Top notch speakers with their own sub


I have a pair of Infinity Prelude MTS complete with subs and towers. They serve me very well, don't require too much power because they have their own powered subs. The multiple components for upper base and mid range do have their advantage, giving a rather complete sound projection. This pair of Class A speakers certain have lived up to their pedigree, but the technology is about 10 years old. What would recommend for the current technology? I am looking for a pair of full size speakers that have their own powered sub.
spatine
"PS Duke - is there pricing info on the Swarm and Planetarium systems? I didn't see any on your web site. Not that I'm thinking....." - Martykl

Yeah my website is a bit out of date. I have a forum on audiocircle.com that has more up to date info.

The two Planetarium systems are 6.5 grand and 10 grand, and the vented Swarm (as used in the Planetariums) is 2.5 grand including amp. I also have a sealed Swarm that's a bit less expensive.

Not that I'm holding my breath.....

You could probably roll your own without too much trouble, just be sure and use an amp that has a 4th order lowpass filter. Or better yet, add a couple more of whatever you're using now (Rhythmics??).

Now Earl Geddes would probably say you only need 3 subs, as long as you elevate one so that it's above the centerline of the room (closer to the ceiling than to the floor) so that your low frequency sources are scattered in all three dimensions. Neither Earl's approach nor my variation is particularly high in WAF, as Spatine obviously figured out!

Duke
Spatine,

Fair enough.

I didn't mean to be critical of your response, just suggesting that you might want to kick these facts around in your head a little more before reaching any conclusions - hence, the "food for thought". IMHO, this thread probably contains more useful info for achieving good sound than 99% of the material on A'gon. Figuring out how to utilize that info is your gig.

In a nutshell: optimal placement of multiple bass sources is a useful tool if it's available to you. Maybe it's not available (WAF or cost). EQ, whether from Infinity, Audyssey/SVS, Velodyne or others is also a useful tool, but others have -quite correctly- pointed out certain limitations to the approach (careful with nulls). Room analysis will make placement easier. Any thoughtful, properly implemented combo of these techniques is likely to improve in-room performance.

Take that FWIW.

Marty
This has been a very interesting discussion with a lot of useful information. Thanks to those who participated, and thank you, Spatine, for initiating it, even if it wasn't necessarily the direction you intended. Now I have to figure out a way to get an elevated subwoofer module past my wife! "It's just a little nook shelf, Love - don't you remember you asked for more built in storage?!" Hmmm, I don't think it's gonna' fly with her (pun not intended). Monofilament? Trap door in the ceiling?