Basics differ by opinion.
PhilJolet, are you suggesting wires instead of a sub? Maybe a room tuneup? Wires are indeed basic, since nothing works without them, but that is the last thing on my mind. The built-in limits of my house and where I can / can't set something up dictate some choices. And some system performance limits. The large size of the room is partially mitigated by the fact that it is very asymetrical and I have yet to find a bass hot-spot.
The room plays a BIG part, and plans are on the drawing board for some modest helps. A poor room can ruin even a megabuck system.
My modest HSU sub was about 25% of the cost of my Maggies.
But I know my 1.6s fairly well in my house. Furthermore, I've been a Maggie owner for over 30 years and have heard them in at least a dozen different locations. Some places were vastly better than others. I had my MG'1s in a large closet of about 900ft3. Had to swap them L/R for proper image and bass was no problem....All the way to the same speakers in a Gigantic Room, 2 stories and probably 10,000ft3 where I could play 'em as loud and long as it would go. I had 'em backed up to a dining area separated from the main listening area by 2 doors.....this really helped the backwave and seemed to augment the bass.
Naw, I'll stick to the sub. It is seemless and for what I listen to, helps lots. When I kick on some good jazz, and even the XM variety has its moments, you can really feel it.
Than, when not called for, it's gone.