Man Opalchip - you are the master experimenter! Really cool to hear about your combinations. Playing to each pair's strengths is definately the way to do it.
My McIntosh C42 preamp has an excellent EQ and I adjust it to make my room response flat with warble tones. I use a Radio shack SPL meter and compensate it for accuracy.
There is no way a subwoofer could do what the JM Labs do in the mids and highs. That is the beauty of this setup is to have the two pairs of speakers contribute to the important areas of the sound spectrum for improved soundstaging. Besides, my bass response is flat to 24 Hz, which is enough for me, and if I want more midrange body, all I need to do is twist a couple knobs on my preamp! A sub would just excite room modes which would kill my detail and crystal clear imaging.
Another benefit of this two speaker pair is that the amps don't have to work as hard for the same SPL. My CJ bias lights hardly come on anymore and my Mc amp rarely reads over 20W - two things that were definately not the case before.
Arthur
My McIntosh C42 preamp has an excellent EQ and I adjust it to make my room response flat with warble tones. I use a Radio shack SPL meter and compensate it for accuracy.
There is no way a subwoofer could do what the JM Labs do in the mids and highs. That is the beauty of this setup is to have the two pairs of speakers contribute to the important areas of the sound spectrum for improved soundstaging. Besides, my bass response is flat to 24 Hz, which is enough for me, and if I want more midrange body, all I need to do is twist a couple knobs on my preamp! A sub would just excite room modes which would kill my detail and crystal clear imaging.
Another benefit of this two speaker pair is that the amps don't have to work as hard for the same SPL. My CJ bias lights hardly come on anymore and my Mc amp rarely reads over 20W - two things that were definately not the case before.
Arthur