multiple subwoofers

[gixxer]

i have large tower speakers but dont have the big bass impact . i have 2 10" subwoofers that i was thinking about running the subs off the pre-outs for the fronts along with the towers running in large.i also have a bigger sub for the lfe channel . what kind of problems will i encounter or will this a good idea? trying to have good bass response for 2 channel along with 5.1 movies.

 

[JoeE SP9]

Give it a shot. You've got nothing to loose.

 

[bryantm3]

it might be the towers themselves. what towers are you running, and how much power are you giving them?

 

[JonBaker99]

Biggest problem you will have will be crossing over the towers along with the left and right subs. Your towers will still receive a full range singla along with your subs. As much as I hate to suggest it, if you 2 10" subs have speaker level inputs you could route your left and right front channels through the subs and use the subs built in crossover to limit the range of frequencys going to the towers. Other wise I would suggest getting a Velodyne SMS-1 and connecting your 3 subs to that. That should help equalize your room for bass.

It may help if you let us know what equipment you are currently using. Receiver/Speakers/Subs etc...

 

[gixxer]

i have PSB 6t towers for the fronts and i have the subsonic 5i for the subwoofers and my lfe is a subsonic7 . i also have a pioneer elite vsx-53tx reciever driving tower speakers

 

[JonBaker99]

If it were me I'd take the pair of 5is and wire them up using speaker wire. Then loop out of them to your speaker. Set your receiver for your fronts set as large and then use the crossover on the subwoofer to limit to frequency going to your towers. That way you won't be sending the same frequencies to your towers as you are to your left and right subwoofers. If it were me I'd corss everything over at 80hz r maybe 100 hz for your fronts. That may require some tweaking to see what sounds best.

 

[bpape]

Unfortunately, rarely is the best place for your mains to image properly the best place to reproduct bass. That's why the standard recommeded setup is all speakers set to small and cross over at about 80Hz. That way, you can set the subs for best bass response without compromising the mains positioning.

If you run the sub AND the mains large, more often than not, you'll end up with a lumpy mess for frequency response due to cancellations between them. Once in a blue moon someone will get lucky. However, this still doesn't provide the other benefits:

- reduced load on main speakers
- reduced load (extra dynamic range and headroom) on the amp driving the mains.

The Harman research suggests that 2 subs set in the center of 2 opposing walls is generally an excellent placement and will help smooth out several of the room mode interactions.

Bryan