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Subwoofer recommendations for mostly music

I don't know anything about subwoofers, so be kind to me! I currently have some sort of Velodyne hooked up to my system. It doesn't seem to add a thing to my system - possibly because it's crap, or possibly because I don't have it set up correctly! I would like to get another subwoofer anyway, so would like some recommendations. It will be part of my HT system, but I really want one that is good for music. I listen to classical, classical rock, jazz and World Music for the most part.

I will be pairing it with bi-wired B&W CM4 speakers (center is a B&W CMC) and I use a Rotel RSX1055 receiver. (I know a lot of people here don't like B&W speakers or Rotel components, but please don't suggest that I upgrade this stuff first - I can't afford to and don't want to!)

Budget wise, I would prefer <$500, if possible - used is fine.
oakiris
quadophile's avatar
quadophile
418 posts
 
I own the REL Strata III which I had also reviewed here at A'gon. During my research while shopping for the sub here at A'gon, AA and other places I came across following comments on many occasions

1)Sealead subs are easy to integrate on both counts room as well as main speakers
2)Sealed subs are faster
3)Rel subs are by far the most musical

With the information I gathered it was a no brainer going for the REL Strata III.
meters
3 posts
 
Hi everyone. Well having been a live sound engineer I have bit of a background in sound design and the major obtacle in subs is that what you really want out of them is the lowest octaves but if you seal the box it wont naturally occur without some eletronics because it does not naturally resonate so low, the responce naturally rolls off there unless its huge. The flip side is if you vent or band pass is that your responce is not so smooth and your driver has a tendency to over exert it self on the tuned frequency, making uneven playback. Obviously this effect has been mitigated by crafty designers. The only end around I have heard to this problem, though I havent demo them is by a company called baggend who designed a patented processor to allow for natural effiecient and smooth extension, unfortunately it is a very expensive set up. All in all it is hard to have your cake and eat it too. Maybe some of these passive radiater designs or push pull drivers make most sense?
cekiv
15 posts
 
I'm not sure if this thread is still being used but I came across it because of having the same issue as Oakiris - knowing nothing about subs and not sure if mine is working properly. I've owned the Onix UFW-10 for awhile but only recently hooked it up to my Cary SLI-80. I know I'm not supposed to "hear" the sub, but it just doesn't sound like it's adding much to the bottom end. I'm using it to complement my Silverline Sonatina II's. Any thoughts?
docks
43 posts
 
Look into having a custom made cabinet for the TC sounds LMS5400. It will destroy most of the overpriced stuff here.
Its an 18inch woofer that can run over 100db at 20hz with less than 5% thd.
Very linear.
grege
47 posts
 
Sub technology has changed alot since the start of this thread. Best subs for the money IMHO are:

Hsu
Sunfire
Martin Logan

In general, sealed subs sound smoother than ported subs. Avoid VMPS.
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