Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Pairing Svs pb12 with ep500

I'm going to disagree with you on this one if you use any competently designed sub. A musical note has no idea what brand sub it comes out of.

I suspect that a lot of people attribute issues related to the room or the quality of the subs selected to 'blending' issues.

I am in full agreement with you about this one, much ado about nothing. I have FOUR subs from three different manufacturers and as long as there is "some" similarity in capability(power(SPL) and low HZ level), there should be no issues. Location, matching volume levels and proper phase adjustment are much more important than whether or not they are from the same manufacturer.

The SVS sub is close in specs, power, etc. to the ep500.

Casey and Fred,

Yes I agree with you that if the subs are similar in performance that and they are properly placed it will probably smooth out the frequency response at each seat. But, if he is going through the expense and trouble or spending another $800 on a sub, I would think that he would want to smooth them out as much as possible.

Look at the Long Term Power Compression plots on the following links.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/lfm-1-ex-review/lfm-1-ex-measurements

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/pb12-nsd/pb12-nsd-measurements

The Outlaw and SVS sub are two very good subs in their price ranges. The specs are also very similar. But notice how the SVS stays nearly ruler flat until it starts to reach its limit in terms out output. The Outlaw curves also look very similar to one another until it reaches its limit and compression starts to set in. The Outlaw sub has a sag in the frequency response from 20Hz to 50Hz with one port open, or a slight sag from 30Hz to 60Hz with a peak at around 25Hz that levels off as the dB's increase. Now if you integrate these two subs in the same room, then the cancellation of the nulls and peaks with be less so than if you were to just use either a pair of Outlaws or a pair of SVSs. This is simply because the frequency responses are different (somewhere between 2 to 3 dB's) for most frequencies at any dB level set.

The other thing to keep in mind is that these long term compression curves for the Outlaw and especially the SVS are very good. Many subs as they start to reach their limits will have frequency responses curves that look very different than when they were at 60dBs. This becomes probably less of an issue with having 4 subs, but may be an issue still with two subs.

I really think some of you guys are reading too many graphs. There's just no way to nail this issue down without taking into account the very critical variable of room interaction.

David, how much of a risk could it be, really? I mean, don't you think adding a second "quality" sub is going to "help" after you've had a chance to experiment with placement and EQ?

Just do it and get on with having fun instead of torturing yourself.

btw, the Behringer Feedback Destroyers - when used as a sub EQ - offer 2 channels of independent parametric EQ adjustment for a pretty reasonable price. If you want to measure and tweak.

Something i have looked into is the antimode 8033 which can equalize your subs automatically and will work with 2 subs. I have a denon amp with audyssey multi eq xt and i have had good luck with it equalizing both subs. I seriously doubt anyone could tell if both subs were not the same brand. My subs are not the same brand as my M80's and they interact just fine.As we all know a crossover point is not a brick wall.

I also vote for that it doesn't matter too much if the subs are different.

Thanks for all of the replies. I prefer axiom and will go that route if bedget permits. Otherwise I will look into other options.

I think your best bet would be the Axiom, I have (and got lucky)two Paradigm subs a few years apart, but are still the PS1000's and sound amazing with the M80's and expect them to sound just as good with the LFR's.

You should try keep the subs at the same level, much easier to "dial in".

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Axiom subs have texture to their sound, most other subs do not. You can mix other subs with Axiom without affecting that wonderful texture to much, at least with my experiences.