(Why) Upgrade Your Sub. Tips and tricks for your sub in your studio. Part 1

[@timwarden7297]

Another great vid, thank you

[@invincibearofficial]

I used to work car audio for a couple of years and got to perform tests with 20 or so subs. They all had different combinations of size, range, clarity, and speed. Generally powerful 12"+ subs were slower, but there were few exceptions. With access to enough gear you can find the one large sub that is maybe a bit less powerful to not be slow but that extra size will allow it to effortlessly hit those super low notes that smaller subs usually struggle to accurately produce.

[@Drumbaseuk]

I find all speakers have different characteristics and then you throw the size and power into the mix. lol

[@andrewallenpainter1616]

I agree with your ideas about subwoofer placement and tuning. I have used large subs (15") in a double setup, but now just run a 10" presonus sub, mostly for band practice at home. In a relatively small space, the small sub sounds fine--in a club or live performance situation I would love to go back to a two 15" setup just because it sounds clean and fat even when kept in the background...

[@Drumbaseuk]

Cheers for the comment. I'm looking forward to trying a large sub see if my room needs it.

[@invincibearofficial]

Also, that KRK sub is a ticking time bomb. i have 3 of them, you'll want to open it up and scrape off the Black gunk of death before it kills the cheap capacitors in them.

[@Drumbaseuk]

Thanks for you input. Not heard of that before. I'll look into that cheers. That is the thing with speakers so many variables, a minefield. Did you have 3 or are you using 3 at the same time?

[@invincibearofficial]

@@Drumbaseuk yeah the black gunk is what caused the buzzing sound in gen 2 KRK RP monitors eventually leading to their death. Capacitors would overheat and spill their guts, usually with annoying AC hum before fully imploding. KRK cheaped out and didn't use actual silicone to dampen the board components, this black crap hardens with time and becomes electrically conducive which leads to board cross-talk and components shorting out, all to save a buck per board. Depending on your generation of sub it may or may not have that on the board, and it might already have hardened. If it's hard then scrape it off with a flathead screwdriver, if it's soft it's still good. I rehab these gen 2 RP-5 RP-6 RP-8 monitors as a side gig, have probably flipped 20 or so speakers now, same thing every time. Replace the main power caps and a couple of crispy resistors, maybe the odd diode or filter cap, and a lot of scraping of the black gunk.

[@invincibearofficial]

@@Drumbaseuk I'm using one KRK sub in my living room home theatre with RP-6g2 (5" don't have enough power and I didn't hear any difference with the 8") and a couple of Aura AST-2B-4 bass shakers in the couch powered by a Dayton Audio BSA-200 amp. I have another KRK sub for my studio combined with Adam F7 monitors that I plan on upgrading soon. And the third sub has bad A/C hum that I'm trying to repair to flip for profit which will cover the cost of the first two KRK subs.

[@Drumbaseuk]

@@invincibearofficial Sounds a nightmare. I think my one is the 1st gen. as it doesn't have a light at the front. I think the second gen. had a greenish light. If it hums I'll run lol. Cheers

[@andyfreeze4072]

for sub setups, the ADAM web page has a tutorial on how to. Sub on floor depends on floor. As a bass player i love timber floors, it just couples beautifully with my amp. As a sound engineer, no way. I have always had concrete floors and subs on the floor are perfectly ok in this situation. If you restrict the size of the sub to 10,12" , i dont think any of the name brands is going to sound any better than the other. There may however be differences in features. Your going to find a soft surround on the speakers so already they will be well damped and very fast FOR THE APPLICATION. The only analogy i can find is 44.1k vs 192k. There is nothing new about subs, i was doing this shit 40yrs ago. But the quality has certainly gone through the roof. Now when you do a sub comparison, you got to take into account the coupling with your main speakers, as you rightly pointed out. So in theory, it will be different with different main speakers. Theory is the best place to START FROM. But hey, i am eagerly awaiting your trials.

[@Drumbaseuk]

Hi, this was kind of why I made the video because of so much conflicting info. so I really want to get a few subs different sizes see which work the best and if price matters. I'm loving the look of the Focal 12 that is coming out. A good size box too, which is so important with a sub as they move a lot of air. But the price........woah. . I've sent an email hoping I can demo one.

[@andyfreeze4072]

@@Drumbaseuk the info really isn't conflicted. Every manufacture has their own implementations and every combo will be different, but the basics of physics dont change. Some brands do a better job than others. Only your ears are going to tell which combo is best.