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RE: Sub option for MG .7 Rythmik F12 or TBI Audio

Posted by zulugone (A) on October 10, 2016 at 15:45:56

In Reply to: Sub option for MG .7 Rythmik F12 or TBI Audio posted by lactogenes on September 27, 2016 at 14:33:59:

I mentioned in an earlier reply that my choice, about a year ago, was a Rythmik F15HP. I don't know if I would make the same choice now or not. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the Rythmik just that I don't know...what a sub is supposed to sound like. My question now is what is good subwoofer supposed to sound like all by itself. I naively thought a sub would accurately reproduce lower notes like they sounded live just as a regular speaker would with higher notes but I was wrong.

My sub is driven directly by an Oppo BDP-105 using the SW out with bass management with 10+db trim. The Oppo volume is always at 100%. With the sub volume at 1/2 it will vibrate the two story house.

I downloaded a decent YouTube mp3 of someone playing all 88 notes on an acoustic piano. Listening with the sub plus 1.7 plus DWM the recording sounds clear. I can hear the harp sound for all notes and room acoustics. The pianist is hitting the notes with close to the same force. When I listen to just the sub I hear
1. for the top notes what sounds like a stick hitting a block of wood
2. for the middle of the piano the actual notes but with only a fraction of the clarity of the recording.
3. for the lower notes what sounds a lot more like one note bass. It almost sounds like 2 levels of sound. One the actual note very muted with a louder one note bass. There is some variation in level but it's impossible to tell if it is from the sub or the recording.

I can guess that this is what is meant as 'sound reinforcement'. The sub is 'fast' in that low notes don't boom on past the time they sound on the recording overlapping each other. If there are subs out there that play low notes clearer I would consider them as long as the price wasn't too high. Playing the Maggies with the sub sounds much better than without especially with say acoustic double bass. Even at 27.5 HZ the Maggies are putting out most of the actual note. Saying the sub is 'musical' is like saying a fish rides a bicycle well.

Using the Oppo stereo outs to the sub's line inputs the notes are noticeably clearer than using the bass managed SW out into the sub's LFE input. There is some audible difference in changing the various switches.

I did this test with only one RCA cable which is standard for the SW/LFE out. I will try later with a second for the line input option.

One off the wall thought about the TBI. I heard the president of SVS state in a podcast interview that the highest cost for a sub manufacture is the box. Maybe TBI found a way to make a cheaper box sound just as good?

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