What subwoofers keep up with Quad ESL 57 ?

Hi Bob,

I don't recall how wide a "critical band" is in the bass region, sorry. My impression is that it's less than 1/3 octave wide.

For those who wonder what I'm talking about, the ear/brain system "averages out" narrow-band peaks and dips across what's called a "critical band", which is approximately 1/3 octave wide over much of the spectrum. So in other words if we have offsetting peaks and dips within 1/3 octave of one another, the ear tends not to hear either one. If we just have a peak, then the ear will hear it, though if it's a narrow peak it looks worse to the eye than it sounds to the ear.

In the bass region, the room-induced peaks and dips are inherently too far apart for the ear/brain system to average them out, and as a result they are audible and objectionable. Higher up we still have numerous peaks and dips from room interaction, but they are so close together (and delayed by so many wavelengths) that they are relatively benign, even though they may look awful on an unsmoothed in-room frequency response curve.

Tieing back in to the multisub concept, each sub will produce a different peak-and-dip pattern so the sum ends up not only averaging out considerably, but the remaining peaks and dips are more numerous and thus closer together - giving the ear/brain system's smoothing mechanism a better chance to work in to our benefit. As a result, the subjective benefit of a multisub system is often greater than one would expect from merely eyeballing the in-room frequency response curves.

It's not necessary to use identical subs like in the system I build; in fact if the subs aren't designed with room gain in mind, we're probably better off with some of the subs extending deeper in the bass than others. The basic principle can be employed without spending megabucks.

Duke

I would recommend the Talon Roc subwoofer. This sub can blend with any speaker. The Seaton Submersive is excellent as well. While one sub can work if properly located and using bass traps and/or an eq to attain the smoothest response, use of multiple sub is a good recommendation as well. Good luck!

From ServOdrive to Carver's little true sub I've had a number of subwoofer systems in my HT, two channel, Bass rig, and small PA. Still, I know little of the mechanics of the room and sub relationship. I'm not a golfer either but I did hit through the ball once. When things are done correctly the sensation of both the ball and the sub can have striking similarities, you simply know its right.

Your getting close when you don't notice the sub's presence until it's turned off. IMO there is no such thing as matching a sub to a speaker. The process begins with blending the crossover point and gain to the speaker but the trick comes in the equalization of the subs output to the room. For this you need processing.

There are only a few consumer subs that have the processing built in to make this a simple adjustment for people without room analyzing and equalization capability. Even then some are better than others. For consumer HT and two channel it's my limited experience that Velodyne Digital Drive subs with high pass filtering are a clear stand out at this. For any other consumer sub I would suggest using Velodyne's SMS system.

I strongly agree with Duke that in both HT and two channel using two subs seems to be able to grip the room as well as creating a bit more air and stage in the two channel system.

I'd try a Vandersteen V2W. Quad ESL-57's are Richard Vandersteen's reference speakers, and I'll bet he has done some tailoring for the Quads low end.