D215S vs monolith 15

[aoaaron]

Hi own both subs.
comparing the d215s seems to start falling off at 20hz.
doesn’t get sufficient room gain in any room eq modes for infrasonic. Requires low shelf filter at 20hz or strong cut.

the monolith 15 seems to have lower distortion too

However weirdly the d215s sounds better! How can this be? Did blind ab testing and calibrated both to flat response

 

[lovinthehd]

Measurements?

 

[aoaaron]

Measurements?

comparison hosted at ImgBB

Image comparison hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Interestingly on both subs I need to probably do a large cut on that peak at 42hz.


FYI the Monolith is probably at 65% gain on the dial (say 2 o clock).
In that photo the D215S is at -13db gain (with a maximum of 12db) so it has a TONNE of headroom.
If I use the headroom, I can create a low shelf filter at 20db q0.5 +4db and it does get very flat to 8hz.
Headroom wise, it seems to eat it up to -3db (so still got a decent amount left).
I realise I'll probably need multiple D215S.


Compression testing, both are very close as you'd expect from their CEA burst tests.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Sub-A (could be any brand) is $1,500, digs deeper, has more output, and has less distortion.

Sub-B (could be any brand) is $10,000, doesn’t dig as deep, has less output, and has more distortion than sub-A.

Yet Sub-B SUBJECTIVELY sounds better to you.

If some other people said they also heard both subs and thought Sub-A (that costs about 7 times less) actually sounds better than Sub-B, how would you feel?

It would make me think “diminishing returns” and make me feel that I overspent if I bought Sub-B.

Unless money is no object. Then don’t worry about it. It’s just money.

 

[aoaaron]

Sub-A (could be any brand) is $1,500, digs deeper, has more output, and has less distortion.

Sub-B (could be any brand) is $10,000, doesn’t dig as deep, has less output, and has more distortion than sub-A.

Yet Sub-B SUBJECTIVELY sounds better to you.

If some other people said they also heard both subs and thought Sub-A (that costs about 7 times less) actually sounds better than Sub-B, how would you feel?

It would make me think “diminishing returns” and make me feel that I overspent if I bought Sub-B.

Unless money is no object. Then don’t worry about it. It’s just money.

I've had 3 people over and all prefer sub B.

Once I've used a bit of the headroom available on the Perl, they're about equal re: measurements. I was leaving a hell of a lot of gain on the table. Had it at one of its lowest settings. My room isn't big but not tiny either 4x7M.

Just wondering how people would approach EQing it. Shelve filter to lift the low-end and aggressive cuts at the peaks? I imagine if I had a second or third, time alignment would probably be my friend here.

Price wise - yes we know Perls are expensive. But I'm getting them at a good deal.