I have electrostatic speakers and my JL Audio F110 sub has no problem keeping up with them. They also have good detail and are easy to set up. |
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Thiel is fast, small drivers, quick recovery yet deep bass. |
Martin Logan Depth....great with my 3.6 maggies!! |
very interesting suggestions...does anyone know paradigm millennia? i heard good things about it but i am concerned that in order to make it so cool-looking, they gave up some quality. thanks. |
another vote for vandersteen...
i've owned subs from velodyne, jl audio, and now vandersteen. the vandy subs get my vote for doing pretty much everything right in my room - my system is 2 channel audio only, not HT, so like always, YMMV. |
Vandy 2wq is great and probably super fast since it has implemented Feed-Forward Error Correction, but may not be powerful enough depending on the room. If mono sub's not enough, I'd get 2x2wq that could be purchased for less than $500 used |
My friend has Tannoy speakers that were difficult to find subwoofers that could blend with it signature. He finally came across a sub from Zu Audio and couldnt be happier. I heard it an its fantastic, if you have a chance try them. Not sure I champion Zu speakers but their subs rock. |
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Not sure I understand.
If a subwoofer were fast, wouldn't it be a tweeter? :)
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Yes Hornguys, you can definitely "tweet it"!-) |
What speakers are you getting the subwoofer for, and what's your budget? If you want fast and a good blend, the recommendations so far are helpful. I'm especially predisposed to the JL for anyone who can afford them. I've heard their Fathom F212's mated with Magnepan 20.1s and it was a seamless match. Anything that mates well with panels is probably a good bet.
Also, given your curiosity about the Paradigm Millenia sub, what sort of space considerations do you have? |
I'd like to try it with two very different speakers: a pair of tiny Sonus Faber Minima (the original ones), which go down to about 70Hz, and then a pair of Ocellia Kedros, which have the famous PHY driver. It has deep bass, but I think it would benefit a lot from something that takes over under 80Hz.
As for space, it's more a matter of look than space...the Paradigms look cool, while most subs are ugly black cubes.
Thanks |
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It's hard to go wrong with REL. |
+3 or+4 for Vandy 2Wq......2 of them of course :^)
I've had REL Stadium II and there is no real comparison.
Fast, clean, deep and most importantly.......leaves the signal to the main speakers absolutely pure and untouched. |
I have owned the Vandersteen subwoofer and it is very good. I like how it connects to the system relieving the amp and main speakers of the lowest frequencies. However, I feel the REL is better and is much simpler to connect and dial in to the system. The REL does not sound like a subwoofer it makes bass music. |
I am currently using a REL T5 with my SF Guarneri Homage speakers. The GH's are lightning fast, the REL is a very good match, if that says something about their speed. Depending on room size, I would highly recommend the T5 if one is using a small to small/medium size room. |
Over time I have had B&W 6,Rel Stadium III, Aereal SW12 & now JL Audio F113. The JL's are the fastest out of all of them. The only issue with the JL's is there is no LFE input so if you want to use them with both HT and 2 channel they are harder to integrate. I ended up using the NHT X2 crossover. |
The one with the least driver excursions would be the better sounding or as you say faster subwoofer. |
IME, the SF Minuetto will be a very tough mate for any subwoofer. The speaker's FR is significantly elevated thru the entire bottom octave (plus) of it's response. If you mate a sub for seamless transition at the crossover point, you'll have too much bottom end, overall. If you set the sub for a natural octave to octave balance overall, you'll have a significant level mismatch at the crossover point. The only solution that worked reasonably well was to mate the sub for smooth "hand off" and slowly taper its response (as pitch falls) with parametric EQ. And even that wasn't particularly great.
Marty
PS There are a lot of threads here re: subwoofer "speed". You might want to read some of them. My guess is that you'll have a different view of the world afterwards.
PPS As to speed of a the large driver vs the speed of a small driver debate, I've tried both (extensively) and I come down squarely on the highly damped driver (large or small) side of the fence. In all other ways, large drivers are compelling, so I'm a highly damped, large driver guy, myself. |
Interesting, Marty. But I have the old Minimas, not Minuetto. Perhaps we're talking about a different speaker. |
I second the Vandersteen 2Wq. If you have the funds, consider a pair of them, and consider an upgrade to the MHP-5 active crossovers. Fantastic subs that are tuneful, fast, and very easy to blend with your mains. |
My bad. I have Minuettos and my experience refers to that model. I simply misread your original post.
OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the older SF bookshelf speakers were voiced in a similar manner (midbass hump) and might be a tough match for a subwoofer. Can't say for sure, though, as it's been too many years since I've listened to the other models of similar vintage to be sure.
Best of luck.
Marty
PS My Minuettos are still doing yeoman's work in my home office, 20ish years after I first brought them home. No subwoofer added. |
It might be that no subwoofer will complement your very fast speakers well. What speakers and amps do you have? |
01-09-12: Hornguys
Not sure I understand.
If a subwoofer were fast, wouldn't it be a tweeter? :) No, because in addition to high frequency extension, a tweeter needs wide dispersion. The shorter the wavelength, the smaller the diaphragm must be to avoid "beaming." The woof/midrange unit in the GoldenEar Triton series has a frequency response out to 20KHz. This speed has often been cited as a reason that these midrange cone drivers blend so well with the folded ribbon tweeter. By the same token, Magnepan's end table-style woofer responds up to at least 7 KHz. It blends seamlessly with Magnepan's new desktop mini-panels. Both of these are drivers cross into tweeter territory but are still not tweeters. Still, the speed they have means they accelerate as quickly as the mids and tweets they are trying to blend with. As to the subject at hand, REL and Sonus Faber are both distributed in the US by Sumiko, and there have been some packages put together by the two companies, such as the SF Toy/REL home theater setup. You could almost certainly get a good blend with a small REL sub. However, for a complete range of dynamics, power, blend, and speed, I think JL set the new standard. |
Marten Logan Decent I's are the fastest subs I've heard, but certainly not the best. Your the first one I've heard that think the Minimas are fast. |
In response to Inna, i have a pair of Sonus Faber minima, and a pair of Ocellia Kedros (with PHY single driver). As for amplification, I have an EAR 859 with the Ocellia, and a preamplifier DeHavilland + EAR 509 MKII monoblocks with the SF. |
Not familiar with your set-up, but yes why not try pair of good Rels or as some recommend a pair of JL Audio ? JL would be more expensive, right? |
Wilson Bensch Torus, possibly even better if you use an ICEPower over its own amp. |
