Solid State for Rock and Tubes for Jazz, Yes or No

I have to give proper "props" properly to my 10 or 12 year old REL Q150E subwoofer...I bought this thing a couple of years ago from an apparent fool who noted the grill cloth was missing but otherwise it "seemed" to work, for about 200 bucks. Grill repaired and looking like new, I built a clean Neutrik Speakon (angled...had to special order that one) based cable, added a garden hose thick PS Audio AC cord, tightened all the bolts, and into the system it went. Having owned some more or less "full range" speakers in the past I thought I had enough bass around myself but now I can't imagine not using this thing. It's amazing, and it allows some fine tuning of bass level here and there that more than makes up for having zero tone adjustment on my preamp. I actually do use powered 18" subs in pro sound work, but somehow this little 10" wonder gets bass so right in my listening room I never feel the need for more....wait...Skrillex is calling...weird...brb...

One other thing I was reading about damping factor is that damping factor can have an effect on frequency response in that speaker impedance can vary greatly by frequency and hence also the damping effects. Similar to discussions often found about matching pre-amp output to amp input impedance, but perhaps with even greater variability given the variability of speaker designs from an electrical perspective. So though bass is perhaps where damping effects are most noticeable, the effects can be quite broader it would seem and perhaps hard to predict or even generalize about, being different perhaps on almost a case by case basis.

Whatever ones preferences and findings, I think it is worthwhile considering the likely effects of damping factor based on specs when matching amp to speakers, especially with high output impedance tube amps where damping factor will be lower versus lower output impedance SS, where damping factor in general will be higher for any given set of speakers. Its probably always good to know what kind of amp the designer of the speaker recommends or uses.

Last nights visit to the local symphony reminded me that room acoustics always play a major part in regards to what sounds best.

I find that when I cram a symphony orchestra into my listening room they can't properly access their instruments...so everybody just stands there crammed together like sardines on a subway at rush hour...mostly without the sardine odor. Mostly. The sound can best be described as angry muttering.

"The sound can best be described as angry muttering"
Palpable presence in spades i`m sure.

Wolf garcia,

I hope the noise floor is lower. Seems ashame to go to all the trouble and able to hear ppp sections due to rail noise.