Lowthers and subwoofers?

You are defeating the purpose of "purity".
Having a sub will either require a crossover or some overlap of frequency. I refuse on principal...

I use a Sunfire sub with my Lowther Medallions. I run the Lowthers full range and set the subs for 60hz crossover. If you do not use subs you will not get much base below 50 to 60 hz. I don't feel there is any compromize at all. The Lowthers are handling with the single driver from 60 all the way up.

Do you want Principal or bass...
No disrespect meant to Elevick, but I'd take bass. The sub having its own amp, takes away ruining your full range driver. Of course, careful set up with room placement, crossover frequency, maybe a phasing dial, but in the end, I would take the subwoofer, no question for me... I hope I still have principals.

I had heard, maybe a dozen times, a pair of Beauhorns with RELs and the RELs just seemed slower, you could easily hear them. Just from these experiences my choice would never be a REL but with that being said I'm sure there are other subs that could be better integrated.

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And perhaps it wasn't the RELs but the set up. If you turn them up to where you "hear them" they are too loud and most people tend to turn the subs up too loud.

It can be done and it can be very good but like all things it requires careful setup.

A relatively low cost solution is the Vandersteen sub, I used a pair of those one time with Lowthers and thought it was very good.

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Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I'm expecting my Lowther speakers to arrive in late August. Not sure what to expect, but I wanted to hear what others have experienced.

Bass horn not subwoofer. These match up much better with fullranges like Lowther.

I agree with John on this. You can use a regular sub, but getting a good match is tough, and usually expensive.

There are quite a few threads on this on DIYAudio.com. It may behove you to become a member there also.