Subwoofers for Music?

[adiebear]

As a couple of people have mentioned BK subwoofers I'll say the first sub I used recently was a Monolith, that is currently sitting at the bottom of my stairs acting as a table as I haven't got round to selling it yet. The sub I had years ago was a Ruark LogRhythm for which BK were the OEM too actually.

Firstly- ol thread I know- but thank you Martin. . I accidentally landed here as I am curious about the old LogRhythm. Any good?

Secondly: I had about 4 very ordinary subs over the years, until I bought a pair of Vandersteen 2wq subs. These transformed my music system and integrated so seamlessly that I couldn't tell where they were in my room, even if I lay on the floor less than 3 ft away.

3x 8" drivers, 300w amp, Feed-Forward Error Correction, adjustable Q... "Errors resulting from coupling, loading, driver phase and frequency non-linearities and thermodynamic box loss are eliminated by FFEC."

"The 2Wq uses a unique, innovative connection method that reduces the current demands on the main amplifier, but leaves the main amplifier in the signal path to the subwoofer. The system realizes the benefits of bi-amplification with absolute sonic continuity as the main amplifier ’s characteristics that are evident through the full-range speakers are maintained to the deepest bass.."

"the 2Wq does not take its input from its crossover, but samples the output from the main amplifier that is driving the main speakers. To compensate for the low-frequency roll-off induced by the crossover, the response of the 2Wq’s amplifier is contoured to restore the low frequencies to the proper level. The 2Wq ’s input impedance is high enough that it has no effect on the output of the main amplifier."

Etc., etc. Does it work? You bet!. My Eminent Technology LFT8 speakers (rated down to 25hz but, nah) sang cos they were free to concentrate on higher frequencies and my Hypex Ncore amps had far less work to do ito bass duties.

Thirdly: DSP. The new Vandys have that. I didn't, but didn't feel the need in a well treated room. My friend Rodney, who was very active here until his death, used DSP extensively. He graduated from miniDSP via DIRAC to Trinnov- from Meridian (with a swarm of subs), Vivid Audio G1s (still with a swarm), to G1 Spirits, at which point he ditched subwoofers (after a section of ceiling in his massively treated room fell down. Yip, he was a basshead alright!).

Sadly, I had to sell nearly all my kit a while ago and now have just the baby REL100e filling in the lower octave, alongside Altec Milestone 950 design speakers, which measure flat to 25hz.

 

[tuga]

This topic should make a nice sticky.

Great opening post by @MartinC

 

[Minicoupeman]

One issue seems to be missing.  Big speakers in big rooms…ok but small speakers benefit from Subs because you can tune them.  Adjust the volume and crossover points.  Try doing that with your average floorstander.  My dealer has recently been using a sub in a demo room with ATC40’s as the main speakers.  I works.  

 

[MartinC]

John Darko recently posted a review highlighting the subwoofer integration capability of the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, which may be an interesting option for many:

 

[eddie-baby]

John Darko recently posted a review highlighting the subwoofer integration capability of the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120, which may be an interesting option for many:

Thats nice but expensive.

 

[MartinC]

Thats nice but expensive.

There's one in the classifieds right now should a cheaper one appeal to anyone.