I´ve had different monitors during the last 25 years and two years ago came across a really good deal: a pair of Adam A7Xs in mint condition for $600 great monitors - best I´ve owned, but.......

As you can see in the title I finally got me a Adam Sub10 MK2 for my pair of Adam A7Xs.

Im on a budget as always so I had to wait for the right oppotunity to get it in mint condition second hand and yesterday I finally got lucky and had it for $600.

Been testing nearly constantly since - latest with the free Minimal Tonal Sub for Kontakt and Im really impressed....... best buy I´ve done resently.

So now I can finally "sub-sequently" master my stuff the way I like it

 

I'm glad for you Phloopy

 

Good for you, I hope your purchase pleases you for many years to come. As I also have a tight budget I understand how happy you must feel. Good luck and enjoy them.

 

very nice! you can probably hear more focus to the sound now. check on your room treatment, those A7X's have a strong push even at low volume. don't forget to try having the A7X's cut off at the frequency your sub picks up at, as they have an excellent low end themselves. give your ears a couple days to acclimatize to changes (listen - rest - listen - rest). and congrats

 

Hello @phloopy, another quantum leap to more quality and better listening experiences.

 

Next thing on my to-buy list either Also have the A7X

 

Thanks Oly Cheers

Yeah hopefully they´ll please me for many years... and thanks

Yeah room treatment will deffently be the next step..... it´s actually pretty ok as it is but there are things to improve

Hopefully it is........... yes dammit IT IS

Im sure you´ll not regret it

 

Adding a subwoofer

Even if you don't plan on setting up a surround system, a subwoofer can be a real plus for stereo mixing. If you can't hear the extreme low end, there isn't much left to produce great sound. So the extended bass response of a good subwoofer can really help improve the overall quality of your mixes.

The location of the subwoofer is not as important as that of the main speakers, as frequencies below approximately 200 Hz - the frequency range in which your subwoofer operates - are not directional. To put it another way: the ear cannot locate the sound source of such low frequencies, so that the subwoofer can theoretically be installed anywhere in the room. In practice, the subwoofer should be placed on the floor somewhere between the main speakers at the same distance from the listening position as the main speakers, although it does not have to be exactly in the middle

 

Thanks @BEAT16

I have read a lot about all these issues already so Im pretty prepared when it comes to some kind of treatments etc.....

On the other hand: I live in a small house and I´ve desided having my studio in the center of the house, literally speaking, so there has to be some compromises on how much treatments I can do - I guess it ends up with a few basstraps and defusers! Placed the right places they´ll work ok I guess. Nothing in this life is perfect...... if lucky: nearly perfect

 

Well, this is not entirely true.
1. You can say frequencies below 70-80Hz has no directional cues.
2. Subwoofer cannot be just installed anywhere.

Now, there are people ( myself included), who do not believe (with proof and not just vague statement) in Bass managed system (basically Bass Managed stereo means 2.1 system). A lot of people believe in dual subs, that's is, each satellite speaker will get it's own sub. This diminishes so many problems and you will usually see a pair of subs, in Mastering Studios as well. This makes the Subwoofer placement and time aligning way easier and way way much more accurate and a lot of other issues get resolved as well.


Plus what people most of the time forget is, your moderate speaker will perform way better in a treated room than an expensive speaker in a bad room.
So acoustics budget should be at least as much as the speaker budget, if not more, IMO.

But I do not want to bash anyone.
Just thought of sharing this.

Also, after treating your room, do test the room using REW or Fuzzmeasure to make sure the treatment is working sonically and not visually.
Cheers.


You can see here, in my room (

Spoiler

which is in terms of treatment I would say advanced intermediate a there are pretty much no reflection at all as per measurements but it sounds pretty dead overall broadband, not just Highs

), low mid is pretty much controlled by the room (you can see same kind of curve contour from 100 - 500). These are two pretty different speakers (Adam A77x and Eris E66). You can easily understand the added LF extension of A77x but other than that they sound pretty good with a pinpoint stereo image and powerful Phantom center because the room is fairly treated (also, the 100 and 500 Hz dips will be cleared next time because I know what is causing that.

