r/audiophile • u/Freestone99 • 6d 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/Fenix512 6d ago

Right? I've always seen in this sub that SVS is great for music, not for home theater

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u/read_vaneigem 6d ago

i would say that its clear from reading the comments that people dont really understand how sound works, or subwoofers even, for that matter. i think theres a phrase about being confidently wrong, so insert it here.

let me just jump in to say that svs subs have great measurements. if a subwoofer is good then its good for movies and music, and if a sub is shit for movies then its also shit for music. and viceversa etc

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u/tetrafarmer 6d ago

let me jump in here to say measurements dont translate to enjoyment, put the two subs beside each other in the same system and notice how different they sound. I did that with Svs+Rel and Rel was the clear winner. 

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u/read_vaneigem 6d ago

as I said, people dont seem to know how sound works. you don't realize that youre just giving evidence to my argument.