Page 4 of 4 FirstFirst 1234
Results 31 to 36 of 36

Thread: Best sub for S2EX, Music + HT?

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    455

    Default Re: Best sub for S2EX, Music + HT?

    Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
    It isn't clipping, it is ringing / breakup modes. All dome tweeters exhibit a rather harsh break-up mode while RAAL ribbons do not.

    There are basically 4 characteristics that I attribute to why RAAL's sound so go.

    1. They are generally about 1/50th the moving mass of a dome tweeter. They basically accelerate and decelerate instantaneously, a near perfect transient response.

    2. Extremely wide and linear horizontal dispersion

    3. No break-up modes (as I described above)

    4. There is no voice coil, no former, no surround - the only moving part is the resonating diaphragm itself, that combined with the extremely low mass = practically zero stored energy.
    Thanks!



    Quote Originally Posted by James View Post
    I've been curious about subwoofers, so I looked at a number of them (even though it doesn't make sense for us).

    Monoprice has a new 8 inch THX subwoofer that looks interesting - it's smaller and lighter than you'd expect:

    Monolith by Monoprice THX Certified 8in 150-watt Powered Subwoofer - Monoprice.com

    It's reasonably priced, and goes down pretty far, although maybe not as far as some would want. They just posted that they're expecting more in stock in 9/22, which might be too long to wait.

    One thing I liked is that they have line level inputs and outputs, with a real crossover, which would be what we'd want with our 2 channel system with older equipment. We'd put it in between our preamp and amp.
    For me that would be a step down in performance. I have an Outlaw LFM-1 subwoofer, which has a 300 or 350 Watt amplifier and a 12 inch driver. I'm looking for a similarly sized ported model with a 12 inch driver, but one that has better detail in the 60 to 80 Hz range, where the Outlaw sub is lacking. I'll probably just go with a Rythmik LVX12 at some point. I'm also kind of waiting for this subwoofer to die, but those Bash amps last forever. The subwoofer is 19 years old at this point and still works great.

    One suggestion for you is the Rythmik L12. It is a little bit more money that the subwoofer that you mentioned, but I would expect quite a big setup in performance. Still pretty compact too, where it is just about a 14 inch cube.
    Last edited by N Boros; 04-13-2022 at 07:39 AM.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Mar 2022
    Posts
    158

    Default Re: Best sub for S2EX, Music + HT?

    Sure, it doesn't go down as low as yours - I can understand that.

    We're not really in the market for a sub, I'm just curious about a lot of audio stuff :-) Our Towers go low enough for us (and I don't hear some of the bottom end as it is, although my wife does), and evenly.

    But thanks for that suggestion - it looks like a nice sub for music to me, which is most of my listening.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Somewhere in the Boston area
    Posts
    225

    Default Re: Best sub for S2EX, Music + HT?

    I can attest that the L12 does indeed work very well with music. For my tastes and room size, it is no slouch even with movies. It cannot match the sheer output of a ported sub, but it has enough power and extention to rattle doors, windows and loose stuff on shelves 😁.

  4. #34
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Posts
    388

    Default Re: Best sub for S2EX, Music + HT?

    Quote Originally Posted by N Boros View Post
    I too have looked into the Monolith subwoofers, mainly because Audioholics keeps reviewing them and, at least until recently, they seemed to be one subwoofer company seemed unaffected by inflation. In my living room setup, I'm about ready to retire the Hsu subwoofer and upgrade. I've already upgraded in my theater room with Rythmik's. I love the FV15HP's, but my wife didn't want something so large in the living room. I love the price and performance of the Monolith subwoofers and the group delay as you mentioned, but all of the Monolith subs are just massive and heavy. When Audioholics recently did a preview of the ported dual 10 or 12 inch subs, I was excited at the price and performance. Then I looked at the weight and dimensions and the Rythmik FV15HP, as nearly the exact same base, but the Monoprice subs are quite a bit taller and heavier. The Rythmik subs have a slight bit more output from 20 to 40Hz, if I recall, than the dual 12 inch Monolith sub but the two are close outside of that. But the price of the two subs are nearly the same, so I'd still choose the FV15HP over the Monolith M212. I have as larger room, so I definitely want a ported sub, but even the 10 inch ported models from Monoprice are huge. I saw similar trends across the line of Monolith vs. Rythmik. If you don't mind huge and heavy subwoofers, the Monolith subs seem like a reasonable choice, but I think I'm going to end up with a pair of ported Rythmik subs in the living room too.
    I'd say that's the biggest knock with Monoprice. Their subs are huge and heavy, but they do perform.

    I have absolutely nothing against Rhythmik. They're legit and make great subwoofers. I could be perfectly happy with a pair FV15HPs.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Posts
    388

    Default Re: Best sub for S2EX, Music + HT?

    Quote Originally Posted by davef View Post
    It isn't clipping, it is ringing / breakup modes. All dome tweeters exhibit a rather harsh break-up mode while RAAL ribbons do not.

    There are basically 4 characteristics that I attribute to why RAAL's sound so go.

    1. They are generally about 1/50th the moving mass of a dome tweeter. They basically accelerate and decelerate instantaneously, a near perfect transient response.

    2. Extremely wide and linear horizontal dispersion

    3. No break-up modes (as I described above)

    4. There is no voice coil, no former, no surround - the only moving part is the resonating diaphragm itself, that combined with the extremely low mass = practically zero stored energy.
    Right, I've pored over your comparisons between the RAAL and the NrT tweeter and think you make a great objective case for the reasons behind some of the magic of the RAALs. Like everything you mention in this post. There are definitely measurable attributes that explain why they're so preferred.

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    92

    Default Re: Best sub for S2EX, Music + HT?

    Well i finally sold some stuff and was able to get the E15. Pretty pleased so far.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •