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A Primer for Buying Subs to Reproduce Music
Posted by C.J. [IP: 199.179.189.30] on May 28, 1999 at 17:56:31
Using Mozilla/3.01C-AIT (Win95; U):
Experience over the last decade or so has taught me some particulars when auditing audio equipment and has allowed insights into a few products (namely: Sunfire MK.II, Velodyne FSR-15 and HGS-12, Paradigm's PS-1000 and PW2200, and a few M&K's). All very good for what they do with the know how to set them up and the right equipment to drive them. However, experimentation over time vs. money saw to my buying the MK.II. For my needs, it fits the bill very nicely. Your needs/equipment/acoustic/funds will most certainly vary. Given that, if you want help finding out what your proposed sub. may do, use the points below as a "pocket reference". It will most certainly help one make a far more educated purchase than not. This though long, is by no means exhaustive. To that end, some things to consider and practice are:
· If you're using local retailers ask if they have a "try at home program". If they do, use it! Because the same sub. will sound widely different in different acoustics, and different in the same acoustic placed at various points within it. Seeing that it will be used in your abode, that's the best place to do the audition
· If the above is not feasible, find a better retailer
· If that's not feasible, ask that dealer then for a rough estimate of how many hours a sub. (and associated equipment) has on it before you audition. Take this with the understanding of where the product may be in its break-in point. Because up to the final point, a sub. will sound different along the way. For instance, it may tend to get lower in frequency and/or delineate better, etc. I've found that 100 to 200 hours to be about the final break-in point for the subwoofers with which I am familiar
· Question and/or make sure you have a good understanding of the equipment driving the sub. For instance, some pre-amps., amps., and receivers do not do well at reproducing low freq. information. If that component sounds muddy, weak, etc., so will the subwoofer. Holding true the adage: "garbage in - garbage out". This also includes interconnects and speaker wire. For instance: because interconnects and/or speaker wire are sometimes changed back and forth at retailers, one or both of the pair (if using a pair) may have encountered a small short or open. I found this out the hard way. Just this aspect alone was enough to make an otherwise great-sounding sub. sound contrariwise. However, this particular problem will not manifest itself the same way between different subwoofer manufacturers. Once the interconnects were changed, the "ailing" sub. improved remarkably. The sales person learned something along the way as well
· It is possible that a sub. is having a ground-loop problem, or RFI problems with some of the equipment in the "show room"; that it otherwise may or may not have in your home. "Cheater plugs" are sometimes a convenient way around the ground-loop dilemma. And noise canceling multi-outlets are many times a good resolve to the RFI problem transmitted between components on the same circuit. I understand that Monster makes a very effective one for around $200.00. To that end, it's a good idea to make sure that your outlets are "phase correct" with an LED detector that can be purchased at Radio Shack or the like. Some audio products will manifest these problems through hum, static, poor sound staging, imaging, etc. So, though you auditioned something at home, it may not be the product's fault per se but the way the juice is wired in the house and/or supplied to it
· DO NOT take a sales persons word for how a piece of equipment sounds, unless you know you can trust them implicitly. As they more often than not, haven't had the time or the inclination to know how each piece of eq. that they sell - sounds - especially after they have broken in (let alone setup properly in their own "show rooms"). If you do trust them, test their opinions. Just because they may have been right on one thing, DOESN'T mean they have a 100% track record (who does?). I found this when comparing the MK.II against an HGS-12. The "sales person" I was dealing with at a store in Flint Michigan said that the HGS-12 was much better than the MK.II and that there was "no comparison". After we set up both subs. and did the comparison with him in the room and on their equipment, the differences were FAR less than his bragging would lead. And certainly not worth (to me) the difference in price. When I asked him where the "trouncing" was then, he was speechless, rightly embarrassed and actually had to excuse himself. Therefore, his bantering-cum-"advice" was not only worthless but damaging. Because he like many, tend to "buy (or sell) by the label" as a shield against not knowing what they're talking about. This of course includes many on-line posters. However, some do use this practice through seasoned experience over time - they are the rare few.
· Experiment with a subs controls (volume, phase, etc.) until the outcome sounds as natural as possible. This also takes into account blending in with the mains (satellites). Again (if auditioning in a store), it is best to do this with the equipment that will be driving it and the speakers it will be augmenting. If not then something that approximates them as much as possible. This is why it's much better to do this at home (not to mention the room, etc.). Meaning, the sub. may have sounded good augmenting the satellites at the store, but sound horrible with your speakers at home. This could be due to a myriad of things such as widely differing cross-over points, phase discrepancies, equipment mis-match, room, etc...
