2 Subs

I use 2 subs. I wanted something lively and quick, and that would fit into a very small spaces, so I got a pair of MIrage MM8s, which are 9" cubes. They don't go down to 20Hz, but they fill out the 32-50 Hz region where so many speakers are down 10dB or more. As with your experience, I found these $800 subs on sale for $270 each, so I also thought, "Why not buy two?" They have aluminum cone 8" drivers in sealed cabinets supplemented by two passive radiators. They're tight and quick and blend easily with the main speakers.

I position mine against the wall, each directly behind its corresponding main speaker. This gives me significantly more room reinforcement than placing them alongside the main speakers. These subs have continuously adjustable phase from 0-360, so dialing in the time alignment was painstaking but not really difficult. I get more low end drive or rock and pop and better scale and foundation for orchestral music. Listening to Beethoven's "Eroica" as I write this.

The trick now is integrating the subs properly.

A room corrected sub controller, either stand-alone (Velodyne SMS-1) or built-in (Audyssey, as found in many pre-pros and AVRs, or the TI version in the HK990 integrated amp) greatly increases your chances of nailing this task. If you do nail it, you may be astonished at just how good a 2.2 system can sound.

Marty

It's all about the Placement of the subs and the X over point. I would not put them on stands.

I'm using a DSpeaker Antimode 8033s ($500.00) on my two subs and have the best bass I have ever heard. A lot has been written about the Antimode if you do a search you will find all the info you need. A good thing about the Antimode is that sub placement really doesn't matter as much.

Good-luck

I am using two REL Strata 5 subs. Keeps excellent pace with my horn speakers. I have them on granite blocks placed on 3 point isolation brass cones. This really makes the bass tighter. I also weigh them down with custom cut granite for the top. Again another improvement plus the matt mirror top looks nice. The granite really works to 'focus' the very deep notes to my ears. The low end is 16hz on the subs.All the additions made incremental gains to the sound from the basic subs.