SUBWOOFER FOR MUSIC

Aram, I have heard nothing but good things about the musicality of MJ Acoustics Subs. Seem to be very good value for the money. They're made in the UK. www.mjacoustics.com

You may also want to check out M&K subs - I've heard them and they all fall under the fast, tight and low qualifiers.

Good Luck,
Chris

Several British magazines have reviewed it favorably against the similar REL Q150E (which is rated at 20 Hz I believe - though at about -6dB).

My only concern would be room size. My room is 27' x 14' with 8' ceilings and several large doorways. I contacted the owner of the company, Phill Mason, and he said the Pro 50 would suffice in my room, but if I was really playing things at high levels and lots of movies and wanted greater impact he would go with the Pro100.

I am looking for a sub that seems to be similar to what you're looking for. I would like a musical sub (and for occasional movies - but my thought is that if it's great for music, it couldn't be bad for HT), that doesn't take up a lot of space, and is around the $500 price point.

To this point I'm looking at the MJ Pro 50, M&K V75 and the REL Q150E - which is getting a little past my budget. The M&K's and REL's are readily available here. The MJ subs are not in the US yet, but I can still get the Pro 50 to my door for a little over $500.

Let me know how your search goes.

Chris

I'm pretty much set on either the MJ, REL or M&K. All tight and musical. If you're concerned about seamless blending, consider this info I'm using:

REL cutoffs can be set down to 20-25 Hz
MJ Pro 50 can be set down to 40 Hz
M&K down to 50 Hz

Depending on your mains bottom end, the REL may offer a more seamless blend since you can set the cutoff below your mains low end dropoff. If you can't set it at or below, the chances are greater for 'boom' and localization.

I'm trying to limit myself to the $500-600 USD range, which puts the REL slightly out of reach for me.

Chris

I would think that the setting of the cutoff will also depend on other things like room acoustics, amp, etc.

I'm also not sure how they specify that cutoff, but I imagine it is a -3dB point.

Generally speaking, I would estimate that you would want the cutoff on the sub set somewhere near where your speakers roll off to about -6 dB or so. Any higher and I would imagine you are likely to get too much energy in the room at that frequency.

I would imagine your speakers are -3dB at 39 Hz and -6dB somewhere below that (perhaps 35 Hz). The MJ cutoff at 40Hz is probably borderline for you. However, the other factors involved may or may not make it acceptably 'disappear' in your system.

For the pricepoint, I think the MJ is most likely a steal and would be worth a shot for you to try, especially since it's about half the cost of the REL. I would suggest you find a shop that might let you demo the MJ.

I'm not sure about other subs, but at this price point, I doubt there are others that have the same musical performance as the MJ and REL. The only other that comes to mind is the Monitor Audio ASW100? Also with a cutoff at 40Hz and also cheaper than the REL. Or perhaps you can find a used Q150E or an older model like the Q100? Check the cutoff specs first though.

Chris

My mains are Snell E.5s.

If the dealer will let you home demo the MJ, I would try it. All the reviews I read said the unit has very impressive output for its size/amp rating.

Chris

Aram,

Actually, I think the E.5s have very good bass. Accurate, fast and fairly deep. There are a lot of false perceptions on bass. Many coming from some units that lack in low frequency response and are peaked up in the higher bass regions to give the impression that they go low. My only reason for getting a sub is to cover the range below 35 Hz, and mainly for HT.

Chris