2. amps-preamps
  3. 148784-76759

Bass management with stand alone preamps

In researching an upgrade to separate preamp from an av pre pro (marantz 8802a) I’ve noticed that 1) most include no bass management 2) some include dual preouts but no bass management 3) some have a basic sub preout but no bass management.    Are subs not popular in the two channel arena?  I know in years past they were considered anathema but like every other issue in society views seem to have changed.  Interested in how people typically integrate and if NOT running the mains with a high pass filter is common.  Seems part of the point is to take that out of the amp and speaker and direct all that effort to the sub. If this has been beaten to death in another thread feel free to redirect. I have JL F212V2 subs which don’t have high level connections like REL appears to have.  
esthlos13
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,651 posts
 
They project a large as life sound stage. With woofers set up like this the bass sounds just as big and powerful as the SoundLabs except the SoundLabs become cleaner and are capable of another 10 db or so if you care to crack all your windows.
:)

Dr. West has long been an advocate of such as you probably know. Have you ever tried his ESL subwoofer system?
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,253 posts
 
They are not listed on the site. At least I have not seen them. What does he do?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,651 posts
 
^^ I don't see the B1 listed there either... Dr West is the designer of the Sound Lab loudspeakers.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,253 posts
 
No, I meant with the sub woofer. I know Dr West. One of my heroes. He has kept the faith and the flame alive.
Making an ESL sub woofer that you could use in an average room is a tough one. My own feeling is that ESLs having to be dipoles have never been good at deep bass and forcing them to do it just ruins the beauty of what they do everywhere else. Any dipole in an enclosed space is going to have the same problems but ESLs do not cross over to other drivers
making it worse for them. I would not ever use a full range ESL without a  sub woofer system unless you just listen to string quartets.
esthlos13 OP
90 posts
 
What are ESL? Martin Logan speakers?
More to discover