REL - which one?

dev, do you expect the quantitative measurements to change due to the Stillpoints? Qualitative definitely, but quantitative?

Would be an interesting experiment...
 
Mike, I just got to hear the Alexia's with $60K of Ayre gear and a $16K Modwright CDP. Awesome speakers! I think that the REL Britannia's would be a great match if you can still find them, they are very musical and my favorite sub. The Gibralter's would be great too.

Subwoofer Home & Theatre System G-1 and G-2 | REL Acoustics

I would also consider JL Fathoms and the higher end Martin Logan subs which are very fast and musical. The Velodyne Digital Drive subs are very musical. I like them because they come with a remote to change settings and to turn it on and off.
 
Thank you! I'm leaning toward G2's....but I need to tackle my room and poor AC first. I've got some voodoo mixed in too. ;). Then subs. Woah!
 
Mike, couple of things to consider. How you treat your room is going to be directly impacted by how you handle the low bass? How many subs? Placed where? etc. If you spread subs around the room, you are trying to activate room nodes. Very different thinking from standard setup. There is a lot of stuff on the web about this already. Most of it stems from the Harmon white paper on multiple subwoofers.

Simple thing when choosing subwoofers, Rel line included, bigger is better. The larger box & driver the less eq being used. This is especially true when subwoofers are used as true subs, ie crossed over below 50Hz. I was in the same situation as you choosing between G1 and G2. I chose the G1's, very glad I did. They go deeper with greater headroom.

There is a LOT involved with this. If you're running the Alexia's full range (I would), and using the subwoofers to fill out the bottom octave, this requires a lot of time, patience, skill and measurement to get right.
 
Thank you. I completely agree. My friend says he's constantly turning up and down his subs depending on the song and it drives him nuts. This concerns me.

Right now I am focusing on my room treatments (I am going with vicoustics and tube traps). I had my room analyzed with microphones, computer, etc. I then took these to Jeff at AV Solutions and he worked with the folks at Vicoustics and ASC (tube traps) to come up with a plan and drawing. I've since placed the order and I'm just waiting for all the treatments to arrive.

Next up is clean AC. Likely going with Torus.

THEN....will consider whether I need subs or not.


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I only have to mess with my subs when I move the physical locations of my speakers or subs or if I replace a power amp or try a new speaker cable.

Otherwise, you just turn the system on and listen. I've found in 2 channel systems, if you can hear the sub, its too loud. Home theater is a different animal.
 
I only have to mess with my subs when I move the physical locations of my speakers or subs or if I replace a power amp or try a new speaker cable.

Otherwise, you just turn the system on and listen. I've found in 2 channel systems, if you can hear the sub, its too loud. Home theater is a different animal.

+1
 
I hope that you are using that sub for HT. After hearing the Wilson Alexia's the other day, I don't know why you would want to ruin the sound for 2ch music. The Alexia's are a special speaker, have great bass and are very coherent.
 
I hope that you are using that sub for HT. After hearing the Wilson Alexia's the other day, I don't know why you would want to ruin the sound for 2ch music. The Alexia's are a special speaker, have great bass and are very coherent.

I tend to agree! No subs for me.
 
Mike, subtle advice sometimes needs to be advocated on!Even if it wasn't so publique!
 
Isn't the idea of using subs for full range speakers twofold? First, if needed, to give the speaker the bottom most octave (which we really don't hear as much as we feel), and second, and I think more importantly, especially when used in pairs, to deal/cancel room nodes/resonances at the difficult bottom frequencies that could be smearing the mids on up?

If you take the time to optimize the Alexia to the room, I don't think the Alexia is in need of additional bass (the first reason). I'm not 100% sure as I don't have my speakers yet. But if the Alexia/room interaction is such that you have low end challenges they might be handled by adding a pair of subs.

Mike, I would wait until all the acoustic treatments are in, the power is cleaned up and the Stillpoints are on. Then use your ears and maybe another set of measurements to determine if you need them (want is another question:P). Just my $.02.
 
Isn't the idea of using subs for full range speakers twofold? First, if needed, to give the speaker the bottom most octave (which we really don't hear as much as we feel), and second, and I think more importantly, especially when used in pairs, to deal/cancel room nodes/resonances at the difficult bottom frequencies that could be smearing the mids on up?

If you take the time to optimize the Alexia to the room, I don't think the Alexia is in need of additional bass (the first reason). I'm not 100% sure as I don't have my speakers yet. But if the Alexia/room interaction is such that you have low end challenges they might be handled by adding a pair of subs.

Mike, I would wait until all the acoustic treatments are in, the power is cleaned up and the Stillpoints are on. Then use your ears and maybe another set of measurements to determine if you need them (want is another question:P). Just my $.02.

Very good post and feel the same - Adding subs is very difficult to integrate. I have not yet to date heard a system with subs and being able to listen to various music without the owner including myself being able to just leave alone and enjoy! In the end I have always preferred just listening to the speakers in comparison.

Subs would be the last item I would be looking to add, deal with all other issues.

Mike what program along with process did you use measuring the room. Where did you position the mike and at what height.

