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Stereo Subs - Do they need to be identical?

I'm thinking of getting a couple of subwoofers to mate with my MBL 121 monitors. Generally, I've seen setups where people use two subs of the same brand and size. I'm wondering whether it can make sense to use two different sizes. For example - a Venoyne DD12 and a DD15. I'm likely going to go with Velodyne DD series or JL Audio.

In particular, I note that the big Velodyne 1812 uses an 18 inch and 12 inch woofer, with suppsed benefits in terms of speed (12 inch) and extension and depth (18 inch).
outlier
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
Because you are are going to be using the subs, for more than just the bottom octave with your monitors...I would go with two of the exact same subs. You ear may pick up on any tone differences between the two subs.

If you were only going to use the subs for the lowest octave (20-40hz)...I doubt it would matter if the subs were an exact match...those freq's are well below what your ear can hear.

Dave
jig
160 posts
 
I will have to weigh in with an opposing view. I have had good luck using 2 totally different subs in the same system. YMMV, but I can see no reason not to try it, especially if you already own one sub and are adding a 2nd.
rwwear
2,692 posts
 
I don't think there would be a problem using different subs as long as you are crossing them over low enough but I would go with the same size myself. I don't see any merit to the smaller sub being faster theory. First of all a small sub has to move further to produce the same amount of bass as a larger sub therefore negating the speed advantage. In addition bass is slower because it is a longer frequency. If it were fast it wouldn't be bass. A bass drum is larger than a snare for a reason.
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