about 20x15 Ft
Full range vs monitors with sub
Greetings,
I am trying to set up a new stereo system.
Flac-PC-DAC-Decware amp. Wanted to get a pair of "near" full range towers, under 3K budget. Looked at Omega, Ascend, Spatial, Salk, Tekton. Wanted USA made as much as possible.
But them saw a post on another forum and it made me thinking again. What about monitors and a pair of subs underneath them? Have some questions.
1. How would they compare for music setup? Medium size room, mostly pop, jazz, vocals, classical. For example omega towers or tecton DI vs omega monitors with pair of subs? I am willing to buy lightly used gear.
2. Are there any US made subs (I know only of tektons and omega) for under 1K each?
3. How do I connect a pair of subs to analog amp without using processor or preamp? Saw the way to connect one sub, but not two.
4. Bad idea to put monitors on top of subs? Need this for space purposes.
Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks
I am trying to set up a new stereo system.
Flac-PC-DAC-Decware amp. Wanted to get a pair of "near" full range towers, under 3K budget. Looked at Omega, Ascend, Spatial, Salk, Tekton. Wanted USA made as much as possible.
But them saw a post on another forum and it made me thinking again. What about monitors and a pair of subs underneath them? Have some questions.
1. How would they compare for music setup? Medium size room, mostly pop, jazz, vocals, classical. For example omega towers or tecton DI vs omega monitors with pair of subs? I am willing to buy lightly used gear.
2. Are there any US made subs (I know only of tektons and omega) for under 1K each?
3. How do I connect a pair of subs to analog amp without using processor or preamp? Saw the way to connect one sub, but not two.
4. Bad idea to put monitors on top of subs? Need this for space purposes.
Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks
14 responses Add your response
I think full range speakers work better if you have the room and acoustics. My take is predicated on picking from a manufacturer/engineer and designer brand that can integrate the subwoofer or low freq driver into the overall design well. Think Vandersteen or Legacy. When you attempt to integrate a sub with a small speaker it does not always work well. |
My advice is really, if this is your first time, stay simple. Stick to affordable full range speakers with limited bass. 2.5 way speakers are ideal. They are unusually efficient, and won't waken the dragons in the lowest octaves. Think of this as a trial date. Figure out what you like, what you don't like. Figure out how your room responds. This keeps all your electronics simple and small. You can go with smallish, great sounding integrateds to anything really. |
I don't think putting speakers on top of subs is a good idea as it would introduce vibrations into the speakers that can't be good for accurate sound reproduction. Also, the speakers would be too low without some kind of stand underneath. Here's a nice pair of Joseph Audio speakers that might work for you... https://tmraudio.com/speakers/full-range-floorstanding/joseph-audio-rm33si-floorstanding-speakers-ma... |
Done well a sub/satellite combo, or really any speaker with a sub, can be glorious. Done poorly or poorly matched to your room, absolute garbage. When you evaluate a sub, you need to evaluate it’s room correction. That, to me , is the single most important issue for most consumers. How does it end up sounding? You may for this reason want to evaluate the Anthem integrateds with built in room correction. The lower in Hz you want to go, the more you should think about room correction and bass traps. If you stay above 40 Hz, you have a lot fewer problems, need a smaller sub, and room correction and bass traps are less important. |
HSU and Rythmik for American sub companies, SVS and PowerSoundAudio are also good. Is your budget $3000 total for speakers and subs (or just speakers if going towers)? Dual Rythmik L12’s and a Selah Anniversario (custom assembled in the US) would be around $3K. Simply use a Y-splinter for the outputs of your pre-amp. |
Considering subs is easy, the Audiokinesis Swarm at $3k is the best, like getting the Herron phono stage, so good you say well at least we are done with that one now. But that's outside your budget, as are all the subs, or at least the ones that can be done right. So I would focus on finding the best two mains, without regard to low bass, knowing that can always be done right later. |