I really don't like the aesthetics of what most room acoustic products add to a room - did you happen to do any research in those new StillPoint panels prior to placing your order - if what is being written ends up being factual this would be very pleasing and my personally preference. You should be very pleased with your StillPoints once placed under your speakers - I assisted yet another friend yesterday and got to experience first hand the look on his face during listening once done which was priceless - he is very pleased. :D I was hoping he would say ya they make a difference but not enough to warrant the cost so I could have had some hand me downs and then been able to place under my VAC's to compare but unfortunately they are not going anywhere. I'm just being conservative thinking there won't be much of a difference in comparison to my existing set-up, darn things aren't cheap.
 
Main System - Maggie 20.7, Rel G1, CJ GAT, CJ ART, CJ TEA/Auditorium SUT, Channel D Seta L, Light Harmonic, Aurender, Kuzma XL4/Four Point/Ortofon Anna, Cardas Cables, Artesania Rack/Minus K, ASC & RPG Room Treatments, Torus Power

Reading your signature system description you have some lovely pces, would really enjoy seeing some pics. Would be great if you started a thread sharing such. Here's mine in the "members system" section including info on my own journey: http://audioshark.org/audioshark-me...ne-stealth-audio-cables-more-set-up-4173.html
 
Very good post and feel the same - Adding subs is very difficult to integrate. I have not yet to date heard a system with subs and being able to listen to various music without the owner including myself being able to just leave alone and enjoy! In the end I have always preferred just listening to the speakers in comparison.

Subs would be the last item I would be looking to add, deal with all other issues.

Mike what program along with process did you use measuring the room. Where did you position the mike and at what height.

I really don't like the aesthetics of what most room acoustic products add to a room - did you happen to do any research in those new StillPoint panels prior to placing your order - if what is being written ends up being factual this would be very pleasing and my personally preference. You should be very pleased with your StillPoints once placed under your speakers - I assisted yet another friend yesterday and got to experience first hand the look on his face during listening once done which was priceless - he is very pleased. :D I was hoping he would say ya they make a difference but not enough to warrant the cost so I could have had some hand me downs and then been able to place under my VAC's to compare but unfortunately they are not going anywhere. I'm just being conservative thinking there won't be much of a difference in comparison to my existing set-up, darn things aren't cheap.

Hi dev,

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting that adding subs is a bad idea. I think it can be very effective at dealing with low frequency room issues, but as you say, can be tricky to apply correctly. Was just suggesting that Mike is on the right path of addressing foundational items first (power, room acoustics, isolation) before evaluating the need for a pair of subs.

dev, also agree with you I'm not a fan of room treatment aesthetics. Having said that, I think RPG and Vicoustics offer products that can be applied in visually pleasing ways. Sorry to get off topic, but here's an example from Vicoustics that I just love:

d2.jpg


d1.jpg
 
Very good post and feel the same - Adding subs is very difficult to integrate. I have not yet to date heard a system with subs and being able to listen to various music without the owner including myself being able to just leave alone and enjoy! In the end I have always preferred just listening to the speakers in comparison.

Subs would be the last item I would be looking to add, deal with all other issues.

Mike what program along with process did you use measuring the room. Where did you position the mike and at what height.

I really don't like the aesthetics of what most room acoustic products add to a room - did you happen to do any research in those new StillPoint panels prior to placing your order - if what is being written ends up being factual this would be very pleasing and my personally preference. You should be very pleased with your StillPoints once placed under your speakers - I assisted yet another friend yesterday and got to experience first hand the look on his face during listening once done which was priceless - he is very pleased. :D I was hoping he would say ya they make a difference but not enough to warrant the cost so I could have had some hand me downs and then been able to place under my VAC's to compare but unfortunately they are not going anywhere. I'm just being conservative thinking there won't be much of a difference in comparison to my existing set-up, darn things aren't cheap.

A friend who is more knowledgeable in this area did it for me. He used the same program as Alan and upgraded mics. He tried multiple mic positions to gain a consensus. The data was then sent to Jeff who worked with vicioustics and ASC to devise a plan.

I am probably going with stillpoints for my Alexia's and then probably under my preamp and sources to start.

I will also add that Stillpoints are speaker and component dependent. A friend of mine added them under his S5's and said they sucked the life out of his system and made it dry sounding....hence the reason Magico does not recommend them. That being said, I'm hoping for good reports for the Stillpoints under Alexia's. They aren't an insignificant investment....but apparently, a good one.
 
Hi dev,

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting that adding subs is a bad idea. I think it can be very effective at dealing with low frequency room issues, but as you say, can be tricky to apply correctly. Was just suggesting that Mike is on the right path of addressing foundational items first (power, room acoustics, isolation) before evaluating the need for a pair of subs.

dev, also agree with you I'm not a fan of room treatment aesthetics. Having said that, I think RPG and Vicoustics offer products that can be applied in visually pleasing ways. Sorry to get off topic, but here's an example from Vicoustics that I just love:

d2.jpg


d1.jpg

Subs - thanks for clarification. In my opinion specially in a home theatre atmosphere but when it comes to two channel only I just have not yet to date heard anything that I have preferred. Also adding ideally a home theatre room sound wise is different than a two channel

Most defiantly very nice looking room indeed but just look at that Vicoustics mounted on the walls, one placed over top of the other and deforming "bowing" to me just looks tacky. These aren't exactly cheap either.
 
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