Monolith 13 THX Subwoofer - Question and concerns

[ryanosaur]

It must be a really nice feeling to have all that headroom!

Yes. Yes it is.

 

[Pogre]

Yeap, my current dedicated room is ~1600cubic feet.
Haha you think? It must be a really nice feeling to have all that headroom!

Indeed. I might even go as far as to say the 13 THX Ultra is a li'l overkill for your room.

I can totally respect that.

 

[Vankyra]

Indeed. I might even go as far as to say the 13 THX Ultra is a li'l overkill for your room.

I can respect that.

I prefer going with the overkill situation to be completely honest with you. I love bass and I definitely wouldn't want the well known buyer's remorse.

 

[Pogre]

I prefer going with the overkill situation to be completely honest with you. I love bass and I definitely wouldn't want the well known buyer's remorse.

Me too! I think most of us here can get on board with that! It is nice knowing you have more than enough on tap for pretty much any occasion. Working less hard isn't a bad thing either and can help with longevity too.

 

[Vankyra]

Me too! I think most of us here can get on board with that! It is nice knowing you have more than enough on tap for pretty much any occasion. Working less hard isn't a bad thing either and can help with longevity too.

I'm so glad you agree with that.
Longevity is also welcome, exactly! Less heat for the driver/amp, less stress in general and knowing we have more than enough, clearly a win-win situation!

 

[Danzilla31]

I'm so glad you agree with that.
Longevity is also welcome, exactly! Less heat for the driver/amp, less stress in general and knowing we have more than enough, clearly a win-win situation!

Let's put it this way my fellow audioholic brother when it comes to headroom I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it!

 

[Pogre]

I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it!

That's what she...

Oh wait, that was last decade wasn't it?

 

[Danzilla31]

Single Hz frequencies are largely inaudible anyway. The people building systems to achieve those frequencies are just chasing numbers rather than doing anything that has a perceptible return.

I'd rather have subs that can do monster output from 20hz up its where almost all your content is anyway. A good sub that can play flat to 16 but really starts getting monster output starting from around 18 up and just keeps getting higher and higher!

 

[Danzilla31]

That's what she...

Oh wait, that was last decade wasn't it?

Yeah for an audioholic she's are so old news anyway. It's all about the ports baby!!!!

 

[ryanosaur]

That's what she...

Oh wait, that was last decade wasn't it?

Does AH have an adult setting?
If not, I probably almost got banned.

 

[Danzilla31]

Does AH have an adult setting?
If not, I probably almost got banned.

Audioholics is where the banned people like us get to go!

 

[ryanosaur]

Yeah for an audioholic she's are so old news anyway. It's all about the ports baby!!!!

Oh wait. We forgot about the 'Zilla.

 

[Danzilla31]

Oh wait. We forgot about the 'Zilla.

Ahhhhh! That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day

 

[lovinthehd]

While youthman and others may mean well, haven't found them particularly worth watching. YMMV, I prefer measurements than just a subjective experience of particular parameters. Thus my youtube for audio boils down to Audioholics, audiosciencereview and erin's audio corner....

Port chuffing in extreme circumstances is certainly possible with some subs, but as others have already said....

In any case the Monolith subs have so far shown to be a very good value barring any issues and customer service has changed up somewhat from the early days (where you might have to return a whole sub rather than just trade out amps or something, but believe they've got that going now). Glad to see that europe has a good value sub like the Monolith now (in addition to the others, better than just Rel ).

 

[Vankyra]

Let's put it this way my fellow audioholic brother when it comes to headroom I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it!

Couldn't agree more with that!

Does AH have an adult setting?
If not, I probably almost got banned.

Haha no way they'll ban you my friend!

I'd rather have subs that can do monster output from 20hz up its where almost all your content is anyway. A good sub that can play flat to 16 but really starts getting monster output starting from around 18 up and just keeps getting higher and higher!

That seems reasonable enough. If memory serves me well, even THX modes, would go lower than 20Hz or something. How many movies would ask our subs to go below 16-17Hz!?

