The box is meant to be temporary though when you try the supplied X-2’s if it doesn’t sound right you can continue to use the box until you can find what you need. the 20k ones may work just fine and you won’t know until you listen and do the measurements from the video. And yes you have to use a filter as the subs are not meant to be used without one.
Fascinating way to build a sub. Lot’s of tweaking and adjusting with external filters. That probably scratches the itch of many hobbyists. I would struggle with a lot of the technical aspects of that kind of set up. That is why the REL T/9x fits so well for me as it has that adjustable crossover. Using just one REL sub hooked up to my M1200s has been awesome (using the floating ground wire method I’ve avoided hum altogether).
Admittedly I know that the Vandersteen Sub likely outperforms my REL. I am looking forward to your report once you get it dialed in.
All that’s scratching my itch is the fact that it’s Vandersteen and so are my mains. I asked Chris Brunhaven above whether he had any idea of the release of the PS Audio sub because I would imagine it’s been developed with the same philosophies as the FR-5s which I’m pretty sure will be my next step.
I’m not so sure whether the Vandersteen would outperform the REL - it’s 1980s technology after all and Vandersteen has come out with several models in the intervening years. I’ve looked hard at the RELs and supposedly for my room size, the Classic 99 is what they suggest. How big is your listening area? If it matches well to the M1200s, that might be a real plus. I’ve found it used on eBay around $700-900.
My room size and setup is represented (not to scale) in the attached diagram. To my ears it is a very resolving setup but it took a bit of adjustments to get the sound stage to snap into place. It is not perfect and I suspect the soundstage is not as wide as it should/could be.
I should add that I have a high ceiling in this room
Thanks much for further info. Here’s a question (which once again probably shows my newbiness (newbitude?) at this: I understand that one of the advantages of a sub is that it relieves the mains to do a better job not having to do so much bass-work. If the crossover is in between the pre-amp and amp, how does it affect things differently between the speakers and sub? I basically understand how crossovers work inside a speaker, where they take the incoming signal and divide things between diffrerent speakers, but how does an EXTERNAL crossover do it? And if the high-pass filter is before the amp, why doesn’t it high-pass the mains as well as the sub?
The high pass filters are cutting bass from the mains. The sub amp has a correction circuit built in. Read this review and explanation from Dick Hardesty starting on page 19 as to how Vandersteen subs work.
Hey scotte, I meant to reply to this earlier. I think it’s a very good capture of what I’m hoping to hear in acquiring my first sub. Reading all these posts is telling me one thing: the brand or quality of the sub is not as important as the PLACEMENT. I think as long as I get a good one from an audio accuracy perspective, I’ll be fine, but figuring out where it does its work best will be the challenge.
Hey Tom, I notice that your sub is right next to your listening chair. That would have me worried that it’s just too “direct,” compared to the main speakers. But I also understand that the idea is not necessarily to HEAR the sub, but for it to just “color” the other sound, so maybe that’s where it works best in your setup.
Yes, my room is a bit problematic with base standing waves and this placement worked best - not ideal, but I have a large storage cabinet for all my LPs and that causes some problems. I did have the sub near the rack at one point, but that made the issue worse. I’d love to have the sub another 4 feet behind the chair, but not possible. For the most part I don’t notice the bass coming from under me 
so it kinda works.
I agree with this…to a point.
I think it is really important to buy a sub with (or use a companion piece of kit with) software to assist with speaker/sub set up and correction.
Given the availability of these tools today, I think it just makes sense to take advantage of them.
That said, a good quality subwoofer that is placed and set manually can no doubt be just as effective.
Have fun and please keep us informed during your journey to “bass bliss”.
There is likely to be plenty of assistance available from fellow forum members along the way, if you ask for it.
Cheers.
Both matter. The connection method of the sub matters. In my case, I recently upgraded to a REL carbon special, which I connected with REL’s upgraded basic blue connector from amp to speakon connection at the sub. This made a significant improvement in my system versus my Infinity sub that had a crossover box between pre and power amps, and was a significant improvement over 2 SVS SB3000 subs that connected via rca connectors from the preamp.
Of course placement also matters. But if you are getting a sub (or 2), it helps to make a good decision the first time. Back when I purchased my SVS subs, others on the forum recommended REL but really didn’t explain WHY. They were right in recommending REL, and now I understand why.
Yeah, I’m getting really close to moving over to REL from considering the Vandersteen. The seller on eBay has not been responsive at all to my questions and it’s so old - 1980s. My main Vandies are almost that old, so I wouldn’t mind, but I’m starting to get the idea that there are some advances in sub-tech that I might want. I’m also worried about finding the right crossovers and filters for it. Will I be in the same dilemma with REL or have they gotten it more to a plug-n-play situation as far as crossover, high and low-pass filters, etc.? As for DSP-type tuning, does it have its own system? I’ll certainly need to re-do the measurements with the Focus Fidelity software which I guess would take care of it, but just curious.
REL is plug and play! THE Paul has raved about REL for years. I do not think you will be disappointed.
Whoa…30Hz crossover point?
That’s almost exactly where I have my (2) REL S510s set at with my FR20s.
And look at the volume level…
One or two clicks only - the HL input is high level when using both leads of the Speakon.
I have my subs set to 30Hz crossover as well.