Do I need a subwoofer with this setup?

[His dudeness]

So I'm pretty inexperienced with stereo stuff in general. My parents gave me a pair of the Cambridge Soundworks Tower II speakers that have been used maybe ten times and I have been building a system out of that. These speakers are whats called a bipolar design... While I gt the basic idea of the concept with front and rear firing speakers I am a bit mystified that even though they supposedly come with subwoofers in them the bass is still a bit faint. Now I've been looking at buying the Velodyne impact 10 woofer since it isn't going to break my budget (just bought a house) but I was wondering if I need the extra bass or if I can somehow tune the speakers I have to get a bit more punch? Maybe with an amp?

Ok, so any advice is definitely welcomed. I know my setup might not be super francy or anything and that I am looking for more budget minded components but I would like some advice before I buy anything.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

So I'm pretty inexperienced with stereo stuff in general. My parents gave me a pair of the Cambridge Soundworks Tower II speakers that have been used maybe ten times and I have been building a system out of that. These speakers are whats called a bipolar design... While I gt the basic idea of the concept with front and rear firing speakers I am a bit mystified that even though they supposedly come with subwoofers in them the bass is still a bit faint. Now I've been looking at buying the Velodyne impact 10 woofer since it isn't going to break my budget (just bought a house) but I was wondering if I need the extra bass or if I can somehow tune the speakers I have to get a bit more punch? Maybe with an amp?

Ok, so any advice is definitely welcomed. I know my setup might not be super francy or anything and that I am looking for more budget minded components but I would like some advice before I buy anything.

You'd still want a subwoofer for these speakers and no, they are not true Full Range, unless they'd play 20hz at 100db without distortion - 95% of so called "full range" speakers can't

How big if your room? Is it open to other spaces or fully enclosed? What is the main use of this system - HT or Music?

Velodyne Impact-10 Costs about $250 - Is this your top budget? There are significantly better options at $500 ballpark....

 

[His dudeness]

My room is about 10 feet wide (distance to my tv and stereo) and about 15-20 feet long. Ceilings are standard height and the room is open on both ends to the rest of the house. I'd say we primarily use the system for movies and video games but I also want something that'll sound nice when I've got music playing.

As far as budget goes, I'd say that $350-400 is about my top end. While I want to improve my current setup I also have to keep in mind a budget for other things for our house like a new lawn and raingutters. I have been told that Velodyne are kind of the big dogs as far as subwoffers go and that even their lower priced models perform well.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Velodyne makes some very good subs, but regardless of that 10" single driver sealed sub from ANY manufacturer is not good fit for your room and your use.
What you need is bigger vented sub for both movies and games.

Now regarding your budget - there are still valid and very strong subs at this price point.
The ones I recommend are ported subs from Elemental Designs:
A2 - 300 is the one - $415 w/free shipping (cont us)
or it's cheaper brother (not as good) is A2 - 250 at $350, which is currently backordered ...

I don't know Velodyne model and price range that well, but I doubt they have anything this powerful at same price

 

[His dudeness]

What specifically would the Elemental Designs do better than a similarly priced Velodyne unit? Is it just a matter of power? What would make one design better than another for music, movies, and games?

I'm just trying to get an idea of what will be better in the long run, and the differences in sound or quality between the two.

 

[Pyrrho]

"Need" is a troublesome word. If you like the sound you are getting without a subwoofer, you don't need one.

However, a subwoofer could add the low frequencies that you are not going to be getting with your current speakers, and you might like that.

If I were in your situation with the budget you have, I would wait and save my money until I could afford a really good subwoofer, as cheap ones don't tend to be satisfying in the long run.

