Have HSU mk5hp (thx shadyJ) but looking for another

[NoPAspeakers4me]

This sub has been great. It’s in my master bedroom and it definitely has enough output. Well, it used to. I upgraded from tsi400s to klipsch rp280’s and I want a 2nd sub. A few questions.

1. Will the mk5 ever be in stock? I love the subwoofer.
2. If not, should I get a 15h or the mono price 15/1000rms? any other recommendations around $1,000? I listen to music exclusively. 2500cucarpeted room.

also, what are these wall treatments I hear of? I don’t care how it looks but I’d like to beef up the walls or anything I can do for more spl and sq. Thank you.

 

[shadyJ]

I would contact Hsu to ask when the VTF-3 mk5 will be in stock next. The VTF15h mk2 and Monolith 15" are also great choices. Keep in mind the Monolith 15" is much larger and heavier than the VTF-3 mk5. One of the things I like about the VTF-3 mk5 is that it is fairly easy to handle given the performance it offers. The Monolith 15", on the other hand, is absolutely brutal in weight. If you have to move it up or down some stairs, you absolutely need a dolly of some kind- even two healthy adults would have a very hard time carrying it over a flight of stairs. If you only have to move it horizontally, then yes, two healthy adults could pick it up and move it. You still have to be careful. The VTF15h mk2 is tougher than the VTF-3 to move around, but it isn't as tough as the Monolith 15". The advantage of both the VTF15h mk2 and the Monolith 15" pretty much just comes at the deep end at 25Hz and below and probably wouldn't make a difference in music listening verses the VTF-3 mk5.

As for wall treatments, if you have a normally furnished room with bookcases and curtains, acoustic treatment probably won't help you much. If the room is bare, you might want to put some absorbers behind the speakers and behind the listening position to start with. There are also bass traps, but that is more involved, and I would EQing before getting into bass traps.

 

[Pogre]

I'm with Shady. Contact HSU and see when they'll be back in stock. Even tho it isn't absolutely necessary I'd want to have my subs matched and would be willing to wait a month or 3 if it came down to it.

That said, I do love me some Monolith subwoofers! Shady raises some legitimate points about moving it around but I don't have stairs, and furniture sliders work really, really well with big subs. I have one that weighs over 100 lbs, but the sliders make it super easy to scoot it around so the unwieldy size isn't a big deal to me.

 

[NoPAspeakers4me]

Thanks man I just figured they ran out. I’m out of the loop.
I was on here like 4-5 years ago and your suggestion for what I wanted was to get PA speakers. I actually looked into it. Instead though I built a cheap system for the living room and have a nice space in a medium size master bedroom for the good stuff. But yea I just basically like it loud as F.
My room is a 20x16x8 with an attached closet that should have a wooden door that wouldn’t do jack anyway so I say 2500cuft. Thanks for advice, will be worth the $250 and the smooth sound. That’s what turned me off about the 15h, almost monolith price, I don’t have stairs the thing would never move. I could give the hsu to the wife. But.
I’ve heard a lot of little birdies talk about his musical these hsu subs are and that’s what I want even though I always run both ports open (just used to that ported boominess) and am talking about spl. Output is real good. I just want some more headroom and a little extra oomph when I want it. And $250 is $250.

edit: but that monolith is really interesting. And I want boom. SQminor concern. 100% music. Lots of hip hop, dnb, jungle. So maybe? It could replace the hsu or be added to the hsu.

also I feel I’ve beat this thing. I don’t listen to it loud much at all but when I do it’s at 11:30, Q.8

 

[shadyJ]

The Monolith 15" could get along fine with the Hsu subs. The Monolith is on a very good sale right now. From a sound quality perspective as well as an output perspective, these subs are pretty much the same above 30Hz. It's the deep bass that really differentiates the sound between them. The thing is, only movies really use deep bass below 30Hz, and certain exotic types of music. The music you listen to doesn't generally dig into super deep bass.

 

[NoPAspeakers4me]

Exactly. I listen to some ska and punk too. 90s kid from a coastal town after all. Thanks man, cheers.

don’t know. May wait for the HSU just bc I like the company. And output really isn’t a huge issue. I just have to crank it to where it really starts to tickle my fancy like a mother. Not just a bit.
Plus I really think I hear it “pop” once every couple months. Need to take good care of her. I always tell people it’s my favorite purchase under $1k I ever made. Though now it is a grand.

 

[shadyJ]

Exactly. I listen to some ska and punk too. 90s kid from a coastal town after all. Thanks man, cheers.

don’t know. May wait for the HSU just bc I like the company. And output really isn’t a huge issue. I just have to crank it to where it really starts to tickle my fancy like a mother. Not just a bit.
Plus I really think I hear it “pop” once every couple months. Need to take good care of her. I always tell people it’s my favorite purchase under $1k I ever made. Though now it is a grand.

Audio equipment can be like cars, the harder you ride them, the shorter their lifespans. I wouldn't bother to wait in getting another one if you are pushing the VTF-3 hard. I would spend the extra money for a VTF15h or a Monolith 15" which will give the VTF-3 a break sooner, and that might be beneficial.

