Sats & Large Subs

Stellavision

Prominent Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2003
Messages
2,571
Reaction score
169
Points
576
Age
49
Location
Portsmouth, UK
As posted in a previous thread I am looking into replacing my floorstanders with sats. Particularly I'm intrested in the B&W VM1's although I have'nt had a demo of them yet.
I am also wanting at some point a larger, more powerful sub than my ASW-675. My wife is REALLY against all SVS subs because they don't look any where near as attractive as the nice wooden B&W sub, so I have suggested some time in the not to distant future I upgrade to the B&W ASW-750. This has got a much more welcome response despite it costing a lot more than the SVS I was hoping to purchase.
I have never owned a sub/sat system and was just wondering if there are any kind of limitations to which sub you can pair with a set of satalite speakers?
The VM1's are obviously small speakers and the ASW750 is a monster! Would they go together OK?
 
Originally posted by Stellavision
This has got a much more welcome response despite it costing a lot more than the SVS I was hoping to purchase.

I hope that you deduct the extra from her clothes allowance :D

In my opinion as long as the sound output from the sub is correctly balanced to the satellites it doesn't really matter if the sub is a big hairy beast although there may be a difference in quality at the top end as opposed to the low end.

You are obviously a lover of bass but I would think carefully before splitting your budget the way you intend as it is the satellites that will have a much greater effect on your listening than the subwoofer.

Everyone will allocate their budgets differently but if it were me I would keep the existing sub and spend the sub money on getting even better main speakers. I don't know what though.
 
Originally posted by Stellavision
.....My wife is REALLY against all SVS subs because they don't look any where near as attractive as the nice wooden B&W sub, so I have suggested some time in the not to distant future I upgrade to the B&W ASW-750. This has got a much more welcome response despite it costing a lot more than the SVS I was hoping to purchase.

Have you checked all the subs on the SVS website, they have wood finishes available. As an example check out...

http://www.svsubwoofers.com/subs_pb1_plus.htm

There are five different wood finishes offered.

Anyway, just thought which may be worth exploring.
 
I hadn't shown the wife the wooden SVS. I had forgotten they do them wood grained to be honest as I had been mainly looking into the cheaper ones.
Could be another option though, thanks.
 
Originally posted by hornydragon
If you listen to music check out the new MJ REF1? As it has dual crossovers one for movie bass and one for music so you have 2 subs in one, very clever. and nice wood too.

I beg to differ hornydragon, the MJ Ref 1 does not have two crossovers. It may have two independent inputs which can have individual levels but they must both have the same crossover point as there is only one control for this.
 
Stellavision - if your ever down the Watford way I'd be more than happy to dem the ASW750 to you.
 
Ah yes hornydragon, apologies. I didn't realise there was a new Mk2 version of the Ref1
 
Apology accepted and it is a cracking idea, didnt get a proper demo at bristol but may be the ideal way to get a musical performance from a Sat sub system while retaining grunt for movies.
No ide how you connect the bloody thing tho.
 
Rags, thanks I'll bare that in mind.
Showed the wife a picture of the SVS PB1-Plus and I think she nearly likes it!:eek: At around £587 + Shipping + Vat it could be a steal!
However that thing is huge!
I asked one she would prefer; SVS or B&W ASW750, to which she replied, "the smallest," even though the SVS is about half the price

:suicide:
Anyway, I think I'm making positive steps. We have had extensive rows about my upgrade obsessions, and up until now she was dead set agains changing the sub at all.:D

We are moving into a new house this month and apperently I have to get my priorities right.
 
Originally posted by Stellavision
We are moving into a new house this month and apparently I have to get my priorities right.

Quite right too. New sub first and decorating and furniture second. :D
 
Originally posted by Ian J
Quite right too. New sub first and decorating and furniture second. :D
Thanks Ian, I'll use that for backup.:D

I just phoned Sevenoaks at Southampton to see if they had any VM1's in to demo. They have'nt unfortunately, but suggested a listen to the Kef KHT and the Monitor Audio Radius, which they seem to think both performed better than the B&W's and they have them in stock. Any one experienced these?

I also expressed my interest in the ASW-750 and the guy on the phone thinks it would be too much sub for these kind of speakers!

This is proving a pain! All I want is nice WAF friendly wall mountable speakers and a sub to shake my inards when watching explosive scenes.
 
