Magnepan 20.7 and Subs

Bdp-24 - When properly powered there is no speaker that does drums as well as a large maggie.  

My two cents about subs and Maggies.  I have had 5 pairs of maggies, currently 3.5s with Mye stands which were rebuilt by Magnepan last year.  I have always used my Maggies with various velodynes and now Rythmik.  I have run them full range with the subs rolling off in the high 30hz range, and crossed over.  

In my experience, Maggies work best high passed with the subwoofer picking up the bottom two octaves (20-80hz).  They are more open and it helps eliminate the large bass resonance that Maggies have in the 40-50hz range, depending on the model.  The key I found was a good a crossover, otherwise the Maggies just sound veiled.  In my case, an NHT active crossover (X2), that is fully balanced provided the necessary transparency to work well.  The First Watt crossover is supposed be excellent, but is single ended only and about $1500.   

I should add, that while Maggies can output into the 30hz range, their output capability is limited.  I have slapped the panels on every pair of maggies I have had when turned up and trying to reproduce lower frequency information.  A crossover and outboard subs eliminates this issue.  That said, I primary listen to modern music which often has high levels of bass, whether synthesized or due to the mix.