subwoofer for Spendor SA1?

[admin_exported]

looking for 'budget' subwoofer which will integrate well with SA1s. this will be an all music system, no movies. would the Mordaunt Short 309 work ok? how about the velodyne VX10 series II? (yeah I'm talking about 'cheap' here!)

I just got the SA1 and they've been running for around less than 8 hours. to say the least they currently don't sound that good 🙁 I've been moving them around about every hour in hope of finding that perfect spot but in vain! hopefully after it burns in it'll sound better! how many hours does it usually take to burn in these speakers?

thanks in advance for any advices!

 

[Anonymous]

IMPOSSIBLE!!! NO Wait, there is a man, goes by the name Igglebass or something. Yes, he has the answer.....

 

[Anonymous]

Igglebert has a sub and some SA-1, whether they are used together, you'll have to ask!

 

[chebby]

...

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:volumezero:
I just got the SA1 and they've been running for around less than 8 hours. to say the least they currently don't sound that good 🙁 I've been moving them around about every hour in hope of finding that perfect spot but in vain! hopefully after it burns in it'll sound better! how many hours does it usually take to burn in these speakers?

thanks in advance for any advices!

In my experience the speakers should sound good before you buy them (during a dealer or home demo) and get better after a 'run-in' period. Good speakers should not require a 'perfect spot' to sound good. All speaker systems have a 'sweet spot' but should NOT sound bad outside of it. Rushing around 8 hours after purchase finding add-ons like subwoofers to fill in for deficiencies is not good. I suggest that you listen to some speakers posessed of better/more bass before your dealer's product return period expires.

You could position the 'speakers face to face and connect one box out of phase (+ve to -ve and -ve to +ve on just one of the boxes) and play a CD on random selection, continuously (whilst you are asleep or at work) to hasten the warm-up process. Being out of phase and facing each other at very close distance (a couple of inches) means the system will be very quiet because all the loudest sounds are cancelling each other out. Just remember to reconnect the speakers correctly before normal listening resumes!

I audtioned the speakers at the dealer previous to the purchase and they sounded decent even in a room not acoustically optimal. Prior to the purchase I knew that these speakers were not the last word on bass extension. I could probably live with them without a subwoofer but would like to experiment/play around with a subwoofer as I've never owned one and hence would hopefully be able to do so with a budget one.

They don't sound that bad even outside the sweet spot but I just hoped they would sound better. I came from a previous pair of Merlin TSMs which sounded great but were considerably more expensive than the SA1s (+bass went down to ~50Hz as opposed to 75Hz). However, after re-positioning the Spendors again, they do sound better. Another thing is I believe the SA1 stands are low mass but I'm currently using them with the Osiris high mass stands which previously supported the Merlins. I believe this could also be a factor. The dealer tried the SA1s with Padington stands which were a bit heavier than the custom SA1 stands and noticed that the heavier stands 'muddied' up the mids. this could also be what i'm experiencing.

Thanks for the tip on burn in

now... pinging Mr. Igglebert!

 

[professorhat]

chebby:In my experience the speakers should sound good before you buy them (during a dealer or home demo) and get better after a 'run-in' period.
I agree with you - of course if you listen to a run-in pair at a dealer, then get a brand new set at home, this doesn't apply since you already heard them at their best at the dealers. Thus you have to wait for them to run-in before hearing them as you did at the dealership...

 

[Anonymous]

Morning all. Gosh, somebody else has bought the SA1s, I thought I was the sole owner in the UK! You're right about the stands. I started off with filled metal stands but have found that empty is best. I also had problems getting the stands to have a decent contact with the floor but after a lot of messing about good contact made a difference. I have mine toed in slightly. In terms of run in period, I could swear that they opened up over the first 50 or so hours but I have no idea if that was placebo or not. Coming from MA RS1s it took me a while to get used to their presentation but now I can't bear to listen to the RS1s!

As to the sub, I use a Rel Quake (£350 ish) some of the time but I find it's a little too slow for my liking and booms a bit too much. I've spent many hours trying to tune it and dampen it, etc, but I need to spend more cash. I'm unsure whether a different amp would help this because I use high-level outputs off the speaker connectors (a feed is sent to the active sub but I don't know if this has any bearing over sound quality from the sub). The biggest benefit I've found is that it gives the upper bass a bit more bounce and punch.

