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Aerial 5b and subs

I have been looking for a sub to put a little floor under my Aerial 5b monitors powered by Primare I30. I already have a B&W asw 608 which sounded quite okay but lacked power. I have tried the Velodyne HGS10/DD10 and was disappointed, it sounded heavy and not a good match for the Aerials. I am guessing that it has to do with the servo which seems to have an iron fisted mechanical quality. My thought over this disappointment is that a downfiring sub would interfere less with the sound signature of a monitor and that the REL approach is the way to go. My problem is the size of a Strata and am looking for suggestions in the foot cube range. Opinions on the Schweikert VRS1 or other options appreciated.
hflook
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Just a note regarding REL. Judging from test results at AVTalk.com and HTshack.com (look under "forums" for "subwoofer tests"), REL subs perform very well on Group Delay tests ("fast or tight") but generally poorly for clean output at high levels at low frequencies. Most of these models appear to be excellent woofers but not great subwoofers.

That may not matter in most music set-ups. In fact, the Rythmic subs I chose involve a similar trade-off. However, the Rythmiks fare much better than most RELs at low frequencies and are cheaper, to boot. BTW, they are available in a downward firing configuration. Caveat: numbers may not tell the whole story. Still, when it came time to lay out my own cash, I went Rythmik. SVS was right there, but RELs never made my personal short list. Now, if I could just turn out to be right about all this....

Marty
Post removed 
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Bob,

I'll do my best to climb out of my shell and voice an opinion.

Marty
hflook OP
5 posts
 
Thanks all for the input.
My main problem has been in matching a sub to monitors in a room with resonance issues, lots of wood, high wood ceilings and wood floors.... not much sound damping. I chose the Aerial 5b because it is an acoustic suspension and not ported. Bass reflex ported monitors add secondary bass output which is magnified by a lively room and the sound becomes confused, adding a sub makes things worse. I got a loaner HGS10 which was enough to convince me that the flexibility added by the Velodyne dd10 would work. In my room the 5b's are flat to 50hz as tested by the Velodyne set up sweep tone. The sub just needed to be adjusted to do the absolute minimum. The result for my taste and this room is very successful. The down side of this monitor/sub set up is that it is fairly expensive. The upside is that you can get balanced sound without floorstanders or monitors set 4 or 5 feet into the room.
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