Recommend me a sub

Raymond Lin · 16 Dec 2011 at 20:40

So far, in my search of my perfect 5.1 set up, so far i have.

Amp* - Pioneer VSX-2021 (7.1, 150W per channel, THX etc)

Speakers

Front - B&W 602 S2
Centre - B&W CC6 S2
Rear - B&W 686

*I also going to Pre-out the Front 2 channels into my Musical Fidelity X-A2 for music

Now, for a sub.

The room is about 15ft x 20ft roughly with carpet. What sub do you guys recommend.

There is REL R218 on eBay for around the £600 mark (probably £200 more than i want to spend), which is probably overkill? I did a quick search and BK sub seems to get a lot of recommendations here, which model of BK sub do you guys recommend?

Wizzfizz · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:08

Gemini 2 gets my vote.

Shamrock · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:21

I've got a BK Gemini 2, definitely can recommend it. However, if you've got the budget for a BK Monolith, why the hell not?

Raymond Lin · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:24

The question is, why is the BK Monolith only £450 where REL can charge £2k for one of their reference sub?

Is the BK Monolith just bargain bargain or is REL a bit like BOSE?

Shamrock · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:40

£2000 isn't much in the world of high-end audio.

Raymond Lin · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:49

Shamrock said:
£2000 isn't much in the world of high-end audio.

But is a £450 BK Monolith comparable to a £2k or even £1k REL sub?

I am not looking into high end though, i am trying to get best bang for buck per say. What i really want is some PMC FB1 for the fronts and some other PMC for the rear lol

The way i see it, a sub provide the frequency that the other 5 channels can't reach but what also make a huge difference is the size of the room it is in. Therefore a big sub in a small room is a waste.

Of course, i am sure timing also comes into, therefore, what is BK like? They seem very cheap, plus, you can only get them from their own site and not through any dealers?

thedoc46 · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:58

Do they sell HSU in the UK ? I recently swapped out my aging and popping REL Strata for a HSU VTF-MK4 and I couldn't be happier.

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-2-mk4.html

imb4tman · 16 Dec 2011 at 22:18

For £495 you could match your other speakers with the B & W ASW610 but I'd have to agree with the posters above and go for the BK Monolith. Punches way above its price tag.

lucid · 17 Dec 2011 at 02:18

Raymond Lin said:
*I also going to Pre-out the Front 2 channels into my Musical Fidelity X-A2 for music

Ifyou mean what you wrote then you're planning this wrong Raymond Lin.

Raymond Lin · 17 Dec 2011 at 02:21

lucid said:
Ifyou mean what you wrote then you're planning this wrong Raymond Lin.

Sorry, typo. I won't be using the sub for music.

The CD player goes straight into the MF. I meant to write:- Pre-out the front 2 channel from BD for movies lol

Raymond Lin · 17 Dec 2011 at 22:07

Ok, rear speakers bought !!!

Went into my local HiFi dealer with the intention of getting the 686, came out with some B&W M-1 !!!

I saw the 686 in person and they are too deep in size to fit behind the sofa but the M-1 is perfect. I actually bought 3 (looks like that centre on eBay might not turn up, no communication from the seller at all for 5 days since winning), 1 centre, 2 rears, all 3 for £200

as they are discontinued now.

Now, I just need that sub !

Which brings me back to this, are BK sub actually good? if they are, why are there no dealer that stock them? I find that really really strange.

Haze · 17 Dec 2011 at 22:28

because they dont want too

they are really nice, i have the gemini 2

-BA- · 17 Dec 2011 at 22:46

BK are hand built. I have an XXLS400 on order for the first or second week of January. I really wanted to go for the Monolith+ but settled for the 400 for the time being. The feedback on the Monolith is superb. Beware it is big! I think BK have a 7 or 14 day no quibble. If you aren't happy, return it but you pay postage.

ubern00b · 18 Dec 2011 at 01:35

The day I got my Monolith was like the day I was born. I got it second hand for £230, probably the bargain of the century. Don't spend over the odds when you could have arguably the best sub by a LONG shot in a price bracket that easily matches subs twice or thrice what it costs.

Raymond Lin · 18 Dec 2011 at 01:36

Haze said:
because they dont want too

they are really nice, i have the gemini 2

I think I am going to go for this tbh, it seems to be best bang for buck.

Unless I can get this under £300.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300637299...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_1148wt_1043

But turning back to the Gemini II, at the ordering page

"When ordering a subwoofer please let us know if you require a Mono or Stereo RCA interconnect by filling in the Comments box below"

This is the rear of my Amp.

There are 2 outs, both White.

The manual actually says it can power 2 subs.

I am guessing Mono?

Nick1881 · 18 Dec 2011 at 11:55

Mono is all you need.

I recommend a BK XLS400.

Chong Warrior · 18 Dec 2011 at 13:58

Mono for movies
XLS400 for music

If you were willing to spend big money on some fancy branded sub then treat yourself and buy both subs from BK... just make sure your foundations are up to it

I have the XLS200 and it's brilliant but sometimes I just wish it had a little bit more power for the really big moments and wish I'd got the XLS400. Though for 99% of the time it's more than enough. I'm lead to believe the next two are huge step ups, you really can't go wrong. I wouldn't get the Gemini 2 though, I'd get the XLS200 as a minimum.

Chong Warrior · 18 Dec 2011 at 14:03

Raymond Lin said:
The question is, why is the BK Monolith only £450 where REL can charge £2k for one of their reference sub?

Is the BK Monolith just bargain bargain or is REL a bit like BOSE?

Just to give you an idea of how much of a bargain the BK subwoofers are. They make subs for other companies who simply stick their badge on and sell for a massive mark up.

Here is the BK XLS200 but with the MJ Acoustics name: = £850

To make it even more remarkable the one selling for £850 is the old Mk1 that only has the 200w amp. The newer MkII from BK has a more powerful 275w amp and an upgraded driver and sells for £315!

Raymond Lin · 18 Dec 2011 at 14:23

Ah ! I see !!!

Because i can't fathom why BK won't sell their stuff directly to dealers, they would make much more money!/

Also, what if I ask for a stereo RCA sub, can it still work for movies? I want to try it with my music too for kicks. If I do that, where would I connect it into the pioneer?

Lowe · 18 Dec 2011 at 14:37

BK used to make subs for REL.

I have two Monoliths, and frankly they're superb. The Monolith+ is great, but doesn't go quite as deep as the standard Mono - it's just able to go a few dB louder, which for most people isn't actually that important.

BK's prime business isn't in making subwoofers. They make PA amps and other gubbins, the subwoofer side of things is an offshoot, a tangent that helps them tickover. As such, they don't resource it particularly heavily. No fancy website, small number of staff etc. Because of this their overheads are cheap; they're sold through word of mouth via forums more than advertising. They have no need to put a huge price tag on it.

When you buy a BK sub you're buying a no frills piece of kit. There's no badge or prestige, it just does the job other subs do for a lot less and with a whole lot less fuss.

Also for people saying the Monolith is only good for movies and not for music, that's tosh. The Monolith is great with music, the subs timing is superb for a ported box and there's even the option to simply stuff a pair of socks into the port and it pretty much becomes an XLS400...