I agree with this, but I wonder if it is generally the case with two-way speakers. Perhaps it depends on the size of the room. I was hoping that this thread would discuss some examples of Magico two-way speakers being used with subs to see if member's have good experience with the combination or if they have found that it is better to buy a Magico three-way floor stander instead, as suggested by Alon Wolf.
My own experience, having attempted twice now to mate a sub with my Mini 2s, is that I prefer my speakers without subs in my small room. If I had a larger room, I might prefer a larger speaker to my Mini 2s with one or two subs.
Hi Peter,
The size of the room has something to do with it but in my experience it is more a function of how far away one sits. In a larger room one tends to sit farther than what might be optimal. It becomes a matter of what looks optimal vs what really is optimal. For me the important thing is to be able to feel the punch from the main monitors without getting to the point where the system is strained. The easiest way to do this is just to sit closer and tightening up the triangle as one does so. 2-ways that go easily and cleanly to around 40Hz are great candidates for a near/near-mid field set up and the subs just come in underneath to support them. If one pays attention to the little things like clean power and cleaning up ringing in the components one gets the best of both worlds, holography and dynamic expression. If I had a small room this is surely the way I would go.
Going with a 3-way as Alon suggested would likely allow you to maintain your room's layout while getting some more mid-bass presence. I'm pretty sure your amps are up to the task anyway. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if that new 3-way couldn't be improved further by adding a pair of quality subs. The downside is that there is always a chance that introducing a speaker that goes deeper into a room might introduce a hump in response. If layout flexibility and the W is unwilling to accept bass traps, ironically the fix would also be a sub. Isn't this a crazy hobby we got ourselves into?