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Subwoofer advice

Sorry in advance for the long post but I thought it would be helpful to give as much context as possible in order to receive the most accurate advice.

I am new to this subwoofer thing. Currently I have a traditional stereo system. Dedicated amp/pre/dac and Harbeth 30.2 speakers. Now I am not unhappy with the bass output of the Harbeths, in fact, I was impressed with the useful output I heard under 50hz, even though they're only rated to 50hz.

I was thinking adding a powered sub or perhaps two subs would be beneficial as my Harbeths start to roll off around 40hz and I get no useful output below 30hz or so. I don't consider myself a bass head but I do like the occasional Daft Punk song, and know that a good sized woofer can make all the difference in a system. I think the Harbeth Radial driver is swell, but it struggles at higher spl, under 50hz. (Herb Reichart mentioned the logo will rattle against the enclosure with strong subbass, he wasn't joking)

I don't wish to add a processor into my chain for subwoofer management, even though I could (my preamp has home theatre bypass) I would rather do the "traditional" way where I set the crossover of the sub to maybe around 40hz and adjust placement in room manually by ear.

My room is small, 10x14.

My questions are thus: what brand should I look to get?

Should I get one or two subs? One to start?

What considerations must I factor in for seamless integration?
d2girls
analogluvr
800 posts
 
 I am not saying  Mr. decibel is wrong, you may find that you notice the woofers on the Harpeth struggling. But I would doubt it given the size of your room.   If you do you can just add a simple capacitor in line to your main speakers to accomplish and earlier rolloff  
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d2girls's avatar
d2girls OP
641 posts
 
if I were to get two subs, what would be the bare minimum to integrate them into my system? hook up the subs to the outputs of my pass labs preamp? i think i understand that if i did that, my speakers would still be going 'full range' and i would adjust the subwoofer crossover manually. right?
what would be the next step above that?
inna
5,245 posts
 
What about replacing your speakers with Harbeth 40.1 or 40.2 instead of adding subs ? Too expensive ?
Not that I am against subs, I just view them as a last resort solution.
Yes, I would start with one REL, though two identical RELs should be better even in smaller rooms.
stevecham
3,298 posts
 
Go with SVS and save some bux.
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