Is it better to have one big sub or two smaller ones?

[lsnow]

This guy is the difference between bassheads and audiophiles. And I am more of the later. Good tip sir 👍

[PooNinja]

Subs get lonely so get a pair then one can always say “I’m Right.” 😂

[brucestarr]

Or you could start with 1 12" sub and add the 2nd 12" sub, later.

[ronaldarchibald]

I run twin 10in passive subs for music playback and a single 12in active for theatre time. Not the best setup but does okay in each confirmation.

[Nir.Arieli]

x1 12" or x2 10"s?
i'd say - x2 12" !

[curiosity_saved_the_cat]

Besides, if a single 10" sub bottoms out at 28 hertz, two of them might even go a little lower than that right?

[Acoustic_Theory]

In general, for a single bass system, one large subwoofer will be cheaper and have lower distortion than multiple small ones, and while there's multiple parameters you can play with in transducer design, all else being equal, the larger speaker will naturally want to have a lower resonance frequency without adding extra mass or using a very soft suspension to get there. However, because it is not as practical to design very small woofer motors for high excursion (where 'motor' = the magnet and voice coil treated as a single subsystem) as it is to design larger ones, you typically end up with more motor force for unit cone area for a system with multiple smaller woofers, so the required box volume per driver is reduced because each woofer can generate more pressure per ampere of current in the coil. This can be helpful to increase power density in systems that will already use multiple woofers due to the amount of low end output needed. And the mulitple smaller woofers enable a variety of form factors to be easily realized, such as towers, line arrays, or low-profile subwoofers. Each woofer in a multiple-woofer system with smaller woofers can usually play to a higher frequency before mass-loaded upper frequency roll-off, so often you can use the multiple smaller woofers as "mid-woofers" if you want to, or cross them over at a higher bass frequency to receive more "punch". When you do not need to co-locate the woofers together, then you can begin to work with concepts like stereo subwoofers, "four corners" subwoofer setups, or delayed arrays of subwoofers to produce directional cardioid/end-fired systems. If you can only have one subwoofer, go with a larger cone size, as long as your main speakers also have a large enough woofer midwoofer that they can play down about one octave below the needed crossover frequency. If you can have multiple smaller woofers, add them together (add 6dB each time you double the number of powered subwoofers in a system that are receiving the same signal) until their dB output equals or exceeds the output available from the single large woofer. If you are in a room, and if you can accommodate multiple subwoofers, I recommend looking into stereo subwoofers, or into the Floyd Toole (4-corners) or Earl Geddes (distributed "swarm") placement techniques to achieve smooth low frequency response in a room prior to (or in lieu of) adding room correction EQ to your system.

[oliverbeard]

I'd go with two.Although bass becomes generally non directional at lower frequencies due to the longer wavelengths, i can often still hear where a sub is placed.To an extent it depends on how well the user has blended it with the main speakers, but bass is recorded in stereo, and two will help to even out the pressure throughout the room.

[indygo]

That’s how Paul re-energizes himself... sitting on an AC regenerator.

[khunigan]

Love yr videos. Await everyday for more audio info. Obviously the question was pertaining to "home"audio. But does that also pertain to car audio? I fully get "cone area". But bass being directional? I was always told bass was non-directional. Please clear this up for me. Any info appreciated. Thanks Paul.

[imnewtothistuff]

Bad question, bad answer. The answer should be based on what type of music is being played. Most rock or any popular music has mono base. The only reason for stereo base is to reproduce stereo bass engineered into the source music. If that's what you listen too, go for it! Playing a mono source through stereo subs could cause dips and peaks in the response as each is producing its own wave front. Remember, sound doesn't travel, it propagates. Speakers resonate the air, nothing is moving from here to there. I doubt if I even own music with stereo base, so rock on dudes! As for me, 15" 750w into 6 ohms. "I'm all about that base! (no treble)"

[thecman]

In similar fashion. Is it better to have 4 12s or 8 10s? Lol. I have a big Crown 1500w amp running the 4 12s in stereo currently but want to tinker to be honest! OR 2 18s?

[angelhurtado]

If I go there you can show me the machine that builds the frame? The v. C.? The surround? I'm in Cali... You are a 1.5 hours flight away. So please be honest and tell everyone if any of these is built here or just assembled here?

[collinsdiala]

Hi
I have this old-fashioned JBL subwoofer
And I want to split the speaker sound by connecting another sub woofer in a different boxing to the one in the main box with the amplifier
So that the main speaker will not be stressed out and I'm thinking I might still have the same sound or even better
Is that okay
I don't wanna burn it's engine
Or are two speakers with one amplifier gonna be too much for the amplifier

[sudd]

i would say that it depends on price, use one subwoofer until you reach 1000 dollar, quality subwoofer first, then add another.

[anthonybull]

The way he talks makes me relax for some reason 😂

[Merlin-wokj]

2 REL subs run in stereo configuration.

[GamingShiiep]

I thought, ideally you shouldn't be able to hear where the bass frequencies come from?

[samuellbrowning]

Stereo is special for sure, but what about the noise cancellation spots from having two subs far apart vs both together

[BogdanSerban]

Stereo bass makes sense for live recordings. When I used to mix and master songs I always mono'd everything under about 100hz, since bass should never be other than mono. One thing I heard two subs help is counteract room modes.