Budget Subwoofer Vs No Subwoofer
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Absolutely add a subwoofer! I wondered about the bass response of your wharfdales so I searched and found this ASR Review suggesting that you do indeed need a subwoofer:
With your WiiM Ultra handling the crossover @ 80-100Hz to a subwoofer, you'll say "Wow. Wish I'd done this sooner!". Given your nice budget speakers, I'll recommend the SVS SB-1000 Pro subwoofer as a great value that others here suggested to me and I'm very pleased.
[Edit: I also expect that the Edifier sub you mentioned would also be a huge improvement over what you're currently hearing ;-].
With your WiiM Ultra handling the crossover @ 80-100Hz to a subwoofer, you'll say "Wow. Wish I'd done this sooner!". Given your nice budget speakers, I'll recommend the SVS SB-1000 Pro subwoofer as a great value that others here suggested to me and I'm very pleased.
[Edit: I also expect that the Edifier sub you mentioned would also be a huge improvement over what you're currently hearing ;-].
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hipoagumol
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I just purchased a second hand Dali C-8 D. 8" down firing woofer/port and I am quite happy with the sound difference even it still didn't have much time to finetune crossover/delay and roomfit response to properly fill-in.
My room is 25m2 and this sub had very good audiophile reviews. It is very much designed for good music integration.
First time i plugged in I had volume at 50% and my walls shook. I immediately lowered it down i was afraid to damage the woofer.
So this little 8" has way more power than i need for my room on top of good looking (got a white one) and cheap (i paid 220€ + shipping, new costs around 450€).
After initial setup i started with sub volume control around 30% and Wiim Ultra Sub out -4dB...Still Room Correction lowers down the bass response. So with maybe 20% of sub-power at medium-high listening volume this little sub is filling very nicely the low end.
I have some SIBR problems in my room as discussed in this thread . Subwoofer was one of the suggested solutions and after several speaker placement , virtualized mono sub experiments etc i decided to try with second hand sub. @dominikz guided me through the process, still owe that thread an update.
I have so far crossed it quite high , 100hz, and may even try 100-120hz, a range in which my main speakers had very asymmetric response and several peaks/nulls at listening position. I was waiting Ultra's firmware update to properly use sub-mains delay sync with external/phone mic
I'll leave soon my new tests and results in the same thread.
P.S. I do also own a (second hand) Denon RCD-M41 too (using its original speaker SC-M41) and use it in the room i use to work with a Wiim Mini connected to its analog in. Near field and low volume listening. Nice cheap mini-system.
Regards
My room is 25m2 and this sub had very good audiophile reviews. It is very much designed for good music integration.
First time i plugged in I had volume at 50% and my walls shook. I immediately lowered it down i was afraid to damage the woofer.
So this little 8" has way more power than i need for my room on top of good looking (got a white one) and cheap (i paid 220€ + shipping, new costs around 450€).
After initial setup i started with sub volume control around 30% and Wiim Ultra Sub out -4dB...Still Room Correction lowers down the bass response. So with maybe 20% of sub-power at medium-high listening volume this little sub is filling very nicely the low end.
I have some SIBR problems in my room as discussed in this thread . Subwoofer was one of the suggested solutions and after several speaker placement , virtualized mono sub experiments etc i decided to try with second hand sub. @dominikz guided me through the process, still owe that thread an update.
I have so far crossed it quite high , 100hz, and may even try 100-120hz, a range in which my main speakers had very asymmetric response and several peaks/nulls at listening position. I was waiting Ultra's firmware update to properly use sub-mains delay sync with external/phone mic
I'll leave soon my new tests and results in the same thread.
P.S. I do also own a (second hand) Denon RCD-M41 too (using its original speaker SC-M41) and use it in the room i use to work with a Wiim Mini connected to its analog in. Near field and low volume listening. Nice cheap mini-system.
