musical small sub for B&W 805s's

I used a pair of the old smaller Hsu passive subs and had good luck. They are the round ones with the 10" woofer. I use REL Stadiums with my Spendor SP-1/2 Es and they work very well. I use my main speakers full range and cross the subs over as low as possible. Try running the 805s full range and crossing the sub over at 30-40 Hz. It may be too big to match the 805s but I think that doing this would give it the best chance. REL works very well, they use a 10" Volt driver. If you look at them look at the S series [ Stadium, Storm , Strata] rather than the Q series , which is intended for home theater. I think that the small main , subwoofer route is the best way to go for many , if not most, people for just the reasons you gave. It is also easier to get maximum performance in most rooms with such a system. I have much larger speakers [Spendor S-100, Apogee Duetta Signatures] but am not using them. Good luck.

Thanks Stanwal!
What about the T series? I was going to look at the t2's

There are quite a number of very good options for small musical subs. It will depend on your budget and room size. You may want to check out something like the Velodyne DD10, some of the smaller MartinLogan subs, or the ACI Force XL to name just a few.

I would stay with the S series. REL has recently changed hands and they have brought out some new product lines; the S series is well established. There are several Strata and Storm available. I just bought the Stadium 111 listed there. I also bought my Stadium 11 used. It is better, but not essential, to have one for each channel. A good 10" will produce very good bass, the Stadium 111 is down 6db at 12 Hz. They typically produce about 105 db at one meter which is about what the 805s do so they will work in any room that the 805s work in. I also have a pair of woofers that have 8 12" Volts between them , they will , of course, play louder but the bass quality is similar. The problem with larger woofers is that they are slower than smaller ones. The difference between my advice and Bob's is that I actually have the speakers and am not looking at the spec sheet. I never heard a spec sheet that sounded good.

Sorry Bob , I did not see you last posting in our other discussion and was unnessarly snippy. Bob and I have a difference of opinion about which is the better way of hooking up subs. If you get a REL you can try both and see for yourself. Everyone hears in a different way, the sound waves are the same but what we hear is not.

B Reynolds is right. I have had the same speakers and sub for 2 years. After lots of equipment flowed through my system, I recently played around with both main speaker and sub positioning. Finally I have the continuousness that I was looking for.

The TBI subs described at musicalsubwoofers.com can integrate seamlessly with some speakers (I've heard great results with Merlin TSMs and Reynauds at a local dealer). Well reviewed (at 6 Moons) and IMHO worth checking out.

Good Luck,

Marty

Just a quick heads up:

Velodyne has discontinued the SPL-R line (was their "deluxe" models) and they are available at steep discounts. The 8" model was listed at app. $1200, now Audio Advisor is selling them at $600. The larger driver models are available at similar discounts. These all include the 6 band PEQs and auto EQ and are probably worth checking out.

Marty

Bob_reynolds: What active crossover and subs have you used (manufacturer and model) and what dictated your choice as opposed to other options?

The problem with larger woofers is that they are slower than smaller ones.

I am not sure where this concept started but there are many who share this view.

IMHO, the single biggest factor in fast or slow designs is the speaker Q or resonance. Overdamped (Q of about 0.5) sound fastest whilst critically damped speakers (0.7) sound moderately fast and underdamped designs (Q of 1.1 and higher) tend to sound slow and often boomy. Unfortunately, the lowest Q designs are the least efficient and therefore they are hard to find. REL appears to be a low Q design (it has low group delay) and this, IMHO, probably has more to do with why they sound more musical than other subs (not woofer size).

I've been using a Velodyne DD-10 with my Signature 805's
for a couple of years now. Depending on the size of your
room they might fit the bill. The software equalization
program that comes with the DD series certainly helps in
integrating the sub to the room.

Good luck