sub for Quad ESL 988

[rbl]

Can anyone recommend a subwoofer to match the Quad electrostatic 988 speakers, for use with both HT and music? My room is 15' x 18' so I don't need anything particulalry loud, but something that blends in well. Am thinking of the TBI Magellan VIII or the Velodyne DD-12, but open to suggestions. Has anyone tried these combinations?

[GaryB]

Can anyone recommend a subwoofer to match the Quad electrostatic 988 speakers . . .

No personal experience but I've read many comments recommending dipole subs to go along with dipole speakers such as the Quads. The only folks I know manufacturing dipole subs specifically for the Quads are Gradient - http://www.gradient.fi/
Take a look at the SW-D subwoofers.

---Gary

[vdorta]

If blending is your main concern, a REL Britannia or a pair of the cute new REL T-series connected at speaker level, or the Audio Physic Luna II, whose room gain setting is very helpful in that regard.

[adamslim]

No personal experience but I've read many comments recommending dipole subs to go along with dipole speakers such as the Quads. The only folks I know manufacturing dipole subs specifically for the Quads are Gradient - http://www.gradient.fi/
Take a look at the SW-D subwoofers.

---Gary

I don't know the 988s, but I know the ESL-63s well. I could never get a REL sub to work well with them, but Gradients worked marvellously, so this recommendation is seconded. Others have spoken about a particular REL (I think it is the Britannia) which works with them, but I have not tried that one (I did try the Stadium, Stentor and Studio, all of which I couldn't get to work well, but it is room dependent).

What about a pair of 989s, or even the new ones?

Adam

[creativepart]

The Quads are super fast, so if your sub is going to match with these wonder speakers and not always be a step behind you should look at subs with a lot of wattage and small speakers. Probably you should use two subs with 10" speakers (possible even 8" ) and you'll probably want the subs to be placed NEXT to your Quads. Not across the room like the practice in some HT setups. It's tough matching those Quads with subs.

HT subs can be slow, undefined and bloated. Heck, they mostly just go BOOM. But for great music with those great speakers you need something FAST, responsive, controlled and detailed.

The Gradients always come up as they have a model made for Quads. But the REL Britannia is probably a good choice too. Basically, you want a MUSIC SUB not a HT SUB.

And you might want to consider adding an outboard crossover too.

[Skunk]

The Quads are super fast, so if your sub is going to match with these wonder speakers and not always be a step behind you should look at subs with a lot of wattage and small speakers. Probably you should use two subs with 10" speakers (possible even 8" )

Wouldn't a big driver be faster, since x-max is reduced to move the same amount of air, compared to small drivers?

[creativepart]

Small drivers are faster accelerating and return faster too. Less mass to move in either direction. Plus remember the Quads are MUCH faster reacting than cone speakers.

[pfarrell]

rbl wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a subwoofer to match the Quad electrostatic 988
> speakers, for use with both HT and music? My room is 15' x 18' so I
> don't need anything particulalry loud, but something that blends in
> well. Am thinking of the TBI Magellan VIII or the Velodyne DD-12, but
> open to suggestions. Has anyone tried these combinations?

I don't have Quads, I'd love to, but they need more room than I have.
I have a Rel Stadium sub, and it is very musical.

I recommend checking the archives at Stereophile, TAS, etc.
I remember reading many articles about how hard it is to match
a sub with Quads and other panel speakers.


--
Pat
http://www.pfarrell.com/music/slimse...msoftware.html

[konut]

I don't own Quads. I do own a pair of single driver speakers, the Omega Aperiodic 8 which uses Visaton B200 8" drivers. So aside from being a point source very resolving driver, it has nothing in common with the Quads. I've paired these with a Rocket UFW-12 sub avaliable from AV123. This sub includes an external unit called R-DES. Its a line level 5 band parametric equalizer that can be programed by hooking up a USB cable to your computer and running the software included. Its very effective in not only integrating the sub to your stereo pair, but taming any peaks and nulls in your room. Its an IB design so its subjectively fast, to my ears anyway. Very musical. I love mine.
http://www.av123.com/products_produc...rs&product=8.1