Subwoofer disappointment - Am I under-powered or configured wrong?

[Speedfast]

I recently moved to a larger house and repurposed the front entry room into a theater / music room.

The room is 19.3 feet wide and 21.3 feet deep with an 8’ ceiling and an opening in one wall that goes into the rest of the house.

I have a Marantz SR6011 with an additional 2 channel amp to drive one of the pairs of ceiling speakers for Atmos.

In total I have 11 speakers and 4 subs in the room. It all meets my needs except the bass. I have played with the AVR settings, I used the Audyssey app and adjusted the bass afterwards and I have even tried cranking the volume up on the subs.

Long before I get the thump I want when playing music the subs sound like they are going to explode. LOL!

Keep in mind that these subs are the first subs I ever purchased and they were originally in a smaller room. The base in that room was better but also fell way short of what I wanted.

I think I am way under powered and way undersized. I am thinking to sell the 8” subs and move the 10’s to the back and put a pair of 18” subs in the front. Cabinet size is not an issue but cost is.

I have the space on each side of the room where a massive nice looking sub would work well. Since I can’t hide them I would like them to make a statement as well as a thump in my chest.

Are these way under powered and too small or is my configuration that far off?

Thanks for the help.

Here is what I have now.

Corner loaded in the front I have a pair of 10” subs
Corner loaded in the back I have a pair of 8” subs.

The subs are as follows

Pioneer Elite Subwoofer SW-E10
300-watt BASH® amplifier (600 watts peak)
frequency response 30-150 Hz
down-firing 10" long-throw woofer
2" voice coil, long, 1" peak-to-peak cone excursion
continuously variable 40-150 Hz low-pass crossover
sealed (acoustic suspension) enclosure

Pioneer SW-8MK2
Sensitivity, dB 80
Ohm 8
Frequency response 38-150
Crossover frequency 31-125
Nominal amp RMS output power 50 watts
Max RMS output 100
Down firing
Front port

 

[TLS Guy]

I recently moved to a larger house and repurposed the front entry room into a theater / music room.

The room is 19.3 feet wide and 21.3 feet deep with an 8’ ceiling and an opening in one wall that goes into the rest of the house.

I have a Marantz SR6011 with an additional 2 channel amp to drive one of the pairs of ceiling speakers for Atmos.

In total I have 11 speakers and 4 subs in the room. It all meets my needs except the bass. I have played with the AVR settings, I used the Audyssey app and adjusted the bass afterwards and I have even tried cranking the volume up on the subs.

Long before I get the thump I want when playing music the subs sound like they are going to explode. LOL!

Keep in mind that these subs are the first subs I ever purchased and they were originally in a smaller room. The base in that room was better but also fell way short of what I wanted.

I think I am way under powered and way undersized. I am thinking to sell the 8” subs and move the 10’s to the back and put a pair of 18” subs in the front. Cabinet size is not an issue but cost is.

I have the space on each side of the room where a massive nice looking sub would work well. Since I can’t hide them I would like them to make a statement as well as a thump in my chest.

Are these way under powered and too small or is my configuration that far off?

Thanks for the help.

Here is what I have now.

Corner loaded in the front I have a pair of 10” subs
Corner loaded in the back I have a pair of 8” subs.

The subs are as follows

Pioneer Elite Subwoofer SW-E10
300-watt BASH® amplifier (600 watts peak)
frequency response 30-150 Hz
down-firing 10" long-throw woofer
2" voice coil, long, 1" peak-to-peak cone excursion
continuously variable 40-150 Hz low-pass crossover
sealed (acoustic suspension) enclosure

Pioneer SW-8MK2
Sensitivity, dB 80
Ohm 8
Frequency response 38-150
Crossover frequency 31-125
Nominal amp RMS output power 50 watts
Max RMS output 100
Down firing
Front port

They are all lousy subs. Probably two good subs is what you need. I would say you need two good 15" subs. Never mix good and lousy subs. Identical subs is best.

Get them from companies like SVS, HSU, Rythmic or Arendal. There are others. In that size room I would go with ported subs. That will save you money. Probably the best value will be HSU.

 

[Eppie]

Agree with TLS Guy. Those are entry level subs and the 8" in particular are way underpowered for that room. You might be better off with just the two 10" as you may be hearing the 8" break up at higher volumes. A good quality sub will be rated down to 20Hz, not the 30Hz mentioned above.

Two ported subs of good quality will outperform what you have but there is a significant jump in price moving from a big box store sub to one produced by a company that specializes in subs. All four companies mentioned above make great subs. There are also Monolith THX certified subs, Paradigm Defiance subs and if you like the industrial look Starke in the U.S. makes some decent subs as well. SVS has a free return policy and Arendal is internet direct but ships free to the U.S. There are reviews on Audioholics for some of their subs.

 

[j_garcia]

The room has a nearly square footprint as well, which is never going to be good. Corner loading in each corner likely makes the issue worse, not better, especially if your seating position is close to central to the room or at the middle of the back wall.

Multiple subs can be utilized to even response, but it won't make them perform beyond their capabilities. They will get louder in their range, not deeper or better sounding.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Absolutely ditch the current subs. The room is too big, and they are…not very useful as subwoofers. The specs are atrocious for subs and in fact, my mains go lower. Invest in a quality pair of 15’s or 18’s from HSU, Rythmik, PSA, monolith etc. quality bass is an investment, and as you’ve found out, filling a good sized room is not easy.

