one drives only one speaker. I wouldn't count on bi-amping making much difference, since it will just take away power from the other channels.

You could try a dedicated stereo amp for music, a second hand older amplifier would easily beat the Onkyo for music.

As for a sub, keep an eye out for a secondhand XXLS400.
 
Just as an update I managed to get a second hand XXLS400 from these forums and I am very happy with its performance ! Already had the neighbours complaining ;)
 

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