[aemarcha]

Ron just built me a pair of XLS Encores.  They turned out beautiful and sound even better.  He posted the pictures in another thread.  Now I am looking for a subwoofer to replace the Janis sub I have from the 1980's.  It sounds good, but meshed better with the Spica TC50's than with the XLS.
I am looking for a sealed,non-ported sub, as I want it for music, Not HT.  I've been looking at the Rhythmik Audio F12SE and the SVS SB12-NSD.

  Any suggestions?  They appear to be very similar.  Do I need 1 or 2 subs? For the price of the RA I can almost get 2 SVS's.

  PS  If someone is interested in SPICA TC50s and the Janis subwoofer let me know.

[Danny Richie]

The subs aren't really similar at all. One is servo controlled and one is uncontrolled. So one stops about 7 times faster than the other. One plays flat to 20Hz and the other one doesn't get that close. One is the most musical and best sounding sub made, and the other is not.

And if you want the most musically and best sounding servo controlled sub then you need the one with our paper cone driver. Rythmik sells it complete as the F12G model: http://www.rythmikaudio.com/F12G.html

[walkern]

I second Danny's suggestion.  I've got one of his 12" sealed servo subs (built from kit) and it mates up beautifully with pretty much any bookshelf speaker I've tried it with (including my current N-2Xs).  Should be a match made in heaven for your XLS encores.

Neil

[BK_856er]

And another.  I use a D15SE Rhythmik Audio servo sub in conjunction with some Ascend Sierra monitors.  Integrates nicely and works beautifully for 2.1 music in my space.  When I made the purchase a few years ago I had HT plans, but if I was doing it today I'd probably take Danny's suggestion and do the F12G since HT never really caught on with me.  Two subs are great if you need the response and/or have a pre that can manage them.  Love my servo sub for music!

BK

[Ron]

  I too agree with Danny that the F12G 12" Servo Controlled subwoofer would be an excellent choice and a perfect match for your X-LS Encores.

[aemarcha]

And I'm guessing from the replies that I only need one subwoofer

[mlundy57]

You will usually hear that more subs will produce a smoother response. I would start with one sub and see how well you can get it to work for you. If your particular situation/room/placement allow you to get the response you like with one sub then there you have it. If no matter where you place the sub you cannot get the response you want then add a second sub. Repeat the placement experiments. Continue adding subs and experimenting with placement until you get the response you want.

I have read threads where some folks have 4 subs, others are happy with 2. For me in my living room, 1 Rythmik F12 fills the bill just fine.

Mike