Only I can answer this question. Because the question is “How much sub do I need?”
I’m a music lover. I listen to music in 2.1, stereo with a subwoofer. I don’t want the sub to intrude into the rest of the music and muddy it up. My system is in the second floor loft of my house, which is a wooden floor covered in carpet. Hence the bass is pretty robust to begin with.
Being spoiled, I change speakers a lot. Being nuts about the hobby, I’ll often bring home multiple speakers for the weekend. I test out numerous new speakers at home. Cheap ones & expensive ones. I also test out trade ins so I’ll know what those other guys are doing. I love to learn the personalities of many different speakers. It puts me in a well informed position to TELL YOU what to expect from virtually everything we sell- and a lot of speakers we don’t sell as well. Having heard them in my own room with familiar equipment, it takes out the variables. I get to know these speakers very well.
I’ve learned that in my room, with my musical taste, I like a sub that adds just a bit of weight, from the bottom on up. I don’t want to throw barbells around the room or shake the fixtures. OK, I do like to feel the floor do seismic gymnastics sometimes! I want the impact of kettle drums, organ, or a jazz trio on occasion. Since I enjoy Magnepans & Amphion speakers above all others, augmenting what they do well with a sub is paramount for me. And thus far this piece is all about ME.
With the above in mind, which product makes sense for this application?
JL Audio makes the D-110 ($1200) subwoofer which is the first truly helpful sub for Mags or clean speakers like Amphions. Anything less has too much boom/thud going on. D-110 has real weight and is an excellent value.
However, yeah, I know you’re going to groan…. The sub you REALLY want for Mags is the JL E-110 ($1800). While it also has a ten inch driver- it’s literally double the driver. Mechanically, the driver and the way it is housed and rigidly supported is in a whole ‘nother world, for only $600 more.
Even more importantly than the bigger motor and amp in E-110, is that the crossover is faster and less intrusive. It puts out deeper, stronger LESS INTRUSIVE bass. It’s all win-win when you go with E-110.
Please don’t be tempted by big box 16” thunder boomers. They’re fine for theater if your number one goal is to shake your house. But for music…. NO!
I just want the sub to add foundation. I don’t want it to overwhelm, much less obliterate bass definition.
How much sub do YOU need? Where is your system? If it’s in the basement, that means a cement slab with a carpet. Whether surround for movies or two channel audio, that means you need a ton more sub than I do.
It’s hard to get a basement to feel warm and cozy with music, but having a JL E-112 ($2300) is the way to go. The E-112 can absolutely pulverize at 30 paces. It’s a big time sub and the price is downright cheap for what it does!
Both JL E series subs use massive drivers that are bolted into the front face plate. Further, the back of the driver is housed snugly, with pressure, into the rear of the cabinet. The driver is essentially being squeezed from the face and the rear to insure tight control. Everyone else screws the driver to the face and leaves the arse end flopping in the breeze within the cabinet.