 

[lovinthehd]

8" and subwoofer don't usually compute. Yeah, you could definitely use better subs and likely better placement, too. What's the budget?

 

[Wardog555]

What is more important.
Selecting the right subwoofers for the room that gives you what you're looking for? or a budget that may not get What you want and will limit your choices.

Have a think about it carefully. I can vote for SVS PB series

 

[Speedfast]

Here is a shot of the space I have. All the subs and speakers will go away. I plan to sell all the Pioneer towers and bookshelf Atmos speakers since I now have in ceiling
speakers.

 

[Eppie]

Nice space. Looks like you have room for decent size towers and two subs, but bear in mind that if you place the subs in the corners the bass will get more pronounced due to corner loading, which can make the bass sound boomy and less detailed. You can experiment with having the subs in the corners or moving them between the towers and cabinet. Mid-points along a wall can work better to smooth out the room response. We also have members that added a third sub behind the couch (maybe behind the rounded corner). Having a sub near field will yield a more tactile response if you want to feel the bass.

 

[Speedfast]

The rest of the room has been planned out and is set in stone. The only area that I have to work with is the back wall on each side of the cabinet. Aside from a budget I can do anything I want as long as it "fits" the room.

 

[fmw]

I agree. The subs look small and cheap. My room is larger than yours and I have only a single sub. But it is a well powered 15" sealed unit. It can shake the walls literally if I turn it up but I don't really want my walls shaking. Shaking walls don't contribute to good sound. It wouldn't even occur to me think I need more subwoofer. Having four subs isn't the answer if the combination of them doesn't do the job for you. I agree with the posters above.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Here is a shot of the space I have. All the subs and speakers will go away. I plan to sell all the Pioneer towers and bookshelf Atmos speakers since I now have in ceiling
speakers.

View attachment 57581View attachment 57581

So did you go in the ceiling for Atmos, or the whole system?

 

[Wardog555]

You still have ear level speakers right?

It's critical you have them for Dolby atmos!

 

[Speedfast]

So did you go in the ceiling for Atmos, or the whole system?

I put 4 speakers in the ceiling.

 

[Speedfast]

You still have ear level speakers right?

It's critical you have them for Dolby Atmos!

I don't have walls or floor space where they should go. I needed up putting Polk speakers up high on the wall that fire down at 45 degrees. Far from optimal but the only option I had.

 

[Wardog555]

It's called speaker stands if there's no walls. Or put on furniture etc. Is what's best for Dolby atmos important or not? Don't claim rubbish no floorspace when I can clearly see it. It's a personal preference that is preventing you from the optimal experience. Live with it or suffer out of place sounds.

Enjoy or not enjoy!

 

[Speedfast]

It's called speaker stands if there's no walls. Or put on furniture etc. Is what's best for Dolby atmos important or not? Don't claim rubbish no floorspace when I can clearly see it. It's a personal preference that is preventing you from the optimal experience. Live with it or suffer out of place sounds.

Enjoy or not enjoy!

I will enjoy it as is once I replace the subs and towers.

I am not willing to compromise the other plans for the room and run wires across the floor or block the walking path with stands.

The remainder of the room is already planned out so I guess I will just have to suffer.

 

[Eppie]

I have my rears in the ceiling for similar reasons. No place for stands so either on-wall or in-wall / in-ceiling. Sometimes you have to compromise.

Are you after aesthetics, performance, or both? For raw performance, Monolith THX is up there but boxy looking. SVS is nicer looking and there are also the 4000 series and PC line of subs if you want something that stands out and have the budget. For something more elegant, Arendal and Hsu have a nice cabinet. I'm not familiar enough with Rhythmic but they've long been pretty popular and their latest offering reviewed very well. Bear in mind some of those companies have lower end offerings as well so you want a model that matches your room size.

 

[Speedfast]

I have my rears in the ceiling for similar reasons. No place for stands so either on-wall or in-wall / in-ceiling. Sometimes you have to compromise.

Are you after aesthetics, performance, or both? For raw performance, Monolith THX is up there but boxy looking. SVS is nicer looking and there are also the 4000 series and PC line of subs if you want something that stands out and have the budget. For something more elegant, Arendal and Hsu have a nice cabinet. I'm not familiar enough with Rhythmic but they've long been pretty popular and their latest offering reviewed very well. Bear in mind some of those companies have lower end offerings as well so you want a model that matches your room size.

I am not going to go crazy about getting the absolute best sound I can get so I would say that aesthetics is possibly my number one deal. It's the front room of the house, it's the very first thing everyone will see and it will set the tone. I am willing to compromise the performance to have a nice looking place to walk into every day.

 

[Eppie]

I am not going to go crazy about getting the absolute best sound I can get so I would say that aesthetics is possibly my number one deal. It's the front room of the house, it's the very first thing everyone will see and it will set the tone. I am willing to compromise the performance to have a nice looking place to walk into every day.

That will be a personal choice then but I would lean towards Hsu and Arendal. If you like the usual black ash finish that many subs have, SVS and Rhythmic have subs in those styles, but SVS also offers gloss and Rhythmic offers matte finishes. Some good options out there.