[YEEEEGZ]

Hey guys,

The time has come to add low-end in my life, and I am really at a crossroads as far as which direction to go. I made this mock-up to help better illustrate my little world:



My room looks like this. It is only 12.5 feet by 10 feet and, to make matters worse, I've had to settle on a corner placement for the speakers. I did this by wall mounting everything I built.

So, as of now, it looks something like this:



I have no subwoofer. I mean, I do have a cruddy Jamo ported subwoofer, but I never run it... For good reason. You see, my wife absolutely HATES the boom associated with low-end frequencies. So, if I'm listening to music at home or watching videos and she's here, I simply cannot have a ton of low-end spillover into the house... So no Jamo (it's very boomy). But I need low-end. I need it so bad, bros. What can a guy do?

Danny makes great stuff, and I love having his projects going on in the background that I can work on. So my options from GR are the servo ones everyone raves about. I've been reading about OB subs for years and years and years and how great they are and how they're the best part of everyone's setup, that they change the game, etc... But, my room is too small to pull them into the room properly. I want to build them so bad though, bros. So bad.

So, option 1 in my head:



The OB subs are less, boomy, right? So that should make the wife happy. And all I ever read about OB subs are how absolutely incredible they are... But the room placement is also absolutely horrendous. From what I've read, with them being only about a foot and some change from the wall, it makes building them for my room pretty pointless. I could shove really thick Owens Corning 703 panels behind them to help, but I doubt it would do a whole lot, right? Argh...

That leads me to option 2 in my head:



I could build two sealed servo sub boxes and point them at each other to help cancel out the boom. Destructive interference? But then I miss out on the whole OB subwoofer experience (despite them not working for the room) and have to continue my life wondering what OB subs would be like. And, even still, I am hard pressed to believe this option's output wouldn't agitate the wife worse than the OB one. But I have no idea.

Yeah, really, I have no idea. I haven't ever experienced any of these things and can only read and imagine.

Furthermore, both of these options are pretty expensive for me... I'm trying to figure out what to do.

If anyone has any advice for my situation that doesn't involve ditching the wife or moving house... I would love to hear it before I commit one way or the other.



Help me, big bros. Please.

[toocool4]

Are you able to attached the images directly to AudioCircle, I cannot see any of the images. What I see says Content not viewable in your region. See attach, what I see.

[YEEEEGZ]

Are you able to attached the images directly to AudioCircle, I cannot see any of the images.

My mistake, it should be fixed now? 

[toocool4]

I can see them now, thanks.

[corndog71]

Try the sealed single servo sub.  It’s fast, clean, and only gets boomy when the recording gets boomy.

OB subs can work in a small room but not with your layout.  They really do need more space to sound their best.  I used to have my listening room in a 2nd bedroom that was 11x12.  The subs were almost in the middle of the room to sound best.  I had a futon on the back wall.  It was tight but that’s apartment living for you.  Good luck!

[toocool4]

With regards to using subs in your room, the sub you have but never used. When you used them, did you hear boom or were you just hearing the low frequency travelling through the house structure? Don’t forget you will hear the sound in I think 3 different ways, the first will be through the vibrations in the house structure, next direct sound from the speakers and then reflections. I think your wife is probably hearing / feeling it at other parts of the house via the house structure.

If you are hearing / feeling the sound via the house structure, the first thing I would try is isolate the subwoofer via something like AV Room Service EVP’s.
www.avroomservice.com

https://avroomservice.com/evp-2/

[YEEEEGZ]

Try the sealed single servo sub.  It’s fast, clean, and only gets boomy when the recording gets boomy.

OB subs can work in a small room but not with your layout.  They really do need more space to sound their best.  I used to have my listening room in a 2nd bedroom that was 11x12.  The subs were almost in the middle of the room to sound best.  I had a futon on the back wall.  It was tight but that’s apartment living for you.  Good luck!

With regards to using subs in your room, the sub you have but never used. When you used them, did you hear boom or were you just hearing the low frequency travelling through the house structure? Don’t forget you will hear the sound in I think 3 different ways, the first will be through the vibrations in the house structure, next direct sound from the speakers and then reflections. I think your wife is probably hearing / feeling it at other parts of the house via the house structure.

Oh, I'm sure it's being heard from every which way you can hear a subwoofer. I think it being ported makes it boomier than if it were sealed? It's also just a big empty box with a woofer. But, yeah, I also have zero treatment in this room... That's a rabbit hole I'll absolutely have to explore once the wife grabs the butcher knife.

