Subwoofer Crossover Replacement for Wilson WHOW?

*** … they are horrible performers and particularly in bass dynamics but ironically in your case they can do. Since you cross your woofer somewhere at 25Hz you would be able to run such OTL at LF transition slop and if you have enough power to burn then it might be very interesting…

I have to add that the transition slop would resolve the “size” issues of the OTLs but you will need to play with the imp dace of your driver to made that OTL be able to hand the acoustic-like decay. Theoretically it is impossible, as any passive driver-level element of impedance equalization will kill bass but in your case of the “bizarre” Wilson sub it might work as the WHOW is kind of “strange” Lf section to begin with…

Nsgarch, this is not the place to promote your business. If the rest of us can abide by the posting rules, so can you.

Correction: One of the two WHOW owners referred to in my post informed me by email that the crossover he replaced Wilson's by has both RCA and Balanced inputs and outputs. It's the Krell KBX. So, if I can find it on the used market, that would definitely be a candidate for my short list of crossovers to audition.

Nsgarch: Although I am initially looking for a replacement for my crossover, I am also looking at the different alternatives for a higher powered amp. In fact, both of the WHOW owners reffered to in my post also obtained high powered amps. The Bryston 7B SST, Parasound Halo JC1, and the Crown K2 have been recommended by different people for my short list.

Rbes: My new dedicated listening room is 23.6"x20.8"x8.9". So, more power will help. Even with three 20 amp, dedicated AC lines coming into the listening room, the new power cords and AC line conditioners made a big difference. The subwoofer is on it's own dedicated line, as is the front end. The Jadis amps are on the third dedicated line. The cords and conditioners, of course, are not in the signal path. With them in place, the sonics are much cleaner, the noise floor is much lower. Consequently, there is now greater clarity, transparency, and discernible detail. The harmonic texture, nuance and delicacy of music is now more apparent. In short, I am now happier with the overall resolution, musicality and involement. The weak link is in the bass. At this point, I'm open to any and all suggestions for my short list: passive or active. In the end, auditioning by the ear/mind/heart will decide which combination of the candidates on my amp and crossover short lists is most satisfying to me musically and emotionally.

Best Regards,
John

Essentialaudio, I have no idea what you're talking about. The ad I referred to is not my ad and I mentioned it only to illustrate the kind of amp another person found satisfactory, that's all. Perhaps I should've edited out his identity, is that what you mean?

Puremusic, the reason I mentioned Bryston, is that new or used, they offer a lot of clean reliable (20 yr warranty) power for the buck -- especially in low frequency apps. I just thought that before you try other remedies, it would be easy to swap the amp you're using for a higher powered one. It doesn't even have to be what you would buy, an old SAE would do. That's a big woofer in the WHOW, and to get clean bass, it needs really good damping control, and that's one thing a high powered SS amp gives you. Even at low volumes, an amplifier is called upon to provide power peaks at each end of the cone travel in order to maintain good control over the cone when its direction of travel reverses.

In your post you said the bass was not as "quick, detailed, or transparent as the rest of the spectrum." So if everything else about it is alright (volume, freq. response, blending with the main speaker, etc.) then I'd put my money on the power issue and look to the amplifier first -- plus it's an easy thing to check without a lot of fuss. Just give it a 400W amp and see what happens, you can't hurt anything.

Nsgarch,

I plan to experiment with other amps and crossovers. My current short list for crossovers consists of Bryston 10B (SUB version) and the Krell KBX. And my current short list for subwoofer amps consists of Aragon Palladium, Parasound Halo JC1, Bryston 7B SST or 7B ST, and the Crown K2. If anyone has heard any of this components driving a subwoofer, I would greatly appreciate your observations. Any other candidates I should consider?

Thank You,
John