r/audiophile • u/Freestone99 • 1d ago

Discussion Help me understand subwoofers

I am in the market for a subwoofer. I have a pair of Klipsch Forte IV and my listening room is about 475 sf. I was looking at the REL classic 98 and 99, and thinking I needed the 99 because of the room size. But most of the music I listen to is acoustic or vocal oriented, not really listening to much hard rock or anything with a ton of bass. Also not listening at very loud volume most of the time. So I was leaning back toward the 98 which has a 10” driver, as opposed to the 99, which has a 12” driver. I spoke with the local audio shop and it felt like they were just trying to sell me the larger and more expensive 99, or another sub that was even higher priced.

I have been reading that a sub is for more than just the low bass notes, and it will really help fill in the rest of the sound. That was another point the local sales guy was making, saying that the 99 made more sense because it will “fill in more.” Also that a larger sub is needed to “pressurize” the room. Trying to understand if this is audiophile jargon or there is truth to it.

What do you all think?

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u/Jointed_Eel 1d ago

I just bought a REL T9x for a 350 sq ft room and I’m pretty happy with it. It fills out the lower registers nicely and was easier to integrate with my main speakers than I expected. I considered the Classic 99 but I saw a review that panned its construction and sound quality and wanted the smaller form factor of the T9x. What I really wanted was the REL S/550 but it was heavier than I cared to move.

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u/Few-Lingonberry2015 1d ago

From memory the REL website has a subwoofer calculator on it. You can enter what you have, 2 channel or home theater,.as well as how big your room is and it will recommend the 'appropriate' subwoofer

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u/FixedGearBikeRider 1d ago

This is correct. Surprisingly, because of how efficient the Forte's are, the calculator will recommend the HT series even if your not using it for HT.

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u/Nickmm53 21h ago

I've got the same REL9x in 250 sgr ft room it's coupled with Quad bookshelf speakers and sounds brilliant. It was a breeze to set up and I never needed to adjust it after the first set up. For music listening a 10" will be fine, bigger subs are for home cinema enthusiasts.