Has anyone added a small subwoofer to 2 channel and been thrilled with the result?

To answer the question I seemed to have missed, after hearing a friend's system years ago utilizing one REL and liking it, I was looking around on Ebay for any reasonably priced REL and found a Q150e that was missing its grill for 200 bucks. Had the grill frame though, and otherwise was (and is ) perfect...stapled a new grill cloth on the thing and used it alone for a couple of years...great sub, 10" front firing, lots of adjustability. Next I found a mint Q108MKII (8" downfiring) also for 200 bucks, and its addition to the mix is great...note that a lot of the tedious yammering regarding proper setup or additional electronic crossovers, room treatment, etc., can be ignored by simply hooking the things up and moving 'em around some until they seem to work. I use mine in mono (hooked up together to the same amp binding posts) as they're simply not directional as bass position cues come from somewhat higher frequencies, and the subs in tandem work together to cure some room issues. Bottom line...use in a room with furniture, hook them up an enjoy them...I made my own cables with Canare Star Quad, but many used RELs come with a REL capable cable.

thanks wolf

I have Hegal H160 with Fritz's new Carbon 7 MKII speakers and recently added a modest Definitive technology subzero sub and a Paradigm crossover.. My room is about the same size as yours and the sub does make a subtle difference in filling in the bass at levels below 40 HZ. Here is how I set them up. . Connect the Hegel L and R preamp outputs to the Xover L and R low level inputs. 2. Connect the #1 subwoofer output to the input of the subwoofer. Sub output 2 doesn't support the phase control. 3. Set the subwoofer cutoff control to about 80-100 hz. 4..The phase control allows you to "synchronize" the motion of the sub with the woofer in the main speakers. Put on a recording with a prominent kick drum. Adjust the phase control so that the total amount of bass from the sub and main speaker is maximized. If the sub and speakers are very close it may not make a big difference. 5. Now you go back to the level control and fine tune that with different recordings. 6. Now go back to the cutoff control. If your speakers are small you may want to raise the frequency to 120hz. If they are large you may want to lower it to 40-60hz. It will depend on the room as well. 7. Now you can adjust the phase control again so that you blend the sub and main speakers. Don't worry about getting it perfect at first. As you play the system with more music you can fine tune it. The Hegel has great bass so you will probably notice tighter more dynamic bass than before. The H160 is broken in but will sound better if you leave it on 24/7. Enjoy

Interesting setup, Subzero with a Paradigm crossover...appreciate the input. Seems there are many ways to this so It's nice to get all the options on the table and that is a new one!   Thanks,

If you've got an existing 2 channel small speaker setup the physics makes it impossible to reproduce deep bass frequencies below around 50 Hz with any kind of useful sound pressure level simply because those small drivers can't move the volume of air necessary so a subwoofer is a good bet.  But you run into the issue of crossover frequency and ensuring correct phase between the satellite speakers and the subwoofer in the crossover frequency range.  Try to get a subwoofer with a built in crossover i.e. one that you connect the 2 channel small stereo speakers into and then the subwoofer to the amplifier.  This will ensure correct phase and crossover.  Adjust the subwoofer level for a well balanced sound, maybe just a little extra.  You may be pleasantly surprised how much bass content you've been missing in your music.