Subwoofer for Adam A7V Monitors

[KidForToday]

I'm looking for recommendations for a subwoofer to pair with a pair of Adam A7V monitors for my 12 foot by 17 foot studio, (which will be treated for sound.) I'm leaning on sticking with Adam in the 8 or 10 inch range, but could consider other brands. Sound-wise, I will be using synths, a drum machine, guitar, and bass to create music ranging from Boards of Canada to Depeche Mode.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Wonks]

As far as I can see, you’ll lose most of the benefit of the Sonarworks tuning with a sub as I don’t think any of their subs have the ability to communicate with the monitors. They are designed to pass through a high-pass filtered signal to the monitors, so their signal is before the Sonarworks in the monitor.

Of course there’s nothing stopping you from using Sonarworks in your DAW.

If you want the benefit of Sonarworks in the monitor but with a low enough frequency response so there’s no need for a sub, then you could consider the A8H monitors. Yes, more expensive, but you’ve no sub to position and take up space.

Otherwise, as the A7V have a quoted flat response down to 50Hz (from their measurement graph), and down to 45Hz at roughly -3dB there’s no point getting a sub that only extends that by a few Hz.

So I would forget about an 8” sub, and the Adam Sub 10 Mk2 would be my choice of 10” Adam sub, which takes you down to 25Hz. And I’d use Sonarworks in the DAW.

Personally, I’d save up and get the A8Hs, providing I know there is sufficient acoustic treatment in the room to tame the bass resonances. Sonarworks can only do so much. But if you have bought the A7Vs, then a sub it will need to be.

[KidForToday]

As far as I can see, you’ll lose most of the benefit of the Sonarworks tuning with a sub as I don’t think any of their subs have the ability to communicate with the monitors. They are designed to pass through a high-pass filtered signal to the monitors, so their signal is before the Sonarworks in the monitor.

Of course there’s nothing stopping you from using Sonarworks in your DAW.

If you want the benefit of Sonarworks in the monitor but with a low enough frequency response so there’s no need for a sub, then you could consider the A8H monitors. Yes, more expensive, but you’ve no sub to position and take up space.

Otherwise, as the A7V have a quoted flat response down to 50Hz (from their measurement graph), and down to 45Hz at roughly -3dB there’s no point getting a sub that only extends that by a few Hz.

So I would forget about an 8” sub, and the Adam Sub 10 Mk2 would be my choice of 10” Adam sub, which takes you down to 25Hz. And I’d use Sonarworks in the DAW.

Personally, I’d save up and get the A8Hs, providing I know there is sufficient acoustic treatment in the room to tame the bass resonances. Sonarworks can only do so much. But if you have bought the A7Vs, then a sub it will need to be.

Very helpful info! I bought the A7V's, so I'll consider the Sub 10 Mk2, but only after I sound test the A7's to see what I'm hearing / not hearing.