I would look to spending as much as you can but def no less than £3-400. A lot will be down to taste and room acoustics so see if you can borrow one from a dealer. Veldyne are a good make so investigate them. If you're anything like me you'll have spells of listening with the sub and spells without. At least it leaves you the option!

What amp and CDP do you use? Let us know how you get on.

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

Only two of us are using the SA1? why isn't it popular?

they've been running for about 10 hours now and I find them to be revealing of the recording. I suspect that after next week they should be run in sufficiently...

I'm currently powering them with conrad johnson amp about 80 watts. I hope to hook them up to my Levinsons 333 when i have some time. I suspect the power of the Levinsons should really open them up.

I'll look for something around 400 pounds but actually hoped to spend less... perhaps I will do without a sub for a while.

thanks for all the feedback!

 

[Dr Beat]

Hi er Iggs

Dr Beat here. After some delays with the local Singapore dealer for Spendor, and some emails to Spendor UK, i finally got my SA1 yesterday noon. I waited 3 months for it. I am currently breaking them in. i have had them playing from my continuous CD play for 12 hours now. How long did you take breaking them in?

I have them sitting on my stands. Connections through my Cyrus speaker wires. My DAC XP, X Power and XTse seem to play ok. But i noticed that the HF and mids get better after the first 5 hours and my LF , better after the 12 hours.

I also noticed that when i partnered with my old Mission M52 floorstanders, the Cyrus was very bassy and a bit sharp on the HF. But still solid sounds. Perhaps, the Cyrus set up suits a floorstander?

Anyway, just wanted to also tell you that i have added a Wadia i70 iPod transporter and the ipod really sings. YOu can also cheat by setting the EQ on the iPod to Latin or R&B set up to increase the bass frequency. It was better than the Rdock i have. The Wadia provides a sound that comes very, very close to the CD player. Ipod is all on Lossless 30-40MB files.

BTW, do you think i should add a Sub woofer to my set up to boost the bass if i feel the SA1 cant give it to me on some types of music?? Any suggestions??

I appreciate if you can help me tweak the SA1s and bring out the best from them.

Many thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Anonymous]

Good purchase, enjoy them

I thought that after 50 or so hours the SA1s sounded better, with a better bass balance. Did you buy the matching stands? An upgrade I'm looking forward to at some point.

I use mine with the REL Quake sub which is a little bit too slow in my config. They sound very nice with a good sub but you need to bear in mind that getting it's room placement, volume and roll-off point right is critical.

In terms of positioning, mine are two metres apart, slightly toed in and I sit three metres away.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have the spendor s3e's and was wondering about stands. I currently have them on z2 sand filled stands. Do you think I would get a better sound by pouring the sand out or just go for other stands?

I know you have the sa1's, but as they are in the spendor family, I thought the stand issue may be the same.

Phil

 

[drummerman]

volumezero:
Only two of us are using the SA1? why isn't it popular?

they've been running for about 10 hours now and I find them to be revealing of the recording. I suspect that after next week they should be run in sufficiently...

I'm currently powering them with conrad johnson amp about 80 watts. I hope to hook them up to my Levinsons 333 when i have some time. I suspect the power of the Levinsons should really open them up.

I'll look for something around 400 pounds but actually hoped to spend less... perhaps I will do without a sub for a while.

thanks for all the feedback!

Hi

I am using an MJ Acoustics Pro 50 (the original) which I got in Ruark Vita 50 guise new for just over a hundred pounds. It's a small and by todays standards relatively low powered sub with good quality amp and driver. Its fast, tight and integrates smoothly with every speaker I've tried, active or passive, large or small and both reasonably priced and expensive. It's in mine (and the dealers) opinion better than the Rel's for a few hundred pounds.

Should match nicely with your spendors.

regards

 

[Anonymous]

good call dm, i've heard from a few places that the mj is good for the cash and better than the Quake. The Quake seems to be tuned for more bass but it's too slow. For the sa1s I think the budget needs to go a fair bit higher to keep up with their fast nature.

 

[Anonymous]

seduct10n:Hi, I have the spendor s3e's and was wondering about stands. I currently have them on z2 sand filled stands. Do you think I would get a better sound by pouring the sand out or just go for other stands?

