I just bought a devialet!

[Eredor42]

I just bought a devialet expert 200 on ebay! I dreamed of owning a devialet since 2015!

I have Kef LS50 speakers. Currently they are wired to a Sonos 55 WPC amplifier.

Should I get a subwoofer or just use SAM?

[David A]

Congratulations on getting your Devialet.

SAM is not a replacement for sub. SAM's primary purpose is to correct speaker phase response below 150 Hz and that improves the quality of the bass you get but does not increase the amount of bass you get. You can also use it to extend the low frequency response of your speakers but only within limitations. Devialet says that SAM can extend the low frequency response of your LS50s from 44.8 Hz to 28.6 Hz but you won't be getting strong response at 28.6 Hz. A sub can extend your system's bass response a lot further than that and you'll really be pushing your LS50s hard if you run SAM at 100% in order to extend their bass response to 28.6 Hz. The Devialet will be working a lot harder too.

So in answer to your question I will make 2 points:

1- you've been using the LS50's from before you got your Devialet. If you haven't felt t he need to get a sub prior to this then you probably don't need to get a sub because you're probably reasonably happy with the bass response of your LS50s with the music you're playing. You'll probably notice better bass response just swapping from the Sonos amp to the Devialet simply because of the higher power capability of the Devialet and the fact that it will have better control of the bass region than the Sonos amp does. If you were happy with the bass response of the LS50s prior to getting your Devialet, you'll almost certainly be happier with their response with the Devialet even without trying SAM.

2- you can try SAM for free, a sub costs money. When I've got a choice between trying something which is free and something which costs, I try the free option first. Start with the SAM setting at 0% which gives you the phase correction but doesn't extend the speaker's bass response, get used to that (it's a subtle difference) and then start increasing the SAM setting gradually. You can run into problems if you raise the SAM setting too high and the louder you like to play your music the lower the SAM setting at which you can run into problems. If you find yourself running into problems with SAM then you definitely need a sub rather than SAM.

So try SAM and see what you think but if you want to play things like pipe organ music or anything with synthesisers at very low frequencies and you want to play that sort of stuff loud then you need a sub, don't try pushing SAM to its limits. Then again, if those sorts of music are what you want to play I'd probably start with bigger speakers rather than the LS50s so the fact that you have LS50s suggests that you're not playing a lot of music which really gets down near 20 Hz or lower.

[Eredor42]

David,

Thank you for the detailed reply.

I mostly listen to rock music, not a lot of techno.

I tried the SONOS wireless subwoofer with my kef speakers but I thought it sounded muddy.

I’m anxious to try SAM!

[gianventu]

I had two major improvements in my setup, the first one was the use of a DRC, the second one the implementation of two subs.
Having a Devialet help you a lot with sub/subs having the possibility to apply high and low filters both for main speakers and sub.
It's not the easiest thing in a life to accomplish the best result, but in the moment you reach it, the first question is: how could have done without?
I know quite well your speakers and let me tell you that a couple of subs is what you need to complete your system.