 

Last edited: Jul 4, 2021

Thanks @Anubhav Ukil for the valuable tips and corrections.

 

-I have no intentions (so far) doing surround or like - plain stereo.

-Basically any sub can be placed anywhere in you room - if the loudspeaker is pointed to the floor. In this case (adam sub) it´s pointed vertically wich can be an issue........ here´s the facts from the manual (Adam Sub10 MK2):

It is common knowledge that low frequencies (below about 100Hz) are non-directional,
meaning they can hardly be located by the listener. It is, however, a common misunderstanding
that therefore the placement of a subwoofer does not matter. It does matter.
Due to the fact that every room (geometry, furniture, etc.) is unique, the following descriptions
intend to be a first introduction to the subject. The aim is to assist you tackling
the most common problems with subwoofers and room acoustics, notably interference
and standing waves.
4.1 Distance to satellites
In most set ups it is advisable to place the subwoofer not too far from the satellites
to minimize the chance of Interferences. Interference means the superposition of
two or more waves resulting in an attenuation/cancellation or enhancement of the
specific frequency/frequencies.
Furthermore, big refelexion faces in close range of the subwoofer should be avoided
if possible.
4.2 Walls/Distance to walls
Generally, every wall in relative close distance to the subwoofer enhances its
sound pressure by about 6 dB. For instance, placing the subwoofer in a corner of
a room will make it about 18 dB louder. It is likely that this will result in an impairment
of the precision of the musical reproduction.
Another problem related to the geometrics of the room concerns the so called
‘standing waves’. These are sound waves being reciprocated between reflecting
objects, so they ‘stand’ (don’t seem to move) in between these objects. The speaker
continues to produce new waves that combines its force with the first wave(s): a
vicious circle that results in local imbalances of the particular frequencies.
4.3 Finding the optimum position
Give it a try! The most important tool for finding the best position for your subwoofer
are your ears. There are two rather easy ways:
You can determine your listening spot first and then compare the sound of the
subwoofer at different positions.
Another option is to place the subwoofer at the listening position and then move
around. Whereever the sound is the best the subwoofer should be

 

I was not talking about surround. What you have now is a 2.1 system and it is also Bass managed. Bass managed system means all bass from all channels, here in case of stereo, Left and Right will be summed and come out of one Sub bass speaker. That's the definition of Bass Managed system.

What do you mean by Loudspeaker pointed to the floor?

 

I can recomment you search something like "front and down firing subwoofers" .... pretty sure that can help you out.

 

Well, now I get it. You should have written down firing actually because that's what most people will understand.
Front firing and Down firing.
Honestly pointed to the floor didn't make any sense.
I would never buy a down firing Sub for Music making (mixing/mastering) purpose. Like never. There are hell lot of problems with down firing Subs. It may be great for cinema watchers.
But Down firing Sub means Low rumble and Floor resonance. A strict No No. Plus they just try to incorporate SBIR to load the sub bass more.

 

I was telling you this, not (most) people but you - I guess most people perfectly understand the term "pointed to the floor".

A lot of subs actually still have their loudspeaker pointed to the floor - (not talking about hi-fi/movie solutions) but proff audio subs.

Interesting to see what direction you´ll pull this issue at now

 

Anyone who wants to know anything else, here is a credited article:

Studio Subwoofers: All You Need to Know (and More…)
https://ledgernote.com/columns/mixing-mastering/studio-subwoofers/

 

First of all sorry, I didn't want to trigger you.
But I still didn't understand, at what point I push this issue at a different direction or off topic.
I just thought of sharing what I know and the knowledge acquired by reading good books on acoustics and speaker designs.

But looks like it triggered you and in that case, I am truly sorry.

 

Congrats on your sub purchase. It really does make all the difference despite what others say about only recording on monitors. I just can't get myself to do it without a sub.

 

In theory, in practice it is a bit different same with studio speaker placements