Maggies and subwoofer integration

The planar speakers are so fast and most subwoofers are so slow. '

My HSU subwoofer is as fast as any planar, when well integrated.  When poorly integrated it's a hot mess and not worth the electric bill.

I’ll counter that 90% of the time I’ve heard subwoofers they were not well integrated, so of course I’m not surprised that adding a subwoofer to a maggie by most sounds bad.

The issue IMHO is the TCO (total cost of ownership) of a sub is a lot higher than expected. Placement, measurement and EQ as well as acoustic treatments are often all needed to get to done. Most consumers want to drop the subwoofer in a convenient place and set the volume and call it a day.

I will say though, that subwoofers are often the last step on a list, not the first, that audiophiles should consider. Make sure your room is as well treated as you can stand. Often this tilts the balance towards the bass and makes a lot of speakers sound much larger. THEN if you still want a sub go get one. You’ll be in a much better place. Be prepared to get bass traps in the corners or soffits, and have a flexible EQ solution for the sub, whether built in or by using a miniDSP.

I can’t repeat enough that good room treatment will make most speakers sound much larger and more dynamic.

Thanks guys. Definitely a subwoofer adds and enhances the soundstsge. I’ll probably set it to 50-60HZ and low gain as possible.

THe subwoofer only works if it’s integrated well, and setting it as low as possible is just proof it’s not integrated well. Don’t walk on eggshells for fear of ruining your main speaker sound. Do it right. Measure, EQ and get your bass to a reasonable level, often 3db higher than your mains with a descening slope from 16Hz to 80 Hz about 1-2 db per octave.

Go for broke and don't stop until it sounds GLORIOUS.  Don't settle for a small incremental improvement.

The only issue I have ever seen with "speed" is not "speed" but bad room integration.  Unfortunately we get fooled into thinking the specs tell us anything about how the system is performing in room, and it's a hot mess when actually installed.

Measurements, bass traps and EQ on the subs are the tools you need. I can make any 15" sub with decent output sound fast enough.

You want to go as high as you can for crossover point, 80 Hz is even better. The more you can relieve the main speakers the less distortion.

Yes, you can run full range to the sub, so either output will work but also, you can use a single cap to create a high pass to your Maggies which would be beneficial and easy to do.  Just need to know the amp input impedance.