 

[NoPAspeakers4me]

Yea I’m going to take it easy for the next month. I might just stack in right on top of the other one unless you think this may be unstable (at real high output I’d think it would be but I don’t plan on pushing two subs as hard). I plan on only adding a small amount of output, mostly to add some life to them. If not, I have an opposite corner to use.
What can I put on the back wall to help SQ. I do not care at all about appearance. My father-in-law has a little studio that has this kinda foam egg container looking stuff.

 

[Pogre]

That Mono is an awesome sub that I'd be very happy to own, and like Shady said it will play very nice with the HSU.

 

[NoPAspeakers4me]

Wow these rp280s have a great sound. Really impressed (for 800/pr. Would feel kinda ripped off at msrp).
I know that there is a mechanical time limit but I don’t play the HSU at those volumes but 1-3 hours/month. But when I do, everything is right on the edge of distortion. I told shady I wanted concert loudness in my living room. That’s where the PA speakers find from. Instead I just shrunk the room and even the tsi400s would get pretty loud. Excited to see what the klipschs can do when broken in after 10 or 20 hours.
Just waiting for another mk5hp. To stack on top or put in other corner? Oh mama I can’t wait!

edit: the klipschs don’t sound like the sensitivity is as high as they say. I started with one klipsch and one tsi to see how noticeable it was. It’s very unscientific but I was told 98 would be five times easier to drive than a 91 sensitivity. The klipsch seems to get about 15% louder at a given volume. Note sure if that means anything but those are my non hifi guy observations. That horn just takes over. ILOVE the sound of the klipsch horns. Dynamic as all hell esp with electronic music.

my main goal getting the new speakers was to gain spl in the mids and highs. That’s why I tried getting something with a really high sensitivity. I feel I’m going to be let down. I want it to get to like 130db in here. 125 maybe? Is that just not possible? It is still too quiet for me when I want to crank it. We will see. I still haven’t gone close to pushing these. And the tsi’s weren’t no slouch. At least in volume for their size.

really hoping I get the ok to stack the new sub onto the old one. That’s definitely what I want to do. I’ll be praying for an affirmative.

 

[Pogre]

Speaker break in is a myth. They're "broken in" within the first few minutes. I think it has more to do with your ears breaking into the new timbre than anything mechanical about the speakers themselves.

Yes, you are perfectly fine stacking the HSUs.

*Edit: Yes, Klipsch is also kinda known for their optimistic ratings. You can probably shave about 3 dB or more off of their published sensitivity specs.

 

[NoPAspeakers4me]

Alright now I’ve got 5 hours of moderate to loud listening of the klipschs. Turned HSU down from 1130 to around 11/1030 (the notch before noon).

I’m noticing the sub a bit more despite the extra output from the mains. It just sounds extra crisp, like it’s sealed or something. Obv it’s still boomy so it’s not quite that dramatic but I think it’s from the dynamic horns. They almost bring out the lows. Really love these speakers. Undecided on 2nd sub now. HSU still sounds like it’s new, the cone is still stiff and doesn’t scratch.
Also my Q is at .6, not .8. I thought it went from .3 to .9. Turns out .7.

 

[Pogre]

Alright now I’ve got 5 hours of moderate to loud listening of the klipschs. Turned HSU down from 1130 to around 11/1030 (the notch before noon).

I’m noticing the sub a bit more despite the extra output from the mains. It just sounds extra crisp, like it’s sealed or something. Obv it’s still boomy so it’s not quite that dramatic but I think it’s from the dynamic horns. They almost bring out the lows. Really love these speakers. Undecided on 2nd sub now. HSU still sounds like it’s new, the cone is still stiff and doesn’t scratch.
Also my Q is at .6, not .8. I thought it went from .3 to .9. Turns out .7.

It shouldn't be boomy if you have it set up well. A properly integrated ported sub should sound just as tight and musical as a sealed sub, but with better bass extension. I suspect you might have some integration isssues, but there's a lot to consider from placement, to frequency response, to levels, to crossover frequency and more. I have 3 ported subs in my room and they don't sound boomy at all.

You might be dealing with a null and compensating for it by turning up the overall gain. That could definitely cause some boominess. Do you have any way of measuring your frequency response?

*Edit: If you are dealing with nulls, then a second sub would definitely help out.

 

[ryanosaur]

It shouldn't be boomy if you have it set up well. A properly integrated ported sub should sound just as tight and musical as a sealed sub, but with better bass extension. I suspect you might have some integration isssues, but there's a lot to consider from placement, to frequency response, to levels, to crossover frequency and more. I have 3 ported subs in my room and they don't sound boomy at all.

You might be dealing with a null and compensating for it by turning up the overall gain. That could definitely cause some boominess. Do you have any way of measuring your frequency response?

*Edit: If you are dealing with nulls, then a second sub would definitely help out.

This.

