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I plan on using Sound Dynamics RTS-3s as surrounds in a HT setup and was wondering if its worthwhile to augment them with a dedicated subwoofer in addition to the main sub. Are there substantial benefits to be gained over the usual method of simply routing the surround low frequencies to the main subwoofer?
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Hello
I have a pair of subs in my HT/DVD Audio system, a Klipsch LF10 and a Velodyne CHT100. I run them from an Outlaw ICBM-1 bass management module which controls level and LFE level and provides stereo outputs for subs. I found my room tricky for a single sub, but downright easy for two at least in this particular room. 2 subs provide effortless, seamless bass. Very glad I did it!
I'm using a pair of RTS-3s as surrounds right now. I think in general using a sub to add bass is not necessary. In an ideal world it would be great, as it would allow maximum optimization of the system(as Patrick Butler stated). However, placement of two subs can get quite tricky(the constructive and destructive interference in a room can be quite noticable). One sub is tricky enough for most people to place correctly. The bass response of the RTS-3s is a little thin, but I haven't found it necessary to augement. Money is better spent elsewhere(amps, front three speakers, power protection etc.).
Doug-You can certainly benefit by using a sub to augment the low end range of your RTS-3's, as they do not go down low enough to handle the Dolby requirement for all 5 channels flat down to 20 hz. This is how movies are mixed for all five channels. The difficultly that you have with surround systems in shunting all bass to on sub is integration. You need different levels of gain for bass integrating with your rear channels versus your mains versus your center because of room positioning and speaker capabilities. Combine that with the fact that you need the ability to independently adjust the gain for the LFE channel independent of the bass being redirected to your sub from you speakers, and you have little hope of successfully taking advantage of the sound that comes on a DVD.
Best,
With what software that is available currently, using a sub with rear speakers would be an overkill, but placing a second sub in the system might not be.
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