Musical (Stereo) Subwoofer Vs HT Subwoofer

elangoas

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I have read many posts & threads & heard opinions that both these qualities are different. If so how do we differentiate them ?
 
Go thru reviews at Audioreview.com. Even I too want to know about it.

REL subwoofers are said to be one of the best for the music. The signal into the subwoofer will be the high level input from the amp not from .1 part of 5.1 from the receiver.

If you go thru REL site you will find the explaination why do they do so.

Thanks
Pandu
 
I have read many posts & threads & heard opinions that both these qualities are different. If so how do we differentiate them ?
The design of the sub-woofer cabinet, the driver, the amp(active subwoofer) and the user settings determines these characteristics.

They differ mainly in the kind of Low Frequency sound they produce. If a sub-woofer is fast, accurate and tight, it works well as a Music sub-woofer. In a 2.1 setup, a sub-woofer is said to be good for music, when it matches the speed of the driver(s) used in the Stereo speakers. Again, these have to match well with your Stereo Speakers as timing is very important for Stereo.

A movie subwoofer is not considered good for music as movie subs are required to be a slow and boomy (so you enjoy scenes like explosions, shattering, sound of a chopper etc) more.

Just my two paisa:)
 
The design of the sub-woofer cabinet, the driver, the amp(active subwoofer) and the user settings determines these characteristics.

They differ mainly in the kind of Low Frequency sound they produce. If a sub-woofer is fast, accurate and tight, it works well as a Music sub-woofer. In a 2.1 setup, a sub-woofer is said to be good for music, when it matches the speed of the driver(s) used in the Stereo speakers. Again, these have to match well with your Stereo Speakers as timing is very important for Stereo.

A movie subwoofer is not considered good for music as movie subs are required to be a slow and boomy (so you enjoy scenes like explosions, shattering, sound of a chopper etc) more.

Just my two paisa:)

Ok fine. i have come across subwoofers which have dual drivers both of them being active i believe Ex Sonodyne Roarr 2815. These have 2 * 8 inch woofers rather than 1 driver. I haven't had a chance to audition them. on the web i came to know that 2 small drivers are faster than a single large driver. Does it mean that this kind of subwoofer is best suited for music listening (2 Channel) and the one's with single driver is better for HT (LFE) listening....
 
Ok fine. i have come across subwoofers which have dual drivers both of them being active i believe Ex Sonodyne Roarr 2815. These have 2 * 8 inch woofers rather than 1 driver. I haven't had a chance to audition them. on the web i came to know that 2 small drivers are faster than a single large driver. Does it mean that this kind of subwoofer is best suited for music listening (2 Channel) and the one's with single driver is better for HT (LFE) listening....

Yes smaller drivers have the potential to be faster in response. But specs can only go so far in describing the utility of any equipment. Please do audition the Roarr and share your impressions when you get a chance.
 
Yes smaller drivers have the potential to be faster in response. But specs can only go so far in describing the utility of any equipment. Please do audition the Roarr and share your impressions when you get a chance.

Hi Vortex,

I am elango . Hope you remember that we met in Decibel.. It was nice to meet you in person. I am thinking abt getting a Sub woofer also in addition to Mission m35i which i recently purchased.

I have already auditioned Polk DSW series & Jamo.. I am planning to audition the Roarr 2815 during ht next weekend. Will post the experience...

Also could you tell me how would High level inputs on the subwoofer improve the the listening for a a Stereo setup....
 
SLF 200 A from Sonodyne wud be the better sounding sub than the roar series
 
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SLF 200 A from Sonodyne wud be the better sounding sub than the roar series

Yeah even i heard abt this Sub also. The Sonodyne dealer in Chennai told me that he will be getting Demo piece of the Roarr 2815, Roarr 180 & SLF 200A. I ll take chances with all these three.

Hi Subhash,

Is SLF 200 good for for a stereo Set up or HT Setup.. I would be primarily using it in my Onkyo HTIB and listening to stereo source on 2.1 Mode.....

If you own one, can you share your experience....
 
Hi Vortex,

I am elango . Hope you remember that we met in Decibel.. It was nice to meet you in person. I am thinking abt getting a Sub woofer also in addition to Mission m35i which i recently purchased.

I have already auditioned Polk DSW series & Jamo.. I am planning to audition the Roarr 2815 during ht next weekend. Will post the experience...

Also could you tell me how would High level inputs on the subwoofer improve the the listening for a a Stereo setup....

If you connect the subwoofer using the High level inputs it would in effect work the same as a speaker - as far as the amp is concerned.

But do you really need a subwoofer inspite of the Mission M35i?
 
I agree THR S DIFFERNCE with musical sub and ht sub bec i have one b&w 12' front opening sub and rel strata down firing 10" sub, and velod 10" down firing and 8" front firing, and paradigm 8" front fire sub. In this i feel both b&w and velod will reach the full depth of bass sound. That means when rex comes in to the scene of jurrasic park the lowest bass can be heard only thr b&w and velod such furniture shaking sound. When it comes for musical they are not fast enough like the rest. So the sound is not impressive in two channel. But in the case of rel and pardigm such a smooth discreet in words like countable bass. Fast enough to match with any kind of bass frequencies. But at present i have kept alone these subs. At present my full concentration of pre power combo. With dedicated speaker the bass is enough for me. Go for a good wattage amp. I also believe your mission 35 doesnot need sub. Already more bass is there, more bass kills music. Bass can be brought in by placement of speaker or listening position but not the hf and good mid. High end system produce mids nearer to the original singer. If you hear clearer mid.then your systems and all frequencies it produces are good.
 
