Looking for a sub for my entertainment system (50% music 50% movies). I currently have an Yamaha 2700 amp and pair of B&W 805s. My room is rather large 24 x 24 with 14 foot ceilings. Now the tough part, my wife wants something good looking not just a big black box. My budget is 600 to 2000. Any feedback on the Martin Logan Grotto, Depth or Descent?

thank you
Js

I can only comment on the grotto which i have.It's in a 22x19x8 room and it does fantastic for HT as well as music.It's a very tight sounding sub.It's also a good looking sub for the WAF.Dont know how it compares to the abyss or decent.I would assume the decent or even the depth would be bigger and better.

I'd go demo a sunfire. Very small box (13" by 13" with great sound. I listened to it at a friends house and was impressed. He has a smaller room, but it opens up into a kitchen, so it's fairly close. It should be right in your budget as well. I've got an M&K 150 which I love, but that thing can double as a coffee table.

Js, if you can swing a good deal on a ML Descent then thats the way to go, it blends in so well with the B&W speakers, its a very musical sub yet when its time to watch a movie it will make you feel like your being hit with a velvet sledgehammer. In your room size it will have no problem at all filling that space with tight bass.

Looking for a sub for my entertainment system (50% music 50% movies). I currently have an Yamaha 2700 amp and pair of B&W 805s. My room is rather large 24 x 24 with 14 foot ceilings. Now the tough part, my wife wants something good looking not just a big black box. My budget is 600 to 2000. Any feedback on the Martin Logan Grotto, Depth or Descent?

thank you
Jswhile i believe in servo technology, cabinet cancellation, robust amplification solutions and Martin Logan in general, i do have a problem with the following statement from their website, to which i won't comment any further:

"TriLinear™ Driver ArrayDescent i has three 10-inch aluminum-cone drivers, each weighing 12 pounds and possessing a maximum peak-to-peak excursion range of 1.2 inches. That works out to a total displacement of 30 cubic inches – typical for most high-quality subwoofers. Descent i has three of these drivers, however, yielding the equivalent acoustic power of a 36-pound driver with a maximum peak-to-peak excursion of 3.6 inches and a total displacement of 90 cubic inches. And because the thermal load is distributed over three voice coils instead of concentrated in one, the system is less influenced by to temperature-induced compression. The single-driver alternative would be an extraordinarily robust 18-inch unit, which by virtue of its size and very long excursion would inevitably generate considerably higher distortion. Descent i enjoys all the advantages of the smaller, more refined drivers while achieving the output capability of a huge 18-inch driver."

I have several subs. Velodyne, Krell, MB Quart, Sunfire and except maybe for the Krell, none of them look as cool as the Descent. Given that your criteria is wife acceptance, I think it's a good choice.

Vel is good if you like piano black. Sunfire good if you like industrial look. MQ Quart good if you like modern. Krell good if you like wood. But except for the Krell they're all essentially the boxes that your wife dislikes.

Even if the manufacturer does play with words a bit, I've heard good things. They never seem to go on sale, so whether it's worth the money, I don't know.

As far as performance, no personal experience. But I had friends at a Tweeter store who said they demoed their best subs with what they called a T-Rex disc. I think they said that except for the Vel HGS15 or 18, the Descent did best.

As far as the manufacturer's alleged output of an 18 inch, I have doubts.

Descent