Dual L22's or F12's for music-priority Tower-based system?

Following up from the tower thread...

With respect to musical performance, which would be better: dual L22's or F12's?

Background: Room size is 1700 cu ft, with openings on two sides to another 1800 cu ft. System will include RAAL towers and Sierra-2 center. Rear surrounds are Pioneer Andrew Jones, ultimately to be replaced with CBM 170's.

I lean toward the F12's due to PEQ, but the small footprint of the l22 is compelling. Other factors to consider?

Thanks,
Steve

I'd be interested in knowing what you decide. You may also want to ask on the AVS forum for Rhythmik subs:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/113-su...er-thread.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by meli

I'd be interested in knowing what you decide. You may also want to ask on the AVS forum for Rhythmik subs:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/113-su...er-thread.html

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Good suggestion. I added a query in the AVS forum.

I spoke with Enrico at Rythmik. He suggested the L22's due to higher output, and because the F12's PEQ is superfluous since my SR7009 has Audyssey multieq-xt32 to handle the sub's eq. His take is the sound quality is very similar between the L22 and F12.

I'm still waffling. Will make a decision and place an order before the new year. There's a chance I may back down to L12's since I don't often play the system at reference levels.

Thanks,
Steve

I have a single L12 in a room of the same size with two openings to the rest of the house lower level.

I have absolutely no complaints with music and even with movies I have enough output for my tastes.

I keep the L12 in "Low Music" for max extension. Occasionally I may either bump the level +3dB with the sub trim of my AVR or switch the L12 to "Low HT" for a bit more impact.

For what a L12 cost, you could get two to get more output AND a more even response.

Have you seen this output comparison on Rythmik website?

Output comparison

At 20 Hz, our subs vary in their maximum output capability. The output at 20 Hz is shown relative to F12.

F12: 0db (baseline)
F8/FM8: -1.5db
L12: -1db
LV12R: +2.5db
E15HP: + 3.5db
L22: + 4db
LVX12: +4db
F15HP: +4db
FVX15: +6.5db
FV15HP: +9.5db
F25: +8db

Go with the L22. Is 4db louder than the F12 which means they will be working less hard compare to the F12.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RicardoJoa

Go with the L22. Is 4db louder than the F12 which means they will be working less hard compare to the F12.

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Plus L22 has a narrow foot print than F12. 14" vs 16" if it matters.

Thanks everyone for the guidance!

With these excellent suggestions and data, I have enough to make a decision and place my order by year's end.

Happy new year, and thanks!
Steve