Maggies and subwoofers

What exactly does "fast" mean? ... lack of bloated bass notes or boomyness? This is a term used so frequently here like rhythm and pace. I don't know why a sub needs to be fast if it's only driving the bottom octave. How would such a speaker "keep up" with high frequency drivers in a main speaker? And would a smaller woofer be more able to to this than a larger one? As stated above, I use the ULD18 and it keeps up quite well with the Maggie 3.3, but then again, how would I know that it did not?

I think the purpose here is to set the frequency in the sub low enough so it does not drive the vocals or other critical frequencies that the main speakers are more optimized to do. And then to adjust the sub's level so that it does not make a presence in the room except for those occasions where bottom octave material exists.

Driving your main speakers full range still taxes the main amp to cover the low frequencies in the main speakers that the sub can much better do. So running main speakers full range causes you to lose in most cases, the biggest advantage of having a sub in the first place.

I've had good luck with an older Velodyne with my Maggie 2.7's - the F-1000. It has a 10 inch woofer that is quite fast. If you don't have an electronic crossover, you run the Maggies full range and run the Velodyne off the preamp outputs, and then crossover the Velodyne very low - I found around 38 Hz worked best in my room. You want a subwoofer that is fast (like the Rel, too), which you need to keep up with the Maggies.

I think Oofda makes a good point here. As long as you go low on the crossover frequency, most subs will end up integrating well. I use a Velodyne ULD18 crossed over at 50hz with the Maggie 3.3s running full range. I don't run my signal through the Velodyne Controller as I'm sure much will be lost...and my system is all balanced anyway. And I have also learned the link between preamp and amp is so critical so I don't want to add another cable to this either. I will soon solder capacitors on the input of my amp (ARC VT130) to create a first-order high-pass at 50 hz for the Maggies. This no doubt will clean up the Maggies significantly and give the amp more headroom for the upper frequencies without degrading the main speaker signal (except for another capacitor in series).
John

have i missed something? ithought everyone was loving the vandersteen 2wq subs with the maggies. (audiouasyulum concurs in many posts) i know that i love mine with my acoustats. if there's something better out there tell me now and i'll buy it! :)

Any decent sub will sound good. The trick with the maggies is to run the crossover as low as possible. I run mine at 50 hz with good results. If you run them at 80-100 hz the results are not as good. The problem you run into is in running a dipole with a monopole.

After having heard a few subs with the Maggie 3.5/3.6's the best subs which integrate the best are the REL's. The Strata and Storm are probably all you will ever need.

I'm using a REL Strara 2 with my 1.6's. Every now and then I turn it off and I shake my head and wonder how I ever listened to these speakers without it. It was the best addition I have ever made. My system consists of: Sony 777 sacd, Theta Gen Va, Placcette Volume Control, Music Reference RM-200, 1.6's, Rel Sub

The Rel is a nice less expensive solution. I thought the 3.6s sounded great with the REL sub.