Why so obsessed with bass?

I think folks are liking the rumble through their bottoms, and THEN discovers it’s actually when the wind gets knocked out of your CHEST, is what they are looking for. NOT vibrate STUFF off tabletops in the next room.

The CHEST pump/BUMP/ whatever you want to call it, is what most folks like, NOT the SUPER SUB.. stuff.. The difference also is HOW that enclosure was designed, A Bass Bin, or a Sub.. A sub enclosure is usually tuned at 100-120 or below. They are normally used as SUBS 60 hz and below..

Bass bins.. 250hz and below, and they may be using a band pass enclosure with and XO to boot.. They are not subs, BUT they can do sub duty quite well, Especially horn loaded subs, VERY directionals.

They use to use them with a topper too. Mids and highs on a bass bin.. Panels, Electro, 57s 60s.

Regards..

I run 12 subs~a triangular stack of three in each corner on a bed of Brazilian beach sand. Since I could not find main speakers that go low enough for my taste, I don’t use them. My wine glass is plastic.

Still gonna rattle off a table top...plastic or glass..Just sayin' :-)

Pureed gray matter comes to mind...

Regards

Both extension and dynamics are important, but I also noticed that my new speakers have better bass quality - very natural attack and decay.  New speakers are three way with two 8" woofers in larger cabinet for bass, while the older ones were smaller  2.5 way with two 6.5 woofers.  Surprisingly extension is the same for both (30Hz). Smaller woofers, smaller cabinet, same extension - something has to give.  

With this 2.5 way xover one mid/woofer works up to 2kHz while the other woofer works to 500Hz only.  That way frequencies below 500Hz are played by two speakers while other frequencies are played by one speaker only.  That way it is possible to get any extension with smaller woofers by fortifying lowest frequencies with additional drivers.  I assume that bass refleks with small speakers is tuned to get best extension (for specifications) and not necessarily for the lowest distortions.

Sub-woofers are an interesting phenomena in that they are relatively rare in 2 channel systems in Europe, where they are found mainly in AV theatre systems. They are, rightly or wrongly, often perceived as unnecessary to a pure 2 ch system. The theory being that if a speaker is done right then you shouldn’t need one.

The US market seems more fixated on them, and in the plural as they seem to come in multiple subs in some US systems.

We have smaller rooms in Europe, maybe that’s why too, no room for more wooden cabinets. And we rarely have room for a dedicated Hi-Fi room, usually it’s a home lounge too. If your room only takes a small speaker, that is the type of speaker which most benefits from a sub, then you’re unlikely to be able fit more boxes in. If your room fits a bigger speaker you shouldn’t need a sub.

When I have heard systems with arrays of multiple subs they have sounded to my ears too much. Or when toned down I have heard them sounding good, but not 4 boxes worth of goodness.