What size sub do I need for my Polks?

rru2s

Right now I have an undersized Velodyne VRP 1200, 130W RMS 12" sub.

I have Polk Monitor 70s at one end of my 24' x 15' living room. They are powered by an Outlaw RR2150 receiver (100 W). The sub-out from the Outlaw has a signal level that is too low to power the Velodyne unless the Velodyne gain is at 75%, so I always run the sub off of the Speaker-B full range outputs from the Outlaw to use as sub input.

The living room has a 7' x 7' opening into a dining room 15' x 13'. Ceilings are normal (8').

Now mainly I listen to music, and because of the WAF she does not want super lound amps, so I haven't gone to separates.

I may someday go dual-purpose with HT in this nice room, and want my set up to serve both purposes eventually. Again, I don't think my spouse wants the HT to have so much punch she feels it in her chest, so I don't need astronomical low frequency output.

Mainly I'm an audiophile of 2 channel sound from way back -- I like good quality soft jazz, natural vocals, and rock from many different genres.

For several months I have read Craigsub and have been planning to get an EPIK VALOR because it is affordable and it has a 330 W BASH amp which is considerably more powerful than the low end Velodyne. In addition, I am thinking the 15" driver in a sealed port will be much tighter and more musical for jazz bass than some of the ported designs.

*** FIRST QUESTION -- is the Epik Valor going to be adequate for my living room square footage? I "feel" the bass with the Velodyne only when I am within about 8 feet from the speaker, but "hear" it in both living room and dining room. I would like to "feel" bass everywhere in the two rooms, but not necessarily knock my socks off with HT when I purchase that setup later.

*** SECOND QUESTION -- I have Polk Model 60s in my bedroom (13' x 13'), powered by a Harmon Kardon 3480 (120 W). After I purchase the new sub for the living room, I'm considering putting the small and unobtrusive Velodyne in the Bedroom. Will that be a good match for that size bedroom?

If someone says upsize the sub for the living room, I could be talked into it, but WAF is a problem and I don't think I could sell a Conquest or something equally large to the spouse. I might be able to sell her on dual Valors or dual MFW-15s, but thinking maybe that's overkill on my 50-some year old ears.

All sub-expert comments are appreciated, thanks in advance.

--Still a polkie after all these years, originally had the model 10s, now in the basement.

Ron Temple

The Valor is a lot more sub than the Velo. Depending on your ceiling height, it should be what I'd consider enough. To verify that, call Epik, they might recommend the Knight or Caliber. The Velo in your bedroom sounds perfect.

rru2s

Ron Temple wrote: »

The Valor is a lot more sub than the Velo. Depending on your ceiling height, it should be what I'd consider enough. To verify that, call Epik, they might recommend the Knight or Caliber. The Velo in your bedroom sounds perfect.

I'll call Epik this week and ask them about room size versus sub size.

One other question, would it sound more musical to have one Epik Valor underneath each Polk Monitor 70? Or for 2 channel listening is that not going to make much difference? Also, would 2 Valors overshadow the Polk Monitor 70s for a 2 channel setup?

rru2s

Ron Temple wrote: »

The Valor is a lot more sub than the Velo. Depending on your ceiling height, it should be what I'd consider enough. To verify that, call Epik, they might recommend the Knight or Caliber. The Velo in your bedroom sounds perfect.

Thanks. After about 5 or 6 tries calling over a couple of days Epik finally answered the phone. I spoke with the legendary "Chad". He was really helpful and told me that, for my room size, he thought one Valor would be just fine for music listening, and since the WAF wasn't going to appreciate listening to HT at earth-shaking volumes, I would not need anything further to go with my setup. He said 2 Valors would serve only one purpose to even-out any dead spots in the room, depending on the room acoustics. However, I'm happy to report that from my experience with the little underpowered Velodyne, when I turned it up much louder, I seemed to hear it equally well at any location throughout the listening room - corners, sidewalls, center, and also in the adjacent dining room. Apparently the corner sub placement, combined with the heavy drapes on two huge windows, the 3 big couches, 2 stuffed recliners, and the wall-to-wall carpet have squelched any significant room cancellation effects.

So I'm happy to go for just one Valor. If it were aesthetics, sure, I'd have one Valor underneath each Polk Monitor 70, since they are in the two end corners of the room. However, that's a lot of money to pay for aesthetics alone. At my age, 51, I'm unlikely to come down with upgrade-itis and anything larger than one Valor I probably would need to upgrade the Polks, too.

Ron Temple

rru2s wrote: »

Thanks. After about 5 or 6 tries calling over a couple of days Epik finally answered the phone. I spoke with the legendary "Chad". He was really helpful and told me that, for my room size, he thought one Valor would be just fine for music listening, and since the WAF wasn't going to appreciate listening to HT at earth-shaking volumes, I would not need anything further to go with my setup. He said 2 Valors would serve only one purpose to even-out any dead spots in the room, depending on the room acoustics. However, I'm happy to report that from my experience with the little underpowered Velodyne, when I turned it up much louder, I seemed to hear it equally well at any location throughout the listening room - corners, sidewalls, center, and also in the adjacent dining room. Apparently the corner sub placement, combined with the heavy drapes on two huge windows, the 3 big couches, 2 stuffed recliners, and the wall-to-wall carpet have squelched any significant room cancellation effects.

So I'm happy to go for just one Valor. If it were aesthetics, sure, I'd have one Valor underneath each Polk Monitor 70, since they are in the two end corners of the room. However, that's a lot of money to pay for aesthetics alone. At my age, 51, I'm unlikely to come down with upgrade-itis and anything larger than one Valor I probably would need to upgrade the Polks, too.

You'll be very happy with a single Valor, but don't be surprised if you get infected with upgraditus anyway. I was older than you when I got back into audio in 2004. I've shed my skin several times and probably went through 10 subs. Congrats on your choice.

rru2s

Well thanks for the suggestions. After talking it over with Chad and after talking with my wife about how I thought one would be enough, I went ahead and ordered one Valor !!! Now I'm researching HDTV stands and HDTV. But that belongs in a different posting forum.