Two subs better than one?

Sneaky Peaky

Sneaky Peaky

Sneaky Peaky

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Farnborough, Hants
Ok so I have a budget Home Cinema set up with a Yamaha RXV371 and Tannoy SFX 5.1 speakers which I'm pretty happy with, especially for the money.

However I can't help thinking it would be nice to have a bit more punch in the chest from low frequencys, I should say I use it mostly for watching movies.

So the question is I can pick up another Tannoy SFX sub for not much money, do you think this would be a worthwhile addition or is it likely to overwhelm the mid and high range?

ps I realise the Sub channel is mono, I would just split the Subwoofer out from the amp with a phono splitter cable..
 
If you can use them with proper room correction stuff then dual subs are nearly always better (although we're talking relatively similar subs, not el cheapo one vs a BK Monolith).
 
A second subwoofer in your case is going to solve nothing and only add endless head scratching. In an ideal scenario, you can have up to four subwoofers in a dedicated room, two front and two rear, but getting them to harmonise together isnt for the faint hearted. You would really need to know what your at and understand how LFE works and how it works in your particular room.
Giving you have a budget receiver and a budget speaker pack you'll only be wasting your money.

Id suggest you upgrade your entire speaker package and go for a decent bookshelf/sub combo. This will all depend on your budget though so there's no point continuing on from here unless you decided to go down that route.
 
Two subs works best if they're the same. I run two sets of 'double sub' set ups in my house; main AV rig has 2x Monolith DFs, computer rig has a REL Strata with JBL Creatures.

The double Monolith rig is brutal, it's a real foundation shaker on certain films. Kung Fu Panda Skadoosh literally hits you in the chest. Definite improvement.

The computer rig however is set up so that the REL takes over once the JBLs start to run out of puff at about 30Hz. It's a lot more faff to sort out but in the end the result is an improvement.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Worked for me :confused:
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Cheers

It loads up then all the text disappears leaving the adverts at the top and only a blank white box.... weird!

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Two subs I could never recommend. Whilst my amp supports two subs, I would never consider it. Waste of space and money. Spend more on one good sub. When I bought my first AV setup I spend a fair chunk on a good sub. It's still going strong now 10 years later and I have never had to replace it. I don't feel I will out grow it either unless a lottery win comes in and I can afford to buy a substantially bigger house.
The stuff you can pick up second hand in the AV world is awesome. Another mans "old tat from the year 2000" is another mans treasure. Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's bad. Some of the best speakers I have heard are from the 90s and still pack a punch today. Check out av forums for second hand purchases.
 
jaybee said:
Two subs I could never recommend. Whilst my amp supports two subs, I would never consider it. Waste of space and money.
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If you'd never consider it, how would you know it's a waste of space and money? Have you actually tried it in your current listening room? If not, how can you comment?
 
I'd have thought that for any given sub budget and for your average standard living room, a single sub for £x00 would perform better than two subs for the same amount. I.e. I'd rather spend £400 on one amazing sub than £200 x 2 on two mediocre subs.

And yes AV Forums is an amazing place for second hand Hi-Fi.
 
Thanks for all the input guys, interesting stuff..

Bearing in mind though we are talking budget set up here and I'd be spending another £40 max for a second sub.
 
Sneaky Peaky said:
Thanks for all the input guys, interesting stuff..

Bearing in mind though we are talking budget set up here and I'd be spending another £40 max for a second sub.
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please don't add another sub if its only £40 you're going to spend, it will sound worse probably trying to integrate 2 different subs. Unless you get an amazing deal second hand on another identical tannoy it will undoubtedly add more bass but it will not be any deeper, but may punch a bit harder and have a bit more headroom with less distortion because of the bass being distributed between 2 subs
 
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I can only imagine how difficult it must be to adjust two subs to get the sweet spot right without getting horrendous interference.
 
I have a Velodyne SPL800R subwoofer, retail price at time of purchase £700. After my 1st year of owning i too considered the two subwoofer setup and thought of introducing another but was always advised against for reasons ive already explained. If i were to change my subwoofer tomorrow and if i had the cash, id probably go for a Velodyne DD12, Maybe a DD10 which retail close to £2k, realistic 2nd hand price of £900-£1200.

Im not saying that two subwoofers will never ever work, but simply daisy chaining one off the other, or even adding a second subwoofer into an additional subwoofer jack on your receiver like mine (.2) doesnt mean your going to get better performance straight away.

With all due respect, your system is very basic and even if you changed to a speaker package consisting of standmount speakers (Bookshelf) and a matching/better subwoofer, your overall experience will be much improved. Even for £100, your gains will be little.

In regards to avforums. Highly recommended site from me. I am a long time member and if your ever looking to purchase second hand equipment from it you can rest assure there traders are all legit, however you can tell a dodgey dealer when you spot one/
 
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