How will it work?

[Living The Dream]

I have an older 5.1 setup and am needing to get a new subwoofer, actually i want two. It has been years since looking into audio equipment and WOW, it's crazy to say the least.
Question: Will I have a problem adding any of the new subwoofers since I don't have a newer AV receiver with all of the room frequency, distance and calibration hardware?
I don't feel that I will but since I have been going down the rabbit hole for a couple of months trying to find information about subwoofers etc, I am in information overload. I thank you all in advance for your knowledge and understanding.

 

[shadyJ]

You haven't given us much information to help you. What AVR do you have, what is your budget, what limitations do you have like size, finish, etc.

 

[Living The Dream]

The AV receiver is Sony STR-DE515 5.1 @ 100 watts per channel and should be 8 ohms with a single input for a subwoofer that I would like to split. My front speakers are a pair of 2 way 100 watt B&W DM602's that I'll use as rear speakers in the future. I don't know what I'll replace them with for my front speakers. My center channel is a B&W CC6 which if I recall is 100 watts as well.
I've been looking at HSU and SVS which through all of my research seem to be the best value. The sizes are the 12" SVS and 15" HSU.
The space is to fill with sound is 5000+ cubic feet due to the open area that encompasses the living, kitchen and dining +.
I hope this help. Sorry for not knowing all of the acronyms. If there's any other information you need I'll look into it and get back to you.

 

[shadyJ]

Looking at the instruction manual for your receiver, it has the bare minimum of bass management. However, it does have some bass management, so you can hook your subwoofer up to it, and it will separate the sub signal from the speaker signals, so at least it has that. It will do nothing more than route signal information to the sub though, so no EQing or any kind of calibration whatsoever.

For your room size, I would be looking at the Hsu 15"s or the SVS 13"s. Hsu will give you more output for the dollar. I would get two subs. You will want a Y-splitter to get a signal to them both. You will want to experiment with the 'phase' switch on the back of them in order to make sure they are setup for optimum performance. If you want to calibrate them, you might want to consider a miniDSP with UMIK microphone. If you want to calibrate all channels, think about a Dirac setup.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Any modern sub will be fine with you receiver. I would look for that 15" HSU in your space. I believe you could use Y-splitter to use 2 subs with your receiver.

For new front stage, I would go audition all speakers you can in your budget and get what sounds best to you. Getting center channel from same line as your front speakers is good idea as well so it wont stand out.

 

[Living The Dream]

I thank you for the information and am glad that I can hook up the newer subwoofers with my system. With all of the research I've done, I feel that I understand the subwoofer rating system given by Audioholics.com for some subwoofers, now to infinity and beyond . Is it safe to say that the base from the HSU 15" subwoofers would be felt all the way into my bedrooms and the SVS 12" would just be felt where the seats are?
Thanks for the information about the channel adjustment stuff. More to meld into my brain.

 

[shadyJ]

Is it safe to say that the base from the HSU 15" subwoofers would be felt all the way into my bedrooms and the SVS 12" would just be felt where the seats are?

It is impossible to say how the bass will react. It depends on the room acoustics, your expectations, subwoofer placement, calibration, etc. Dollar for dollar, the Hsu subs will give you more output, but setting them up in an optimal way is up to you.

 

[Living The Dream]

Understood. I'm listening to the new Audioholics You Tube "Home Theater Bass Optimization with Multi-Sub and miniDSP EQ" info and taking notes. I am interested in doing the best I can and getting the best that I can out to the equipment I have and all of the info sounds good. Thanks.