earthquake subs

I like the Earthquake 15 and own one . This excellent sub is a fantastic bargain IMO for what it does. I however find its attribute is crossing over as low as possible and giving the volume a touch of gain ... say 2 on a scale of 1-10 . It should be used to augment a nearly full range set of mains. This sub , in my experience is a very good theatre sub , as good as it gets for the money .It is also a very good 2 channel sub if used as described above. I do not find it articulate if you open up the crossover and volume and this may be where you are finding a problem . Totems are fast and detailed . You need a sub that can compliment the drivers speed . The Totem Thunder would work better . Better yet , try an Aerial SW 12 or REL . Earthquakes cannot be beat for some duties ... mating with a lightning fast monitor isnt its forte .

Another way to look at it: If you transform yourself into a speaker designer for this thread...fullrange speaker systems that use 15" drivers would always use another driver between the 15" and the 5"-6" driver they may also use in that system...ie, an 8"-10" driver.

Dave

Assuming there is no room acoustics problems then perhaps the Totem Ones, although great speakers, are just too small and not dynamic enough...I suspect they are in compression long before the two 15" subs would. This means it will be hard to get a good match except at low volume levels. (Your extreme LF will simply not integrate with the bass/mid and tweeter.)

I have used a 15" sub with a small bookshelf speaker (6.5" woofer) and the sub's 118 db SPL rating did indeed begin to outrun the speakers 108 db SPL at extremely high output levels, roughly above 98 db at the listening position. (These were continuous ratings not peak db's)

Judging by Totem's website your Totem Ones run out of juice or headroom at peak of 103 db SPL levels ( so you will start to get compression at a modest 86 db SPL at the listening position assuming you sit nine feet back, both speakers giving you a combined max of 106 db SPL uncompressed at 1 meter, and accounting for about 10 db for headroom )

The abundant LF energy from teh earthquakes may also tempt you to overdrive the Totem's, which will then sound harsh and give an overall poor impression of integration.

Depending on how loud you want to be able to go, I suggest you evaluate what size mains you need...the specs on the earthquakes are actually pretty good. I would only be wary of too much harmonics from the passive radiator when playing music with some 20 HZ energy (not that common).

All of the above assumes you are certain it is not a room acoustics problem. Most extreme LF problems are room related.