[toocool4]

A 12.5’ x 10’ room is simply too small for meaningful bass. Proper acoustic treatment would eat up too much physical space, and fixing it properly requires a huge budget. Your chances of getting high quality low end here are very low, so it is best to accept the room's natural limitations.

[YEEEEGZ]

A 12.5’ x 10’ room is simply too small for meaningful bass. Proper acoustic treatment would eat up too much physical space, and fixing it properly requires a huge budget. Your chances of getting high quality low end here are very low, so it is best to accept the room's natural limitations.

Sorry, my good man. But this is the semi-sane advice thread. I am leaving pure rationale at the door.

[toocool4]

Open your wallet, as you are going to need it. Good luck.

[Early B.]

Yo Yee -- do NOT follow conventional wisdom regarding room size, placement, treatment, and other needless considerations. Go with a dual servo.

When I got started on my OB servo sub journey, I only had a single dual OB servo sub shoved against the wall. Despite placement, it still sounded 10x better than any box sub, and without the boominess. For your room size, it will be perfect. If you wanna do a triple, I ain't gonna talk you out of it.

Oh, and you can expect the sound quality to increase CONSIDERABLY across the entire frequency range with the addition of an OB sub.

[YEEEEGZ]

Yo Yee -- do NOT follow conventional wisdom regarding room size, placement, treatment, and other needless considerations. Go with a dual servo.

When I got started on my OB servo sub journey, I only had a single dual OB servo sub shoved against the wall. Despite placement, it still sounded 10x better than any box sub, and without the boominess. For your room size, it will be perfect. If you wanna do a triple, I ain't gonna talk you out of it.

Oh, and you can expect the sound quality to increase CONSIDERABLY across the entire frequency range with the addition of an OB sub.

My man.

[Tyson]

Agreed.  OB subs change the game when it comes to difficult rooms.  I like my bass to originate from the same plane as the speakers.  So if it were me, I'd get 1 of the dual servo subs and put it between then NX Studios.  And once you verify that OB works great in your room, I'd get a 2nd later on and then place each sub directly under the NX Studios'. 

I mean, with a room that small, a single is probably all you need, but who wants to be sane?  lol.

[YEEEEGZ]

Agreed.  OB subs change the game when it comes to difficult rooms.  I like my bass to originate from the same plane as the speakers.  So if it were me, I'd get 1 of the dual servo subs and put it between then NX Studios.  And once you verify that OB works great in your room, I'd get a 2nd later on and then place each sub directly under the NX Studios'. 

I mean, with a room that small, a single is probably all you need, but who wants to be sane?  lol.

My man.

Alright, let's do it.

[nlitworld]

Hey YEEEEGZ, my room is same size buy slightly altered configuration. I've had a single servo sub, but sold it for dual Rythmik F8 for better stereo separation. If you're running your sub only to 60hz or so, a single sub would be fine. My setup I found running the subs higher and high-pass filter @100hz works better for my Studios. Either way, you'll be fine with any of the options you decide. 

[NIGHTFALL1970]

YEEEEGZ,
You definitely came to the right place to get advice from people that are as crazy as you are! Look at how much stuff is in my room. I don’t have OB bass, but I do have two sealed Rythmiks. I also have two more that are built into the Bullys. Two subs definitely sound a lot better than one. Even if you can’t do OB. You are among friends here, so don’t worry about your sanity because we don’t!😁

Best of luck whatever you end up doing!👍

[YEEEEGZ]

Hey YEEEEGZ, my room is same size buy slightly altered configuration. I've had a single servo sub, but sold it for dual Rythmik F8 for better stereo separation. If you're running your sub only to 60hz or so, a single sub would be fine. My setup I found running the subs higher and high-pass filter @100hz works better for my Studios. Either way, you'll be fine with any of the options you decide. 

I see, the F8 appears to be a great option... Especially considering the much smaller footprint and a package pair of them capable of stereo... With the F8's eye on mid-bass to meet the Studios... That was a good call! Sadly it appears that Rythmik moved to the FM8, and then phased them out. Would have been something to consider, for sure. I see there are some for sale in the Ukraine on Hi-Fi Shark... Not in the cards currently, but worth keeping an eye on any popping up in the States. Good looking out!

YEEEEGZ,
You definitely came to the right place to get advice from people that are as crazy as you are! Look at how much stuff is in my room. I don’t have OB bass, but I do have two sealed Rythmiks. I also have two more that are built into the Bullys. Two subs definitely sound a lot better than one. Even if you can’t do OB. You are among friends here, so don’t worry about your sanity because we don’t!😁

Best of luck whatever you end up doing!👍

So, uhh, servos in the Bullies and two more Rythmiks on the floor... Yes, I like your style.