I've mated Rel with the harbeths for years. They work great, integrated seamlessly.
Cant go wrong with the Rel B series or the St series w/ your M30s. |
Will the use of a Bryston 10B active crossover improve subwoofer integration between the Harbeth Monitor 30s and a Rel active subwoofer? |
Hi,
I used a REL Storm with the Super HL5's in my room. They worked well together. My room was actually two rooms as I have a large listening room that opened into another large open space. I have subsequently sold both speakers as I bought a pair of Harbeth Monitor 40's. The 40's do not require the use of a subwoofer.
Good Luck with the Monitor 30's. |
I got my M30s today, hooked them up and listened to them for about an hour. Right off the bat, I'll tell you they seem to be cleaner than my B&W 801 Series III, but so far they seem less extended in the highs. Time will tell. |
Yes, those are great subs. They do require a highpass crossover I believe. so that means you need an amp and preamp or an integrated with pre-out and amp-in. This way one can free up the harbeth from anything below about 80Hz so it can concentrate on the mid-range. Search out what Bob Reynolds has to say about this type of set up here on agone. What he says makes a lot to sence regarding highpass filters (crossovers) and distortion. As for me, I think the sound of the radial driver is so delicious down to 45hz, I thought it a pitty to use a high pass--but I might try it in the future. Also check out the Vandersteen website, It will explain better than I can regarding the philosophy behind their subs and how they work.
Cheers! |
Darn! I messed up that joke. I meant that they'll mate well with anything, including my ex mother-in-law. oh well. |
Anybody ever consider using the Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofer. The propaganda that I've read suggests that they'll integrate seemlessly with just about anything.... including my ex mother-in-law. Anyone have any experiences that they'd like to share. By the way, I'm referring to experiences with the subwoofer. |
I have my M30 in a 20x20 room and I don't think they need bass augmentation at all. I can actually feel my carpet shaking with some Mahler. By no means does M30 extends flat down to 30hz, but the response at 30hz was respectable. I am running these out of an all balanced ayre system. |
Have the velodyne 1200s. Took awhile to dial in to taste, but worth the trouble. Seems to open up the Harbeths quite a bit. Velodynes can be found all over the internet at huge discounts! |
Hello Kensetsu, I have the 30's as well. I think you will really like them. They are very resolving, but set up properly, they sound well balanced, clean, and neutral. In my room placement was critical though. I would suggest finding the best location for mid-bass and then add a sub if you feel the need for deep bass. I borrowed a REL-R series sub for a weekend and it blended well and did sound better to me. I'm now looking to purchase a sub too.
Options I've considered are the REL B2, Martin Logan Depth i, Grotto i, or ACI Force XL for a lot less money than the others. Im not sure how it compares with the others however. If anyone has compared the ACI to any of the above, please share your impressions. |
Thanks guys. Actually, I'll be receiving the M30s next week. I'm really looking forward to hearing this Harbeth midrange magic that everyone's talking about, but after the magic has worn off a bit, I will be looking for some bottom extension.... not a lot. Just enought to add a little more weight to the music. I look forward to hearing more from any Harbeth owner that has the time to share there experience in this area. Thanks! |
I just hooked up an Essex sub this afternoon for use with my Harbeth M30's. I haven't figured out how to get it integrated with the M30's yet, but I'm having fun trying. It clearly will add something. As Uomaragno says, however, it will clearly take some listening and tweaking. I agree with Uomaragno that it will add positive things to the bottom part of the soundstage, based upon what I am hearing. (I, too, listen to a lot of classical music.) |
Hi Kensetsu, I saw your same question on another thread--it is the last comment on the "Harbeth M30" thread I responded to that as well. I basically had the same question you had about 5 months ago. I know you are asking about the M30. I have the C7 es3s. I am on a budget so when it came to choosing between the two I went with the C7s and by no means did I ever feel I had to settle, both are excellent speakers. I wanted to add a sub; even though some think it heretical or difficult to do, I wanted to see if it would work. I auditioned some RELs and Velodyns but my budget minded self had to find a better fit for the wallet. I eventually went with an HSU sub (Vtf 2 Mk III). This sub, IMHO, competes with some of the more pricey competitors and can playback all the way down to 16Hz, and does it well. It took me some time and lots of patience to get the speakers and sub integrated and balanced but I finally got it right. I had to play A LOT with positioning as well as tweaking the volume and crossover. Using the speaker level inputs, I finally ended up placing crossover at around 46Hz and the volume at around 1 (lower than I thought I would need). I really like what I am hearing and enjoy it immensely. I listen to a lot of classical music; large and small ensemble. Even with my classic rock collection I was able to find a good balance. And the cool thing is I dont have to change the volume or crossover for each genre of music. The soundstage really opens up and the music has a more firm foundation. And those bass drum hits really sound realistic. The lower limits to the M30 are just a tad above the C7 and I believe it is possible to get a great result with lots of experimentation and patience with the M30 and a sub. I really wanted to get a REL but the HSU is doing the job wonderfully. Half the fun in this new hobby Ive found is the playin around and tweaking. Have fun and good luck! |
Hi Chazzbo, Thanks for the advice. I guess that this is going to require some playing around, isn't it? |
Your best bet for music would be a larger REL.Cheaper would be a Vandersteen 2wQ.A Martin Logan would be good also.All are multiple driver subs which rather than one large 12-18" sub which are good for HT these rare faster and more pith acurate.The one hat is closest tom conventional good sub like Velodyne.If you can spend $2500 plus the new DD Velodynes are good but pricey.One obscure but very good music sub is he TBI Maggelan.They are single driver but unique in that though you can't localize bass below 150Hrz having two subs has adavantages.The Magellan's can be gotten powered but also passive and then mated with a singe amp/x-over unit they make.You can get one one than another and when you do since they are hooked up parallel you get higher output from both.Great review at www.6moons.com.Now is a great time to get a sub since you can latte add a Velodyne DSP/Remote unit which comes from their DD series (which let's yu do settings hooked up on you TV's display).Sells for $700 if I remember correctly.So you can get right sub for such a fine speaker and also get room correction added latter.
Cheers
Chazzbo |
