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Subwoofer advice please

I'm hoping to find a little bit of clarity with your help.

I've got the itch to buy a pair of modestly priced subs, (SVS SB13 Ultra or REL S/3 SHO).

Here is my dilemma; I use a PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP driving a pair of rebuilt and completely upgraded Quad 2805 speakers.

The PrimaLuna has one subwoofer out. Okay, great I think.

My dilemma is when I research proper subwoofer integration almost all posts and articles state that an external crossover is needed to really dial in the sound.

Obviously I can't do that with the PrimaLuna.

It would be less expensive to sell the Quads and upgrade, (a topic I'd love to talk about) than to buy a new front end and hope that the subs worked out for me.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated and if you're ever in SE Washington state I would repay your kind advice with world class bbq and cool, refreshing beverages.

Thank you in advance,

Bob
jzzmusician
jzzmusician OP
148 posts
 
glenn,

Stacked 2805s?  Sounds like a lot of fun, but at 8 feet high or so I doubt they would pass meet the "wife acceptance factor."

Willemj and others,

Thank you very much for your comments about what to do.  After comparing the SVS to the REL, it looks like the REL is probably a better fit, although it's another $1000 if I buy a pair.  I really need to ponder that.  I have a friend that would buy my Quads and if I took that money and another $4000 I could probably buy something that wouldn't have all the headaches. 

On the other hand, it wouldn't have the Quad sound either.

Re: a dipole sub; I would probably pass.  Only because at some point I'd probably want to sell it for something else and I'm guessing I'd take a bath doing so.

Thank you all again, I'm yet undecided, but thinking hard.

Bob
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,408 posts
 

The 57 worked stacked because it had a single tweeter panel with a bass panel to either side. Stacking turned a pair into a quasi-line source speaker.

The 2805, on the other hand, is essentially a coaxial design, the sound emanating from the center of the driver outward (via delay lines in the driver). Placing one 2805 above another will result in lobing and comb filtering. Not good.

willemj
1,036 posts
 
I did once (1976) hear stacked 57s and that was impressive. However, with the later designs this is indeed not a good idea. Instead, if one wants to stay with stats only, the solution would be to go for the bigger 6 panel models (they are not even that much more expensive). As I wrote, however, they would have been too tall in my case. I find that the smaller model is visually intrusive enough as it is. Fortunately, the equalized sub route worked very well for me, and I am sure multiple equalized subs work even better.
I found this interesting discussion: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=150264.40
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,741 posts
 
Vandersteen 
gets you the high pass
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