Vandersteen high-pass filter with other Subs

Maxgain: Regarding my complaint of midrange congestion ...
I own both Vandersteen 3s (being upgraded to 3asigs) and B&W Nautilus 805s. The 805s are very detailed. Instruments are well resolved and easy to recognize. The Vandersteens are too homogenized in the mids. I have to listen very carefully to identify instruments correctly. I am certain the Vandersteen upgrade will improve things, but I am not certain it will improve this problem. The Vandersteens are wonderfully coherent across their full bandwidth, however they are not as sensitive to the detail that my electronics are capable of delivering.

Samujohn: I had wondered how the Vandersteen woofers got the necessary signal after roll-off - now I understand. By the way, the REL operates from the AMPLIFIER outputs, NOT the preamplifier outputs like most sub-woofers. Cross-over frequency and volume are both adjustable at the sub.

Maxgain,
I am talking about a direct swap comparison of the 805s with the Vandersteens without the REL inserted at all. I have run both speakers with chesky set up disc to optimize placement and room treatment. The muddiness in the Vandersteen mids is audible on human voice as well. However, remember I am running 10 year old Vandersteen 3s. Vandersteen claims significant changes with the 3Asigs, we shall see. I will let you know how this upgrade changes things, if you are interested.

The 805s have their own specific limitations as well - the roll off in the bass does not trouble me much at all. I am surprised by the quality of these small monitors. However, the tweeter is harsh and with some material - a problem that the Vandersteen's do not have.

Thanks for your interest - I learn quite a bit from discussions like these.

Maxgain,

My Vandersteens are not back yet from the 3asig upgrade. I am curious as well. Thanks for reminding me about tilt.

I find the set up disk useful for two things: (1) I am able to quickly assess maximum separation by moving my speakers apart until the central image begins to break up.
(2) They have a listening position called "beyond" the left and right speaker. The narrator's voice actually shows up to the left of the left speaker then to the right of the right speaker. I often find that these image positions are the ones that are most affected by room interaction. One side will image "beyond" while the other doesn't. I invariable find the source with the result that sound stage width is as good as it gets.