Subs for Planars, the brand doesn't matter.... - erik_squires@hotmail.com

Planar Speaker Asylum

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Subs for Planars, the brand doesn't matter....

For most rooms that I have seen, the room and subwoofer placement and the size of the subwoofer matter much more to the bass sound than the brands, or even driver quality. What I see many people do is buy the most expensive, biggest subwoofer they can, and then get disapointed that no matter what they buy, their stereo sounds worse with them in than without. Especially with high resolution speakers. By this I mean planars, ribbons, and ceramic driver based speakers.

The common complaint in adding subwoofers to these systems is that the subs don't seem to be able to keep up. They sound slow, tubby, boomy, even antiquated by comparison to the Maggies or Martin Logans.

And for the most part, they are right, but the largest contributors to this isn't the brand of speaker, the power of the built in amplifier, or whether or not there is a servo-sensor on. so much as it is your room, where the sub is placed, and whether or not you have over-sized your subwoofer.

Many living rooms and listening rooms have resonances in the 16-30 Hz range, places where the subwoofer's output may be up to 16-20x more powerful than in other areas. Instead of buying the largest subwoofers they can, these buyers should be purchasing smaller subs with HIGHER cut off frequencies, around 35-40 Hz.

Also, consider an EQ for the subwoofer. You will find that one of the best things you can do is to CUT the resonant frequencies, which will smooth out the bass response, and let you INCREASE the subwoofer level so it integrates seamlessly.

So, overall, IMHO, the brand of sub you buy isn't nearly as important to your listening experience as how well MATCHED the subwoofer is to your room. In a bad room, without proper measurement and tuning, no subwoofer will outperform an old Cerwin Vega which is well placed and well tuned. It's like buying a high-end tuner and attaching a coat hanger for an antenna. A modern, cheap Chinese brand with an outdoor antennaa will outperform it almost every time.

Lastly, while I do believe your ears are what matter, using the proper tools can REALLY shorten the amount of time it takes you to get there.

Happy Listening

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Topic - Subs for Planars, the brand doesn't matter.... - erik_squires@hotmail.com 08:55:12 04/01/07 (13)

Re: Subs for Planars, the brand doesn't matter.... - rico 08:46:39 04/01/07 (12)

Re: "the" proper subwoofer level setting - wazoo 14:20:01 04/01/07 (11)

I change the volume on every album... - Kiefer74.1 03:11:25 04/03/07 (4)

Re: At least a few people agree with me! - wazoo 05:33:14 04/03/07 (3)

I'm one of the agree-ers (see below). All I know is that on - powermatic 09:45:55 04/05/07 (0)

One last thing that I feel is very important... - Kiefer74.1 13:16:31 04/03/07 (1)

Re: high level inputs - wazoo 20:06:35 04/03/07 (0)

Bad subwoofer response -) Poor level setting - erik_squires@hotmail.com 05:30:46 04/02/07 (2)

Re: Okay, but what about when I'm wearing headphones? - wazoo 10:28:27 04/02/07 (1)

Re: Okay, but what about when I'm wearing headphones? - erik_squires@hotmail.com 10:51:17 04/02/07 (0)

Re".....not a set it and forget it device". - powermatic 14:49:22 04/01/07 (2)

Re: Re".....not a set it and forget it device". - Dawnrazor 15:08:36 04/01/07 (1)

Re: Re".....not a set it and forget it device". - madmaggie 10:43:29 04/02/07 (0)

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