Good Bass Recordings on CD for Subwoofer Testing

The Syzygy Acoustics SLF 870 Wireless Subwoofer arrived today. After work this evening I set it up in my system. Installation was straight forward and easily accomplished in under 20 minutes.

Syzygy uses a small wireless transceiver to both configure and send music signals to the subwoofer. You can optionally run an unbalanced RCA interconnect directly from your preamp to the subwoofer instead of connecting wirelessly, but I think the wireless aspect is a real benefit.

The subwoofer is "paired" to the transceiver as you would any Bluetooth device. The signals transmitted and received are proprietary, Bluetooth is simply the transport protocol used.

The only snag I encountered was the Syzygy App's passcode needed to run the calibration tests. This is not covered in the user's manual, nor online at either the Syzygy website or the Apple Store where the software was downloaded from.

 After a several failed attempts I found 0000 (four zeros) did the trick.

The calibration sequence itself is quite simple. Holding my iPad with the microphone facing the subwoofer at a one foot distance a 30 second low frequency sweep is performed and the results recorded.

Then, seated in my normal listening position, the same frequency sweep is run a second time. The software then compares these two sets of data points and computes an equalization curve to accommodate the listening room.

Once the calibration and equalization phase is completed the subwoofer is ready to use.

The Syzygy App provides settings to remotely set the overall volume level, phase and crossover frequency to your liking. These settings along with all equalization data is stored in non-volatile memory in the subwoofer itself.

One of the reasons I wanted to try this particular subwoofer was Vade Forrester's review in TAS. His system also required a fast subwoofer. I own a Sunfire sub, but have never gotten it to work well with Magnepan loudspeakers. Based upon Vade's experience with the Syzygy I thought it might also work for me.

It does. Initial impressions are much more favorable than the Sunfire. The Syzygy adds a foundation to the music without sounding like a separate driver. It blends with the Magnepans and augments the lower octaves that the Maggies are reticent to produce.

It took a bit of tweaking, but the Syzygy App allows you to adjust playback volume and crossover frequency slope while sitting in the sweet spot. This is a really big improvement over having to get up, fiddle with controls and then return to your seat.

I've settled on about 80-90 Hz as the crossover point, and no phase adjustment because the subwoofer fires directly into the room from the same plane the Magnepans are in.

Originally I had asked for suggestions for CD recordings with bass, but I realize now that my entire CD collection has bass, the Maggies just never presented it fully.

So as 'The Dude' in the Big Lebowski would say "That Syzygy really tied the room together."

  -gb-

Good one stringreen. I have three versions of Saint-Saens 3rd Symphony on LP, perhaps they are also available on CD: Marek Janowski on Harmonia Mundi France, Jean Martinon on Angel, and Georges Pretre, also on Angel. It is indeed hair raising music, even without a sub. But with one, you are in a cathedral in France!

There is also a version by Michael Murray on Telarc CD I'm sure I use to possess, but it's gone missing. 

Thanks Randy and others,

The reason I'm trying the Syzygy SLF870 Subwoofer is because it has onboard room equalization. When you set them up initially you just download a free app that Syzygy provides to equalize the subwoofer's frequency response based upon sound samples taken from your actual listening room.

It's then up to you to adjust the output level and crossover frequency, but that should be easy with the Octave RTA app Vade Forrester suggests.

I'm looking to add the missing lower octaves that the Magnepans simply can't reproduce. My experience with the DWM Bass Panel has been that it reinforces the 40-80 Hz. range, but simply can't go any lower. What it does, it does well, but it shares the same limitations as the Magnepans themselves, i.e. nothing much below 40 Hz.

Magnepan says that the DWM is not to be thought of as a subwoofer, but as an improvement to the lower range of their full range panels. Their specs show a lower frequency response essentially the same as their full range panels.

I've had one form or another of Magnepans for over thirty years, and over that same time I've accumulated hundreds of CDs. Unfortunately I wouldn't know what deep bass may be encoded on them that the Magnepans couldn't reveal.

As it turns out, I already have many of the recordings suggested by others here. So I am looking forward to hearing them anew. The Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 is one I didn't have though, so I ordered the Reference Recordings CD from Amazon earlier today.

  -gb-