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Looking for the "better sub"

I have Magnepan 1.6/QRs and would like a sub sometime soon to fill in the low end.
Subs suggested to me have been as follows...

Vandersteen 2wQ....problem with this sub for me is most agree I need two from the start for my 25X15 room.
JL Fathom 113....I would have ordered one, but no high level inputs turns a great sub into a home theater product in my eyes. They blew it.
Martin Logan Depth....still a frontrunner. Quick and musical. And one works well enough to get started.
REL....Still looking into these.

So I guess I'm looking at a budget of about 2K...a bit more or less. Anything else I should be looking into beyond the above? Please comment if you've heard the models above, which (except for the Fathom) are well known for working nicely with Magnepan panels.

Thanks!

R
robbob
issabre
120 posts
 
Another guy Mvoulu or something like that...asked this quesiton in another thread...got these same players (REL, MJ, Vandy,) and ultimately went with a pair of the ACI Force XL.

I have an ACI and I think it represents pretty good value for the money. Takes some pretty careful setup though, but the folks at ACI are helpful. It is a fast, musical sub and relatively inexpensive. Plenty deep.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
828 posts
 
That's a large room. I'd recommend either the REL Stadium or Aerial SW-12.
ckoffend
684 posts
 
I would go with REL, but I have been very impressed with all the REL products I have owned, all the way down to the Q108 (which I ran dual with a pair of Wilson Duettes).

Based on your room size though, I would suggest getting two REL Storm III used subs for a combined delivery cost of under your budget.

The RELs will never overpower your room, unless of course you don't have them set-up well. They are quite easy to set up, very easy to blend with different speakers, have a musical and fast response/output and are easy to own.
bbro
191 posts
 
I used a pair of REL Storm IIIs with my MG 3.6Rs a few years back with good results. Similar to Ckoffend above. I now use a single REL Stentor III with MG 20Rs also with good results but you do need to work a little harder about placement with the single larger sub.
dgarretson
2,394 posts
 
Couldn't agree less with the statement that lack of high-level inputs makes JL Fathom unsuitable for 2CH audiophile use. Line-level inputs from preamp to sub provides clear, articulated basslines-- as opposed to "room fill." This is particularly true if you're comparing the quality of deep LF from a transformer-coupled amp to a SS pre or to a direct-coupled tube pre like the Atma-Sphere.
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