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Maggies with no Sub: Fantastic surprise

OK, I have had Maggies for years, and always had subs with them: Vandersteens, DefTech, Velodyne, JL Audio, Sunfire, SVS Sound, etc...

When using set up software I have measure the lower end to 35 hz consistantly, so then I would take a ton of time and effort placing the subs in the correct spots, and letting the sub or controller (SMS-1) set up the crossover for different locations. I was always looking for that perfect integration for both stereo and LFE effects, so I finally bought a Rel B1 and I am awaiting it's delivery.

In the mean time, I have for the first time ever, been listening to the Maggie 3.6R's without a sub, and I am shocked. My God, there's a lot of bass there. I have a lot of juice going to them (Cary CAD 500 MB's) and Mye Stands, but wow, they really sound great. I'm kind of sorry I bought the Rel now. I think I may just buy a cheap sub for LFE effects on movies and just leave the Maggie's on their own for Stereo.

Anyone else have this experience??

It may all be amp related, but I will now dispute anyone who says Maggies have no low end authority. I am shocked that much of the low end bass I thought was coming from the subs over the years was actually coming from the Maggies!!
macdadtexas

Showing 4 responses by martykl

martykl
3,578 posts
 
I used to own 3.5s and the issue was never insufficient bass. Getting smooth bass response was always the problem for me - probably because of room matching issues. I eventually moved on from the 3.5s. In my current room, the SMS/Rythmik sub/MMG combo provides much smoother response below 100hz than I was ever able to wring out of the 3.5s stand alone. I'm not suggesting that this is relevant to your situation - different room & different speaker - just my experience.

Marty
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Mac,

A lot of your experience with removing subs could be explained by the x-over frequency you were using prior to losing the subs. If you were crossing at lower than 50-60 cps, I'm not surprised that there's little difference in "slam" w/o the subs. The Maggies were doing (very nearly) all the work in the "slam" region, anyway. Unless your program material was unusual (pipe organ, a handful of solo piano recordings, etc), the subs were doing a different job (adding weight, ambience, and mid-bass "clean-up").

If you were crossing above 70hz, you'd probably hear a more obvious difference in "slam". Even that, however, will depend on program choice. For kicks, try crossing the subs at >100hz with the SMS, then remove them. In this case, you'll hear the effect with a lot of recordings.

Marty
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Eldartford,

What frequency do you cross at? I agree with your notion of "punch" and further agree that subs usually work best as woofer/subs, rather than as pure sub bass extension "enhancers".

I suspect that most systems will get the greatest benefit out of subs between 35hz (not too much music below that frequency) and 80 to 120hz (depending on the room). I use EQ below 80hz, but - in the right room - merely choosing optimal subwoofer placement can win half the battle.

Marty
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Eldartford,

That is definitely a "thinking outside the box" solution, and you can count me impressed with your "better mousetrap". Might be more work than most are willing to do, but I'm sure it's been quite rewarding to work through the process of optimizing the system to program content.

Marty
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