Magnapan 3.5R and Sunfire Subwoofer ???

I hate to be the pessamist,but, I had 2 sunfire Archetectural signature subs, these subs had only 1 active driver, no passive radiator,2700w amp. I tried in vain to get them to mate w Apogee Acoustics Diva's, which are very similar to your maggies. I previously owned 3.3's. There is NO way the subs could keep up w the panels, I hadthe x-over @ 30hz. They really made the vocal range sound "congested",when they were in use. Sounded ok for home theater, but not critical listening. my rm is 15x25x8.I solved the problem by buying Dunlavy SC-VI

Hello,
Hopefully you have not already bought the Sunfire sub as there are indeed other subs to investigate. I use a Velodyne ULD18 with Magnepan 3.5 and this combination works very well. There are none of the problems at all as Sscot had with the Sunfire. I cross this over at 50hz but ideally would like this even lower. When I ultimately biamp the 3.5 panels, I will take the sub lower.
John

i have 3.5s w/ Velodyne uld15II. Works great! Id like 2 of them.

I agree with Sscot and Jafox. Sunfire sub is ONLY for Hometheather where fast responses are needed (sudden thunder and tighten bass). Your Magnapan is too slow and very sweet in response (bass deep and reverb) thence they are not married too well.

Go for Hsu research or B&W.

Geeez Jamesbh11 ..you have made two post and neither makes any sense to me! Magnepans are too slow? Dude you have got to be kidding! Normally it's the sub that sounds slow with these speakers. Please get out more often my friend!

never heard of any sub too fast for magnapans...it's usually the other way around.most of the talk here is that the rel subs match up well with maggies.

Thanks for the info so far. No, I haven't purchased anything as of yet. I guess I should re-phrase my question - what subwoofer would you recommend for use with the Maggie 3.5R's? I had considered going back to a dynamic speaker but I just can't find one that I like having had the maggies for such a long time. I'm looking to supplement the bottom end - this would be for critical two channel listening - not a home theater application. Thanks again for your suggestions.

I am using a stero pair of Sunfire Signature subs with my MG 3.5s. The blend is seamless. You need to move the subs away from room boundries and try to be easy on the volume control. In terms of scale, punch, dynamics and refinement the system approximates the performance of the ultra expensive full range systems.

Contrary to some opinions on these threads, properly positioned and configured sunfire subs are excellent complements to the Maggies. I am extremely happy with the results that I have obtained with the stereo subs.

Notes:

KEEP THE SUBS FROM ROOM BOUNDARIES. PLACE AWAY FROM WALLS, AND CORNERS!!!!

Remember that the controls are very sensitive, Minute changes in the phase and volume adjustment knobs make noticeable changes in the sound.

Use the lowest x-over setting (about 30Hz)

Use volume control no greater than 7-8 O'Clock

Adjust phase until the muddiness in the midbass disappears, and the air returns

Depending on room size, place subs on inside of panels (if room is narrow) or on ouside of panels (if room is sufficiently wide). You can experiment with placing the subs in the plane of the speaker

place the active woofer facing the listening position

If you are using a single sunfire sub. Place the sub midway between the speakers

Depending on your room, you can place the sub either in the same plane as the panels or behing the plane of the panels.

I first experimented with a single sub and upgraded to stereo subs.

Fast Bass, Slow Bass. http://www.soundstage.com/maxdb/maxdb061999.htm

Dave

I use 2 Sunfire Sigs with my 3.6's. I chose them because I liked their sound and the controls they give you to help integrate. Their x/o starts at 30hz which helps blend with the Maggies starting to roll off 35hz,+ or -. Their phase control is continuously variable as opposed to a 0-180 switch, which will help with the placement. Read Sogood51's article, thanks Dave, and memorize Gmorris's reply and you will be ahead of the game. Good luck.

Excellent article and advice - just so happens my dealer will let me try the sunfire sub in my listening room before making a purchase. One additional question - what hookup method are you using? I looked at the info from the manual and it looks like you can connect either high or low level. I'm quessing low level is the way to go - my cj premier 16LS has two sets of outputs - one currently connected to my amps - could I just use the other set to connect to the sub?
Thanks again for all the info ----