Dual mono with REL Subwoofer

[David A]

Question.

I have a small room - 10.5 feet x 13.5 feet (although there are three 3 1/2 foot openings into the room from other rooms).

Amp - 1000pro
Speakers - Magico S3

Am considering a sub(s). But I have very limited places to put it (them).

Am thinking about two Rel T9i, two Rel S3, or one Rel G1 mk ll.

Thoughts?

Question: Why are you thinking of a sub or subs? What do you think you might get that  you aren't getting with your speakers?

More extension? Your speakers are rated down to 26 Hz according to Magico's web site. The lowest note on an acoustic or electric bass is 41 Ha, the lowest note on a piano is 29 Hz. There are instruments that can go lower, especially organ and synthesiser, but do you listen to a lot of music which uses those instruments? If not, then do you need lower bass? My speakers (Focal Sopra 2's) are  specified as -3 dB at 34 Hz and in my room (L-shaped, about twice the floor area of your room and with 2 open archway entrances each close to 5' wide), I get sufficient bass with piano music to satisfy me and I rarely listen to music with lower bass.

Smoother bass response? Small rooms are notorious for standing waves and uneven bass response but those openings in your room are going to reduce the severity of standing waves based on the room axes with the openings in them. Recommendations for smoothing bass response with subs usually recommend 2 and preferably 3 subs placed strategically to smooth the response. You say you have limited places to put them and if you can't put them in the best places then you're not going to get the full benefit they would provide in a sealed room. Whether you're chasing extension or smoother response, getting the sub placement right is important. A sub in the wrong place may not give you what you want.

That "punch in the chest" impact? It's going to be hard to get in a room with openings because you can't pressurise the room the way you can pressurise a sealed room because the room is leaking sound through the openings. You say you've got 3 openings each 3.5' wide. That's basically equivalent to a single opening 10.5' wide and that's the width of one of your walls but probably not full height. It's going to be hard to get that "punch in the chest" impact with openings that large. My 2 openings amount to a single opening around 9.6' wide and I couldn't get it in my room years ago when I tried using a REL Strata 3 sub. I might have been able to do better with a bigger sub or with 2 subs and better placement but any room with openings leaks sound pressure and that reduces that sort of impact.

You may be chasing something else but those openings in your room are going to make getting the maximum benefit from a sub or subs hard.

I'm not saying you won't get benefit from a sub but I am saying that your room is going to limit the benefit you will get because it's going to leak a lot of sound to the adjoining spaces. In addition the location of those openings may well reduce your ability to find a placement for one or two subs that delivers everything the sub is capable of delivering in a sealed room. You're probably going to have to do a bit of experimenting to find the best location and you've said you've got limited options.

Given the bass response your speakers have I'd be looking at a sub which is capable of delivering good response down to 20 Hz at least. I've got 2 of the original T9s in a separate HT setup and I'd be looking for a sub that goes lower to pair with speakers like yours. I've got them paired with a pair of Focal Aria 926s in an open plan space so it leaks sound pressure also. They complement the bass of the 926's quite well for movies but they don't deliver the kind of bass definition I get from my Sopras without a sub so I'd be looking higher up the REL range than the T9i if I were you and I'd be looking for a sub that delivers extension with good definition. Better subs cost more so I'd probably be thinking in terms of a single sub which will simplify the process of placement since you only have to find one good spot rather than 2.

My best advice: see if you can borrow a sub for a few days and see what you can do with it in your system. Experiment a bit with placement and settings, see what you can get out of it, and see if you feel it can give you enough benefit to justify the price because if you can't set it up well in your room you end up paying a lot for much less benefit than you want.

The alternative is to experiment with the placement of your speakers and listening position to see if you can get better bass than you're currently getting. That can take time but you may be surprised at what you can get with  better placement of your existing speakers. Finding the best location can take time and moving large speakers isn't easy but it may yield more benefit than you expect.