Looking for a new Subwoofer
I am looking to replace my Definitive Technology Supercube 6000 with a new subwoofer to augment my Fyne F-702 speakers. My listening room is about 13 x 22 ft with 8’ ceilings and an 8’ opening to the dining room to the left of the listening area. I try to avoid major products made in mainland China—in spite of their at times very good quality, and I have narrowed the brands down to Paradigm, Vandersteen, and JL Audio, specifically, a single Paradigm XR11 or dual Defiance X12s, the Vandersteen Sub Three with “required” crossover, and the JL Audio Fathom f110v2. My budget is about $4K, with the XR11 and Fathom right at that price, the dual X12s at about $3K, and the Vandersteen with required crossover at about $5300 (including two crossovers, as they are sold in pairs). I may be able to audition the Paradigms and the Vandersteen; a friend has told me the room correction software with the JL Audio sub is way behind that of the Paradigms. In light of the excellent advice I have received in this forum, I wonder if folks out there have had an experience with these subwoofers and what they might recommend. Many thanks.
What model did you hear, and what kind of gear was feeding it? How was it tuned? WAS it tuned? They are highly adjustable, but if the owner is clueless on how to set them up properly, then I'm sure they're capable of sounding just "okay" or worse. The "infatuation" you speak of is for good reason, IMO. |
We are partial to SVS subwoofers in particular the model SB-4000 because it is the least expensive unit in their line with balanced XLR inputs. Room size, your listening habits and aesthetics will dictate the best subwoofer(s) size. Especially on long runs if possible drive these with a balanced output(s). A major factor in subwoofer performance is proper integration using high and low pass filters for the mains and sub respectively. Here is our video discussing subwoofer integration: Subwoofer Integration that Energizes Your Stereo System |