· Experiment with subwoofers pitted against other models and manufacturers. This will help you to differentiate it's strengths and weaknesses
· Take the time to experiment with placement of the sub. within a room. For instance a pseudo di-polar subwoofer like the '2200 usually doesn't sound good in a corner (the Stereophile and Enya discs proved this aptly), where something like the HGS-12 can, and the MK.II will. To that end, subs like a Paradigm PS-1000 or '1200 tends to sound far better in a corner with the ports facing into the room (instead of into the corner or a wall). That alone will make the difference between good musical reproduction (given the design of the sub.) as opposed to sounding slow and ill-defined
· If a particular subwoofer sounds somewhat ill-defined, put it on spikes and/or put a "non-resonant" weight on it, and study the outcome
· Experiment with furniture placement. This alone can help make or break the reproduced musical event What should a subwoofer sound like? Music of course. Meaning some folks dial-in a sub. (that can first of all do it) to a point where it sounds too threadbare, missing the warmth of certain instruments. Though transients and articulation are excellent, the many times texture of the instrument (therefore part of its character) is not. Then there are those subs that sound sluggish because the user doesn't know what they are doing, or it is this way by nature of the product. The former may be remedied if you take the time to do it, the latter many times cannot. Therefore, all things (as much as possible) considered, a sub. should sound like the areas of the instrument it reproduces. Not way too tight as to start missing the texture of the instrument, and not too loose as to begin missing its transient character. Moreover, if you want to dissect a subwoofer's strong and weak points, I found the discs below to be invaluable tools for auditioning:
· Stereophile - Test CD (STPH-002-0): displays how strongly a sub. will reproduce frequencies down to 20Hz and how well it does with room boundaries
· Rusted Root - When I Awoke (Mercury 314522713-2): track 1 (Drum Trip) separates the men from the boys in areas of articulation, dynamics, and pace. This is a densely packed cut with drums pounding out rhythms and counter rhythms going full tilt. And no other selection that I know of better shows the ability to allow various types of information (all happening at once) to pass through to the listener - than this one. For instance, a sub. like the PW2200 (though very good in other regards) somewhat truncates the dynamics and blends the differing percussive textures together (not so good), but one would only know this by comparison against a sub. that doesn't. If auditioning the '2200 by itself, one would be quite happy for the things that it does very well - which is to say a lot!
· Enya - Watermark (Reprise 9 26774-2): track 10 (The Long Ships) shows the ability of a sub. to handle a sudden low frequency transient with the ability to pass the fundamental along with the associated harmonics of the fundamental
· Hart/Airo/Purim - Dafos (Rykodisc RCD 10108): track 7 (The Gates of Dafos) same as above and helps the listener to see how a sub. "reinforces" a soundstage
· Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDCD 517): track 1 (Speak to Me) shows if the sub's cabinet is going to bounce around and thus, possibly mar the reproduced signal at hand
· The Wonderful Sounds of Three Blind Mice (GS CD004): the string bass on this disc helps the listener know how well the sub. blends with the mains. Experiment with the driving equipment (and/or switch various pieces in and out), sub. controls and placement until it sounds right
· Eric Clapton - 24 Nights (Reprise 9 26420-2): tacks 4 and 5 (Wonderful Tonight and Bell Bottom Blues - respectively) same as above but on kick drum
· Seal - Seal (Sire/Warner Bros. 9 26627-2): track 9 (Violet) displays the ability of a sub. to pressurize a given room
· Lyle Lovett - Joshua Judges Ruth (MCA/CURB MCAD-10475): track 3 (She's Already Made Up Her Mind): Helps the listener to see if a sub. may sound "one notey" or not through its ability to reproduce the (at times) somewhat close in frequency bass lines
· Erykah Badu - Baduizm (Universal UD-53027): any track - just for the fun of it
· Loreena Mckennitt - The Mask and Mirror (Warner Bros. 9 45420-2): track 1 (The Mystic's Dream) helps the listener to hear how a sub. "reinforces" a soundstage
· Various organ recordings: to ascertain how well the sub. reproduces huge columns of resonant pipes-cum-air and pressurize a room
I've found that these recordings immensely help flesh-out how naturally a sub. reproduces various aspects of low-freq. information. Being familiar with acoustic instruments played un-amplified also helps... Given all of the above, the end result of course is to enjoy the reproduced event in one's environment, culminating into the "gee-wiz" factor. Which pretty much goes like this: grins to be had over money spent times duration of product usefulness. The wiser the decision, the higher the factor. Enjoy!
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