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Posted 20 hours ago

BK Subwoofers Gemini Black Ash

£9.9£99Clearance
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ZTS2023
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Certainly though the current Double Gems have all the grunt I need as attested by the fact I run at well less than half volume. Listening position would be mostly sofa, but could be anywhere in the room really. I know this setup isn't ideal to project into the room, but there is nowhere else I can really put them for now.

In terms of how it compared to the MK, it's remarkably favourable. Using 10" drivers instead of 8's plays well in the favour of physics. The drivers and amplifier in the MK are better, and it did the subtle bass and integration better. In my room at the levels I listen to, the MK sounded great for such a small subwoofer producing nice accurate and pretty deep sounding bass, but was limited to around 30Hz. The BK digs a little deeper and goes every bit as loud as the MK did (which is more a testament to the MK given it only uses 8" drivers), but doesn't really shake the sofa anymore (the X8 didn't really do that either), but there is an obvious sense you're getting deeper bass from it. With that deeper bass though is that slightly reduced control. Given the difference in price points though the delivery from the Double Gem is remarkable, and while it may not quite pull of the detail and integration capability to the same standard X8 did, it still sounds really very clean (a common trait of well design dual-driver sealed subwoofers) and gives an excellent account of itself while giving a bit more depth on top. I think the BK would lose composure more than the X8 when pushed hard, but I don't listen at those kinds of levels making a bit of a moot point in my particular case.Remember that most Dali speakers shouldn`t be toed in as in angled toward listener! Spread them apart (equilateral triangle if possible) and put them shooting straight not towards you! Unless I am missing something I cannot seem to find many comparisons between Gem II and XLS200. There are are comparisons between Gem I (with its smaller driver) and the 200, where the 200 is clearly better, but does the Peerless driver in the same size cabinet really make that much difference? For similar money to REL, the SVS SB1000 or it's new counterpart would be a great option, more headroom, longer warranty and a brand that's built its reputation from the ground up surviving the challenging world of enthusiast forums the world over. It is the safe option. A good subwoofer will allow you to hear and feel things a cheap subwoofer or most speakers just cannot. I am quite confused about the best sub option for this room. I suspect that downward firing might be easier to set up, although I quite like that higher end RELs are front and down firing, but I seem to read that it may not make a difference which way the speaker points. I'm going to need some power for a room of this size, but also want some agility, as volume isn't everything.

Very useful information thank you. My twin ported Tannoy sub is huge (95 litre cabinet) and it does add plenty of weight to the overall sound. The room is 3.5m x 6.5m x 2.4m with the HiFi at one end. The only way I got the Tannoy to work properly was to position it at approx 1/3rd down a long wall.

The sub boasts a display panel and plenty of controls, including independent filtering on both the high and low level inputs. in a room about 3m x 4m with normal height ceiling (bit less than 3m). It will be sat under the desk (speakers sat on the desktop) and I don't have a huge amount of flexibility in regards to placement (though if its really necessary I have space in front of the desk (behind where I sit) and off to the left (facing the desk).

Any opinions, info and recommendations welcome! I'm not 100% tied to these speakers, so if you think there is a better pair for my needs, I'm all ears, they just need to be active speakers. In comparison the twin Gemini IIs are much easier to integrate, set up and move if needed for cleaning etc. However, compared with the Tannoy I am missing a bit of low end/scale on some music. To some extent BK offer too much choice and the risk is one going round in circles. Interesting ref the XLS200 - I assume two of these would be an improvement over two Gemini IIs but still not offer the scale I am after. Two XLS400s make sense but placement options then become more limiting. I don’t want a monolith as they are huge, very heavy and being ported, perhaps not most suited to what I want. I also don’t really want to consider anything other than BK because: Ref the DG and amp power, I did wonder about how it works - that’s why I was wondering how the sub is wired to make use of the 300 watt amp? Are the DG drivers (shared with the Gemini II) 4 or 8 ohm? The XLS 10 that BK uses appears to be 4ohm. The amp in the XLS is rated as 200 watts 8 ohm/275 watts 4 ohm. The Peerless drivers appear to be rated at 100 watts but I understand that they can take significantly more than that. Having said all that, as I said above, if the VU metres on my Gemini II pair are anything to go by, I have not seen them require more than 60watts... I am looking to get my first set of speakers, trying to keep it under 400 euro. After some research, I have mostly decided on one of the 2 speakers in the title. I'm looking for some advice on which may suit me more. Listening info would be as follows:x XXLS 200s - the cheapest and most compact option - no bigger than the Gemini II that I am using now but I assume better? The Wharfedale is bass ported, so it may have the edge in terms of outright volume, but would lose out to the sealed-box Gemini in terms of precision and the ability to render more complex bass. The Gemini is an altogether more sophisticated bit of kit with its dual mode input, but if you're only going to run it with the subwoofer out connection from an AV receiver then that functionality is skipped and the two subs end up operating in the same way.

This then answers your question about hooking up both the High Level and Low Level connections on the Gemini II.

now I'm actually waiting on the LS50s still and am using some Q150s as a stop gap for now but I think in terms of bass response there isn't going to be a massive difference. Its not like I'm switching to some floor standers later. I had alway figured I'd add a sub later in any case...

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