B&W PB100 (Solid) subwoofer - any experience?

Got a tempting offer on a small-ish (70w) sub - now - I just need a bit more low end oomph on my system and for £50 I figured it's worth a try, despite only having spring clip inputs - does anyone have any expereince of this?

 

Be wary o fhaving 'just a bit more bass'. It all sounds very exciting, untill at some point you realise you aren't listening to music, just showing off to your mates.

I kid you not.

 

P.S. 50 quid will buy you some nice music.

 

Dom

For £50 you can't go far wrong - you can always sell it on if it doesn't work out in your system.

I have a sub in my hifi system (Monitor Audio ASW210) and wouldn't be without it at any price. Properly set up it just adds another dimension.

Garyl is right - you need to be on the sparing side when setting it up - the original reaction is to have lots of low end welly just because, er, you've got it, but that will soon wear off and sanity will kick in.

The secret is to have it just working away in the "background" in an unobtrusive fashion.

 

I'm afraid that I disagree as most people that are interested in music will attempt to set it up correctly.

From memory the subwoofer that you are talking about is fairly old and wasn't expensive when new. I am wary of budget subs as they make a loud noise for films but they tend not to be man enough for music, still playing away whilst the rest of the track has finished.

 

Garyi - don't worry - I've had a Paradigm PDR10 that I spent ages trying to get to work with music - at very discrete levels - it didn't time right so it got flogged on.

Ian - you're right about budget subs - though some of them aren't too bad. The Rega Ela's I use are very fast and I reckon it'll not work with them, but that's what an audition's for - plus if nothing else, I could use it just for AV.

 

no sub is better than a low quality sub

 

Fair point - but if I can try before I buy...

It's got to be worth a try - my flat is a bass sucker due to solid everything and a large air volume...

 

Seriously Dom, I would prefer to flog you speakers, keep the fifty and look for a better speaker.

I rekon some budget speaker, or speakers second hand on ebay would do you better than trying to intergrate a cheap sub into a music system.

I know I am a naimiac, but cutting the nait three to a pre and saving for a 140 would give you at least twice the bass you are currently getting, and thats not a lie.

 

I've also tried a PDR10 now and then. At barely audible levels I was once fooled into thinking it was a good idea. It wasn't. Even switched off but still connected at speaker level it knackered the power amp.

 

Yeah, its amazing how a more powerful amp into the same pair of speakers can give you 'more' than a bigger pair of speakers per se.

Worth borrowing a decent pre/pow dom Id agree and see if it gives you the extra welly you might be looking for from a sub.

NB... have you still got teletubbies clinging to your hifi rack?!

Ive either impressed myself from a photo of your system about 2 years ago, or got you completely mixed up..

Chris