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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
ricred1 OP
2,004 posts
 
I guess it’s fair to say, "all speakers benefit from using a good subwoofer." So, in general, will good speakers with dual subs sound better than very good speakers without subs?
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
So while adding a single subwoofer will offer the benefit of improved bass extension, adding multiple smaller subs and spreading them around intelligently will additionally result in smoother bass throughout the room.
Duke, does your opinion change if I am only interested in good bass at a single location in the room?  In my case, I have a dedicated, albeit small listening room where I listen from a fixed location.  
audiokinesis
2,737 posts
 

"Duke, does your opinion change if I am only interested in good bass at a single location in the room?"

If you're going to be equalizing for that single location, I can only think of one theoretical disadvantage of using just one sub:  If you have a significant dip at that location, you could conceivably overtax your sub trying to fill it in with EQ.  That being said, dips are subjectively much more benign than peaks. 

I have been told by someone who tried it both ways that the distributed multisub system sounded more natural in the sweet spot than a single equalized ubersub, but that could have been due to other factors.  And my sample size (in this case, one) is too small to draw any conclusions from. 

Duke


meerzistar
232 posts
 
That’s my take on why people rule subs out. After having much difficulty integrating one their first attempts having a less than great experience they become frustrated give up and rule them out. Ill suspect an issue in the room before a $1500 rel. It comes to mind when I see comments suggesting subs sound "bad", or subs just aren’t for me. That would suggest only certain personality types are suited to subs. That’s silly. I’m convinced they just haven’t "cracked the code" and had subs and the room properly dialed in. Or might be too overzealous with gains. Once you have its a whole new ear opening experience. Bass blossoms all around, it submerges you, yet not to overwhelm. In turn it highlights contrasting frequencies. That I believe is what gives a greater sense of depth and realism to the sound stage. Vision is a sense that reacts positively to contrasting colors making opposing colors appear more vivid than they actually are, standing them further out. Hearing being a sense why would it be any different? As I sit and listen that’s what seems to be going on, and it makes perfect sense to me ;) Full size mains can achieve the same effect quite well, but you can still make it bigger, better.
ejr1953
912 posts
 
My subs are very well integrated into my system, the room treatments have quelled the spurious room resonances that detracted from the bass, and the system sounds great.

So last night I fired up the system with the pre-amp output to the subs turned off, the system sounded great that way, then I turned the pre-amp output to the subs on and it was like the "Wizard of Oz", when Dorothy approached the kingdom and the film suddenly was in color!
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