[gkinberg]

Hello, I am looking for a new subwoofer. My current "Sub" is a Boston Acoustics PV500. I've had it for around 10 years and its time for an upgrade. I am attaching a schematic of my floor plan. Each square is equal to one foot. My listening room is open to the entryway, dinning room, kitchen, and hallway. The ceiling in the listening room slopes from 8' on the left to 13' on the right. I did a very rough calculation and came up with around 6500-6800 cubic feet of room to fill.

My system is around 60-70% music and the rest TV and movies. My primary goal is to get really good musical reproduction of the bottom two octaves or so. I'm looking for tight, articulate and detailed base first, a good chest whacking bass slap second and plumbing the depths below 20 hz for movies third. My musical tastes run from bob marley, Jack Johnson, norra jones, Lep Zepplin, Sarah McLachlan, cat stevens to some hip-hop and top 40 (I know, I should be ashamed)

My budget is around $1000 if I'm going with one sub, maybe $1500 if there is a very compelling reason. I know most people will suggest several subs is best and while that may be so, I think I may have room for two subs at most. My current sub resides along the same wall as my main speakers in the corner and that is probably where the first sub will go. If I end up going with a second sub, it will probably go between my first sub and my left front main speaker. Therefore, because I won't be placing them very far apart, there may not be a large benefit to going with more than one. However, If I do go with two, my budget probably changes to $700-$800 per sub and spaced out six to twelve months between sub purchases. I am open to both new and used.

I currently have Salk SongTowers that I plan to high pass around 80 hz and let the subs take the lower frequencies. I am leaning toward a sealed sub but I'm trying to keep an open mind. I'd like to go with a sub that has PEQ features to tame any bass modes that I may encounter. I look forward to input.

Thanks, Garth

[gkinberg]

In addition, I am including photos of my listening room. The first picture is of the left of the front wall where the speaker reside and I work my way around the listening room clockwise. Thought it might give people an appreciation of where subs might potentially go or where they can't go. Thanks, Garth

[Guidof]

No need to be ashamed of one's musical preferences!

My first question would be, what aspects of your current sub would you want to improve upon?

From the info provided, my thought is that your room is the greatest challenge. Thus I wonder if you should not first spend some of your money on bass traps and first reflection sound absorbers before thinking of buying new subs. In my experience, room treatments are likely to cause the greatest bang for the buck when seeking improvements in SQ.

I also found the DSPeaker Dual Core DAC/DRC/EQ to be excellent at taming room modes and generally tailoring the sound to one's preferences, but it would set you back about $1,200. Room treatment is cheaper.

If at all possible, I would also consider removing the coffee table in front of the listening position.

Regards,

Guido F.

[JLM]

We found a semi-soft leather covered coffee table (looks/functions more like a big footstool/bench) that would help with floor bounce.

How loud do you want to listen?

Recommend doing some room response homework before buying treatments/subs.

Seems like an 80 Hz cutoff with Song Towers is a bit high (more appropriate for stand mounted speakers).

Like your thinking/taste (I do 50s/60s pop).  For good value subs look at Epic (a pair with two 15 inch woofers each for $1500, a pair with two 12 inch woofers each for $900, unfortunately currently sold out) but good design (opposing/sealed woofers that cancel cabinet shake).  Parts Express is a good value place to start looking.  Most subs are overpriced (even compared to other audio pieces) IMO.

Also consider built-in infinite baffle subs (serious bass, no cabinet cost, but you need a spare room/attic to provide 'cabinet' volume).

Other interesting options exist if your interested in DIY.

And yes, multiple subs is the real answer (look into threads below).  Try to read Floyd E. Toole's 'Sound Reproduction' where he explains that every residential room has +/- 20 dB bass response due to standing waves (think of moving your hand back and forth in a shallow bathtub of water).  You most assuredly have a big bass emphasis with your listening spot tight against the wall.

[Freo-1]

Call SVS sound and ask to speak to Ed Mullins. 
 
He is one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject I've ever come across.   
https://www.svsound.com/

[Guidof]

Interesting bit about SVS. Their "Merlin" tool recommends the exact cross over frequency (31Hz) that I found empirically to be optimum with my speakers and sub.

And yes, measuring your room response is a very good suggestion, before making a move in the direction of spending money.

Guido F.

[Saturn94]

Not sure if you're still looking, but I would also consider a pair of XV15 from Power Sound Audio.

http://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/power-x/products/xv15

There's a very active owners thread here;

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1372020/official-power-sound-audio-thread

[Marbles]

Have Jim Salk make you a Rythmik sub to match your speakers.

[nickd]

+1 on the Rymithik Servo Subs with the PEQ.

