Sub-woofers to go with Quad 988 / 989 ?

I'm using a REL Stadium III. It works great with the Quad 988s, at least. The REL subs integrate well, and have power and finesse. Actually, though, in many rooms, you won't need a sub at all -- unless you just want to rattle floors and walls.

get yourself a good, sealed front firing sub w/ cutoff somewhere @ 100hz. i disagree w/ rel and other down firing subs as they're muddied per the downward firing driver..takes away the staging and the imaging (yes, bass images). good ones that come to mind are used entecs and audio physics rhea

i am using a pair of entecs w/ merlin vsm-ms (as fast as stats) to great effect. no other sub worked per the reasons above.

rhyno

Rhyno: I owned the Merlins VSM-SEs and used a REL Stadium II with them. The sound was seamless and gorgeous.

Have you actually heard a REL set up correctly? And, no, bass doesn't image. You cannot tell where frequencies in the 20-60 Hertz range originate. Show me scientific papers that support your claim.

The only reason front firing subs would have an advantage is at higher crossover frequencies. Otherwise, when crossing at say 80Hz and down, downfiring subs will certainly not sound "muddied" if they are designed and built properly. RELs and ACIs are some of the most musical subs out there. Used properly.

The Quads are VERY difficult to mate with subs, because most subs cannot keep up with their purity and speed. I've tried Entecs, but their cutoff frequency was too high and the X-over well to put it mildly ruined the Quads sound. So NEVER, ever use the high pass out to go on to your Quads, rather let them run all the way and find a subwoofer which cuts off sharply at 30 hz, which is the solution, which I found. Was a bitch to place it right, but then the thing worked. Bobby Carvers Signature, you wouldn't believe it, but never, ever over 30 hz. Gradient had a sub made especially for the predecessor of the 988, which was quite nice, with the Quads placed right on top. I also used old Maggie bass panels with the Quads and let them run until about 100hz. Got a beautifull bass and cello sound that way.