If you want accurate sound, what you want in a subwoofer is a flat frequency response (i.e., not overemphasizing or underemphasizing any frequency), and the ability to play very loudly with low levels of distortion. For this sort of information, one looks to measurements of the particular subwoofer in question, preferably by an independent party who has no vested interest in whether you buy one subwoofer or another.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

And if you are really, realy cheap like my brother, you can get one or two of these BIC F12 subs for $183ea:

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-F12-475-Watt-Subwoofer/dp/B0015A8Y5M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315511180&sr=8-1

Sure, the F12 can rumble your walls. But they will only go down to ~ 35Hz, so not nearly as solid as the Elemental Design sub, but for $183, what can you say?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

What specifically would the Elemental Designs do better than a similarly priced Velodyne unit? Is it just a matter of power? What would make one design better than another for music, movies, and games?

I'm just trying to get an idea of what will be better in the long run, and the differences in sound or quality between the two.

Regarding comp Velodyne's - as I said I'm not an expert on Velodyne products but a quick search I found two comps (specifically ported subs)
a)Velodyne DLS-3750RB
http://www.amazon.com/Velodyne-DLS3750RB-10-Inch-185-Watt-Subwoofer/dp/B0007NDPQQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315510963&sr=1-1

This one thou it costs the same - have smaller driver 10" vs 12" and less powerful amp, has worse bass extension - 28hz (vs 18 on eD unit)

b)http://www.amazon.com/Velodyne-DLS4000RB-12-Inch-200-Watt-Subwoofer/dp/B0006GIBFE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315511042&sr=1-1
This one coming closer, cost already beyond you budget, yet still not as good than eD A2 - 300 as far as bass extension -> 25hz

Specs from here:
http://www.velodyne.com/vproducts/docs/DLS-R brochure_lowres.pdf

I couldn't really explain you about subs better that FirstReflection did here:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75554

 

[His dudeness]

Thanks for all of the info! From reading the last link that Bored posted up I'm also looking at the HSU STF-1. Having spent some time today reading a few reviews it seems like it's pretty good. How would this compare to other similarly priced models?

 

[Alex2507]

While I want to improve my current setup I also have to keep in mind a budget for other things for our house like a new lawn and raingutters.

Leave the forum now and never turn your computer back on.


j/k

Okay, these use to get recommended a lot around here and I had my sister get a couple for her set up.
I thought they worked pretty good ... and what everybody else said.

 

[His dudeness]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I think I'm going to try and order up something this weekend.

 

[His dudeness]

Ok, so I think I've narrowed it down to these two.

HSU VTF-1 priced at $399.

Or the ED A2-300 priced at $415.

The ED A2-300 looks to be just a tad bigger. It has similar (if not equal) power to the HSU. But it looks like the range can go a bit lower.

The VTF-1 looks to be a tad smaller and maybe easier to conceal. I like the idea that it's a dual port that you can apparently use one or both ports depending on music or movies and games in order to optimize the experience.

So with that in mind, does anyone have experience with both of these or have an opinion as to which is better?

 

[55katest55]

Well, keep in mind that the VTF-1 has $45 shipping. They gave me the eD A2-300 for $400 which was cool.

Downside with eD is that it could take forever to get the sub. Some people get lucky and it takes a week or so, others (like me) will end up waiting 4+ (I'm at 4 1/2 currently) weeks which sucks.

I picked the eD because it goes low too and is supposed to be a great sub, especially for HT. The HSUs are typically considered to be more musical than other subs (though the eD A2-300 is considered to be pretty good for music too). You can always buy a port plug for the A2/any sub if you want to.

I'll give you impressions on the A2 once I get it! Good luck with your decision.

 

[His dudeness]

I think that in some respects it's comparing apples to apples at this pricepoint. I'm on a fairly tight budget, and don't necessarily have the most sophisticated tastes on what has to be the best of the best, and a lot of companies seem to offer very similar products in very slightly different boxes.

While I definitely want to be optimized for movies, having pretty good music bass is always a plus for the times when I want it. I am a pretty basic person who has his tiny family room as his theatre so it might just be a flip of the coin.

 

[His dudeness]

I went ahead and ordered something that I didn't see too much info on. The ED A3-250. I like the idea of a smaller encloser and speaker but with a bit more power. Hopefully I made a good decision and it sounds nice when it shows up to the house.