How to reproduce sound of piano

Plaser,
In case you did not want to spend the extra money for the sub controller or are unhappy with the results, here is what I found useful when setting up subs. Probably you have already done all that and are happy. In that case just ignore me, if not, perhaps I may be of some use.

1. Place the sub, just as Mapman has suggested behind one of your main speakers in to the corner of the room.

2. Get an LP or a CD with steady really deep bass. The Rel people suggest here the "Sneakers" CD, film music composed by James Horner on Columbia. You can find that on eBay usually for little money. Use track four, which has a timely evenly spaced deep bass drum. Play your system at normal levels with the sub powered up and play around with the phase switch. Ignore the midbass music on the disk, just listen to the really deep bass drum and find out the loudest setting at either normal or inverted phase. Once you've found that, stick to that.
3. Next move the bass unit a few inches to and fro on an imaginary diagonal line through your room aimed at the opposite corner to where you've placed your bass unit. Have a friend at hand to listen where the bass drum gets loudest. This is probably the best spot for your sub.
4. Next settle for the right X-over points. If at all possible run you main system never ever through your sub's X-over. It practically always ruins the sound. To find out where to best let the sub cut in and at what slope, if the latter is possible with your unit, familiarize yourself well with the the sound of your test cut on the cd, WITHOUT the sub first and then experiment with the sub switched on. The sub must not interfere with, cloud or blot out in any way tjhe subtle information in the music on the disk, but be clearly heard when the bass drum is put into play. With the Sneakers cd this can be achieved very easily if you listen and have a friend fiddle with the X-over points. I've had very good success with this method, which also the Rel people use.

Good luck and happy listening,

Detlof

Johnathan Valin did a review of the Wilson benesch Torus Infrasonic Generator. It uses an 18" very stiff carbon fiber diaphragm that operates in push pull, much like an electrostatic. Very, very fast. Breath taking fast. Lots of patents at work here so you should go to www.wilson-benesch.com and download the tech paper on it. None better in my opinion for music. I am guessing the JR is better for home theater.
Don't be put off by the fact that I am a dealer either, I am sure you have a local dealer to audition at.

Martykl and Detlof thanks for your suggestions. I probably will get the SMS-1 in the near future. In the meanwhile, I took your advices Detlof and used one of Charlie Hadyn's deep bass CD's to find the optimal position for the sub. I also used Grados GS-1000 headphone to calibrate the sound so that the music from speakers+sub closely matches that of the headphones (assuming the headphone is most true to the recording). I settled on the left corner just behind the main speaker with 180 degree phase and 60 hz cross over (bass augmentation and not running throuh sub x-over). Also I put a marble slab below it to isolate it and hopefully to avoid disturbing the neighbors.

Overall, the soundstage has increased dramatically and now I'm getting some resemblance to live grand piano sound although still far ways to go, but a huge improvement nontheless (Beethoven sonatas and Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableaux and Preludes seem to have benefitted the most so far). Also the subwoofer has given new life to most jazz CDs I have. I never thought subwoofer can enhance listening experience this much, music just sounds much more wider and feels real. Before spending $1000+ on cables, I think all 2 channel music lovers should get a sub first.

Now that you have one sub, would you consider trying a stereo pair?