Subwoofer for classical music listener

Hi Dragon_vibe,

EQ / DSP in subwoofers is almost mandatory and has more to do with how difficult room integration is, than creating better specs.

I strongly encourage anyone considering a sub to get it with EQ/DSP. Right now the bet models I know of fare in JL audio subs, but they are super pricey, so I roll my own with Hsu and miniDSP.

Best,

E

rvpiano, I have a pair of wx-2's if you want to borrow them.
You can find out what settings you need before ordering the fixed units.
Bob

Oh yes, don't connect the sub without the crossover or you might do some damage. The Vandy sub is set to deal with the attenuated bass signal from the crossover. If you run it directly, it will be getting the full signal and amplifying it accordingly.
B

Gdnrbob:  Thank you so much for your post and your offer!
I only just emailed the question of whether I can run the signal without a crossover to Vandersteen. The 2Wq's are coming with crossovers of 200 k.
my amplifier's impedance is only 22k.
Can you email me your response to rvallis@optonline.net. so we can discuss this further.
Again, thank you so much for your kindness.

Another vote for the Vandersteen 2wq sub. I owned one for a couple of years, and bought another. The crossover setup makes this the most seamless sub system I have heard. I have used them with Quad ESL-63 and Snell Type A speakers. These subs are wonderful, and they are subtle. I listen to a good bit of classical, largely piano. Chopin, mostly. These subs do not draw attention to themselves but create the wonderful "feel" of the room acoustic ... that intangible (it's actually nearly tangible!) foundation.

One caveat, and I would love to be educated further on this by the Vandy dealer that posted... once I tried these subs with speakers that had sensitivity of about 91 dB and I could not dial the sub output high enough to keep up with the mains. Therefore, unless I am missing something these subs are the best you can find for mains that are 89dB  or lower sensitivity and completely unusable for 91db sensitivity and higher.

Regarding crossover, I bought the MH-5 outboard passive used in the Vandy 5a and they are transparent and amazing. I bought one used for $600 I think. So if you can find a 2wq used for $600 and an MH-5 for $500 you are close to budget.