Do you think you need a subwoofer?

Vu,

Describe your listening room including size/approximate dimensions please.

Thanks.

Dear Vuluongchitam: IMHO your Studio 40 are good speakers and IMHO too it is on the subwoofer side where you have a " trouble ".

First, for listen music I don't recommend one subwoofer ( for very good reasons that you can read in this thread. ) but two units. Paradigm has very good options that can blend with your speakers better than the JBL but the word " blend " is the main subject here.

I take almost a year to stay where I'm today on the subwoofers overall subject inside my system, not an easy task where we not only need patience but good know-how about music and how music sounds " out there " ( live ).
Your speakers are " ideal " to be mated with subs: great combination if you take your time.

Please read what ( and other posts related. ) I posted in this thread that can put some " light " to you on the subject:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&27&4#27

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1117893153&openflup&31&4#31

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Everyone would benefit with a powered sub....amps run cleaner just having to power the mids and highs, and the sub can be tailored for the room

I agree with Stringreen and Raul. You can get an all passive full-range loudspeaker system to give you all the bass extension and coherency you could want, but it's difficult, very expensive, and the speaker remains room-dependent. Pick instead a speaker with built-in active sub like the GoldenEar Triton 2 and you get a similar level of performance for much less money *and* have the ability to adjust the bass level to the room and the speakers' positions in the room.

I just added a very fast, small sub (Mirage MM8) to my Mirage OMD-15 floorstanders. The OMD-15s have decent bass, but it's much better with the sub. If I had the coin I'd probably have a pair of JL Fathom F112's, one sitting right next to each OMD-15.

This is also a killer way to get the most out of a pair of Magnepans. Add some fast lively subs to some 1.7s or 3.7s. I heard a pair of Maggie 20.1s set up with a pair of JL Fathom F212s a couple years ago. Awesome sound and very easy to listen to on a wide variety of music, and very competitive performance-wise with any $24K pair of conventional speakers. Or consider a pair of 3.7's plus a pair of Fathom F112's. Total price is $11K and a value leader at that price point.

The really good active subs with continuous crossover and phase controls can be seamlessly integrated into a system. You have to work at it a bit but it's worth it.

Everyone needs a powered subwoofer...if you have one, you need another...if you have 2 you still need another. Richard Vandersteen and I were discussing this very point. Woofers are the prime user of power from the amp. If done correctly, powered subs take the burden off of the main amp, and therefore the amp is loafing and working with an ease, that is clear to hear. Also, the sub can be placed more comfortably in the room to provide a smoother low end ...no hot and weak spots. Vandersteen says that he uses 4 subs and it really makes a difference