Subs for Quad ESL 2812

[Asbas]

Hi from Denmark

I have a pair of Quad ESL 2812 and i love the sound of them. But i wonder if i can improve the sound by adding a pair of subwoofers.
My room is about 400 sqare feet or 40m2. I hope by adding the right subs it will pressurise the room and ad better soundstage and details in the low registre.
Do you have experience with Quad ESL 2812 and subs?

Regards Dennis

 

[matakana]

Hi from Denmark

I have a pair of Quad ESL 2812 and i love the sound of them. But i wonder if i can improve the sound by adding a pair of subwoofers.
My room is about 400 sqare feet or 40m2. I hope by adding the right subs it will pressurise the room and ad better soundstage and details in the low registre.
Do you have experience with Quad ESL 2812 and subs?

Regards Dennis

Hello, welcome
I recommend arendal ( located not too far away from you and give a good trial period ) sub and an antimode processor.

 

[LL21]

Hi from Denmark

I have a pair of Quad ESL 2812 and i love the sound of them. But i wonder if i can improve the sound by adding a pair of subwoofers.
My room is about 400 sqare feet or 40m2. I hope by adding the right subs it will pressurise the room and ad better soundstage and details in the low registre.
Do you have experience with Quad ESL 2812 and subs?

Regards Dennis

Here is an old review of the still-current Velodyne DD18+ which was done by Larry Greenhill pairing it with a Quad 989 (https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/720/index.html) which I think was the forerunner before the 2812.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/velodyne-digital-drive-plus-18-subwoofer

Excerpts:

"...Sound Quality
With the Quad ESL-989s driven by my Levinson No.334 amplifier but rolled-off below 80Hz, Mark Flynn's kick-drum opening to "Blizzard Limbs," from Attention Screen's Live at Merkin Hall (CD, Stereophile STPH018-2), delivered visceral bass punches without shutting down the speakers. The DD-18+ let me fully appreciate the pace, impact, and dynamics of percussion. Precise, tuneful, focused timpani whacks shook my listening room in the second section of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic (SACD/CD, Deutsche Grammophon 00289 477 6198-2), and in the same passage with Eiji Oue conducting the Minnesota Orchestra (HRx 24/176 file from Reference RR-70). The DD-18+ fully reproduced the explosive rendition of Yoshihisa Taira's Hierophonie V by the Kroumata Percussion Ensemble (CD, BIS 232), which also demonstrated the Velodyne's ability to deliver compact, dense, fast timpani strokes. The DD-18+ delivered the full power of the furious, powerful bass-drum strokes that punctuate John Williams's Liberty Fanfare, from Winds of War and Peace, with Lowell Graham conducting the National Symphonic Winds (CD, Wilson Audiophile WCD-8823), which erupted as huge, gut-punching whacks.

The DD-18+ could move volumes of air to capture the inherent solidity and mass of a pipe organ's lowest pedal notes. This could create "room lock"; ie, a level of deep bass strong enough to be felt as a pressure wave. The sustained 32' note that concludes James Busby's performance of Herbert Howells's Master Tallis's Testament, from the Pipes Rhode Island collection (CD, Riago 101), initiated some powerful room lock: The air shuddered, causing the radiator panels to vibrate.

In fact, the DD-18+'s solidity, extension, excellent pitch definition, low coloration, and tonal correctness were perfect for pipe organ recordings. I clearly heard and felt the turbulent 25Hz pedal note that underpins Gnomus, from Jean Guillou's performance of his own transcription of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (CD, Dorian DOR-90117). The unusually wide dynamic range of the organ in the excerpt from Elgar's Dream of Gerontius on Stereophile's Test CD 2 (Stereophile STPH004-2), was most impressive—particularly the sustained final note, which produced room lock. The DD-18+ helped the Quads create a dense, texturally accurate sonic tapestry of full choir, harp, and organ-pedal notes in John Rutter's A Gaelic Prayer, with Timothy Seelig leading the Turtle Creek Chorale (CD, Reference RR-57CD). The Quad-Velodyne combo conveyed the massive, almost subsonic organ note that concludes Rutter's Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace on the same disc—it was stunning in its power and pitch definition.

