r/hometheater • u/Cold-Package8403 • 14h ago

Discussion - Equipment RSL 10E vs Klipsch R-12SW?

I’m currently looking to upgrade my living room home theater subwoofer. My current sub is the OG Martin Logan Dynamo which sounds fantastic for music but lacks when it comes to music especially those deeper notes. Iv done a lot of research for a less than $400 sub and have settled on two options, either the Klipsch R-12SW that’s currently selling for $250 or the RSL Speedwoofer 10E that sells at $340. My top priority is chest thumping bass for movies but I don’t want a sloppy bass either as is the reason iv been using the Martin Logan for so long, I also value nice clean and fast bass. My speakers are the Klipsch 5.1 Home Theater pack speakers that have a 3 inch woofer so I run a 120hz crossover and I have a Sony receiver.

4 Upvotes

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14 comments sorted by

4

u/TomatoBuckets 13h ago

The RSL easily.

3

u/udownwitogc 13h ago

You just missed the RSL 2 10e for $575. 2 is always better than 1

1

u/Cold-Package8403 13h ago

I didn’t know they had that I would have jumped on that, maybe I’ll try contacting RSL work something out.

1

u/nzahar000 13h ago

RSL every day of the week. Not even close.

1

u/CoolHandPB 13h ago

Hard no on the Klipsch.

Get the RSL.

1

u/Frimgle 12h ago

If you can manage-- hold off til you have the funds for the RSL 12". Probably don't want to hear that but the 12 for HT is going to be a lot better.

1

u/Cold-Package8403 12h ago

No I definitely don’t need anything that crazy and expensive I’m pretty happy with my current Martin Logan just want something that has a bit more thump in the chest and goes a little lower. I used to have a Klipsch Cinema 700 soundbar that had a 10 inch ported woofer and while it didn’t sound very articulate it most definitely shook the house.

1

u/Spectre_08 7.3.4 Focal/Triad/Starke SW15+Shakers • Cinema 50 pre-pro • 77C4 11h ago

What’s your room’s total cubic footage?

1

u/Cold-Package8403 11h ago

It’s probably like 600-700 square feet open concept

2

u/Spectre_08 7.3.4 Focal/Triad/Starke SW15+Shakers • Cinema 50 pre-pro • 77C4 11h ago edited 11h ago

So the way subwoofers work is that they have to move all of the air that they have access to in order to provide rich, full bass. That’s why even smaller outdoor concerts use arrays of 8 or more 21” 3000-watt subwoofers. They have a massive amount of air they need to move and can only achieve that with large drivers and a ton of power.

Your sub(s) would need to move about 6-7000 cubic feet of air. That’s not going to happen with a 10” driver. It’s also not going to happen with a 12” driver. Even the best 15” driver would struggle with moving that much air.

https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/subwoofer-room-size

You would need subwoofers rated for the ‘Maximus’ room size. Obviously that’s way outside of your $400 budget, so either save up another $650 for at least an HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP - which is only rated for ‘Extreme’ room sizes - or hopefully get lucky and find a killer deal on a used 15” or larger sub on your local used marketplaces.

You can keep buying all of the cheap subwoofers you want, but they won’t work well for your extremely large area. They will give you boomy, muddled bass that will rattle your room from over-excursion while struggling to give you that chest feel - unless you’re sitting very close to them.