Sorry I'm late to the party, lol. Haven't been on as much as I recover from surgery etc.. still. I'm a Quatro owner and went that route because I needed the bass EQ. I'm sure Tomic and others have gone over the V advantage of the Sub amps taking on the sonic signature of any main amp it works with. The cross over also allows the main amps to only have to process 100hz and up, so that really frees them up to sound even better than they normally would. Once I installed the Quatro's I noticed my Ayre AX5/20 sounded noticeably better as it was more relaxed and much more dynamic. That was a huge issue for me and it was an extra benefit for me. This is a huge reason I love his subs, even the ones without the EQ like the new ones do.
I know this gets discussed a lot, but it needs to be. I also like the 3 8" woofers for their speed. I have heard the 2wq's a lot and feel they go plenty deep in a room that can handle it. Most rooms can't handle ultra powerful sub bass. Standing waves and other excited room nodes (around 50hz) really screw up the sound. Like Wolf and others, I dislike all the high end DSD I've listened to.
I do recommend 2 subs no matter what you go with. The eq V subs are going to most easily fit into any room. That's why I upgraded to the Quatro from my beloved Treo's. Never looked back. |
Thanks for sharing. I do love my Quatro upgraded from the Treo. Just smoothing out the bass has helped teh sound tremendously. I have heard a substantial upgrade in the sound of my amp now that it doesn't have to do any heavy lifting below 100hz.
I auditioned most things under the sun and didn't like the speakers that used DSP as I always heard it unlike the analog approach Vandersteen is still using.
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Funny as I've been ready to get the Audioquest power cables, but am thinking I really need to get my acoustics down first. That will make a larger upgrade in sound than even great power cords regardless of how great they are (they too are a component upgrade). |
To the good people on this thread, I have been very happy with the 11 band eq Richard uses in my Quatro's as it really fixed the problems I was having. Very very happy with the sound that I'm getting in a very difficult room. I look forward to fixing up some of the room acoustics in the next few months hopefully.
Those 9's are sick for sure. Tomic, I can't wait for your's to get installed. LOL.....I'm going to audition his new amps when they are ready and figure out if it's worth upgrading, lol....So many cool toys to play with now. |
There are a few ways to get what you want for bass. Nothing is difficult in set up, but it will take time to get it right no matter what you have. Integrating a sub can be difficult. I personally do like EQ (analog) as it smoothed out the bass performance in my room GREATLY. It made a huge difference. I also like the Vandy subs because they take on the sound signature of any amp that they are crossed over with. I don't know of any other subs that do that and it make a nice difference to my ears.
I read so many talking about an array of 4 subs. that sure can help, but 2 subs are already a big advantage over one and 4 gives flatter response IF the sub has no other way to EQ the problems remaining. 2 quality subs with room EQ will trump most 4 sub systems. We are also talking a more wife friendly room (I too like a cleaner looking room now days). Another problem never mentioned is when the subs have drivers pointing into the listening space or ports the sidebands as these have a negative impact on imaging and sound stage. Again, this is something that is never discussed, but very real.
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Great thread. I personally listen with my ears and then make decisions. I have owned the first Treo's adn now own the Quatro CT painted (an option for the Treo on up and worth it if you love the painted look).
What Richard has done with carbon fiber and drivers is amazing. He has designed and built his own cones and sends them out to be finished by a top manufacturer. That's proprietary to say the least and it shows in the sound. Those 7's to my ears are as good or better than anything I've heard. He actually spend a lot of time and money using different CF fabrics to chose the one he felt was teh best sounding. It's actually similar to the fabric that is used in my walking sticks (I have MS and use a rollator, but have sticks to get around in the house when needed etc...).
The 9's are very special subs in their CF build to their ability to fill large spaces etc... The new Sub 3's are affordable and have built in EQ as we spoke about earlier. Set up properly, they will smooth out the bass just as good as a swarm or any of the subs.
What the swarm is, can be done with any sub. I personally would rather just get two great subs rather than 4 subs that may or may not sound as good. Just because a sub can be purchased for half of the cost of another one doesn't mean it will sound nearly as good as the other one.
I have a close audio buddy who auditioned the AK swarm vs many other subs and went with the Vandy 2's. It's always a personal choice as we know. Back to listening.
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How is it sounding???? ;) |
I loved those Quads. I will never forget hearing them for the first time. It was an eye opener. I also remember falling in love with a large Maggie panel back in 1991 or so with my EX in Newport, RI if I recall. Then the Apogees in the mid 90's. Funny as I don't like the Martin Logan stats. |
yes we have had that Apogee discussion, lol. Those little Stages for the money were money, lmao. The only subs I liked on Apogees were Apogees. lol.
To my ear, it doesn't matter who's subs you are using and what size they are, they just don't mate with the fast panels I've heard. When you speak about subs with anything above 150hz, I totally agree. they need to be crossed over in the 100hz range or so. It's not hard to do. With larger panels I honestly, don't mind just using the bass they have and letting it go as is. I"m sure that I'll get to hear Richards new Sub 9's on the large Maggies. They are fast as heck in the way he designed them, but like the AK's that I haven't heard, I can't comment until I have. |
Rich, I listen to some cool new EMD stuff from Europe that my IEM buddies will send me. Some info down below the 35hz range. The Quatro's are crushing it to be honest. One of my friends purchased 2 more of the older Vandersteen subs and set it up the same way the Swarm deal talks about and he's in love. Said he's in shock at how awesome the bass is with his Treo's. He's said he may get the newer subs with the 11 band EQ like I have on the Quatros. We measured the bass in my room and it's pretty darn flat. I may someday add subs, but getting Richards new mono blocks as soon as he gets them going (soon he said). I want those in my system, lol. Also the Thunder power cords are just about on order (need to just call to place order). These Hurricane power cords have taken the system to a new level. Noble, you should get a pair, lol. they will shock you I bet. The Thunder may be all you need for the subs, especially if you are only running them that low. |
LMAO...Those were one of the first high end speakers I heard when I was 9. The local guy where I bought my Yamaha YP211 TT/Grado cart, Yamaha CR 620 receiver and locally made/sold 3 way speakers carried Klipsch. he had phase linear and Crown too. That's what he drove them with. He also used a small tube amp, who's name I will never remember. Corner horns were unreal. Friends of mine got Heresey's . I turned a lot of guys into audiophiles back in the day, lmao.. |
I loved those old Denon TT's. They looked great and were built like tanks, lol. I used only Technic's and Stanton cart when DJ'ing or at the radio station. |
