Subwoofer Question s

Schubert - Only yesterday, I picked up my second Vandersteen 2wq subwoofer. I love what they do for my system (digital source, PS Audio PWD MKII DAC/pre, Spectron Musician III amp, Magnepan 3.7 speakers.)

Although the subs come with small crossovers so that you can dial in the right sound, the real fun comes in with Vandersteen's battery-biased crossover. These go between the preamp and the amp (XLR and RCA versions available), and serve to "part out" the signal. The amp and main speakers handle the mid- to high stuff, and the lows go out to the two Vandy subs, powered at 300W each.

The difference it made in my system was astounding. One was good; two is better.

Thanks Rhanson739, you think am i correct in guessing they are the only such items on the market?

As I recall I saw a 2q in a Minneapolis dealers setup, aren't they on the humongous side?

Most, but not all, subwoofers offer a high-pass filter when you connect the sub via the speaker-level connections. You run the speaker wires from the amp to the sub, then from the sub to the main speakers. This is often a preset frequency filter and roll-off.

I have a pair of Vandi 2Wq subs, and swear by them. I did upgrade to the battery-biased outboard crossovers, though. They are not small. See the Vandersteen web site for more info and dimensions.

OK, this topic is related to a question I asked some time ago. Another answer to this situation is the Classe CP 800 preamp. It outputs for two channel setups like yours. It has an internal crossover. I own one. I use it on my Snell Type A V 5's which consist of two tower (38 htz to 20,000 htz) and two 18" bass units. Normally the system came with outboard active crossovers which are RCA only. I wanted better so I bought a Marchand crossover for splitting the signal. The bass was to die for but the upper frequencies lacked something. I thought that removing the Marchand unit might do the trick as I'd have a shorter signal path and fewer cables. The midrange and treble are now incredible with the Classe but the bass is now lazy. I used to be able to shake the walls if I wanted to. No can do now. I need to try a few more things. Does anyone know about the differences between LFE processing and an active crossover? Maybe the answer to audio bliss lies in unraveling this mystery. Joe

Schubert - Well, large is relative, I suppose. They were larger than I had expected, but since they tend to be placed in a corner, it's not a problem in our space.

I believe the Vandersteen setup is unique, but can't swear to it. But as Bondmanp says, I swear by them. The moment I placed them into my system, the overall sound improved tremendously.