HELP: Subwoofer for music

I've done alot of reading this weekend about subwoofers and I am going to have to check out a Vandersteen this weekend. See what you have done? The Vandersteen is starting to make alot of sense.

Hey Tweekerman,
I talked to Steve Deckert at Decware about having a tough time finding a subwoofer amp plate that would fit the WO32 and he said that it was one of the reasons they stopped selling the sub fully built. It was hard to find reliable amp plates, and when you found one, you had to do surgery on it and yadda, yadda, yadda...so, I told him about my idea of using an external amp with a crossover and he said that this would make for a better sound because most amps have more "balls" than subwoofer amp plates, too. I have done some research and AudioSource(www.audiosource.net) makes a 100w monoblock, couple this with a Paradigm X30 crossover and you are there. It would go like this: Source to preamp to crossover to solid state monoblock to subwoofer cabinet with binding posts(solid state makes a better amp for bass signals). Here is my problem...too much stuff in the path, but then we are talking about bass, (so not much signal loss) plus using this method would leave the high and mid part alone; source to tube amp to satelite speakers by themselves(semi bi-amp setup). I use DM602s and they go down to 52, so I need the crossover to start at 52 and go down from there. It seems, in theory, that it should work.

As for the Vandersteens. I am seriously thinking about that one, too, considering that by the time I get the subwoofer cabinet built, buy the drivers, amp, crossover and whatever else I need, the cost might be as high as buying one Vandersteen. But here is the thing; I have read that Vandersteen need a crossover up front(more stuff in front of the high end signal) and this crossover starts at 80 or so, and my DM602 are rated to start at 52, so that is about 30 points(80 - 52) or so that the DM602 will lose or not use. Am I right or wrong on this.

...set the music free!

What is a Janis sub amp/crossover? Where can I find out about it?

This would be something I would be interested in...but, only this company makes it and I can't seem to find anything else like it.

An external, subwoofer amplifier with built in crossover.

http://www.smarthome.com/images/8275big.gif

The thing that is great about the Vandersteens it the 3 8" drivers. They are small and because of this, very fast. The three of them put together can push alot of air and this probably results in really clean low bass. Stanley Clarke probably sound great through a Vandersteen. Doesn't anyone make a 3 8" driver setup? Yamaha makes one with 2 8", but it is front firing.

I am hoping to get this resolved by the beginning of next year so that I can get back to the whole reason I started this in the first place....to listen to music!

Tweekerman,
I contacted a Vandersteen dealer to try out one of their subs at home and guess what; there is a waiting list to try their subs because EVERYONE seems to want to check it out, so I am on the list and somewhere in the next two weeks I can try one at home. I will let you know what happens. I just want to tell you one thing I learned from my rock guitar days....just because the cabinet has Celestion speaker, it doesn't mean it will sound like a Marshall!!

Dang, Nautilus 802s? Ah, to dream is nice!!