One sub or two

[paulyg]

I have a yamaha sw 315 250w 10" and I love the quality and amount of bass I get from it. My question is, would two be twice as good and do they have to be identical subs?

[PS3 Blu-Ray]

it wouldn't double the sound to your ear if thats what you mean. I always been a fan of having a sub upfront, and one hitting the back of the couch. Thats what I like. First set your first sub upfront without the back one. Once you have that balanced, try throwing the second sub behind your couch. When bass hits, feeling the impact on the couch is kinda cool

[MacDaddyOJack]

It won't be twice as loud and you wont see any increase in sound quality either, especially if you get another identical sub. What you may be able to do is smooth out frequency response and flatten any room nodes. Then again, you could also create waves that cancel each other and thus create sound voids instead of peaks. It is a very delicate and picky task to setup two subwoofers. If you are happy with your sub, then I would suggest that you don't get another.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by paulyg

I have a yamaha sw 315 250w 10" and I love the quality and amount of bass I get from it. My question is, would two be twice as good and do they have to be identical subs?

The answer to your question is yes. Some recent research has shown that there are advantages to two or even four subwoofers. Read my thread on "A Guide to Subwoofers". There is an explanation on why more than one subwoofer is beneficial to your sound system. It is important that they are identical from the same manufacturer.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=43669.

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by paulyg

I have a yamaha sw 315 250w 10" and I love the quality and amount of bass I get from it. My question is, would two be twice as good and do they have to be identical subs?

They do not have to be identical. I run 2 subs, an Earthquake and a Paradigm and am very happy with this setup.

The Earthquake is my main sub and the Paradigm I use as rear fill. Take some time to play with level an placement of the second sub.

[David Craig]

I upgraded my sub a few years ago. For a few days I had both my old and new subs hooked up.

Two versus one made ABSOLUTELY no difference. Kind of relieved actually since finding room for two subs in one room can be difficult.

I'd say to stick with one sub.

[werewuf]

Depends greatly on the room and the kind floor and or construction of the house. I had a townhouse with a concrete slab floor downstairs where the living room was. Having one sub up front (even one with 350W) the low end was off in the distance in the sitting position. I added another identical one next to the main seating and balanced the volume and voila! much more "feel" to the experience. Later I moved to a real house with a hardwood floor (on a raised foundation) where I put my home theater and having two subs was over kill, and totally overpowering with barely turning the volume up. The low end traveled and shook the wood floor without much effort (sounded great though) so I sold off one of my two subs.
Short answer - depends on the room.

[Tyler2106]

If you are wondering about another sub...why don't you think about getting a better sub...I have heard that getting a second sub doesn't make it sound any better and some said it made it sound worse...

[Beta Man]

since placement is so difficult, It's better to sell the one you have, and buy a new one, if you're looking for "more"

[cpgator]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The answer to your question is yes. Some recent research has shown that there are advantages to two or even four subwoofers. Read my thread on "A Guide to Subwoofers". There is an explanation on why more than one subwoofer is beneficial to your sound system. It is important that they are identical from the same manufacturer.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=43669.

Do you have a link to the research that shows you should use two identical subs?

[Beta Man]

since they're going to be producing low notes, and since you're likely not putting them right next to each other, why would it matter that they are the exact same sub????? That makes no sense to me........

[guitarist155]

i always wondered about having something like a 15 and a 10 hmm could be interesting i wouldn't think it would matter, you could even have different freq ranges and set the crossovers accordingly to fill in spots, but like with any speaker i think placement and sound treatment are key. i would think 4 lower power subs in different areas would be better than 1 higher power sub, but only if setup properly, phase, standing waves, etc. could kill the benefits.

i know bigger places would use multiple subs so that the sound at distance can't be pinpointed, and alot of setups use dual front subs by the front left and right

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

since they're going to be producing low notes, and since you're likely not putting them right next to each other, why would it matter that they are the exact same sub????? That makes no sense to me........

Your front left and right towers are producing the same notes and are not right next to each other. Would you use different towers in your setup?
Edit: not trying to be a smart@ss, just a question. Different woofers (especially ones made of different materials) will respond at different speeds and have different tonal characteristics. In theory, they can supplement each other, but more often than not, they cause destructive interference.

If you take the time and care to setup 2 subs, you can benefit from it but only if you use two identical subs.

[guitarist155]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

Your front left and right towers are producing the same notes and are not right next to each other. Would you use different towers in your setup?

but this has to do with the sound field and timber matching, the front speakers are not producing the same thing or they would be mono. when the sound travels across the sound field you don't want to hear a difference in tone, the subsare not the same since they produce the same lfe effects. now if you have the subs setup in a 7.2 setup where the subs are in stereo and independent or if you are using them to augment the front left and right channels then i would say you should have matching subs

[Beta Man]

You match the front towers MORE on the higher frequencies which are more easily pinpointed..... I think with room treatment, or proper placement, it doesn't matter that the subs are the same exact model etc.... I understand a poorly made 18" woofer that is very slow, and distorts a lot, would not be an improvement when added to your system if you have a sub capable of going low/fast with little distortion..... Regardless of what one you have first, you would want to eliminate the weak link.... but if you have two capable subs, you can make them work together (but it's usually over-kill unless you have a LOT of room to fill)

I think a sealed and ported combo could work also... it's just all about placement.

[guitarist155]

lol i beat ya to it ^ but i think we have come to the same point, that it's all about placement and treatment

[Brian Cash]

the klipsch thx ultra 2 system i ordered has 2 subs for my theater room so im excited to hear how that sounds

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

Different woofers (especially ones made of different materials) will respond at different speeds

No they won't...if they did they would be producing different frequencies which is impossible. If fed a 50 Hz signal both will be producing a 50Hz signal.

Different woofer materials are used to produce a stiffer cone. The more rigid the cone the less distortion it will produce.

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by MatrixS2000

No they won't...if they did they would be producing different frequencies which is impossible. If fed a 50 Hz signal both will be producing a 50Hz signal.

Different woofer materials are used to produce a stiffer cone. The more rigid the cone the less distortion it will produce.

Right, but an aluminum cone takes longer to start producing that 50Hz signal than a paper cone would because of the difference in mass. That is also why an aluminum woofer can create louder low notes, it will not flex and distort as much at higher volumes. It is a trade off and would be very hard to seemlessly match two different woofers. The difference here is pretty minimal, but these little details can affect performance. It is really best to have two identical subs, or one beast of a sub.

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

Right, but an aluminum cone takes longer to start producing that 50Hz signal than a paper cone would because of the difference in mass. That is also why an aluminum woofer can create louder low notes, it will not flex and distort as much at higher volumes. It is a trade off and would be very hard to seemlessly match two different woofers. The difference here is pretty minimal, but these little details can affect performance. It is really best to have two identical subs, or one beast of a sub.

How does it take longer? The electrons move down the wires at the same speed and the woofer starts moving in both at the same time. The difference is in efficiency. The lower efficient woofer will take more power than a sub with higher efficiency - that is why you HAVE to make sure you adjust the levels between the subs.