Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Would adding a sub improve movies in a system with L & R 6K’s?

My listening/viewing room is 5m x 2.25m (2.3 high). I currently have a 568.2mm feeding 6K’s & a 5KHC with DSP33 rears. The centre is about to be upgraded to a 5200HC (thanks Steve & SWPNT).

It already sounds great for music & pretty good for films but I’m wondering if adding a sub (most likely an SVS 3000) would make a significant difference to feeling the LFE when watching films. The only location for the sub would be in a rear corner.

I may of course have unrealistic aspirations following seeing the odyssey at Plymouth IMAX!

Thanks
Nick

Point of interest your profile does not mention DSP6K's but M60's so a little bit confused.

If I'm to assume the M60's have been upgraded to DSP6K's you have exactly the same system as I had albeit with a Velodyne Sub. Co-incidently my listening space is very similar @ 5.4m x 3.2m.

I found at the time that listening to stereo on the 6'ks was fine but 5.1 material was uncontrollably bassy.

Personally, I would go down a route of upgrading the main pair to 7.2 or 8's which I have done then adding a bass DSW.

Our good friends Steve & SWPNT also aided my journey.

Cheers

Signature updated…
Music sounds pretty good to me, maybe a floor to ceiling (full) bookshelf, 3 seater sofa, easy chair & beanbags help!

Adding a sub will improve movies but... I think the rear corner positioning will be problematic.

The old saying goes that bass is non-directional, but there are limits to that IME. You'd have to cross over much lower than 80hz to not hear the sub in the rear corner, and even then, if you managed to get satisfactory results at even 40hz, you might still hear the bass note in the ear nearest the sub before your other ear making it sound unnatural or even unpleasant.

If you can accommodate two subs, one in each rear corner, it may work better, or could you accommodate it in a more central position at the back of the room?
If you are limited to that single rear corner position and your MLP is closer to it than the front speakers, you may be better off staying as you are.

The MLP is equidistant from the front speakers & potential sub position. Unfortunately the room isn’t wide enough to accommodate the sub at the front, TBH I would prefer the 6K’s further away from the walls but that would interfere with the sight line for the TV. There is a unit below the TV that has the centre speaker, 568 etc. in it.

My knowledge of the setup programme isn’t enough to know if different speaker configurations can be allocated to different processor settings, which could be the ideal option.

Depending on the distances, you might get away with it!

The mconfig programme does allow you to setup speakers based on stereo (music) and then differently for movies (2.0 and multichannel). So you could set up music so just your LR speakers play full range and movies where they are set to small with crossover to the sub.

Another option, since you have fairly capable main speakers, and this depends a bit on your preferred movie listening levels, is a tactile transducer which could live under the MLP seats and vibrate them directly. It's surprising just how much scale they bring!