Subwoofer sweet spot

[bahamaman]

I have owned the Vantages for less than a month and am already considering my next upgrade.

I use my system primarily (90%) for music, 10% HT. Though it might seem strange, I'm just not into action movies and I just don't care if the sub can provide the sort of shock and awe bottom end most seem to want.

The music I listen to doesn't demand massive quantities of bass. I am just looking for a sub that can round things out on the bottom, go a touch deeper and perhaps relieve the Vantage of some of the heavy lifting.

Most importantly, I want a sub that integrates well and does so subtley, and unobtrusively. I prefer to buy ML, and my budget (used or new) is $1200. I have a good lead on a Depth in my area, but something tells me that that may well be overkill.

Any suggestions?

 

[DTB300]

Most importantly, I want a sub that integrates well and does so subtley, and unobtrusively. I prefer to buy ML, and my budget (used or new) is $1200. I have a good lead on a Depth in my area, but something tells me that that may well be overkill.

IMO the Depth will not be overkill.

There are also some other subs out there which will work very well with the Vantages, but will be out of your budget range so no need to cover that.

Dan

 

[eknuds01]

I have owned the Vantages for less than a month and am already considering my next upgrade.

I use my system primarily (90%) for music, 10% HT. Though it might seem strange, I'm just not into action movies and I just don't care if the sub can provide the sort of shock and awe bottom end most seem to want.

The music I listen to doesn't demand massive quantities of bass. I am just looking for a sub that can round things out on the bottom, go a touch deeper and perhaps relieve the Vantage of some of the heavy lifting.

Most importantly, I want a sub that integrates well and does so subtley, and unobtrusively. I prefer to buy ML, and my budget (used or new) is $1200. I have a good lead on a Depth in my area, but something tells me that that may well be overkill.

Any suggestions?

I believe the ML Grotto fits your budget nicely. I would also take a look at the some the Velodyne subs.

 

[amey01]

The Depth will not be overkill. Better subs are about control and clarity as much as brute force and loudness. I'd go as far as to say that I wouldn't use less than a Depth with the Vantage - you need something that can keep up with the fantastic bass the Vantage offers.

I'd also have a look at REL - they make some very fast and controlled subs, but only from the "St" series and see if you can find any of the Whise subs from here in Australia - they are built for control and speed and actually sacrafice things like bandwidth and maximum SPL for this.

The last thing you want is some horrible thing mumbling and booming along 1/2 second behind the Vantages.

 

[IWalker]

agreed on the depth. The servo technology in it (and the descent) makes it more musical/accurate, more than just "louder" there's a major step up in the ML line when you go to the depth. Velodyne DD series is also nice. on a real budget, check out AV123. Their ufw-12 is a great bargain in a musial non-servo sub. You can get one plus their RDES (room correction) for a grand. Or one sub without it for $600 I think.

 

[babydoc]

Subs for Vantages

I would if possible consider an M-L subwoofer. They are tuned to integrate well with the primary M-L speaker which is very important for coherence. In addition, they can be adjusted for room position and phase (distance from primary speaker) as well as cross-over and volume.
You will find that the issue when you add a subwoofer is not so much deep whomping bass since most music has very little of that except for some organ pedal recordings and test records. What a good sub does for your system is to move more air and make your midrange performance more integrated and alive. The center imaging gets better also.
I would go with the best sub you can afford for your system. The Descent is the best that M-L makes but it is relatively large. The Depth is closer in woofer size to your Vantages.

 

[twich54]

Rob, Good afternoon, so it looks as if your following through on what I started a couple of weeks ago ! Like I said in response to the question you posed in my earlier thread, the Velodyne DD series is IMO an excellent alternative to M/L. Whereas your budget would keep you from the 15, a used DD-12 is a possibility.

In looking at your system pics again it appears from the photos that you have a somewhat 'bright' listening room, another reason for the servor based / SMS system employed by the Velodyne.

 

[dsiroky]

Depth

I've had both grotto and depth and a few non ML subs (def tech super cube reference & outlaw lfm-1).

It took me about a month of trying different subs to settle on the depth.

Bottom line - go servo controlled. You gain a ton in accuracy and musical response. Subs like the grotto & depth are terrific while others report velodyne DD as being good and they have the bonus of their own EQ system, but can be spendy.

Personally I use a DSP1124P (can pick up for $100 or so) in combo with the Depth. If you can't buy new, you can see Depth's for reasonable prices on audiogon every now and then.

I don't find the depth overpowering at all, and use it only for music. The 3 active drivers in there do a much better job on bass distribution than you get with the grotto - but I have a fairly large music room. I dont listen to HT at all on my ML's. Integration between sub and mains is terrific.

If you want to go more affordable - you could try the DIY servo sub. there should be a thread from iwalker on it - sounds very promising. Partsexpress has prebuilt 2cu ft boxes that can get you started.

 

[bahamaman]

Thanks for all the excellent advice. Though it will take me awhile to save up the funds, I see a Depth in my future!