Best subwoofer match for Meadowlark Swifts?

Buggtussel makes a transmission-line sub called the "Tegmentum" that would be an excellent match with the Meadowlarks. The Tegmentum is pretty big, but its quality of bass in my opinion surpasses that of smaller sealed or reflex subs. Rated down to 16 Hz (that's probably a bit optimistic in most rooms), it comes with a very nice crossover/amplifier/equalizer which gives you enormous flexibility in matching sub to speaker: Two independently-variable second order low pass filters; a two-band parametric equalizer; and a continuously-adjustable phase control. You can cascade or stagger the low pass filters, or even bypass one if you need to; and you can use the parametric filters to notch out room peaks or bypass them as well if you prefer.

If you don't want to go with the Buggtussel, then REL also makes some nice subs. But, they're not transmission lines!

Best of luck in your search.

Duke

I have heard the Buggtussel and while it is great, it may be a little over powering for the small swifts. The Buggtussel needs to be mated with full range speakers in my opinion. I agree the REL might be a good choice.

S7Horton,

The idea behind the enormous flexibility of the Tegmentum's crossover/amplifier/equalizer is to get a good blend with a wide variety of speakers in real-world rooms. Getting that correct blend is a matter of dialing in the controls properly. I would contend that the Tegmentum's tailorability (is that a word?) is one of its best features (after its speed and naturalness). Here's what you can do with the Tegmentum: You can cross over anywhere between 35 Hz and 200 Hz either second order, or fourth order, of approximately third order (by staggering the two 2nd-order filters). You can notch out two room resonant modes with the parametric EQ, or custom-tailor the subwoofer's response. And you can compensate for the subwoofer being a different distance away than the main speakers.

Any sub will sound overpowering if the level is set too high. But there's more to getting a good blend than matching levels, as anyone who's ever designed a crossover can attest.

So not to dismiss your observations, S7Horton. On the contrary, if the Swifts were improperly mated with the Tegmentum, the result probably would be overpowering. But the Tegmentum's range of adjustments give the flexibility needed to keep that from happening, while most other subs aren't that flexible.

Best wishes,

Duke

Love to have the Tegmentum, but it is out of my range. When I have that kind of cash I'll put it into separates first. Any suggestions that are more in the range of REL Q100e used... max $600?

Thanks for the responses, and sorry for not putting the price range in the initial query.

dendritic

I am strongly considering the Swifts to be the first stage of a total HT upgrade. One sub I was thinking about was the Hsu 1220... seems to have gotten raves for years for both HT and music. The REL would be a great choice... I may have to add that one to my list.

btw, could you share a few thoughts about the Swifts?

rb- The swifts are awesome! I don't have the ear or experience that some on this site do, but even I can tell that they present an excellent soundstage. Overall I would say they were neutral to a little bright- but that just being shocked by good clean sound after years with a pair of Klipschs. The bass could be a little more expansive (especially for HT purposes without a sub,) but again that's me coming off the bloated Klipschs. I listened to some B&W 602's and 603's, as well as Vandersteen 1C's when I was shopping around and ended up buying the Swifts without hearing them. (the reviews were that good!) I didn't make a mistake. The Vandy's outdid the B&W's fairly easily, but they are huge and somewhat delicate without a cabinet (an oversized scratching post for the cats.) The Swifts soundstage isn't quite what the Vandersteen's was, but I think they are actually cleaner sounding than the Vandys (which seemed a little muted) and had more bass.

Thanks for the suggestion,
dendritic