The DD-18+ also brought into sharp focus the bass timbres of other instruments, including that audiophile favorite, the double basses playing a sustained C, doubled by an organ pedal, in the opening of Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra, from Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops' Time Warp (CD, Telarc CD-80106). Tonally, the DD-18+ captured the tense energy and drive of Michael Arnopol's double-bass in the introduction to "Too Rich for My Blood," from Patricia Barber's Café Blue (CD, Premonition/Blue Note 5 21810 5). David Hudson's bass didgeridoo was reproduced with a power, speed, and dynamics I hadn't heard before in "Rainforest Wonder," from his Didgeridoo Spirit (CD, Indigenous Australia IA2003 D). The DD-18+ revealed the telltale sound of a fabric-covered mallet striking a big bass drum in H. Owen Reed's La Fiesta Mexicana, from Howard Dunn and the Dallas Wind Symphony's Fiesta! (CD, Reference RR-38CD), as well as Jerome Harris's careful bass work weaving in and out of "The Mooche," from his Rendezvous (CD, Stereophile STPH013-2). ..."

 

[Dogberry]

I have a pair of 2905s and have experimented a bit. Some years ago I used the subwoofers from a Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble (which has a passive filter with just a coil and a capacitor in it) but didn't find it much use. Having a cheap powered subwoofer (and I mean really cheap, embarrassingly so) that used to be used with a video set-up in the basement I tried that. It is connected to a second set of outputs on my pre-amp, and it lets me set crossover frequency and volume, and I'm surprised how well it works. I can't quite set it and forget it, as some recordings simply have way too much bass (for example I had to turn it right down yesterday for Genesis' Invisible Touch), but most of the time I forget it's there. I think the trick is not to set the volume (or crossover frequency) such that you can hear it doing its thing—it should be subtle. I did initially have it placed away from my speakers as I'm told we aren't good at directional hearing of low frequency sounds (and I have only one ear so that issue is moot for me), but all the same, I find it works best if it sits between the speakers. Now, again, having one ear I have no stereo imaging to worry about, and being cautious with setting it's volume, I have no indication I'm using it at all, other than the difference if I switch it off. For something that probably cost $100 from RadioShack back in the day it is a worthwhile experiment!

 

[RogerW]

Hi from Denmark

I have a pair of Quad ESL 2812 and i love the sound of them. But i wonder if i can improve the sound by adding a pair of subwoofers.
My room is about 400 sqare feet or 40m2. I hope by adding the right subs it will pressurise the room and ad better soundstage and details in the low registre.
Do you have experience with Quad ESL 2812 and subs?

Regards Dennis

Hi Dennis.

I too have the 2812s after owning Quad 63s, and before them Quad 57s which I bought in 1975. I've experimented quite a bit to get the best out of electrostatics over the years and find that all three different types gain in bass clarity and perceived depth by raising them up so that (with the 2812s and 63s) the bottom of the bottom bass driver panel is 12" off the ground - for the 2812s I built frames of 4"X2" timber which are bolted into the holes meant for the spikes, and then the spikes are fixed to the bottom of the frame with T-nuts. Also, the speakers in my listening room are a metre or so from the wall behind them (which contains LP racks) but only 4" from the side walls which is beneficial to bass extension.
However just recently I tried a Quad L-series subwoofer (the 300 watt 12" one...no longer available), which I actually bought for my TV system which uses a Quad Vena 2 Play feeding a pair of Quad 9L monitors, which with the sub is excellent. But I've recently promoted the sub to my main system as a 'try-out' - with careful setting-up it works really well!
I have the cut off set at 45hz, so it really only is noticeable on the largest orchestral bass drum notes, organ pedals, the lowest notes on plucked double bass, and some really low synthesized electronic sounds.
As I use a Quad Vena 2 as a preamp only, feeding a pair of QMP Elite monoblocks, the speaker outputs of the Vena are available to feed the sub - the reverse of what happens on my TV system where the Vena 2 Play powers the 9Ls and it's preamp output feeds the sub....I'm now lookin for another Quad sub for that purpose, as I'm keeping the Quad L-series for the main system. By the way, if you get a chance to buy a secondhand L-series (12") sub, try and find the mahogany
verneer one as it exactly matches the verneer trim on the Quad 2812s!

I'm now really happy with the sound from this system...the Quad 2812s are tremendous loudspeakers, and with the added weight at the bottom end from the sub can stand comparison with anything of comparable price.

Regards Roger