How about mid-bass when we enjoy our favorite tracks? It's still an important factor when searching for a new sub.

 

[Vankyra]

While youthman and others may mean well, haven't found them particularly worth watching. YMMV, I prefer measurements than just a subjective experience of particular parameters. Thus my youtube for audio boils down to Audioholics, audiosciencereview and erin's audio corner....

Port chuffing in extreme circumstances is certainly possible with some subs, but as others have already said....

In any case the Monolith subs have so far shown to be a very good value barring any issues and customer service has changed up somewhat from the early days (where you might have to return a whole sub rather than just trade out amps or something, but believe they've got that going now). Glad to see that europe has a good value sub like the Monolith now (in addition to the others, better than just Rel ).

I also prefer Audioholics and Erin's audio corner (which I discovered the last few days actually).

It's definitely a great thing for Europe to have those Monoliths.. Until recently the only subs available that were worth it of course, were Rel, Arendal, SVS and XTZ. Arendal and SVS get super expensive here and XTZ has their high end 3X12 model sold out for like 6 months now..

Just a price comparison here:
PB-3000: 1900euros
PB-4000: 2800euros
PB16: 3800euros
XTZ 3x12: 2250euros
Arendal 1723 2V: 2800euros
and then there are the Monoliths -
Mono 15 (1V): 1499euros with the discount
Mono 13: 1499euros also with the discount

 

[Danzilla31]

Couldn't agree more with that!



Haha no way they'll ban you my friend!



That seems reasonable enough. If memory serves me well, even THX modes, would go lower than 20Hz or something. How many movies would ask our subs to go below 16-17Hz!?

How about mid-bass when we enjoy our favorite tracks? It's still an important factor when searching for a new sub.

That's what I meant by bass that goes up and up and up monster output into the midbass

 

[Vankyra]

That's what I meant by bass that goes up and up and up monster output into the midbass

Ahh yes sorry!
And I guess if the mid bass is great, the sub can cooperate with the other speakers much better, since it will be able to cover the higher-bass frequencies.
I was thinking of pairing the Mono 13 with the 365C THX Monoprice speaker and I've read that it will roll off exactly at 80Hz and below (which means that it will work flawlessly with my sub)

 

[fmw]

Exactly! I've seen guys "complain" when a sub chuffs with that scene. Show me one that won't when you crank it up!

*Well, I guess of course a sealed sub won't chuff... you know what I mean!

I own 4 subwoofers. The business computer system has a 10" ported. The bedroom and exercise room each have 12" ported. The home theater has a homebrew 15" sealed. The sound quality of the homebrew unit is heads above the ported ones. It is very clean, tight and handles bass well into the 20's without a struggle. I support bigger drivers in sealed enclosures.

I think some people overuse subwoofers. Bring up their level until they sound natural with the woofers in your main speaker systems. It usually only takes a little bit of subwoofer to get the job done. People who complain about "chuffing" normally have the level of the sub too high. You should hear the music or sounds, not the air movement. They remind me of the booming bass I hear from cars parked next to me at traffic lights.

 

[Pogre]

I own 4 subwoofers. The business computer system has a 10" ported. The bedroom and exercise room each have 12" ported. The home theater has a homebrew 15" sealed. The sound quality of the homebrew unit is heads above the ported ones. It is very clean, tight and handles bass well into the 20's without a struggle. I support bigger drivers in sealed enclosures.

That's difficult to nail down for certain as it sounds like you have different rooms for each sub and that's more of a factor than the design. That said, it's not too hard to believe a good, powerful sealed homebrew can wipe the floor with some commercial ported models. That's completely believable.

I think some people overuse subwoofers. Bring up their level until they sound natural with the woofers in your main speaker systems. It usually only takes a little bit of subwoofer to get the job done. People who complain about "chuffing" normally have the level of the sub too high. You should hear the music or sounds, not the air movement. They remind me of the booming bass I hear from cars parked next to me at traffic lights.

Totally agree. A lot of people run them hot. Too hot, then complain about boominess or chuffing because they're running 20 dB hotter than the mains...