Can I have my cake and eat it? Suitable sub sought.

[admin_exported]

Here's my system:

Cambridge 540C v2
Project Debut III
Marantz PM6002
Epos M5

I love the sound I've got, with the punchy, agile bass from the Epos M5s. However, there are times when I'd like a bit more bass extension, e.g. when listening to the likes of Groove Armada or Massive Attack. Hence I've been thinking about adding a sub. Two questions:

1) Is it possible to have my cake and eat it, i.e. get bass extension with a sub without ruining the qualities that I love about my speakers?

2) If so, would the Epos ELS sub integrate with my system? Obviously the ELS line is lower down the food chain than the M line, but the price difference is quite pronounced at the moment: ELS can be had for £200 whilst the M sub is £500. The specs look fairly similar on paper.

Any other suggestions gratefully received, but I'm on a tight budget and do not like buying this kind of stuff from ebay.

Ta very much.

EDIT: Just to be clear, the price for the ELS above is reduced from an original £380, which I think would put it in the budget, but not super-budget, category in terms of quality.

 

[Anonymous]

1) Yes, most of the time. Depending on the sub and it's placement you might find yourself tweaking it's settings or turning it off occasionally. I think the biggest danger is that it may boom with some music at particular frequencies. That said, I enjoy mine. A friend pointed out that my perfectionist personality leads me to playing with the sub far too much when I should be listening to music...ho hum.

2) Get the best you can afford. IMO I would go for a better used one than a new cheaper one. Have a look around and see if you can find a REL R series or Veldyne SPL R series.

Enjoy - it's pretty addictive stuff!

 

[fr0g]

Agree with Igglebert. Dont let anyone tell you a sub isnt hifi (which I get occaisionally).
Pick the right one, tune it so it sounds as though the sound is from your speakers, and off you go.

 

[Drummerdave]

Look at the BK XLS200 at £289

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. A question about hooking it up. The Marantz PM6002 doesn't have a pre out, so I'll be plumbing the sub in via the high-level inputs.

I currently have my speakers biwired using both sets of terminals (i.e. both Speaker A and Speaker B circuits activated to drive the speakers). It seems to me that the neatest solution would be to rearrange things so that I'm biwiring the speakers off one circuit and running the sub off the other. Is this an acceptable way to go about it?

 

[Big Chris]

That's what I'd do. Biwire the regular speakers from terminal 'A'. Attach the sub to terminal 'B'. Then you can dial out the sub with ease whenever you want to listen late at night, or at generally lower volumes.

 

[fr0g]

Big Chris:That's what I'd do. Biwire the regular speakers from terminal 'A'. Attach the sub to terminal 'B'. Then you can dial out the sub with ease whenever you want to listen late at night, or at generally lower volumes.

Now thats interesting. I find I turn the sub up at night, and lower volumes, as a sort of 'loudness' button. Its the bass frequencies that suffer listening quietly.

 

[Big Chris]

fr0g:Big Chris:That's what I'd do. Biwire the regular speakers from terminal 'A'. Attach the sub to terminal 'B'. Then you can dial out the sub with ease whenever you want to listen late at night, or at generally lower volumes.

Now thats interesting. I find I turn the sub up at night, and lower volumes, as a sort of 'loudness' button. Its the bass frequencies that suffer listening quietly.

Gotcha. I guess I was just thinking about the neighbours!

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers, I have an ELS on order, I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[Anonymous]

tractorboy:Cheers, I have an ELS on order, I'll let you know how I get on.

Prepare to eat cake. Cake with lots of icing and a big cherry on top...

 

[Anonymous]

So, I now have my sub (Epos ELS).

First impressions (in the shop): gosh that's a large box. And does it really say 24kg on the side? Hmm. This is probably the largest amount of hi-fi equipment by weight you can get for £200 at the moment.

Second impressions, (at home... finally and with a slightly sore back... and unpacked): my God, it's huge! I'm a sub virgin by the way, so wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

Third impressions (hooked up and running): very positive actually. It's a lot more subtle than I was expecting, and I mean that in a good way. It fills out the lower frequencies nicely without bogging down the speakers (Epos M5) and integrates so nicely that you really wouldn't know it was there... were it not for the huge lump sitting next to the telly. This is one upgrade that you're not going to be able to slip past your significant other. Mind you, my other half is so vigilant that she clocked my diminutive headphone amp within 10 seconds of walking in the room when I first got it.

I'm going to have to have a twiddle with the various knobs at the back at the weekend (it has phase and both high and low filters), but things are sounding good.