 

[NoPAspeakers4me]

Hey Ryan, I remember you too.
Alright so yea maybe I used the wrong word. I forgot the connotation of that when talking ported subs. Ported subs have a hollow sound to the bass. Even with these extremely low tuning numbers. It’s something I like bc the first real set of subs I had were in my car and ported at 35hz. I just like the sound, especially in home audio.
It isn’t like a Polk psw505 cranked. That is nearly always boomy. I’ve had this sub for five years and it hits distortion at the same place and it feels exactly as it did when new. Still may get another bc I know it will eventually not be like this.

Placed the sub multiple places on the wall, sounded best in the corner with the full wall (as expected). Xover 80hz but will lower that to 70 I’m sure with the new speakers. Still playing with the high end. Open to suggestions.

 

[Pogre]

Ported subs have a hollow sound to the bass.

Again, not if set up correctly. In my experience, aside from better bass extension, a properly set up ported sub is audibly indistinguishable from sealed.

However, if you're intentionally running it hot then I might concede a ported sub is capable of being more boomy, but I'm talking about pushing it to do it. I actually experienced that when I was running a pair of undersized subs for my room. Ported 10s. When I upgraded to 15s I thought something was wrong with them at first because the much larger 15s actually seemed quieter than the smaller 10s. Once I got them dialed in and acclimated, I realized they seemed quieter because all the boominess and distortion was gone.

You've said a couple of times you're after volume and boom so that makes sense to me now. Either way I think a second sub will help you out.

 

[NoPAspeakers4me]

I think a snare or kick drum is a pretty good example where I could tell you if it was ported or sealed. At least the quality of my current sub. Maybe not some ultra high end thing bc I’ve never heard anything like it.
Am I wrong? If so, then I’ll mess around more with placement or w/e is suggested.

typed this before I read your reply. And yes, you nailed it. I just really enjoy v loud music. Grew up at punk shows. Prob something to do with it.

I think placement is ok. It’s just cranked. Probably going to get another but gotta sell something. Wife. But I have something I can get $800 for I won’t miss. And I paid $1000 and used it for a year (metal detector). Don’t like the hobby anymore.

 

[Pogre]

I think a snare or kick drum is a pretty good example where I could tell you if it was ported or sealed. At least the quality of my current sub. Maybe not some ultra high end thing bc I’ve never heard anything like it.
Am I wrong? If so, then I’ll mess around more with placement or w/e is suggested.

If you really wanna see what's going on and get it dialed in you pretty much have to get a calibrated mic and do some measuring. Otherwise you're just shooting in the dark. I ponied up for a UMIK mic and learned to use REW. Of course you're going to need some form of eq also. I bought a MiniDSP 2x4 HD for my subs, but if you have Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and the editor app, that works really well also. I wouldn't have gotten the Mini if the app was out at the time.

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There's a bit of a learning curve but it's not too complicated, and once you get it down it doesn't take a lot of effort. For me it was totally worth it. I have enough subwoofers and a forgiving enough room that I can really get my bass dialed in tight, but wouldn't have had a clue where to start without some measurements. I wouldn't want to go without now that I know how good it can sound.

 

[Pogre]

typed this before I read your reply. And yes, you nailed it. I just really enjoy v loud music. Grew up at punk shows. Prob something to do with it.

I think placement is ok. It’s just cranked. Probably going to get another but gotta sell something. Wife. But I have something I can get $800 for I won’t miss. And I paid $1000 and used it for a year (metal detector). Don’t like the hobby anymore.

Yeah, I think another sub would definitely help. It will give you a little more spl, and should help you get some cleaner bass at the volumes you like. A second sub will help smooth out room modes too.

 

[ryanosaur]

I gotta agree with Pogre. Your Sub is not properly set up.
Yes, corners will amplify the sound, but the acoustics of the room will dictate how boomy and muddy that sound becomes. I don't put my subs in the corners for just that reason: otherwise very high quality subwoofage sounds like sh!t.
The cats who corner load successfully are using REW and likely a miniDSP module (like the 2x4) to eq the performance back to flat.
Regardless, this also goes with the idea that you are perhaps overdriving the Sub on top of it all. If you are physically getting your Sub to distort, you will get all kinds of room rattles and vibrations.

I'm a musician and LOVE Rock'n'Roll. I was the Barista responsible for playing MC5 and Iggy Pop at 6AM because you shouldn't start your morning out with somnambulant BS Folk cr@p! That said, I know how instruments are supposed to sound and I value accurate reproduction of the recorded event rather than trying to add my own distortion on top of what is in the production.

Anyway, I can play my rig loud enough to make my ears bleed and force me from the room if I choose, and my bass is still tight and accurate... with ported Subs.



My recommendation is to step back a little, look at your setup, and experiment some. It should sound just as good at -25 as -15, and if your gear can take it, at 0 and louder.
Finding the right spot for one sub is easy, two gets trickier, but if you value clean output, taking the time to look for those spots will pay serious dividends in SQ. Same will go for your Speakers.