Magnepan 1.7 owners and subwoofers


Looking for feedback from Magnepan 1.7 (or 1.6 and 3 series) owners and their opinions of different subwoofers. My criteria is musicality, not output. Convenience is important with remote control a plus. I am looking for new with a cost less tha $1500 and $1000 would be better.

I have tried the ported HSU subwoofer with bad results. I went small with a Polk model 2000 mini sub that was better but did not give me the musicality that I was hoping for.

Convenience of having a remote is important. I was constantly adjusting the sub volume when switching from classical to rock music and sometimes between selections of the same genre. I hate reaching over and adjusting blindly controls on the back of subs only to find out once back in your listening chair that it has been set too low or too high. Two of the four subs I am considering (below) have remotes.

Here are four subs that I am currently looking at:
HSU ULS-15
RSL Speedwoofer - size, convience of remote, price and some nice reviews make this one a top choice for me so far
Rythmic F12 Servo
Velodyne Optimum 12 - has remote and highest list price although through Audiophile Liquidators it will be under $1500 delivered.

Other equipment: Wyred 4 Sound STI 500 and DAC 2 and Netgear 9150 music server. Morrow SP 5 speaker cables, Silnote Interconnects.
ronwills
Rel is agood sub but the Vandersteen 2wq involves a high-pass which is a huge advantage for the pans and the amp driving them. Magnepan and Vandersteen dealer.
If I had those speakers, and wanted more bass, I'g go with the Magnepan bass panels.
Upgrade to the 3.X or 20.x series!

The bass transition from planar to cone speaker is "NEVER" coherent!

Most Magnepan-subwoofer setups suffer from what I call 'timbre mismatch', regardless of the crossover and level settings. And that is made worse by subwoofers that are home theater oriented, tuned for output not musicality. Certainly crossovers with a high-pass and lowpass are preferable, boosting power handling and panel output capabilities. However, my headbanger, tweeter melting days are far behind me, so lack of a high-pass function isn't a deal-breaker for me. 

Stick with the hifi version of the subwoofer offerings, and a smaller driver (8") and your timbre match issues will be minimized. REL and SVS, as well as KEF all have great offerings that meet those requirements.

Coincidentally, my experience with both  Magnepan and powered subwoofers goes back almost 50 years, both as an audio engineer and as an audiophile.