powered subwoofer for genelec monitors

[stayouttamalibu]

i will be purchasing a set of genelec 1030a monitors for my modest home recording rig, and i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a decent powered sub to complement them that wont cost me a billion dollars. under $500 would be nice. obviously i would love to get the 7060 that is supposed to go with them, but i dont have that kind of money. any suggestions?

[Massive Master]

I just saw Velodyne VX10's on sale at Tweeter for around $200...

[stayouttamalibu]

that seems decent...how about the quality though? i would say my budget is roughly $500, so i want to make sure to get the best i possibly can within that. a big question for me is: when doing research into this, i see a lot of subs that seem to be targeted for home theater systems. are there actually subs that are designed more for home theater, and some that are designed more for use with studio monitors? or will pretty much any sub work well?

here are a few that i am currently looking at...the tannoy ts10, klipsch ksw-10 or rw-10, or one of many velodynes.

also, up until now i have been pretty set on getting a 10 inch sub, considering that my room is small, but any thoughts on the difference between getting a 10 or a 12?

[stayouttamalibu]

nobody on here can help?

[Massive Master]

IMHO, a good sub is a good sub. Same with speakers - There aren't too many boxes that say "studio monitor" (or something similar) that I really care for.

I'd just start checking specs. Keeping in mind that there's more than one way to hook them up - I use mine for nothing but a bit of fill as low as it can go. And it's parallel.

You may want to use the built-in crossover instead - Most have them, but some have only powered outs, mono inputs, etc.

[stayouttamalibu]

Originally Posted by Massive Master

IMHO, a good sub is a good sub. Same with speakers - There aren't too many boxes that say "studio monitor" (or something similar) that I really care for.

so basically youre saying, a good sub is a good sub, no matter if it says anything about "home theater" or whatever else?

[xstatic]

One thing to note is that the majority of "studio subs" are front loaded and aren't really boxed in.

[Henri Devill]

Look into the Blue Sky's monitors

[stayouttamalibu]

Originally Posted by xstatic

One thing to note is that the majority of "studio subs" are front loaded and aren't really boxed in.

and what kind of difference does that make?

[xstatic]

In my experience front loaded subs (now I have to generalize hear, there some high end designs that seem to beat this rule) tend to have a tighter punchier sound. Chambered subs tend to hit a little lower, but looser, and often a little louder, but you are more likely to get a rumble. This can be just fine for home theatre, many types of electronic music etc... If you are doing rock music though, it's really important (at least in my opinion) that a sub "hits" rather than "bumps". Basically, front loading seems to allow the sub to have a little more attack and immediacy, where chambering tends to add volume, dispersion, and depth. That isn't to say though that a front loaded sub won't be loud enough or throw far enough.

It's kind of like at concerts. There are a lot of people out there that really like the sound of 15's for subs instead of 18's. Often times 18's will be amazingly large. You will actually feel the room. 15's seem to be a little more contained. The room may not rumble as much, but each kick drum shot kind of hits you in the chest. It's a more immediate event whereas a larger sub often tends to just sort of surround you in it but with much less definition.

[stayouttamalibu]

thanks for the response, i appreciate it. i understand and agree with you about the tightness and definition. i am definitely only doing rock music, no electronic, and it wouldnt be used for a home theater. i definitely want it tight and punchy. i was using that line of thinking to choose 10s over 12s for my car. how would that translate to this situation do you think? say i were to get a front loaded 10, or a front loaded 12, what do you think?

[Massive Master]

I would think that a 12" with the 1030's might be a little much.

I'd go with the 10" - You can always return it if you need more.

[xstatic]

I agree. I would definately even go for 2 x 10" subs before a 12" sub in a smaller room. What are you really going to do with the frequencies between 25 and 32 hertz by getting a 12" sub instead?

[stayouttamalibu]

thats what i thought. i have pretty much decided on the velodyne DLS-3750R.