I'm using six KHT2005.2's with a Dynaudio Contour Sub run off a Pioneer AX10. Initially I bought them because they can be placed out of the way of the ankle biters (they replaced Naim SBL's which were just the right height for them to wreck).

They more than hold their own and integrate really well with the sub. They do not shout and they are not raspy in sound.

Now the amplification and Sub cost way above that of the Kefs but it would have to be a very good set of speakers to replace them now.


Ryan
 
I was pleasantly surprised to find Audio-T in Portsmouth had some VM1's in stock when I called in this afternoon.
I got them to demo them in stereo and then with a sub, which it obviously needs. I was pleasantly surprised at the tone of the VM1's. They were'nt harsh or tinny and didn't lack loads of mid like I thought they might.
The sub they plugged in was a B&W ASW300 which sounded crap, unbalanced and unintergrated. So I asked if I could take 3 of them home to setup properly with the rest of my own kit.

Well I have them at home now, setup and calibrated and I can say I think I really like them. Dialogue from the center sounds warm and pleasant, the L&R's have a decent tone and they all blend well with my ASW675.
After watching 2 or 3 scenes from ATOTC I think my wife and I decided that we would probably happily purchase these.

I think I may give the ASW750 a miss, mainly because of the price at the moment. The guy at Audio-T also thinks that could be a lot of sub to pair with sattelites like the VM1's. So I am going to try and go down the route of ordering the SVS PB1-Plus, wife permitting and all that. It being larger than my ASW675 does pose the question of how well it would integrate, but I believe there shouldn't be a big problem if I set it up properly.
 
Stellavision - i'd definately give the ASW750 a try - it's only about a £100 more the the PB1 Plus and it's a great performer. Not going to comment on how relative performance of the two as I dont know.
 
Rags, I think you are confusing dollars with pounds.
The PB1-Plus is $1099 which is £587.
Of course I need to add shipping and vat but it will still be cheaper than £1200.
Just sent an email to SVS for a shipping quote to Heathrow.:)
 
Stellavision - No i'm not mate.

SVS - $1099 + $200 (shipping estimate) = $1,299 @ 1.79 = £726(1.79 is a reasonable current exchange rate on most credit cards given the current spot is 1.84)

£726 * 1.215 (customs and VAT at 21.5%) = £882. You will probably also get charged a small handling fee by BAX global. So say £900 in total.

You can pick up and ASW750 for £960 after discount. So difference is £60. Without commenting on how good the PB1 plus is (it may be significantly better) but in a price only comparison with the ASW750 it's not the bargain it may seem.
 
Just haggle mate. I am estimating the discount but if you dont get any joy I can send you the names of a few willing dealers. I have found B&W etc dealers to be more than obliging.
 
I may be biased but I can't see a situation where you would have too much sub, unless you went and bought two 900w monsters!

Seriously, a great performing sub will have the ability to give you flexibility in setup and of course, high quality LFE plus an element of 'future proofing' when and if you upgrade the rest of your speakers. I'm a great believer in a powerful (and high quality) sub working well wthin its limits rather than a lesser sub being run at or near its limits.
 
Originally posted by esta56
I can't see a situation where you would have too much sub,

There is some disagreement in the Stellavision household between what Mr Stellavision's ears tell him and what Mrs Stellavision's eyes are telling her.

The art is to try and find a sub that satisfies both but it probably doesn't exist.
 
With my ex, I was able to buy my original Servo 15 (in black) with very little grief as I put it under the stairs at the lowest most point in our lounge, which was wasted space. Maybe worth looking into the possibilty of fitting a sub in redundant space or make use of it as a side table to a sofa or under a table etc. etc.

By the way, my ex isn't an ex because of 'sub intolerance', just in case the thought was crossing your mind!
 
i may be being thick but to go back on the "Too much sub" point, has anyone experienced "Too much sub" Surely better subs used at the correct level would be higher quality amplifiers and would sound better no matter what the speakers are??
 
Originally posted by bobbypunk
i may be being thick but to go back on the "Too much sub" point, has anyone experienced "Too much sub" Surely better subs used at the correct level would be higher quality amplifiers and would sound better no matter what the speakers are??

I suppose it's all about overall system sound quality and how you distribute the spend between different parts of your set up. You have to put "too much sub" into context.

For example if you had a budget of £1,000 for speakers and a sub any you spent £100 on your speakers and £900 on your sub then you probably have "too much sub" for your system - better overall SQ improvements will likely be obtained by altering the spend ratio.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom