2. speakers
  3. 1245468709

Maggies with no Sub: Fantastic surprise

OK, I have had Maggies for years, and always had subs with them: Vandersteens, DefTech, Velodyne, JL Audio, Sunfire, SVS Sound, etc...

When using set up software I have measure the lower end to 35 hz consistantly, so then I would take a ton of time and effort placing the subs in the correct spots, and letting the sub or controller (SMS-1) set up the crossover for different locations. I was always looking for that perfect integration for both stereo and LFE effects, so I finally bought a Rel B1 and I am awaiting it's delivery.

In the mean time, I have for the first time ever, been listening to the Maggie 3.6R's without a sub, and I am shocked. My God, there's a lot of bass there. I have a lot of juice going to them (Cary CAD 500 MB's) and Mye Stands, but wow, they really sound great. I'm kind of sorry I bought the Rel now. I think I may just buy a cheap sub for LFE effects on movies and just leave the Maggie's on their own for Stereo.

Anyone else have this experience??

It may all be amp related, but I will now dispute anyone who says Maggies have no low end authority. I am shocked that much of the low end bass I thought was coming from the subs over the years was actually coming from the Maggies!!
macdadtexas
shadorne's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
A little tip for subs, make sure they are in the same plane as the midrange driver/panel. Front or rear firing subs are ok, but down firing subs are not very tuneful.

Agreed upon keeping the sub close to the plane of the speakers but where did you get the idea that down firing is less tuneful. Downfiring front or rear firing will make very little difference to the sound unless the sub is used well above 100 Hz or it has large amounts of harmonic distortion that bleed into the lower midrange (such as on most poor quality subs) - remember bass frequencies propagate in all directions.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Several veterans of the industry I've spoken with have said the same thing, i.e..downfirng subs are not recommended. Most hig end subs are in fact front firing as I would instinctually prefer myself. Terry at Mapleshade is one who recommends frnt or rear firing subs.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
If you use a spectrum analyzer you will see that the LF roll off of the Maggie is perfectly smooth...no peaks and dips. This is, supposedly, why Maggie bass sounds so much better than what would be expected from the -3dB specs. Also, as Jallen notes, there is lots of music that has no signal at SW frequency.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,333 posts
 
I owned larger maggies for 20 years and ran them off higher power SS amplification and never felt compelled to use a sub.

Having said that, I've heard newer top of the line Maggies running off a fairly juicy Rogue tube power amp with a small well-matched Rel sub and it seemed to be a plus in this scenario.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I love my Maggies, and agree that their bass response is most often OK without subwoofer help. Just the same, I have a very elaborate built-in custom 3 channel (fronts) subwoofer system. Three 15" drivers and 3 12" drivers individually driven by six 500 watt amps.

The Maggie problem as I see it is lack of what people call "punch". Cones are good at "punch". "Punch" is what makes your stomach uneasy when the organ sounds that 32 foot pipe, and what makes your trouser legs flap when the brass band plays a Sousa march.

My subwoofer array is capable of higher frequencies than the normal subwoofer, and is, I believe, very well "integrated" with the Maggies. I say this because I can play a pink noise signal and hear no change in the overall sound as I sweep the crossover frequency from 40 Hz to around 400 Hz. However, what I am doing when I change the frequency is to transition between cone and panel drivers. I vary the crossover frequency so as to match the speaker system to the music.

I suppose that what I have is more accurately called an "alternate woofer" system, which happens to have extended LF range.

More to discover