[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Mark64 wrote:

Wayne-
Thanks for your post and observations on my situation. I wanted to clear up an apparent misunderstanding when you read my initial post. I am not primarily interested in TV watching, in fact if that was the case I would probably not get a subwoofer. This passage from my initial post sums it up:

"We probably use the system about 75% TV and movie watching and 25% music.

Yeah, that blew right by me, didn’t it? Sorry about that. Too bad, though – it’s only going to cost you more money!

I want to nail the music and hopefully get HT as close to right as possible without taking away from the music.

No problem there. Any good music sub sounds good with home theater – just add another one!

My thoughts now are whether to go with a sealed sub for accuracy, or a ported sub (such as the +2, which apparently is not bad on music)

I’ve typically been a sealed kind of guy, but I’ve found recently that a good ported design can do a great job with music. For instance, once I tamed its extreme ultra-low frequency output, I found the SVS PB10-ISD had amazing detail. Right now I’m evaluating a 12” pair of SVS subs, one ported, one sealed, and I honestly can’t tell a difference with the detail. Neither seem to be quite as good in that respect as the PB10 was, but I’ve moved since then, and our new place is more “live” since it has wood floors. So I’d be hesitant to write it off to the smaller driver being “faster.”

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Basia’s The Sweetest Illusion CD. I think it’s out of production, but you should have no problem finding it on ebay. On the first track “Drunk On Love,” the bass has a ”growl” or texture to it (that’s the best way I can describe it). It’s a great track to show if a sub is fast and detailed (I usually turn off the mains to hear the sub by itself).

Even more of a challenge is another of her CDs, London, Warsaw, New York. The opening track “Crusin’ for Bruisin,” also has a “texture” in the bass, but it’s very subtle. If the sub you’re demoing can pick up on that, you have a winner! Again, play it with the main speakers off, to make sure the “texture” you’re hearing is not from them.

I’ve found that it’s important to make sure the sub’s response is flat below about 30 Hz to get the most out of a musical sub. If there are peaks below that point, the detail will be obscured. The flattened response will work fine for movies, too – those action flicks have such extreme levels of bass, they’ll generate the peaking below 30 Hz despite the flattened response.

Regards,
Wayne