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HELP: Subwoofer for music

I would like to get a subwoofer for music purposes. I don't really need earth rumbling low notes(I go to the movies for movies), but it would be nice to hear a low bass tone when one comes along. I bought the plans for the Decware WO32, horn loaded software, but there are so many variables that I am not sure I could build one correctly without building several until I got it right and I don't have the time and money, plus I think I will be hiring a skilled carpenter to build the thing for me(it will still be cheaper than buying it built from Decware). I found another set of subwoofer plans from BESL, www.bamberglab.com, and it looks promising(not as complex to build as the Decware WO32). The thing about the WO32 is that it is hard to find a subwoofer amp plate that will fit in the alloted space of the WO32 without taking it apart and I am no electrician, so who knows what can happen with that. I could just put binding post on the cabinet and use a solid state 100w amp that I am no longer using, but now I need a crossover....and....well....what a mess! The vandersteen(sp) looks like what I would like; 3 x 8in speakers, which would make it fast, but the price is out of this world for me, not to mention that you have to tune it for your system and what if I change my system?

Any suggestion would be great.
matchstikman
tweekerman
473 posts
 
Hey Matchsticman, Just hold off a bit and consider. The Seas Excel drivers are very musical. They just came out with a new 10 inch woofer , the W26 ($250 each). She's a beauty. The vandersteen is gigantic! Way way too big for my room. The w26 will deliver all the high fidelity bass you need. Now the problem for me is, how do i get the Marchand XM9 xover($400?) to work in the set up. I'm still waiting for Jadis to email me about the OUT on the back of the Orchestra intergrated. I guess its like a pre out../// If so i may need to hook the XM9 to the...??? hummm, nope...anyway... W26 250+ XM9 400 + Cabinet 150. I'm not looking for a powered sub, have heard folks complain about powered subs dominating the room. I'm looking for a subtle, background bass.
matchstikman OP
205 posts
 
The thing that is great about the Vandersteens it the 3 8" drivers. They are small and because of this, very fast. The three of them put together can push alot of air and this probably results in really clean low bass. Stanley Clarke probably sound great through a Vandersteen. Doesn't anyone make a 3 8" driver setup? Yamaha makes one with 2 8", but it is front firing.

I am hoping to get this resolved by the beginning of next year so that I can get back to the whole reason I started this in the first place....to listen to music!
tweekerman
473 posts
 
Yea that sure is alot of woofer! But more in not always better, most often not. So let me make a recommendation, take a close look at the Peerless XLS 12. If i did not go with W26, that would be other choice. One sub is enough for my 20x20 room. So now i know the OUT on my intergrated can go to the Hypex amp, thus drive the W26. Will order the cabinet from Madisound. Keep in mind whatever distortion is in the Vander 3 woofer sub system, no matter how small %, will be tripled.
bishopwill
369 posts
 
A short time back, the listening group of which I am a member (systems from $3000 to $300,000 and 15,000+ pieces of software) did a shootout between a REL Stentor III and a VMPS Larger Subwoofer with a Marchand xover and Crown K2 amp.

To the absolute amazement of almost all of us, the VMPS won hands down on everything but build quality and appearance. It was just as tight, more musical, MUCH more dynamic, and it integrated seamlessly with a pair of JMLabs Mezzo Utopias. Despite the 10" Volt driver in the REL and the huge no-name drivers in the VMPS, we had no sense that the VMPS ever got behind the MUs. On a homemade digital recording of the organ at St. Philip's Cathedral in Atlanta, the sound of the enormous stopped 32' flues was impressive on the REL but on the VMPS actually created the hair-raising shudder that one experiences when actually in the near presence of the pipes. No subwoofer I've ever heard did this so authentically.

Don't get me wrong, both sounded absolutely superb. In the opinions of a dozen very experienced musicians and listeners, however, the VMPS clearly came out on top.

It was an eye-opener, especially for a confirmed REL lover like me. Maybe Brian Cheney knows something after all.

Anyone else made comparisons of this sort?

will
matchstikman OP
205 posts
 
I've done alot of reading this weekend about subwoofers and I am going to have to check out a Vandersteen this weekend. See what you have done? The Vandersteen is starting to make alot of sense.
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