Subwoofer decision

[cjking]

My current set-up is Sherwood 5x100W amplifier, Tannoy M3 floor standers, Tannoy MC centre and Wharfedale Modus Cubes for rear channels. I have a second-hand Aiwa subwoofer which I got in trade for something else. I wanted it mainly for movies, but I find having it in the system sometimes screws up the sound. (For example, testing today, it sounded great with one CD, crap with another, and with talk radio on there was an intermittent rumble apparently generated from the speakers voice.)

The Aiwa has to go - so the choice is between having nothing (surely the floorstanders ought to be all I need for music and throwing in a subwoofer is always going to screw things up?) or a subwoofer that will not screw-up the sound no matter what I'm putting through the Amp. Will a MJ Acoustics Reference 100 suit me?

I should add that £350 for that is at the top end of what I might be willing to spend. Also, I don't listen to music much, and I'm probably one of the least fussy people re. sound quality in this forum, but the Aiwa subwoofer screwing up dialogue (it also sometimes seems to interfere with centre speaker) is not something even I can put up with.

[Hawklord]

You may find that it's the sherwood at fault. The sub is only relating the signal the amp is sending it. I'd personally look into getting a better av reciever before replacing the subwoofer. £350 will get you a good reciever which will probably give all your speakers a better work out including the subwoofer.
Any chance you could borrow an amp to see if the sub works ok with that? Alternatively try another sub to see if that performs badly as well. That'd at least identify the cause of your suspect sound

[Kazman]

I agree, it could well be the amp. I'm sure Richer Sounds or any decent hi-fi store will help you try to work it out. Why not take your sub to a dealer to try it against other amps?

£350 buys you a lot of amp or sub, so once the culprit has been identified, we can take it to the next step

[cjking]

Looks like I should think again.

Further testing shows that most of the time the sound is OK, so I'm not going to rush my decision.