Stereo and 5.1 system: McIntosh, Vandersteen, Oppo...

[cnolanh]

Nice set up do those floor standers produce good bass? How does a passive sub work I have one but I have not bothered with it because it’s sub par compared to my active subs . Nxt is a good brand does it produce a lot of bass ??
Centers never sound like the fronts even when timber matched like mine.

Thanks for the questions. In order:

- Yes, the L1290s are flat down to 40ish Hz. A couple times I’ve mistakenly left the subwoofer amp off while listening to multichannel audio and there’s still solid bass response.

- The passive sub just means that its amp and crossover are external to the enclosure. In this case the Oppo sets the sub crossover point and feeds a low-frequency (only) signal to the McIntosh amp that powers the sub. So if you can feed a passive sub the right signal, and via a capable, well-matched amp, you can get excellent results.

- The NHT sub produces strong, even bass that extends about 10 Hz lower than the main speakers. It’s plenty for the smallish room the system is in.

- I may try for matched main/center speakers in the future. At the moment this setup works pretty well.

 

[cnolanh]

Now I've moved the ADS speakers to another room and have brought the Vandersteen 2Ce speakers back as the mains in this system. As lovely as the L1290s are, in my perception the Vandys provide a slightly more effortless soundstage and a deeper reach into the bottom octaves.

So I'll probably keep the 2Ce pair in this system, and I'm once again eyeing hjames's Vandy center that's on BT. Hmmm...

 

[PrestigeWW]

Beautiful system. I too run a stereo/5.1 set up. There's a lot of great multichannel music out there - well worth the investment!

 

[58douglide]

Sweet!!!