Subwoofer for Quad ESL-63?

[grizzie]

I am considering adding a subwoofer to add some low end to my Quad electrostatic speakers. I have heard that this is not necessarily a wise move since these are not an easy pair of speakers to mesh a sub with (nothing seems to be quick enough or blends well). If anyone could share any thoughts or experiences on this I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[Pat D]

I am considering adding a subwoofer to add some low end to my Quad electrostatic speakers. I have heard that this is not necessarily a wise move since these are not an easy pair of speakers to mesh a sub with (nothing seems to be quick enough or blends well). If anyone could share any thoughts or experiences on this I would appreciate it. Thanks.

The Quad ESL-63 actually has useful bass at ordinary levels down to about 30 hz, but a subwoofer can increase the output capability in the bass and enable lower bass to be reproduced.

Actually, setting up a sub with the Quads is not that much different than with other kinds of speakers. There is no such thing as fast bass and usually bass problems are due to room resonances. The ESL-63 loses some output in the deeper bass at higher levels (it actually seems to limit itself), so a crossover at 70 Hz or so will help increase the bass output capability by quite a bit. One may as well get a big sub that will do well to below 20 hz.

The Gradient subs meant for the Quads don't go very low and are expensive and require another amplifier.. They do have the advantage of being dipoles which Richard Greene says works better. I was not impressed with the Gradient sub in a store.. Perhaps one could get a bigger sub with the Gradients and cross it over below 30 Hz.