I have never understood the preoccupation with bass. For half a century we didn’t even have subs. When you listen to a live band do you experience the bass is missing? I just don’t get it. I have ML’s, and I have more bass than I need. This without a sub. End rant.
Subwoofers - Final Thoughts with Martin Logan ESL 13A
I’ve narrowed this down to 3 choices (I think) and was looking to see if anyone has had some experience with pairing these subs with ML ESLs? I can’t try and return because they are mostly secondhand purchases, so hoping to get it right the first time!
Force Cancelling subs have been highly recommended, so:
KEF KC92 (or KF92 older model) 2, 3 or possible 4 of these:
https://assets.kef.com/product-support/kc92-subwoofer/KC92_info_sheet_EN_V4_20240124.pdf
Martin Logan BalancedForced 210 - Maybe the best as they match up nicely, but I could probably only do one of these as they are HUGE. I have only one spot I could put one as far as the manual's recommendation goes. Martin Logan says these will cover 3000 sq. ft. My room is only 500 sq. ft. Two maybe overkill, but some say, "2 subs or no subs" Maybe I could put another addition on the house :-(
https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/balancedforce-210 - click on Specs/Lit
Lastly, The Swarm Subwoofer System - not sure how well this would work with my ESLs.
https://www.audiokinesis.com/the-swarm-subwoofer-system-1.html
Any advice would greatly be appreciated (as usual).
Thanks, and all the best of the season to you all!
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@coltrane1 Sorry then about my post, you're probably right! If you don't mind me asking, what model MLs do you have? Your system isn't virtual here. |
One option that doesn’t get much airplay on Audiogon is Perlisten. The company does advertise in the glossies, but rarely offers its products for review, so it’s not surprising that it flies under most audiophiles’ radar. However, when Perlistens are evaluated by a credible reviewer, the raves are almost embarrasing. See the last link below. The reason I recommend them for use with an electrostatic is their reputation for speed, transient response, detail, and transparency. Having spent decades sub-rolling my vintage Quad ESLs, I’m no stranger to how tricky it can be to extend the low end of an electrostat. So it strikes me that even a pair of Perlisten’s entry-level R10S (physically smaller than you’d think and reasonably priced at $2K per) might be a great match for a ML stat. 15" cube, 45lbs, sub-20Hz extension. Downside: no DSP / app. https://www.avforums.com/reviews/perlisten-audio-d15s-subwoofer-review.21554/ https://www.perlistenaudio.com/products/r10s/#techspecs
Oh, and then there’s this: https://www.audioholics.com/subwoofer-reviews/perlisten-d215s
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@cundare2 Interesting, thanks. I just don’t know if the R10s are enough for my 500 sq. ft space and moving up the line to the R12s in a pretty significant price jump. Yikes! |
Good question to ask a dealer. I know that Bliss HiFi in MN handles the line; and the owner Juan is pretty sharp & always happy to answer questions via email or phone. One reason why they may work is that even the R10 has pretty significant bass boost below 25ish Hz. In fact, I’m seriously thinking of upgrading my Martin Logan sub with a couple of these little guys myself (my room is only half the size of yours, however). Btw, I obviously misspoke in my last message. Perlisten subs do have a configurable DSP. What I was thinking of is that, unlike ML models, they don’t have room-correction functionality. So you have to manually tune the DSP using the sub’s buit-in parametric EQ, |
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