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Vandersteen Sub woofers v Rythmik Subs

I really love the idea of the Vandersteen Subs where they are connected with the mains via extra speaker cable off right and left channels off the main amplifier, which is supposed to provide better bass transition from the mains while keeping the signature from the main amplifier. My question is with Vandersteen coming out with the SUB THREE and the price going significantly higher, I was wondering if there are other subs for less that you could integrate in the same way. (Most subs seem to rely on the line level input which is just a sub-woofer RCA going from the pre-amp to the amp on the sub). Can this same Vandersteen set-up be achieved with other subs?
I picked Rythmik since they are known (in the home theater community anyway) for being one of the best bang for the buck subs and the most "musical" of the bunch. (between Hsu, SVS, PSA).
And could I possibly achieve even greater sub-woofer nirvana since I could get an 18" for around $1500? Vandies only have 3 eight inchers.

I am a Vandersteen fanboy and I would like to support RV whenever I can, but don’t know much about my other sub-woofer options so looking for some feedback. Doesn’t even have to be related to Rythmik necessarily. If you know of other subs that can integrate the same way I want to know about it!

Thanks
bstatmeister
gdnrbob
4,409 posts
 
Nope, the balanced and unbalanced M5-HP crossovers are basically the same price (approx $700 used). The fixed crossovers are much cheaper (say $250).
In my opinion, using balanced connectors would be the best way to go as cable length and composition make less contribution to the sound performance.(Don't take my word for it, PM Ralph at atmasphere).
Bob
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,823 posts
 
BTW if anyone knows someone who could use 100k  X-1 crossovers I will send them for free as I have the M5-HP.  
lewinskih01
906 posts
 
@noble100 and others interested in room acoustics: which other fora are you active in?

I'm interested in discussing and posting some measurements (which Agon doesn't allow) and would live to engage others who share that interest.

Cheers!
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,754 posts
 
without digging around much on your specific power amp, you are likey to find the unbalanced input sounds better......there are extra parts ( phase inverter, etc) in the balanced path and we can pretty much assume your amp is not a balanced topology internally.....

but listen to both and decide......

you do need to be careful to not fry your sub amp......grounds and hots hyper critical.....

the fixed Vandy filters pale sonically to the M5 or the even better M7

street price xlr and se about the same, but imo xlr much more rare as people usually move in that direction....but not always......
bondmanp
1,784 posts
 

A word of caution - I cannot really understand what is being attempted here, but Vandersteen does caution against using XLR-single-ended converters with the M5-HP.  There are different types of converters.  The ones made by the Digital Amplifier Company are pricey, but there is more to them than I can easily undertand or explain.  They ain't cheap, either.


@tomic601 - M7???  I wasn't even aware there was such a thing.  Prolly more than I can afford anyway.  My M5-HPs are in Hanford being inspected/repaired.  Yes, I miss them, but they were behaving badly.

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