Is 2 better than 1?

[GAWD]

Question for you gurus...I currently have a Velodyne DPS 12" and was thinking of getting two HSU 10" subs. Would 2 10"ers be better than one 12"?

I love my Velodyne too death but I just keep hearing crazy stuff about HSU and SVS and well the STF2 would be the only one I could afford 2 of.

I'm just wondering if 2 10" subs would do what 1 12" sub can do.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Originally Posted by GAWD

Question for you gurus...I currently have a Velodyne DPS 12" and was thinking of getting two HSU 10" subs. Would 2 10"ers be better than one 12"?

I love my Velodyne too death but I just keep hearing crazy stuff about HSU and SVS and well the STF2 would be the only one I could afford 2 of.

I'm just wondering if 2 10" subs would do what 1 12" sub can do.

Yes.

Rule of thumb. Two subs will always play better than one with placement, dispersion, and room interaction.

If you double the watts (second sub) you gain 3db of output. If you double the cone area (second sub) you gain another 3db of output. So in total you could gain 6db in total output with two subs. When you calibrate them, the amps run with more headroom and have cleaner output (no distortion). With room interaction, I've seen some people gain up to 8db by adding a second sub. So yes, two ten inch subs can do a whole lot more for you than one twelve.

[progers13]

Originally Posted by Audiophile_At_Birth

Yes.

Rule of thumb. Two subs will always play better than one with placement, dispersion, and room interaction.

If you double the watts (second sub) you gain 3db of output. If you double the cone area (second sub) you gain another 3db of output. So in total you could gain 6db in total output with two subs. When you calibrate them, the amps run with more headroom and have cleaner output (no distortion). With room interaction, I've seen some people gain up to 8db by adding a second sub. So yes, two ten inch subs can do a whole lot more for you than one twelve.

+1 on this post.

When I added my second sub (granted, it was a 12"), I calibrated each of them to 78 dbs individually. When I ran them both simultaneously, they were putting out 85 ~ 86 dbs (an increase of 7 ~ 8 dbs). I was able to lower their gains and still get the same level of output, but I freed up more head room so I'm not putting any strain on the amps. Plus, 2 is always better than one because it provides a more even response over the listening area, whereas one sub will give you more of an uneven response.

I would say two 10" subs will be better than one 12" sub, but I would also contend that two 12" are even better than two 10" subs.

[GAWD]

Thanks for the info guys. I wish I can get 2x12" but can't afford it right now. Checking my options on getting some HSU 10inchers.

I knew about the benefits of running two subs for standing waves and such but I never thought 2 smaller subs would actually be better than one bigger one. Always figured the bigger one would go lower and hit harder.

[callas01]

Hsu subs are awesome performers, you will be very pleased with their performance. Yes 2 would be better then 1.

[4x12]

Originally Posted by GAWD

Thanks for the info guys. I wish I can get 2x12" but can't afford it right now. Checking my options on getting some HSU 10inchers.

Theres always eD !!

You have the A2-250 10" AT $325 INC. Free Shipping for US.

OR

You can get the A2-300 with a 12" @ $350 INC. Free shipping for US.

Just another option for ya!

[Fors*]

The one thing I didn't see mentioned here is placement. Regardless of the # of subs, if you don't have good placement, forget it. 2 subs offer its own challenges, as location can be quite tough to get both subs dialed in together due to room boundaries, furniture and just a lack of options within the room. Also, room treatments such as bass traps or subrisers can offer improved bass response. I just wanted to throw this into the mix since I haven't seen it mentioned previously. As a general rule though, yes, 2 smaller subs cans be better than one larger one.

[GregBe]

That is something to consider. Adding multiple subs will not change how deep the subs will play.

I would say in general, yes two are better than one because of the reasons in the good advice from the two previous posts. I would also say that "always" is a pretty strong statement. In my room for example, I have found a spot in my room that gives me a flat even response across all seats on my couch. I would rather have one better sounding/bigger sub in that one spot, than have two subs that might mess up my already good response. In fact, that is what I did. I was debating adding a second SVS PB10 to my system, but I sold it and bought one AV123 MFW15.

As in everything audio, there are no absolutes.

[Audiophile_At_Birth]

Originally Posted by GregBe

That is something to consider. Adding multiple subs will not change how deep the subs will play.

I would say in general, yes two are better than one because of the reasons in the good advice from the two previous posts. I would also say that "always" is a pretty strong statement. In my room for example, I have found a spot in my room that gives me a flat even response across all seats on my couch. I would rather have one better sounding/bigger sub in that one spot, than have two subs that might mess up my already good response. In fact, that is what I did. I was debating adding a second SVS PB10 to my system, but I sold it and bought one AV123 MFW15.

As in everything audio, there are no absolutes.

If you calibrate the sub correctly, you could take away a lot of the peaks while still allowing that 6-8db in the 20hz area. Sure bigger subs will go louder and deeper, but to get the benefits of one sub over two, you're looking at jumping up in the caliber level of the sub. With two subs you are getting more output down low, raising dips, and with calibration you could lower peaks which is always better for the sub amp than raising dips. In the end you could have a very flat frequency response that hits just as hard and sounds smoother throughout the room than one twelve or fifteen inch sub.

And by having two subs, your perceived frequency response gains 2-3hz in the -/3db output range. Sure you could have one huge sub that is flat down to around 18hz...but that 10 inch sub that is flat to around 20hz and having a second, means you are in the same 17-18hz flat frequency range as your huge sub.

[GregBe]

Originally Posted by Audiophile_At_Birth

If you calibrate the sub correctly, you could take away a lot of the peaks while still allowing that 6-8db in the 20hz area. Sure bigger subs will go louder and deeper, but to get the benefits of one sub over two, you're looking at jumping up in the caliber level of the sub. With two subs you are getting more output down low, raising dips, and with calibration you could lower peaks which is always better for the sub amp than raising dips. In the end you could have a very flat frequency response that hits just as hard and sounds smoother throughout the room than one twelve or fifteen inch sub.

And by having two subs, your perceived frequency response gains 2-3hz in the -/3db output range. Sure you could have one huge sub that is flat down to around 18hz...but that 10 inch sub that is flat to around 20hz and having a second, means you are in the same 17-18hz flat frequency range as your huge sub.

I am not sure I am following you. How does adding a second identical sub create a deeper response? Your advice is solid, and I would recommend two subs over one in most situations, but it really depends on your room, and the response you are getting. There is no need to lower peaks if they are not there. Sure, if your response is all over the place, adding a second sub should help that, but GAWD is saying that he loves his current sub. Maybe he is already getting a flat response in his room. Adding a second sub might mess that up. I would easily take one good 12-15" sub placed and calibrated correctly over two smaller subs, unless I was trying to fix a problem in my room. Until you measure what your current sub is doing, you may be creating more problems than you started with.