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HELP: Subwoofer for music

I would like to get a subwoofer for music purposes. I don't really need earth rumbling low notes(I go to the movies for movies), but it would be nice to hear a low bass tone when one comes along. I bought the plans for the Decware WO32, horn loaded software, but there are so many variables that I am not sure I could build one correctly without building several until I got it right and I don't have the time and money, plus I think I will be hiring a skilled carpenter to build the thing for me(it will still be cheaper than buying it built from Decware). I found another set of subwoofer plans from BESL, www.bamberglab.com, and it looks promising(not as complex to build as the Decware WO32). The thing about the WO32 is that it is hard to find a subwoofer amp plate that will fit in the alloted space of the WO32 without taking it apart and I am no electrician, so who knows what can happen with that. I could just put binding post on the cabinet and use a solid state 100w amp that I am no longer using, but now I need a crossover....and....well....what a mess! The vandersteen(sp) looks like what I would like; 3 x 8in speakers, which would make it fast, but the price is out of this world for me, not to mention that you have to tune it for your system and what if I change my system?

Any suggestion would be great.
matchstikman
tweekerman
473 posts
 
Yea that sure is alot of woofer! But more in not always better, most often not. So let me make a recommendation, take a close look at the Peerless XLS 12. If i did not go with W26, that would be other choice. One sub is enough for my 20x20 room. So now i know the OUT on my intergrated can go to the Hypex amp, thus drive the W26. Will order the cabinet from Madisound. Keep in mind whatever distortion is in the Vander 3 woofer sub system, no matter how small %, will be tripled.
bishopwill
369 posts
 
A short time back, the listening group of which I am a member (systems from $3000 to $300,000 and 15,000+ pieces of software) did a shootout between a REL Stentor III and a VMPS Larger Subwoofer with a Marchand xover and Crown K2 amp.

To the absolute amazement of almost all of us, the VMPS won hands down on everything but build quality and appearance. It was just as tight, more musical, MUCH more dynamic, and it integrated seamlessly with a pair of JMLabs Mezzo Utopias. Despite the 10" Volt driver in the REL and the huge no-name drivers in the VMPS, we had no sense that the VMPS ever got behind the MUs. On a homemade digital recording of the organ at St. Philip's Cathedral in Atlanta, the sound of the enormous stopped 32' flues was impressive on the REL but on the VMPS actually created the hair-raising shudder that one experiences when actually in the near presence of the pipes. No subwoofer I've ever heard did this so authentically.

Don't get me wrong, both sounded absolutely superb. In the opinions of a dozen very experienced musicians and listeners, however, the VMPS clearly came out on top.

It was an eye-opener, especially for a confirmed REL lover like me. Maybe Brian Cheney knows something after all.

Anyone else made comparisons of this sort?

will
matchstikman OP
205 posts
 
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.
tweekerman
473 posts
 
Scratch my vote for the Seas Excel W26. Go to Linkwitz's web page. Check out the Thor sub..Peerless XLS12. That's the one.
matchstikman OP
205 posts
 
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!!
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