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Does a Sub for Wilson Sophia II make sense?

I went from Martin Logan Electrostats, Aerius, with Genesis sub to Wilson Sophia II. Even with the Aerius, it was no trivial matter to integrate the sub seamlessly. I have a rather large room 18' by 36' with some large openings as well. Based on the measurements by Stereophile, the Wilson's start rolling off around 50 hz. Has anyone tried to integrate a sub with the Wilson Sophia? Also any suggestions on sub is also appreciated. What I was thinking is full range to the Sophias and filling in from 20hz to 50hz with an active sub and adjustable crossover. I listen to records exclusively, all types of music, but mostly rock and then Jazz. My system is
VPI Classic 3 Dynavector XX-2 MKII, Avid Pulsus phono stage, Acurus RL-11 Preamp, Music Reference RM-9 MKII amp (Genalex Gold Lion KT77 and Russian 6922) and Sophia II speakers.
Thanks in advance for any help.
captain_winters
irvrobinson
295 posts
 
Because of room modes causing peaks and dips in any speaker's low frequency response, increasing the number of bass sources smooths out the in-room frequency response. Your speakers can be flat to 20Hz, but if you can't position them for minimizing room modes what you actually hear may not be very good. It is also advantageous to have an effective level control for bass frequencies. So in my mind it is a rare room that doesn't benefit from one or two subs. This is just simple physics. I'd rather position my main speakers for best imaging and move the sub(s) around to get the bass right.
sgr's avatar
sgr
689 posts
 
One doesn't but a stereo pair does. Takes some work to get it right but I think you'll like it.
doug99
288 posts
 
At the Stereophile show in 2002 Wilson used their Wilson Watt Puppy 7 speakers with The Wilson Watch Dog sub.
The Wilson Watch dog sub blended in really nicely with the Wilson Watt Puppies. You didn't even realize that Wilson was using a sub on the Watt Puppies.
What Genesis sub did you have?
My friend has the Genesis 900 sub which is a really good sub for music.
captain_winters OP
133 posts
 
I made some Sound Pressure Level (SPL) measurement from my listening position. I set 1KHz to 90 db then measure the SPL at all the other frequencies at my ear level listening position.
1KHz 90db
200Hz 76db
160Hz 78db
125Hz 78db
100Hz 70db
80Hz 63db
63Hz 63db
50Hz 69db
40Hz 68db
31.5Hz 59db
25Hz 56db
20Hz too low to measure, probably lower than 50db.
If you look at 200Hz, SPL is pretty steady to 100hz, then a dip between 100Hz and 63Hz. 50 Hz and 40 Hz were pretty close to 100Hz in SPL, probably because the Sophia II port tuning at that frequency. So sub frequencies 40Hz and 50Hz look pretty reasonable. So it looks like we are probably talking about a crossover around 35Hz to 40Hz. What do you think? is a sub worth it for just those frequencies?
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
It is for me...without question.
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