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Vinyl and subwoofers

I have a pair of Thiel 3.6 and a Thiel ss1 sub with the prescribed Thiel crossover. I have a pretty good vinyl rig with a Clearaudio performance se, Stradivari cartridge and a ARC PH8 phonostage. Although the Thiels go down to 20hz, an audiogon member  persuaded me that I was missing something without a subwoofer. What I have heard with the Thiel SS1 sub and prescribed crossover is an amplification of record imperfections I was not aware of without the sub. As well, the overall sound seems often muddied. Has anyone else had this problem with vinyl? Is this a problem with my setup? Any insights are very appreciated.
golferboy
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
First place to start: What is the subwoofer's crossover point?

In my HT, my mains go strongly down to 29Hz and audibly to 26 Hz. If my crossover to the sub is set higher than 40 Hz, I get muddy bass and lower midrange. 
golferboy OP
12 posts
 
cleeds,
Can't explain why others don't have the problem and I can't explain why others do. "Not plausible" does not rule out the possibility that the setup is screwy. That said, ok ok, I'll check it. :) Why is having the sub only 4 ft away from table a problem with concrete?
ct0517,
No stage had a filter. I have no doubt that a Krell is better...just wish I had the bucks.

golferboy OP
12 posts
 
BTW, the query "pumping woofer vinyl" resulted in over 100,000 results on Google.
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cleeds
5,750 posts
 
golferboy
Why is having the sub only 4 ft away from table a problem with concrete?
The concrete has nothing to do with it. The close proximity between subwoofer and turntable suggests you may have some acoustic feedback between the two. That is only going to exacerbate any other problem you're having with setup.

I'm not familiar with your turntable. It's possible that it's just not well isolated. That may also be contributing to your problem.
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cleeds
5,750 posts
 
golferboy
BTW, the query "pumping woofer vinyl" resulted in over 100,000 results on Google.
That is not at all surprising! There are more cheap turntables in the world than good ones. I'd wager more turntables suffer from improper setup than those that benefit from proper setup. As audiophiles, we're just a tiny percentage of those who listen to LPs.
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