Vandersteen Sub woofers v Rythmik Subs

@noble100 not running you off, new thread seems to be thriving.... : "


Hello tomic601,

Thanks for the welcoming words. I’ve been monitoring this thread on and off but haven’t felt the need to respond or add anything for awhile.
     I wish I could be of more assistance as to whether Vandersteen or Rhythmic subs perform best but I stopped thinking or caring about which single sub performs best once I learned of the significant advantages of multiple distributed subs.
     I envy you rebuilding a pair of the legendary ESL63and wish you the best in your project. 
     I think I’ve stated enough of my thoughts already but won’t hesitate to respond further if I think it might be useful to the OP or thread readers.

Thanks,
Tim

I loved those Quads. I will never forget hearing them for the first time.  It was an eye opener.  I also remember falling in love with a large Maggie panel back in 1991 or so with my EX in Newport, RI if I recall.  Then the Apogees in the mid 90's.  Funny as I don't like the Martin Logan stats.  

ctsooner,

I completely agree with you on loving the sound of the Quads, large Maggie panels and the original Apogees.

Interesting that all of these ’fast’ speakers share the common complaint from owners that they’re all very difficult to integrate subs with. The usual complaint is the sub or subs sound disconnected from the main speakers because the ’slower’ subs cannot keep up with the speed of the ’fast’ panels. I currently use a pair of large Maggie panels in my system and tend to agree with the difficulty of integrating subs well with them.
However, I would definitely suggest the Audio Kinesis Swarm,Debra or any custom 4 sub DBA system as an excellent method of seamlessly integrating a sota bass system with any ’speakers but I can verify they integrate especially well with ’fast’ panels.
Because each Debra sub has a 10" long-throw woofer and is only required to reproduce a portion of the total bass, I think each sub is capable of being very agile and, with all 4 working in concert, it results in bass that is very articulate with great definition.that can reproduce the entire range of bass notes incredibly accurately; from very deep and powerful to sharp and taut.
     I believe anyone listening to any DBA system, whether an Audio Kinesis complete kit or a custom system of someone’s own creation, even briefly would be able to quickly recognize the extreme quality of bass reproduced but it’s much harder for me to express in words.

Tim

one issue is bass is directional above 150 HZ so subs that have much output above 150 HZ , especially those behind you ( in the corners, typically four corners..mess up spatial phase information
so you can trade away that for smoother bass...

for those with digital room correction, IF you rerun do the settings change ? IF so, why ? averaging algorithms? sample weighting, sample stack ? ambient noise ?
for grins, run the RTA w no music on and see what is happening in the room...AC cycling, freezer, trash truck out front.....you will be amazed....

Apogee stages, very fine CT but I guess you and I have shared that story before...

also for grins...just play your subwoofers by themselves sometime.....not on anybodys platinum album list..ha