Subwoofer to support monitors for stereo music

[kusum65]

This is something ive been meaning to do for a couple of years now and recently i marched of to my local hi fi shop to try a sub with my speakers. I dropped of my neutron 5 s in the morning but when i went later in the day to audition them they hadnt set them up and couldnt switch easily from sub on sub of so i still dont know if a subwoofer is what im looking for.

As an experiment im going to blow £100-150 second hand on one and play about with it. If its a success then i will think about buying a more expensive unit in the future. I just want an extra octave of base when needed and to let the midrange breath a bit. I dont need a floor shaker and dont need it for movies.

If anyone has a suggested model id be grateful.

 

[drummerman]

Probably the best 'accessory' I bought. Made a positive impact on every system I used, from small standmounts to floorstanders.

Ruark Vita 50

 

[kusum65]

Thanks for the tip. Is it still in production or is it a matter of watching e bay?

 

[Big Chris]

I too use my sub for Hi-Fi as well as A/V. Made a big difference to the sound.

I love it and I doubt very much I'll go back to regular 2.0 stereo in the future.

You'll be lucky to find my sub for £150 though

 

[drummerman]

Not by Ruark but I think it's still available in some form.

 

[kusum65]

Chris id be happy to buy a PV1 if i knew it worked in my system/room. A mate of mine had one with his stereo system and it was the first time i had heard a sub integrate rather than the usual Wub Wub in the corner. However , he bought the system all in one from a reputable London dealer who even set it up for him.

Im just being cautious and dont want to lose a lot of money on a failed experiment if that makes sense. I am optimistic however , from two positive responses by people who have actually used a sub in a similar set up with such good results.

 

[kusum65]

Having searched a bit it looks like im looking for a MJ acoustic or BK Gemini if im not mistaken. That will do me nicely , thanks for you direction.

 

[bretty]

I bought my REL STRATA II from e-bay, for £160. It's a very, very good sub for hi fi use. There's usually a fair selection of REL on the bay. Look for the STRATA series though, not the QUAKE, which are designed more for Home Cinema use and as such, are full of muscle, but aren't as agile or musical.

 

[bretty]

If you're able to push the budget, and want a stunning sub, there's a beautiful STRATA 5 at Steve's hi fi, going for £395.

 

[drummerman]

kusum65:Having searched a bit it looks like im looking for a MJ acoustic or BK Gemini if im not mistaken. That will do me nicely , thanks for you direction.

That'll be the one.

 

[kusum65]

Thanks , i will look into the Strata

 

[Anonymous]

I use a REL Quake and it works well for the money. It's a sealed unit with a downward firing driver which makes it a) less boomy than ported designs and b) easy to place. It's only small but I can imagine that the purchase of Neutrons was for a small room. The Quake can be had for £150 ish, used. A top tip if you get one is to stack some weight on the top of it once levelled. It tightens things up and seems to give the cabinet the mass that it always wanted in the first place.

 

[kusum65]

3 top tips actually . Ive never given thought to ported or non ported and i didnt know their was any diference between down firing and side firing . All a bit clearer now , ta very much.

 

[bretty]

Igg's tip of putting weight on the sub is a good one. I use a 15kg black cast iron barbell weight. Same tip goes for your speakers, too. I have big ol' church candles resting on 5kg weights on mine.

 

[drummerman]

Whatever you get, fast and precise is what you need for music. Nothing worse than plodding, overhanging bass ... to my ears. Let the forum know how you get on. There are a few here that are adverse to the idea of a subwoofer for stereo and sometimes seem to look in the wrong direction for a solution.

 

[Anonymous]

Getting a sub set up for the system, the room, the music and your tastes is a bit of a black art (to me anyway). If you have any incling towards OCD then you might want to steer clear

I found that despite my speakers rolling off at 70Hz or so, the sub's crossover is set to less than 40Hz. This seems to work in my room, possibly because of room reinforcement of the main speakers or possibly because I'm weird and deaf and can't possibly spot a gaping hole in my bass. Whatever makes you happy really!

It's really nice to be able to turn it off sometimes. Also to turn it up for movies. Anyway, have fun...

 

[kusum65]

Going to experiment with a couple of marble cut offs on top of my speakers out of curiosity.

Theres a Mj 50 mk1 on e bay at the moment close to home. The mark one is only 50w so im having 2nd thoughts. £200 new beefier Gemini might be more successful.

In terms of room placement is there any point in room softwars and a mike. That isnt as expensive as it sounds but it could be either very complex or really useful. Hard to tell.

 

[Anonymous]

I reckon that MJ is on the money you know. It was said at the time I bought the Quake that the MJ Acoustics version was slightly better for music, despite looking like a clone!

EDIT That may have been the MKII though. Still, for the right money might be worth a try.

 

[kusum65]

The simple theory of power is more watts the louder it goes. Thats how i used to think any way. So on that simple understanding if youre just underpinning the main speakers and closing down the volume until you cant hear it on a sub as you would with music then low power isnt a concern. But low watts normally means lower bass Mmm. Tricky one.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's tricky because you're quite right, bass requires power headroom. My REL Quake quotes 100W of power but at what impedance? 4Ohm? If the drive unit and amplification come together as a package, one would expect the design to be complimentary. Can you find any reviews?

 

[kusum65]

Just checked the impedence . !00ohm for high level. Dont know if thats high current or not.

Theres lots of reviews, a positive one from Gramaphone ( Andrew?) and the magazine rated it highly. I think i remember that.But back then there probably wasnt many subs for music.

 

[Anonymous]

That sounds like the input impedance.

For a decent price that could be worth a punt. At least you can see how you get on with the whole sub malarchy and can probably sell it on for a similar price if you decide to upgrade.

 

[bretty]

kusum65:
Going to experiment with a couple of marble cut offs on top of my speakers out of curiosity.

Nice one. Try to get at least a couple of kgs on each speaker, in order to restrain the vibrations and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Any bass boom will dissappear, allowing more texture to be heard.

 

[Anonymous]

As with the sub, start with a small amount of added mass and build up to see where it starts to rob "something".

 

[kusum65]

Yeah im tempted. Like you say cant lose a lot these days with re sell potential.

Next door are on holiday so tomorrow i will try out the speaker weight with a bit of Berlin Techno!