Best sub for my situation

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sharpshooter_91

Audiophyte
I have been using an old Yamaha SW-216, which while it has been trusty and adequate in our former houses, it is now time for an upgrade. I have some different limitations that have left me stuck trying to determine what the best course of action is. Our new family room is 22'W, 27-31' deep and 9' high. So it's ~5500 sq ft, plus the middle half of the RH wall opens up to another 4-5000 sq ft. The main listening position is 13' from the front speakers. Ideally, I'd put two big ported boxes on diagonal corners of the room, but when I floated that idea by the spouse she looked at me like I was asking to throw one of our kids out the window while driving down the highway, so that setup seems to be a no go. Due to aesthetics I can't have huge boxes flanking the tv cabinet sticking way out into the room, so I'm limited to about a 20" deep box size in that location. Alternatively, I can put a fairly large single sub in the corner where the Yamaha currently resides. Acoustically that spot works really well as even though the 216 is only 10" and 100 watts it still has some kick to it.

Given my limitations, I know I am going to have some tradeoffs to an ideal situation. My usage is almost completely HT, so I'm looking for that deep bass to pack some punch with movie viewing. Here's what I've narrowed my options down to:

1. A single, large ported sub in the corner. My top choice in this category is the PSA TV1512. It's about as large as a box as I can safely get the wife to go along with. It seems to dig really deep, and it's also the simplest choice from a setup perspective as it is just going bigger than what I already have. It is also right around my ideal budget of 1500.

2. Dual, small driver ported subs flanking the tv. Here I'd be looking at 2 Monolith 10" subs. The plusses of this are that I get the benefits of a ported sub, it's the cheapest option, plus it would fill the room better since it's a dual setup. I know that in general 2 is better than 1, but at what point does the size of the 1 outweigh the benefit of 2 smaller subs?

3. Dual, larger driver sealed subs flanking the tv. This is the bleeding edge of my budget, but if I go through the outlet I can get dual SVS SB-3000's for right at 2k. It's the smallest, most wife-friendly box, and they come very highly reviewed across the board. I've just never dealt with a sealed sub before, so on the deep bass I'm not sure how that would compare to the single TV1512, which (on paper at least) can go 4hz lower.

So there's my dilemma. I know that no matter what I do it'll blow my current sub out of the water, so I can't really lose, but I'm just curious on what people's thoughts are given what I've got.
 
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shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
What about two SVS PC-2000 Pro subs? Those are not very deep. Would you be able to swing that?
 
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sharpshooter_91

Audiophyte
What about two SVS PC-2000 Pro subs? Those are not very deep. Would you be able to swing that?
I did consider those, but at nearly 17" around they're still pretty big, and at 34" tall they are still quite a formidable visual presence that I'm not sure the wife would go along with.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
I did consider those, but at nearly 17" around they're still pretty big, and at 34" tall they are still quite a formidable visual presence that I'm not sure the wife would go along with.

Not exactly current pic, but look. You can’t even tell there’s two pc12pluses in there. Lol. They just disappear!
 
vader540is

vader540is

Full Audioholic
I did consider those, but at nearly 17" around they're still pretty big, and at 34" tall they are still quite a formidable visual presence that I'm not sure the wife would go along with.
I would definitely go with the TV1512.

My living room is 16X14 with 9 foot ceilings. I have two wide open door ways and I have one TV1812 and I get usable output down to 9.5hz. the TV15 has the same port tune of the TV18 which is 12hz. I like to watch movies near reference level, hence why I bought the largest sub I could fit.
 
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sharpshooter_91

Audiophyte
I would definitely go with the TV1512.

My living room is 16X14 with 9 foot ceilings. I have two wide open door ways and I have one TV1812 and I get usable output down to 9.5hz. the TV15 has the same port tune of the TV18 which is 12hz. I like to watch movies near reference level, hence why I bought the largest sub I could fit.
Thanks for your perspective. I do like that sub, but even though many people recommend their subs it’s hard to find a lot of data on anything from PSA. I had to email them just to get the frequency response graphs.
 
vader540is

vader540is

Full Audioholic
Thanks for your perspective. I do like that sub, but even though many people recommend their subs it’s hard to find a lot of data on anything from PSA. I had to email them just to get the frequency response graphs.
Yeah I get it, it is difficult. I ended up ordering two subs and kept the one that sounds/felt best in my room. Online data will not tell you real in room results with a Umik-1 and REW. Most companies have a in home trial.
 
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sharpshooter_91

Audiophyte
Now I'm left to wonder how 2 PB1000 pros compare to a single TV1512...
 
vader540is

vader540is

Full Audioholic
Order and keep whatever sounds feels best to you. SVS and PSA offer in home trial.
 
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shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Order and keep whatever sounds feels best to you. SVS and PSA offer in home trial.
Pretty much all the online sub manufacturers offer free in-home trial, however, SVS, Aperion, and RSL are the only ones I know of to cover shipping both ways.
 
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