Fastest subwoofer?

The one with the least driver excursions would be the better sounding or as you say faster subwoofer.

IME, the SF Minuetto will be a very tough mate for any subwoofer. The speaker's FR is significantly elevated thru the entire bottom octave (plus) of it's response. If you mate a sub for seamless transition at the crossover point, you'll have too much bottom end, overall. If you set the sub for a natural octave to octave balance overall, you'll have a significant level mismatch at the crossover point. The only solution that worked reasonably well was to mate the sub for smooth "hand off" and slowly taper its response (as pitch falls) with parametric EQ. And even that wasn't particularly great.

Marty

PS There are a lot of threads here re: subwoofer "speed". You might want to read some of them. My guess is that you'll have a different view of the world afterwards.

PPS As to speed of a the large driver vs the speed of a small driver debate, I've tried both (extensively) and I come down squarely on the highly damped driver (large or small) side of the fence. In all other ways, large drivers are compelling, so I'm a highly damped, large driver guy, myself.

Interesting, Marty. But I have the old Minimas, not Minuetto. Perhaps we're talking about a different speaker.

I second the Vandersteen 2Wq. If you have the funds, consider a pair of them, and consider an upgrade to the MHP-5 active crossovers. Fantastic subs that are tuneful, fast, and very easy to blend with your mains.

My bad. I have Minuettos and my experience refers to that model. I simply misread your original post.

OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the older SF bookshelf speakers were voiced in a similar manner (midbass hump) and might be a tough match for a subwoofer. Can't say for sure, though, as it's been too many years since I've listened to the other models of similar vintage to be sure.

Best of luck.

Marty

PS My Minuettos are still doing yeoman's work in my home office, 20ish years after I first brought them home. No subwoofer added.