Which sub???

[MARA BONES]

I presently have a dedicated HT room that is 14w x 19l x 8h. Room is on a concrete slab with sheetrock walls and ceiling. The floor is covered with a heavy berber carpet and the door and windows are covered with heavy velvet drapes. I have a large leather sectional that would only fit on the long wall. Here's my dilemma, I presently have an NHT VT-2 setup with two passive HT 12 in subs running off an NHT 250W Amp. The subs are located on the front wall in each corner. While the setup is great for music and movies it just doesn't cut it for explosions and the like. In order to get the heart pounding base I desire, I need to turn up the volume on the sub amp to 50% which results in clipping at high volumes. At 30% everything sounds good but I don't get the rock my world sound I'm looking for. Was thinking of adding a VTF-2 MkIII to provide the low end rumble I'm lookin for. Is that the correct sub for this application??? As always budget is a consideration - thx

[kinggimp]

I think the vtf-2 mk-3 would be a very good choice for that size room. You will definitely get that low end rumble that you are looking for.

[Pete_Hsu]

I agree, VTF-2 MK3 should work quite nicely in this space!

Sincerely,

[MARA BONES]

Thanks for the quick replies. I have several placement options, on the front wall either in the corner of the room or between my TV and one of my towers, or in the rear of the room in a corner or behind my seating area. Which would work best??

[Pete_Hsu]

So from your listening position, the room is 14 ft wide, and 19 ft deep, is that correct? Are there any openings to other rooms, and if so, where are those located and what are the dimensions (HxWxD) of those areas?

Thanks

[MARA BONES]

14 X 19 with seating position any where from 8 to 11 ft (half moon sectional facing TV) from the front wall (the wider wall), no openings. Remember I'll have two other subs in the room as well, presently one in each front corner, thx

[Pete_Hsu]

In this room, the best placement for strong deep bass response is the front corner. That said, since you have two subs there already, you can always try placing the subwoofer in the nearfield (ie. close to the listening position) for better mid-bass performance. Try to avoid sitting in the direct center of the room, and avoid placing the subwoofer there too.

Sincerely,

[KipFondly]

As one of the newest and happiest members of the Hsu family, I can definitely recommend the VTF-2 MK3, which we purchased a couple of weeks ago. Our home theater is 13' wide by 21' deep by 9.5' high and opens on to the kitchen which is a further 12' deep. Paired with our Martin Logan Source front speakers this system rattles windows on the second floor of our Cat 3 hurricane resistant home at normal listening levels. We are absolutely thrilled with the depth and clarity of the VTF-2 MK3.

[Tvortex]

Thank you! I apperciate everyone's responses. One last question (more technical) but what are people's thoughts about powered sub-woofers in a center channel speaker. After years of enjoying HT (even though most experts agreed), figured out the importance of having a really high quality center channel speaker and sub-woofer. Probably at the expense of having some poor quality center speakers and subs! Definately cant skimp in those areas. I also have to replace my center channel speaker, was looking at a specific manufacturer that offers several models, with built in powered subwoofers (looking at one with an 8" sub-woofer) which can then be run in the large mode.

Question? Would it interfere with the VTF -3 Mk3? Be a none factor? Not needed with a VTF-3! Again thanks everyone! Tim

[monkuboy]

Originally Posted by Tvortex

Thank you! I apperciate everyone's responses. One last question (more technical) but what are people's thoughts about powered sub-woofers in a center channel speaker. After years of enjoying HT (even though most experts agreed), figured out the importance of having a really high quality center channel speaker and sub-woofer. Probably at the expense of having some poor quality center speakers and subs! Definately cant skimp in those areas. I also have to replace my center channel speaker, was looking at a specific manufacturer that offers several models, with built in powered subwoofers (looking at one with an 8" sub-woofer) which can then be run in the large mode.

Question? Would it interfere with the VTF -3 Mk3? Be a none factor? Not needed with a VTF-3! Again thanks everyone! Tim

Why would you need a separate sub for the center channel? The sub is supposed to be connected to the LFE sub output from your pre/pro or HT receiver so it receives the low frequency content for all channels (much of which is actually stuff whose sound would be coming from the center channel). I have a VTF-2 Mk 3 and at least for me, it is more than adequate. Rather than get a dedicated sub for the center channel, you should consider having two subs that both feed off the LFE output if you think you need more bass.
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[Tvortex]

Hi Monkuboy! I know where your coming from, the sub is actually built into the center channel speaker itself, it would't be seperate. But again, I thought the same way you did.

Its actually a Definitve Technology Center channel speaker. They tend to have a number of speakers in there various makes/models, that offer built in powered subwoofers. Was looking at that particular center channel speaker before I started checking further into Hsu subwoofers. You also apparently dont us the LFE output (that still goes to the sub), but rather your basic speaker connections. Its suppose to be pre "tuned" from the factory. To me in a perfect surround system all your speakers would be full range and run in large mode. I've always had larger center channel speakers, and again this is subjective, but I feel its somewhat of a loss by not being able to run your center channel in large mode (if your center channel speaker can handle that).

However with my system (I think most folks included) dont have the budget to purchase full blown large speakers all around. My current set up (is for 5.1) with a large (center) small R/L, and small R/L surrounds. So to me thats not the norm. Most folks I know either have small all around, or maybe the Front R/L large, but the center and surround are set up for small.

Its why I asked for thoughts! I dont have a lot of people in day to day life, that would even understand what I was asking. My thought goes back to your original response (which I think is valid), why if you have the VTF sub in place, to handle all the LFE. Tim

[shadyJ]

I don't think it would be completely wrong, as long as you don't get any cancellation when the channels hit the same low frequencies. However, since sub 80 hertz bass is supposed to be omnidirectional, I don't think it should make any difference. That being the case, you might as well just take the load off the center channel and let the sub handle it all. If your system is setup correctly, there shouldn't be any difference at all. In fact, freeing your center from those lows may help help its intelligibility and performance with frequencies above the LFE, since that bass is what puts the most stress on speakers.

As far as running all speakers on large, that would be nice, but then you would have to have a system in place for dealing with cancellation. I wouldn't want to have to tune out the cancellation of five different speakers by ear, you would really want to have a automatic system like audyssey to try to tackle that. I'm not sure if conventional audyssey implementations are setup to handle a situation like that.

[monkuboy]

I agree with ShadyJ. If properly set up, you shouldn't notice any difference not having a separate center sub. Plus, I would think if you had a sub for the center plus a sub operating on the other channels, you'd have too much bass in the center channel since all the speakers would be sharing the LFE output, wouldn't they?

Anyway, if you are like me, this will probably keep nagging at you until you just have to try it to see what it is like, haha.. That's the only way you will ever really know for sure (speaking all too well from experience).
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