Dear Folks,
I'm setting up a 5.1ch home theater with Genelec G Four and Genelec G Three active monitor speakers and need recommendations for a subwoofer that is equal to or better than the Genelec 7060.
I've searched various forums for sub-recommendations and am now suffering from information overload and can't seem to make a list to even narrow down my choices and now I need your help to finalize a sub-woofer for the below 5.1ch Home-theater with Active speakers.
Center & Surrounds: Genelec G Three (consumer grade version of 8030)
Left & Right: Genelec G Four (consumer grade version of 8040)
I may be wrong in not going with the G 4 for Center too but the $400 saved here goes a long way towards getting a better sub...
Unless you all convince me that I will be completely unhappy with not having the same G 4 as center... I see some advantages with this as the G 4 paired with a good sub gets me a very good 2.1ch setup for music that performs at the G4 level and for movies the G 4 can easily match the level of the G 3 in the center/surrounds and I will essentially get a 5.1ch setup for movies that performs at the G 3 level.
First things first:
WAF: "Any darned thing which is...Not too big, Not too loud. Not too ugly."
Other factors:
1. Budget: $900 to $1200 (base USD prices before taxes, shipping etc).Since I can't buy used, I will also have to add about 70% on top of the base price for duty, shipping ,VAT etc to arrive at my final cost.
2. Size requirements/limits: I think an 8" or 10" sub should be sufficient - should have freq response down to 21 or 22 hz. with the best fidelity/accuracy/transparency, tight clean distortion free bass is my most important criterion - not loudness/SPL.
3. Room dimensions: I'm presently in a 3BHK apartment with a 15’ x 16’ Living room open to a 11’ x 11’ Dining room, ceiling height of 10’, flooring is polished marble, walls are brick with cement plaster. The additional consideration is that there is a slight chance that I may be moving to a 4BHK with a Living/Dining hall: 25' x 18' open to a Foyer: 9' x 12' with Ceiling height 10'. The setup I choose now will have to work for both - so I should go with sufficient head-room but not so much as to be overwhelming... the sound needs to be contained as far as possible to the Home theater area and not spill over to anywhere else and especially not the neighbors.
4. Primary uses: Usage will be about 70% movies - 30% music.
All videos (avi, mp4, mpg, mkv, divx etc) and music (mp3) files are on hard-disk and will be played via VLC player from a home-theater PC, all the speakers will be directly connected to the 5.1ch sound card on the PC using XLR (any body know if a sound card has XLR out available?) or through RCA-XLR conversion jack or plain RCA jack.
5. Listening habits: I do not plan on playing it with blow me off my seats loudness (except may be when the wife is away) but just a set that is accurate/ transparent, without rattling and unwanted vibrations etc. I'm not looking for earth shattering bass - just accurate, clean distortion free bass - that is as good as or better than Genelec 7060.
6. Appearance requirements: It has to be sufficiently compact and good looking to complement the Genelecs G 4/ G 3 but needn't be super-compact or sleek - so as to compromise price or performance...It needs to be made in Europe or North America
7. Location and Time-frame: I'm an American expat based in Bangalore, India and that means fewer options to consider and there is no "used" market to speak of and imported things in general cost nearly double here compared to the base US prices. Can't really buy internet direct either - but I do want the best (most accurate, transparent) sub out there in my price range... therefore I may be willing to wait and buy the right thing by whatever means I can.
The dealer recommends the Genelec 7060 for my G4/G3 setup. The 7060 is priced at $2200 and offers Genelec's proprietary Laminar Spiral Enclosure (LSE) [does anyone know how the LSE makes the sub better than every other sub out there?]. The dealer claims that the Genele subs have "0" db baffle resonance, driver giving all the SPL and not the cabinets rattling, construction is rock solid and there is no coloration in the Low Frequency and also power efficient consumes only 120W for an SPL@1m of 108dB and is well integrated with the Genelec speakers. All in all he says it is the best damn sub in the world for the price....
Frankly I think a good sub needn't cost that much - especially considering the intense competition among the multitude of sub makers and sub-making is a cottage industry of sorts with many people resorting to assembling their own subs as a weekend-DIY.
DIY is not an option for this setup. I may do it as a second or complementary sub - if needed - but the criteria will remain the same - tight bass, low distortion, no rattling, power efficient etc comparable to Genelec... I don't think I can achieve that in a million years...
If I want the "Best" sub there is.. not just "very good or excellent" I assume there are very few choices (in my budget)... that are equal or better performance/accuracy than the Genelec 7060 and challenge the Genelec 7060 in the above categories: tight bass, low distortion, low waste due to heat or noise, accuracy/transparency,etc...(loudness and bomb like air/earth moving ability is not a criterion for me) - the brand has to have the same studio cred and audiophile/pro/musician cred and halo effect as the Genelecs and look tastefully (no flashy/glossy stuff) done too...
I want to make sure I am getting the best brand/performance in my price range - if I'm spending that kind of cash...(may not be much for serious pro/audio gear - but my original budget was $2500 for a 5.1ch setup with receiver and now I'm already at $5000 just for the 5 speakers without sub)
I would like to know which is the best sub out there - based on independently verifiable measurements - even if I were to bump my budget up to $2000 - would the Genelec 7060 still be the sub to get at that price point?
Thanks in advance for all responses...