If you connect the subwoofer using the High level inputs it would in effect work the same as a speaker - as far as the amp is concerned.

But do you really need a subwoofer inspite of the Mission M35i?

So far i have been listening to Mission M35i on Onkyo's Pure audio mode...It sounds far better & much detailed than what i has hearing before on Onkyo BS speakers which came part of HTIB. Bass is adequate enough. The subwoofer is not that good and i believe it is almost dead. I think it might be bcoz the driver is worn-out & moreover the Mission M35i beats the Onkyo HTIB Subwoofer :eek:hyeah: So thought to get a good sub also. Max 25K. nothing more than that...
 
Dedicated two channel amp is complete different from ht amp. What ever may be its highend. Bec pure dedicated mono amp may some time with ht processor may some time will come near by. That too need a good dac or good dac inbuilt ht amp. Two channel set up should be separate or we should be ready to compromise some quality. Clearer frequencies are the note worthy feature in two channel
 
Yeah even i heard abt this Sub also. The Sonodyne dealer in Chennai told me that he will be getting Demo piece of the Roarr 2815, Roarr 180 & SLF 200A. I ll take chances with all these three.

Hi Subhash,

Is SLF 200 good for for a stereo Set up or HT Setup.. I would be primarily using it in my Onkyo HTIB and listening to stereo source on 2.1 Mode.....

If you own one, can you share your experience....

hi Elangoas

I dont own one but had a long audition of the SLF 200A sub @ bangalore sonodyne listening room (this was quiet some time back )

This sub sounded extremly good for the price (around 20k) it sounded good for both HT and Stereo and definetly sounded better than my older sub (velodyne CHT-12R ) for music

This sub will definetly make you happy . Moreover it does come with a remote
 
Dedicated two channel amp is complete different from ht amp. What ever may be its highend. Bec pure dedicated mono amp may some time with ht processor may some time will come near by. That too need a good dac or good dac inbuilt ht amp. Two channel set up should be separate or we should be ready to compromise some quality. Clearer frequencies are the note worthy feature in two channel

Yeah agree. When i am using the stereo mode (2.1) on the Onkyo receiver, i get the benefit of 24bit/192 Khz processing which eliminates the need of of good Up-sampling CD player. When i play them on Pure audio mode (2.0) it is not up-sampled. It plays as it is...i could feel the difference of Up-sampling..There is a difference sonically..

When i play it on Pure audio mode, sound is very clean. I wanted to take benefit of this by connecting this to the high level inputs of the subwoofer and then to the speakers from there.

This way i feel i would get better SQ with the compromise of not having a decent stereo integrated amplifier...

Plz correct me if i am wrong...
 
hi Elangoas

I dont own one but had a long audition of the SLF 200A sub @ bangalore sonodyne listening room (this was quiet some time back )

This sub sounded extremly good for the price (around 20k) it sounded good for both HT and Stereo and definetly sounded better than my older sub (velodyne CHT-12R ) for music

This sub will definetly make you happy . Moreover it does come with a remote

Thanks for the inputs Subhash. I am eyeing on a Sonodyne Subwoofer series either Roarr 2815 (Or) SLF 200A. At this price point (20K) it is a steal... IF i were to olok @ other subwoofers, they cost anything upwards 30K for the same specs as these two models..
 
a serious consideration would be .... The logitech subwoofers, as i reviewed them earlier. the review is posted in this forum.

http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/10321-logitech-z-2300-2-1-system-review.html?highlight=logitech

I am positive that these subwoofer have more than sufficient capability for your hT or music needs.

8inch longthrow, 120watt rms 35hz subwoofer for 8k and the 10inch 200 something watt subwoofer 18k both THX certified .... do u need any more? rather can you get anymore at that price?

Ofcourse u will get the complete systems for that price, but u can disconnect the satellites, same way i have done. I have a Harman/kardon avr3550 receiver hooked up to the logitech z2300 subwoofer .... its more sufficient for a low budget ...
 
Honestly there are only two kinds of subwoofers. The bad and the good ones.

If you set out to design a good subwoofer, you will end up with one that is suited for cinema as well as music. It is only the connections and other features that will change according to the application.

The current condition of the market and differing priorities of music lovers vs HT enthusiasts, have spawned different types of subwoofers suited to fit the priorities both camps.

A subwoofer build for 2 channel music is essentially nothing but a better subwoofer.
 
Could some one please list the musical subwoofers with in 25K... I will try to audition them in Chennai...

hi elangoas -

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and the list includes - not only chennai - but anywhere -

subwoofers which will pair with your pair of (stereo) loudspeakers {however inexpensive they are} will run you in excess of 2 lacs INR - and that is DIY.

i have learned (bitter experience) that is there is no shortcut - no lottery -

else - you should not listen to the best systems -

ignorance is bliss! - and i am under a curse!
 
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