Sub Woofers

[Labarum]

This is not particularly a Harbeth question, Alan, but I would value your technical opinions, as I am sure others would.

Having moved my main system to a house in Cyprus I have for the present cobbled together something for a UK flat I will occupy a few moths a year.

I have a Quad 77 CD Player and Tuner with the 77 Integrated Amp driving an old pair of Goodman's Maxim IIs. Not great. I add in a KEF PSW 2500 set very discretely and immediately the stereo image and general clarity seems to improve and everything is a good deal less strained.

Am I fooling myself that I hear improvements that are more than more bass?

What's going on?

When using a much more modern a higher quality speaker like the P3 does a good, well adjusted sub make contributions to system clarity beyond raw bass extension?

[HUG-1]

Most of the energy in the human voice and obviously music too is concentrated in the middle frequencies. It's hard to imagine that improving/adjusting either end of the spectrum (the lowest or the highest frequencies) will have any real effect on the middle frequencies. As stated again recently, the cone material defines the quality of reproduction. we can't recall the Goodman Maxim 11 --- are they from the 70s? --- perhaps with paper cones? That'll be the quality limitation no matter how your ear is pulled to the low frequencies with your sub. Our guess would be that if you turn down the contribution of the sub you will return your attention to the middle/top frequencies.

[Paul G Smith]

Most of the energy in the human voice and obviously music too is concentrated in the middle frequencies. It's hard to imagine that improving/adjusting either end of the spectrum (the lowest or the highest frequencies) will have any real effect on the middle frequencies. As stated again recently, the cone material defines the quality of reproduction. we can't recall the Goodman Maxim 11 --- are they from the 70s? --- perhaps with paper cones? That'll be the quality limitation no matter how your ear is pulled to the low frequencies with your sub. Our guess would be that if you turn down the contribution of the sub you will return your attention to the middle/top frequencies. Could it be that the addition of the sub removes some of the load from the Maxims and allows them to "breathe" more? Does the KEF have a crossover which separates out the "highs"? If the sub is wired via the tape loop this could well be the case.

[Labarum]

The KEF Sub is driven from the Pre-out of a Quad 77 Integrated Amp. The Maxim IIs are still being driven across the full range, but, of course, they naturally roll off in the bass.

An old thread, but note the speakers in question are not Maxim Elevens ( I don't think they were ever made) but Maxim Twos. And yes, the bass-mid unit has a paper cone.