Regards
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hipoagumol
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I think with RoomFit you can adjust pretty nicely the bass response and get actually quite a good result even with budget Sub, specially when the main speakers are bookshelves with quite limited bass response as the ones mentioned.
Room EQ can't polish a turd
I recently bought a T5s to use in my office system where I run an ultra + vibelink + dali spektor 2s. I really wasn't sure about this budget sub but took the plunge after getting some advice from actual users on another forum. And I'm glad I did. With a bit of tweaking (just volume and crossover...I haven't even gotten to roomfit yet) the sub is sounding great and has done exactly what I wanted in terms of filling in the bottom end. This little sub has a surprising amount of power and volume for its size.
So I can definitely recommend this sub if you genuinely need to stick to a budget, but I can only base that on my use case and direct experience (near/mid field listening in a small room).
I'm interested to know which budget subs you've had direct experience with when used with wiim devices and roomfit? As someone who actually has the T5s, i can tell you that you're wrong that it will make a system sound worse.
Good used subs are definitely worth a look, but they're not always easy to come by, particularly depending on where you live.
And calling the T5s a "toy" because of its specs and price is unnecessarily dismissive. I'm guessing you've also never actually heard one in a wiim system?
This is good advice. I did similar when I bought mine, just in case. But I'm very happy with it and it's staying!
I think the T5s will be fine in that size room. For context, my office is 9m2 and I only need to set the sub at about 15% volume to get satisfactory bass.
I downsized last year with an Amp Ultra with a pair of Dali Oberon 1 book shelf speakers. I've been really pleased with this relatively cheap budget system, I can't imagine going back to seperates and big floorstanders again. However, the Dali Oberon1's though great for the price, are small speakers and I've thought they might need a sub to take it up a level or two. Initially I ordered a matching Dali Sub C-8D as my listening room is quite small (15 m2) and it was new at a great price, approx £110 less than every other dealer was offering. Unfortunately this fell through as the dealer came back to me and said they were now out of stock and couldn't fulfill the order! Looking around I came across the REL Acoustics TZero mkIII sub, ex display but at a good discounted price. By Sub standards it is tiny but looking at the many reviews online it seemed to be well regarded and as I only use my system for music, small room, limited space etc. it fitted the bill perfectly. I don't listen at any great volume and don't require room shaking bass that is felt in the next room so the size of the sub didn't put me off.
I initially set it up using the Amp Ultra's sub out into the LFE input on the REL etc. and having messed about with settings and placement I must confess I was underwhelmed, there seemed very little noticeable uplift in performance. I then set it up the way that REL recommend by using their Neutrik Speakon High Level interconnect connected up to my speaker terminals on the Ultra, thereby bypassing the Ultra's sub settings. The difference was clear and obvious. My go to recording is Joe Cockers Sheffield Steel album, a FLAC file ripped from the original CD. I love the recording and the rythmn section of Sly and Robbie is sublime, and with the REL the bass lines take on a new dimension in particular. It's when you switch off the sub and listen to how it was before that you notice the difference.
From £100 to £1600.
Low quality subs can make a system sound worse.
That Rel is barely classed as a sub, 8", (My main speakers go lower than that Rel)
it's ok for a small bedroom and I hope you didn't follow rels advice about connection & setup.
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Are you a 2 dimensional being living in a 2 dimensional universe?
There is height dimension, which factors in subwoofer selection.
I didn't ask what price range, I asked which budget subs specifically because you dismissed the T5s without seemingly having any actual experience with it.From £100 to £1600.
Low quality subs can make a system sound worse.
That Rel is barely classed as a sub, 8", (My main speakers go lower than that Rel)
And I'm not sure why you're asking me about Rel subs as I've not said anything about them?
Why would I bother with a overpriced Rel "subwoofer" with a 8" driver? I've owned subs in a way higher (and lower) class than the Rel (including owning Rels)
That Rel is barely a sub.
Again, I don't know why you're quoting me and talking about Rel subs because I've not said anything about them.
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