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Subwoofer

A couple of days ago I was talking to a dealer and he said that all speakers benefit from adding a subwoofer. What's are your thoughts? 
ricred1
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zavato
1,397 posts
 
My experience with a sub is that even if your speakers have good low end response because the sub is going to be placed in a different position in the room, you will get more pact and generally a broader soundstage 
ricred1 OP
1,996 posts
 
I have experimented with several different crossover settings and have found that 90 hz works best in my room.

stringreen,
I agree that adding subs has significantly improved the mids and treble
brauser
524 posts
 

It depends!!!!   If the sub is quick/fast, as with the better sealed subs, then yes definitely. If the sub is sluggish, as with many ported subs, then the system can become a 'muddy mess'.

Either way, however, it requires some patience and experimentation to get everything to come together.

I personally use a sub with all of my systems. Even with speakers that are essentially flat to 20 hz.

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bdp24
9,686 posts
 

What stringreen says is true for most speakers, none more so than planars. When you add a pair of subs to Magneplanar/Eminent Technology or ESLs, you remove the very low frequencies from the panels, decreasing their displacement and the resulting distortion (planars are very inefficient movers of air), resulting in better upper bass and lower-mids on up into the midrange itself. You also remove the low-frequencies in the signal going to the speaker's amp, decreasing IT'S distortion, and leaving more available power for the mids and highs.

With the quality of musical subs available these days (Rythmik, GR Research---their OB/Dipole especially!, SVS, Funk, Seaton, REL, JL Audio, Vandersteen) there is no reason not to.

almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Stringreen 3-18-2016 6:39 p.m.
I explained it and some of you still don’t get it. You’re not extending the low end, but making mids and treble better....
Assuming, of course, that a high pass filter of some sort is inserted somewhere in the path to the main speakers. And assuming that the benefit of keeping the deep bass out of the main speakers is not outweighed by the sonic side effects of that high pass filter and its associated interfaces.

As is usual in audio, a tradeoff is involved. And I wouldn’t by any means expect the net result of that tradeoff to always be the same among different systems, rooms, recordings, and listeners.

Regards,
-- Al

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