Buy direct from Brian if you need to save a buck or two and don't care about matching the Salk's finish. He sometimes has deals on "B stock units". If you buy new, get the 12" GR Research designed paper cone woofer. It's a bit lighter and faster than the aluminum cone. One will most likely get you smiling and allow time to gather more funds for another unit.

[Mudslide]

You're getting and will get more good advice from these knowledgeable people.  You'll hear about "crawling for bass" if you haven't already.  There is a lot of wisdom out here.  And yes, there are lots of goodies that will measure and tame your bass frequencies. 

All that said, after looking at your room photos, if I were lazy and a little tight on bucks, I do the following:

Move the the front setup over to the left one subwoofer width.  The main trouble with this recommendation is of course your need to move the tv.  Plop (any brand) in a pair of subs, one each just outside of your mains.

Or...

Put one sub (an HSU VTF-2 or -3, currently on sale) to the left of the left SongTower.  (Not in the corner as you currently have.)  Put an HSU MBM-12 to the left of the couch in place of the coffee table.  You'll get the deep stuff from the VTF and lots of cool and powerful midbass from the nearfield MBM.  Bliss.

Good luck with your upgrade!

Mud

[Mudslide]

Edit that above post....

I meant to say replace the END table with the MBM-12.

[jarcher]

I have a similar living room size / arrangement and am quite happy with my REL T-5.  It's a sealed 8', very fast & tight, but still has decent enough slam and volume for home theater in a smaller room like that.  They go for $700, but I bought a demo from MD at some point for 20% off. 

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-13261-rel-t-5-subwoofer.aspx

Mine is a glossy white and I think it looks great w/ my cherry Totem Arros not to dissimilar to your Songtowers.  Very high WAF : being that they blend w/ the wall, but being glossy and very nicely made, you can admire them as well.  Even my EX-wife admires them! E-WAF more impressive still than WAF?

If you want something even tighter / higher end with even deeper bass, then the REL "R" series (higher end 10' sealed w/ better cabinet + class d amp), is the next step up.  The current R218 is just within your top budget @ $1300 new.

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-38017-rel-r-218-subwoofer.aspx

Both the T-5 + R218 are Absolute Sound winners.

You can also opt to look for a used R205, which is largely the same as the R218 & can be had for half the price of the R218 new (which means you can get two!).  There are advantages to running dual subs, but if I were you I'd start w/ one good one.  Unless you're really looking to do the "boom" it seems to me that an 8' sub is enough for that size room.  I think the quickness advantage of the 8' for music, particularly if that your primary use, outweighs the absolute lack of low end of a bigger coned sub.

[JLM]

I have a similar living room size / arrangement and am quite happy with my REL T-5.  It's a sealed 8', very fast & tight, but still has decent enough slam and volume for home theater in a smaller room like that.  They go for $700, but I bought a demo from MD at some point for 20% off. 

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-13261-rel-t-5-subwoofer.aspx

Mine is a glossy white and I think it looks great w/ my cherry Totem Arros not to dissimilar to your Songtowers.  Very high WAF : being that they blend w/ the wall, but being glossy and very nicely made, you can admire them as well.  Even my EX-wife admires them! E-WAF more impressive still than WAF?

If you want something even tighter / higher end with even deeper bass, then the REL "R" series (higher end 10' sealed w/ better cabinet + class d amp), is the next step up.  The current R218 is just within your top budget @ $1300 new.

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-38017-rel-r-218-subwoofer.aspx

Both the T-5 + R218 are Absolute Sound winners.

You can also opt to look for a used R205, which is largely the same as the R218 & can be had for half the price of the R218 new (which means you can get two!).  There are advantages to running dual subs, but if I were you I'd start w/ one good one.  Unless you're really looking to do the "boom" it seems to me that an 8' sub is enough for that size room.  I think the quickness advantage of the 8' for music, particularly if that your primary use, outweighs the absolute lack of low end of a bigger coned sub.

I'm usually so with you, but "smaller room like this"?  And comparing Arro with SongTowers?  Better check your magnification factor my friend.   

[jarcher]

I'm usually so with you, but "smaller room like this"?  And comparing Arro with SongTowers?  Better check your magnification factor my friend.   

I may be underestimating his room size (didn't see specific dimensions) : but it looked similar to my 12 x 18 living room leading to a 10 x 10 dinning (damn small NVA cape codders).  That's 2160 + 1000 cu ft, which is what I estimated his listening + back couch area to be (and 3000 cu ft for kitchen / dinning rm that are technically not in the listening environment).

For that the Totem Arro + REL T-5 combo is perfect.  The Arro's are little miracle workers, but yeah, I could see the Salks putting out more volume and so no, going to Arros doesn't make sense.  The T-5 on the other hand I think is more than adequate, particularly for music.  They don't do that hugh KA-BLOOM bubble for HT, but they can get jiggy with it for the other effects.