Subwoofer Crossover Replacement for Wilson WHOW?

John, I used a Bryston 10B when my system was bi-amped. A very quiet and versatile unit, I can't recommend it highly enough. See if you can get one used, because like all Bryston equipment, it carries a transferrable 20 yr warranty. As for the amp, the bigger the better watts-wise, but you don't really need something with oustanding sonics across the frequency spectrum, so some of your choices (IMO) represent unnecessary capability you're gonna pay extra dollars for.

Nsgarch,

Thanks for your recommendation of the Bryston 10B. I also got another high recommendation for it today in an email from another audiophile.

As for the subwoofer amp, I'm looking primarily for an amp that has superb bass characteristics: deep, fast, clean, tight, detailed, powerful, and controlled bass. Usually its the better amps that have a high quality bass. About 10 years ago I was shocked to hear an improvement in the mid range and treble when I upgraded the subwoofer's speaker cable. It was an unexpected surprise. Recently, I had a similar experience when I upgraded the power cord on the amp that drives only the subwoofer. The explanation I got for this phenomenon is: Improving the quality (not just the amplitude) of the fundamental bass tones naturally improves the harmonics of these fundamentals and this improvement shows up further up the spectrum. However, if there are less costly quality alternatives, I'm open to suggestions.

Best Regards,
John

Dear John: +++++ " I'm looking for an excellent subwoofer... " +++++

This is on your post.

Well, all those amps that are on your list are " general purpose " amps ( very good ones ). No one were designed specific for " low bass " operation " only ".

My opinion is that you change your Whow for other subwoofer of the " self powered " type.

Here you have many advantages: not only the dedicated crossover but the dedicated amplifier that was designed thinking in the woofer needs: power, damping, frecuency response, low distortion, etc, etc.

So, don't waste your money/time looking for an external crossover and amplifier: go for a complete dedicated subwoofer. It will hands down any alternative that you find for your Whow.

My advise is that you could go for a pair of Velodyne HGS-15 or a pair of DD-15. You will be amazed running these subs in a true stereo way.

If you have time, please read these links about:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&27&4#27

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&31&4#31

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Yes Raul, but you are forgetting that the WHOW is a beautiful piece of furniture and makes a great coffee table, so maybe that's why John is trying to find a way to save it -- and I think he can.

John, you might want to consider one of the new Class D switching amps of the type Martin Logan (and others) are using in their subs and in the new ML Summit hybrid. You could put it right inside the WHOW cabinet.

Raul and Nsgarch,

I must have been asleep at the wheel: The next to the last sentence in my post should have read "I'm looking for an excellent subwoofer crossover with RCA inputs and outputs." Raul, thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Besides being an expensive coffee table, the WHOW's drivers were selected to match and harmonize with the drivers in the Watt/Puppy. At this stage, I don't want to take on the task of finding a subwoofer with drivers that go with the Watt/Puppy. So, for now, I'll stay with the WHOW. Nsgarch, thanks for the Class D suggestion. I'll look into those.

Great Listening,
John