Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Subwoofer- the monster EP800 or two EP500s?

Subs in the same location or near the same location by being stacked work like a single more powerful sub by combining their output waveforms. Separating the subs has the potential to balance the output more throughout the room if placed correctly, but less maximum output than 2 stacked subs in the main listening position.

Whether the goal is to maximize the combined sub SPL in one main listening spot or balance the sub output across multiple seats is up to the individual.

Stacking the subs has a similar effect as setting them next to each other. They are basically as near to each other as they can be but when they are stacked the frequency is distributed slightly along the height (z axis) of the room as opposed to an x or y axis.

Putting one sub in a corner will excite all the room nodes, good and bad. Adding another sub near the same corner will increase the output, I believe it is 6dB, and I assume those nodes will also be even more increased.

Depends on what your goal is, for me I want a smooth frequency response in all locations of the room, and still getting great output that is not boomy as a result of exciting the nodes. This can only be accomplished by placing the subs opposite of each other, either mid wall or opposite corners. Doing this helps cancel out the nodes, giving you a flatter/smoother response.

Maybe you should try opposite corners.

As Dave points out, there're two different approaches in locating two subs. Any two subs playing simultaneously result in a 3dB level increase, however if the two cones are located very close to each other(either horizontally or vertically), within about one-quarter wavelength, they mutually support each other and the level increase can be 6dB rather than 3dB.

The other approach looks for not an extra increase in level, but reducing room modes for smoother bass throughout the room. For this purpose the subs are widely separated at the midpoints of opposite walls or in diagonally opposite corners.

Bolted. The low frequency sound needs to be conducted from the Buttkicker to you. There can't be an air gap, because that would insulate you from the sound.

On the original question, I'd prefer two EP500s to one EP800, and a Buttkicker or any different sub with an EP500 to two EP500s. The rule is that two different kinds of bass will probably give better results than a single kind of bass. And that's because the more alike two bass sources are, the more likely it is that you'll have bass cancellation (which you want to avoid).

Greg, not so; cancellation is precisely what is wanted when two subs are positioned to reduce the effect of room modes.