Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Mixing SUBs? JBL and AXIOM

Hey gang

In the midst of adding all new set of Axioms all around, I am wondering...should I spend the $ and add the sub.

Ok..the $ is an issue..but ifI am upgrading..what the hell.

However I hav e aJBL PB-10 which about 3 years ago or so had some killer reviews for its performance. This 10" 180 watt sub hit deep and lack nothing in power. Matter of factI have it about half way and then still drop it on my reciever at times. So it has plenty of juice.

It also hits very low and in my opinion is tight. It is also a downward firing sub.

Any way I fI decide to add one of the Axioms...AND KEEP ht JBL hooked up what issues can I encounter good and bad?

I suspect timber matching isn't an issue with SUBs,

Any way if I hook them both up should I get MAJOR BANG? or whaky imaging...maybe a compromise: have one base hitting here and the other hitting at a different range?

any thoghts?

I do love this JBL, for a mid size SUB it rivals many 12's easily.

i cant say that i am fimiliar with that JBL sub, but if you are happy with it, thats all that matters. keep in mind, if money is a factor here, then go ahead and upgrade tha sub last.. get your fronts, center, and surround, then worry with the sub once you get everything else up and running.

and if you want to eventually run both subs, i dont see how or why that would be a big prob. as you mentioned, they probably wont be perfectly matched, but do we really ever reach perfection with anything??

good luck.

bigjohn

Hey Virtual...I think I can help you here...to a point. I had the JBL PB-12. I liked it. It served me well for a good 5-6 years. But then I bought an SVS PB2-Plus. Honestly it's not even fair to compare the two. It really all depends on what you're looking for. The whole purpose of my "upgrade" was to jump from more "hearing the sound" to "feeling" it. And that's exactly what happened.
So my answer to you is two fold. Yes, JBL is nice if want a good amount of sound (the JBL is good for producing a lot of volume), but it's limitations is in how low it goes on the Hertz spectrum (i.e. the JBL goes down to about 30 Hz. or so, but you really don't start feeling those sound waves till you go below 25 Hz (generally 20)).
So, what am I getting at? It's more or less answering your question with a question. Subwoofers are kind of in a class of their own in the speaker world. Most of the sound is out of the way of other speakers because most speakers don't produce sounds that low. The Axioms are very "clean" sounding, the JBL isn't, but most of the sound spectrum (Hz.) don't overlap, so it isn't entirely a big deal. If you like your JBL, keep it. But if you want something that's more "worthy" to be partnered with your Axioms for a nice clean sound and a good kick in the chest (if you're looking for one), then go with the recommended pack of subs (Axiom, SVS, HSU).

Now to answer your main question. To have two subwoofers or not here is my answer. I have a 7.1 system. My friend has a 7.2 (2 subs). His two subs turned up still can't even compete with my one. The only thing you really gain by going with two subs is a sense of stereo. You can spread the bass throughout the room, so it doesn't feel like it's coming from one direction. YES, sub signals aren't directional, but if you have a large room you WILL be able to tell.
I'd personally recommend against matching an Axiom and a JBL. I don't think they'd match well because they'd be performing different qualities of bass. Once you've experieced good bass (JBL), and excellent bass (SVS) there really becomes no comparison.
My recommendation. Buy 1 kick-butt sub and be happy. Two if you really want, but it is generally recommended to match with the exact same model sub if you intend to double. One thing to consider, if you do want two, is that you will need calibration equipment to match the phase on the subs otherwise the bass sounds get of sync from one another.

Good luck!

I'd keep the existing sub for awhile. SVS will still be in business when you're ready to upgrade.