is a 5.2 surround system better than a 5.2?

[kamkarot]

So I am saving up money right now to buy all the parts and build myself a surround sound system, I may go for 7.1 but right now i'm looking at 5.1, and as I am looking at parts and what kind of wood to use etc, I saw someone posted on some blog that they built a 5.2 surround, which means they added a second subwoofer I assume.. Do you think this would benefit at all? They would both be receiving the same signal I would think, so it would basically be just more 'boom'.

[Stonerboy779]

5.4 is better again than 5.2

 

Adding more subs lightens the load on the original and your less likely to drive it to distortion to get the spl you want. It also helps to eliminate spots in the room where the sound is lumpy or dull. With two subs ocating them on the midpoints of opposing walls or in opposite corners is best. 4 subs in the corners will give you a fantastic reality though haha

[ir_cow]

only reason you need 2 sub is if you have 2 very low powered subwoofers or you have a very very large room. A good 12" sub can fill a whole house.

[Black64]

Title says "is a 5.2 surround system better than a 5.2?" Umm yes.

[_TheAlexO]

I'd say a 5.2 is about equal to a 5.2

[Waco]

Two subs are only needed, as said above, in large rooms or with low powered subwoofers.

[ir_cow]

or by this Klipsch Reference RW-12d 12" Powered Subwoofer you will never need a another sub again. I can barely put it at a quarter volume without shaking the room.

 

It;s really the best subwoofer I have ever owned hands down.

Edited October 21, 2012 by hornybluecow

[Mikesnow]

I would say it really depends what your tring to do and how high end your trying to go. You also have to realize your not really getting advantage of .2 if the content your using isn't .2. The main reason you would want 5.2, 7.2, etc is when the content is set up for it you have explosions from the right or left sound like they come from the right or left. If you have mulriple subs but the content or reciever is 5.1 or 7.1 then you just have louder .1 if that makes sense to you. Personally, I have a 5.2 system in my bed room i use these http://www.definitivetech.com/products/bp-7004, heres a video so you can kinda see what I have

The reason I got them is that I got a super awesome deal, but I would imagine the main reason folks would run .2 reciever is because they got floor standing speakers with subs in them as did I. So the simple answer is yes a 5.2 is better then a 5.1, but only if the content your using takes advantage of it, if not its just the same and possibly a waste of cash.

[Waco]

or by this Klipsch Reference RW-12d 12" Powered Subwoofer you will never need a another sub again. I can barely put it at a quarter volume without shaking the room.

 

It;s really the best subwoofer I have ever owned hands down.

A quarter volume or a quarter gain?

 

I would say it really depends what your tring to do and how high end your trying to go. You also have to realize your not really getting advantage of .2 if the content your using isn't .2. The main reason you would want 5.2, 7.2, etc is when the content is set up for it you have explosions from the right or left sound like they come from the right or left. If you have mulriple subs but the content or reciever is 5.1 or 7.1 then you just have louder .1 if that makes sense to you. Personally, I have a 5.2 system in my bed room i use these http://www.definitivetech.com/products/bp-7004, heres a video so you can kinda see what I have

The reason I got them is that I got a super awesome deal, but I would imagine the main reason folks would run .2 reciever is because they got floor standing speakers with subs in them as did I. So the simple answer is yes a 5.2 is better then a 5.1, but only if the content your using takes advantage of it, if not its just the same and possibly a waste of cash.

Bass isn't directional so both subs should play the same material at all times. Any receiver that sends directional subwoofer signals is just a waste since it will only lead to higher distortion overall and less output.

 

 

EDIT: Looking at your speakers you don't have two "subwoofer" channels you just have powered woofers in your towers (you can't really call it a subwoofer without having a woofer... ). Standard left/right signals feed them, right?

[ir_cow]

A quarter volume or a quarter gain?

 

 

 

A mix of both since I have it set for direct input, it goes in volume when the AVR goes up so I usually have to lower the sub volume as i raisI the AVRs or the whole room will shake. strange I know but I like the feel the sub rather than hear it and this one has a depth mode

Edited October 21, 2012 by hornybluecow

[Mikesnow]

A quarter volume or a quarter gain?

 

 

Bass isn't directional so both subs should play the same material at all times. Any receiver that sends directional subwoofer signals is just a waste since it will only lead to higher distortion overall and less output.

it's just sound waves. Sound waves travel through the air from a direction, yes you can cause an out of phase condition buy having certain frequencies canceling each other out, but in large spaces like a house your not going to see that as much as you would in say a car, in fact some home theater designs incorporate this in their systems to cause it to get the effects they want with stageing. This works on the same theroies as infinate baffle, if you have a speaker mounted in a single sheet of wood it will sound just like it would if it was in a box as long as the piece of wood was big enough so the waves from the back of the speaker can't make it around to the front in time to cancel the waves from the front. You can get a reciever that the .2 capabilities to send 2 seperate sub signals, so that bass can be sent left or right, making subs on the left or right sound and unless you have them close to each other you will notice which side the bass would come from. Most common use would be the movies, an explosion coming from the right or left, you can notice the difference.

 

EDIT: Looking at your speakers you don't have two "subwoofer" channels you just have powered woofers in your towers (you can't really call it a subwoofer without having a woofer... ). Standard left/right signals feed them, right?

each tower has a 10" powered sub woofer in it which is feed by the sub out from the back on the reciever. You also hook up the left and right audio out from the amp to the speaker for the midrange and high pass speakers in the towers.

[Waco]

it's just sound waves. Sound waves travel through the air from a direction, yes you can cause an out of phase condition buy having certain frequencies canceling each other out, but in large spaces like a house your not going to see that as much as you would in say a car, in fact some home theater designs incorporate this in their systems to cause it to get the effects they want with stageing. This works on the same theroies as infinate baffle, if you have a speaker mounted in a single sheet of wood it will sound just like it would if it was in a box as long as the piece of wood was big enough so the waves from the back of the speaker can't make it around to the front in time to cancel the waves from the front. You can get a reciever that the .2 capabilities to send 2 seperate sub signals, so that bass can be sent left or right, making subs on the left or right sound and unless you have them close to each other you will notice which side the bass would come from. Most common use would be the movies, an explosion coming from the right or left, you can notice the difference.

Crossed over properly you cannot tell what direction bass is coming from. Higher bass/midbass frequencies are directional but subwoofers in a home theater setting should not be playing much over 60 Hz.

 

each tower has a 10" powered sub woofer in it which is feed by the sub out from the back on the reciever. You also hook up the left and right audio out from the amp to the speaker for the midrange and high pass speakers in the towers.

Ah. Still, I'd run a mono subwoofer output to them to minimize distortion and maximize volume.