I know you have the sa1's, but as they are in the spendor family, I thought the stand issue may be the same.

Phil
No idea i'm afraid. Logic would suggest that the s3 would benefit from a low mass stand too but i've heard about people using Partingtoo Dreadnought stands with them to good success.

 

[drummerman]

igglebert:good call dm, i've heard from a few places that the mj is good for the cash and better than the Quake. The Quake seems to be tuned for more bass but it's too slow. For the sa1s I think the budget needs to go a fair bit higher to keep up with their fast nature.

Hi Igg

I am not a sub expert but its fast, very. Had no problem with PMC's and Totem's. Sealed with a light paper driver.

Perhaps worth trying out for a ton. I don't know anyone else here that uses one at the mo but AndrewEverard used them in the past.

http://www.mjacoustics.co.uk/MJ_Acoustics_Wesbite/reviews/pro50reviews.htm

regards

 

[John Duncan]

Use iTunes as your source and add a little bass boost - worked for me

 

[Anonymous]

Spoken like a true iTunes user...

 

[John Duncan]

"Evangelist", please....

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:"Evangelist", please....

Now you're starting to sound like a 'proper' Apple customer. They don't have customers, just Evangelists and heathens.

 

[John Duncan]

Oh yeah, I take it back - wouldn't want to sound like either of those (dons T-Shirt saying "i could talk about this stuff for hours").

 

[Inter_Voice]

Recently I bought a pair of Piano Black SA1 and is still in the process of running in. The midrange and the highs so far are excellent and I love the music from the speakers. Vocals and sound staging are wonderful and I am sure it will further improve after 50 hrs of running. I can only say SA1 is much much better than my RX-1 which caused fatugue on long time listening. Wihtout doubt SA-1 lacks a bit of lows when playing bass heavy music though I seldom listen to this kind of music, like rocks.

Just a matter of interest I heard from here that OPs are using a subwoofer to take care of the missing lows in SA1. I wonder how this is connected to the stereo amplifier. I do not have AV amplifier and just have my Leema Pulse. I have a good look at the back of MJ Acoustics Pro 50 from the web and find that there is only one RCA input. My question is how the connection can be made? How to cobmine the L and R Channel of the amp and feed to the sub ? From the TAPE out or from the PRE-AMP out? I am confussed

.

 

[Anonymous]

Only two of us are using the SA1? why isn't it popular?

they've been running for about 10 hours now and I find them to be revealing of the recording. I suspect that after next week they should be run in sufficiently...

I'm currently powering them with conrad johnson amp about 80 watts. I hope to hook them up to my Levinsons 333 when i have some time. I suspect the power of the Levinsons should really open them up.

I'll look for something around 400 pounds but actually hoped to spend less... perhaps I will do without a sub for a while.

thanks for all the feedback!

I'm a Brit living in the US and I've recently acquired a pair of Spendor SA 1's, does that count? I think they're not popular because in and A-B demo they won't sound so impressive, its the kind of speaker you need to spend time with to realize its strengths. I also have a pair of Wharfdale Diamond 10.1 which sound more immediate and fuller in bass, they're much more likely to please in a demo situation. Where the Spendor wins is better resolution, subtle nuancing and layering of music which takes extended listening, its really a long game speaker.

 

[Anonymous]

Inter Voice. If you use a model by REL they have a dedicated Neutrik connection that goes back to the same amp terminals as the speakers, theoretically this supplies the Sub with the same signal, then there's the matter of matching response. Best take a look REL site for google REL setup, I found a PDF that explains the hows and whys of their system. As for others I can't comment.

 

[Inter_Voice]

Spectre: Please forgive my ignorance and this is my fist time hearing about Neutrik Speako connection. Will google REL and find out more about Neutrik

.

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Having searched the web now I know how the connection be made. It is quite simple indeed. Thanks.

Anyway I don't need a subwoofer at this stage as the performance of my SA1 is getting better and better after about 20 hrs running in. Hope it can reach its peak after more than 50 hrs running.

 

[Anonymous]

Nothing to forgive.

My experience with the SA 1 run in has been a little longer than 50 hrs, after 200 hrs it gets hard to hear improvement.