forget the subs. you will be much happier with a pair of full-range speakers, particularly given your penchant for classical music (which i assume includes large orchestral pieces). i've had a number of very highend monitor/sub systems; none has been as coherent as good full-range speakers. BTW, the same is true, in my experience, with hybrid electrostatic/dynamic speakers. and, yes i've owned these, too. -kelly |
Cornfedboy, he is looking for advice with the equipment he has not advice on what he should sell or buy.
I love the pinpoint accuracy of a great monitor. I recently purchased the Wilson Audio Cub II's. I could have purchased the Wilson Audio 6'es if I wanted; I just enjoyed the Cubs more. I already own the Mirage 12" sub, which was about three years old. My Cubs are way to fast for this sub. I was waiting for the new Wilson Watch Dog to come out and was prepared to purchase it. I was not exactly excited about spending $10,000 for a sub, (to be honest, I was very excited about spending 10k on the sub, it was my wife that was less than excited about it) that would have put me back in the price range of the Wilson 6'es, which I was completely ok with. I felt I would have the best of both worlds, pinpoint accuracy on some types of music and a perfectly matched sub for more demanding music. Last month Audio Revolution did a very interesting review of the Revel 15B, they even had a picture of them testing this sub with the Wilson 6es. (For all the audiophiles that hate Wilson Audio, save your threads, I know, Wilson Audio sucks!) I immediately went out to have a listen and ended up purchasing the Revel 15B. Is this the very best sub out there, NO, but it is an excellent sub for the money. I hope this helps. |
I have excellent success with a pair of ProAc Tab50 Signature with a pair of REL Storm III.
Your milege and demand varys, I enjoy anywhere from
full scale orchestral to Bach partitas and Chopin Ballad
to Sonny Rollins and other international pops music.
REL offers faily flexible setting to blend in with the
monitor. I previously had much bigger Entec but I found
REL Storm III very easy to use and somewhat warmer and
with better details then the l2-f2.
I would expect the Storm work well with the Silver Signature too. Check them out.
If $ not an issue, step up one model to the Studio. |
I recently spoke to the owner of Janis Audio, who specializes in subwoofers for audio (not theater). I have a 1/A sub amp and crossover. The main goal of Janis is to integrate a sub to the point that you can't tell it is there. The Janis equipment is of such high quality that it is not only transparent but, you can match up any reasonable equipment. Call there and see for yourself.
Emery
Janis-718-892-7419 |
Bis188, as an owner of ProAc Tablette 50 Sigs I'm very envious of your subwoofer arrangement. I'm running my Tab 50s with an older NHT SW3P sub. The two RELs must be pretty damn sweet. Incidentally, how are they placed in your listening room?
Slartibartfast, getting even just one REL will put you on the path to musical happiness. RELs and ACI Titans integrate very well with monitors, and I'm sure you'll be able to get them to blend with your B&W Silver Signature 30s. |
cornfedboy, i usually agree w/yer comments, but not this time - as the best, most expensive full-range speeks usually come *standard* as monitor/sub set-ups, i don't tink yer argument holds much water here. i tink coherency of sound is *much* easier w/the low frequencies separated from the monitors - ewe can set up the monitors for optimal image/soundstage, & the subs for optimal bass response. when they're in the same box, one is usually compromised. slartibartfast, i tink yure on the rite track, especially if ya like the sound of yer b&w's. definitely get two subs. personally, i like the vmps larger subs, & the marchand xm-9 deluxe crossover. great flexibility, great transparency, unbeatable true bass response - accurate, deep, tight. paired w/any decent used solid-state amplification, ewe could spend over twice as much money, & not get as good a bass-response, as well integrated w/yer monitors.... my opinion of course... ;~) doug s. |
Sedond, I have heard about the VMP subs, but don't know anything about them. Are they a passive sub you matched to the Marchand crossover? Do you think a relatively inexpensive amp like the NAD 218 [250wpc] would do a decent job running a pair of VMPs? |
Whoops! I think I mean the NAD 208 amp. |
hi gunbei, yes, the vmps subs are not amplified - czech out vmps' www for info about their subs. i know ya don't listen to specs, but it's a good place to start for subwoofers, & the vmps larger sub has about the lowest distortion/highest spl of any sub in the industry. also goes down to 17hz. for smaller rooms, the original subwoofer (or even the smaller subwoofer) wood be plenty, especially if ya get a pair. re: amplification, i am more than happy w/a pair of original (rackmount faceplate, usa-made) adcom gfa555's driving my subs. i was running 'em bridged, but w/all the recent talk on this site about bridging an amp effectively making the load it sees halve, i recently switched 'em back to stereo, & yust use one channel of each amp for the subs. as my older-model upright-style larger subs are rated @95db/1w/1m, the 325w at 4 ohms put out by one channel of the 555 is plenty. and, sure enuff, the control of the amp over the speek is yust that much better in stereo-mode. as the latest models of vmps subs are ~92-93db/1w/1m into 4 ohms, (not sure exactly), i'm sure your nad amp wood be more than up to the task of driving any vmps subs. hope this helps, doug *woodn't trade my sub set-up for *any* pair of rels or velodynes* sedon ps - mebbe i'd spring for a pair of the largest genesis subwoofer towers, if i had the $$$... ;~) |
As a follow up to my post earlier, I stated that I was going to purchase the Revel 15B. My dealer finally got the Wilson Watch Dog in. I compared the Watch Dog against the Revel 15B and the Revel holds it own, but I have decided to go with the Wilson Watch Dog, I think it will be a more seamless fit with my Wilson Cubs II. |
Before you do that, check out the REL's. |
chris, whichever model ya choose, i tink yule be better off w/two. better soundstaging, better integration w/your monitors, lower distortion for any given spl - *every* aspect of bass response improves w/a stereo pair of subs. ymmv, doug s. |
