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Buy a sub or ditch my new speakers altogether?

I recently picked up a pair of B&W 602.5s, brand new, for a song. Turns out to be the wrong song, and it was a final sale. :/

They have loads more midrange and high end detail than my former Allison CD6s, but the Allison's 8" woofers had the B&Ws beat in the low end.

The B&W's lows are boomy and pretty out of control, and when listening to TV at a lower level, there's almost no bass at all. The port plug tightens up the boominess, at the expense of even less bass overall.

So, the question becomes, do I put these brand new B&Ws up for sale, and look for something else, or do I pick up a subwoofer and attempt to salvage the sound? I am quite happy with the 602.5's mids and highs. I find it interesting that many reviews of the next (discontinued) model up, the 603, mention needing a sub, despite having a dedicated 6.5" bass driver.

If I do end up getting a sub, for say $500, I'm then into the current setup for $900. This begs the question, what could be had sans sub, with similar punchy mids and clear highs, but with deep(er) clean(er) bass, in the same price range?

Logic tells me that a 2 mains and a sub beats the low end capabilities of a $1000 speaker with no sub.

Many thanks for any advice.

rkny
bjesien
1,337 posts
 
You mentioned rushing in to buy something to try saving a buck. Maybe this speaker is not what you like?

Try to get out and listen to few more. Bring the Solo along to establish a baseline. Dealers should be able to explain why the Solo would or wouldn't work in a given setup. Proceed with caution.

You will probably find a speaker you like better without the added expense and consumption of a sub.

Good luck!
pmm
239 posts
 
Buy a Sub, keep the 602.5`s. B&W`s are known to be deficient in their bass output, a dealer confirmed this to me. I own the 804`s and a pr./Polk 10B`s. For comparison, I listened to track #6, "Holst: The Planets" (Previn, Telarc). Great track for bass output! Get this CD to audition your bass.If your speakers have decent bass, this track should impress you. My 10B`s, as for many forms of music, do justice for the bass here. For my B&W`s, to the contrary, the bass is almost non-existant. With that being said, the 804`s blew-away the 10B`s in the midrange and higher frequencies: I discovered background Percussion inst.w/ the 804`s as opposed to the 10B`s, plus more detail in the music. What I finally did for the bass w/ 804`s, I connected a Velodyne F1500 Sub (the best $1500 I spent).I now have an excellent sounding system.
veroman's avatar
veroman
299 posts
 
Bjesien may be onto something... it can be easy to fall into the mindset of upgrading within a single brand, we are all creatures of habit and comfort. i second his advice to audition other lines. granted, i am not a big fan of b@w but there are lots of fantastic spkrs. re:WAF, a nice set of monitors and a good sub is always a winner. just a thought. happy hunting.
jeromedny
61 posts
 
I had the 602's, the monitor version of the 602.5's. Yours are probably more bass capable than mine, given the longer cabinet. But I did run mine with a matching sub and was very happy with them. Given that people run subs with floor-standers costing 10x as much, that is probably the best upgrade route - there is no better way to get bass. That said, listen as far and as wide as you can. Though I have made all my purchases with little if any comparison shopping, and turned out very happy, it can only lead to a better (albeit more difficult) decision.

And once you make a decision, curl up next to Significant Other Cohabitant with bottle of spirit and show her how good Journey sounds. :|
bipenhal
1 posts
 
I'm currently running the same speakers...and yes they are lacking on the bottom end. My fix was to include an REL T2 sub. I have it crossed over just below 40hz and all I can say now is WOW!!! The sub fills in the lower octaves, smooths out the high end and increases the soundstage.
By the past post you bought your speakers of $350.00. The sub runs $800.00 new, so for 1150.00 you have speakers that will compete with speakers costing twice as much.
Try it you'll be amazed.
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