Will a subwoofer add depth and clarity to my system, or just bass?

Most full-range speakers can benefit from adding a subwoofer (ideally two - one each for the L/R channels).  You will definitely get increased bottom end, greater ambiance, and improved soundstage.  The trick is blending them with your mains - you really don’t want to know they are there other than hearing the perceived benefits.  This takes some time and experimenting to do it right (phase/low-pass filter/volume).  Worth the effort.  Jim Smith’s book/DVD “Get Better Sound” into the details/process very nicely.  Good luck!
Gorm

Hello gormdane,

     I generally agree with your statement that "most full-range speakers can benefit from adding a subwoofer (ideally two - one each for the L/R channels).  You will definitely get increased bottom end, greater ambiance, and improved soundstage.  The trick is blending them with your mains - you really don’t want to know they are there other than hearing the perceived benefits".   I agree with using 2 subs if your goal is smoother bass response at your listening position but not if your goal is 'stereo bass'.  
     I believe advising "ideally two subs-one each for the L/R channels" is very misleading since it implies that positioning a sub beside each of the L/R main speakers will provide smoother, or even stereo, bass response. Two subs can provide smoother bass response at the listening position but the bass will be mono and it requires very specific positioning of each sub in the room that will likely not be a sub located next to each L/R speaker.
     I read Jim Smith's book and watched his dvd on Getting Better Sound about 20 years ago.  I think it's very useful for anyone assembling a home audio system for music or ht but would not recommend it for advice on achieving good in-room bass response.  Perhaps he's updated his section on good bass and subwoofers since I read his book, but I remember him emphasizing the proper positioning of full-range speakers in relation to the listening position for smoothest bass response and making no mention of a distributed bass array system consisting of 4 subs at all.  
     In retrospect, he seemed to take a very traditional and conservative approach to achieving good in-room bass response that stressed obviating the need for any subs with high quality and properly positioned full-range speakers and completely ignored alternative approaches. 
     I think such a highly renowned 'good sound expert' should have been aware of critical scientific research and conclusions reached on the use of dbas about this time (20 years ago), the fallacy of true 'stereo bass' along with any other alternative methods of achieving good bass response via the use of 1 or more subs in a room and mentioned this in his book.
     A shortcoming that was a shame for me in particular, since it took me another 15 plus years to discover the revolutionary effectiveness of dba systems thanks to James Romeyn and Duke Lejeune.

Tim 

Dear @noble100  : """  Two subs can provide smoother bass response at the listening position but the bass will be mono..... """

Why " will be mono " ?, I can't understand that. Coud you explain about?

Thank's in advance.

R.

Hello rauliruegas,


     The bass will be mono because there's no such thing as true stereo bass below about 80 Hz and there are virtually no vinyl or cd recordings that have separate bass recorded for the L/R channels.  The recording engineers sum the bass below a certain frequency and evenly distribute the combined bass on the L/R channels so it is located to the center when played back via a stereo system through a pair of speakers.

     In my opinion the best sounding solution, if you're going to use 1 or more subs, is to run them in mono mode and position them at positions in the room that sounds the best to you (smoothest and most natural) at the listening position.  

     The major benefit of this approach is that the deep bass will be perceived as stereo (even though it's not recorded in stereo) from your listening position.  This is a result of the higher frequency harmonics or overtones of the fundamental deep bass tone being recorded and played back through the L/R stereo speakers since they generally extend above the approximately 80 Hz frequency that the bass is typically summed in the L/R channels in mono.  
     These higher frequency harmonics/overtones give clues to our brains.  Our amazing brains are able to process the non-directional inputted deep bass fundamental tones, along with the directional higher frequency harmonics/overtones or clues,  determine  that they are related and assign a specific room location the non-directional deep bass tone originated from.

     This is generally referred to as a psycho acoustic effect but it is consistently perceived as sounding very real to us humans.

Tim

Hello noble100,
    Just a quick note - I am Jim Smith, author of of Get Better Sound, the Quarter Notes newsletters, and the "Subwoofery" series of seven articles on subwoofers in Copper e-mag.

    I rarely post here, but thought a few points might be helpful in this instance:
    You mentioned that you read the book twenty years ago.  Actually, it was introduced in late 2008, and began shipping in 2009 - a bit over 10 years ago.
    I know Duke and have communicated with James. IMO, they are both men of integrity. I do disagree with some of what they espouse, as they probably disagree with me.  Even so, what they suggest is w-a-a-a-a-a-y better than what most folks hear or know about the need for subs and how to set them up.
    FWIW - Audiogon shows that I signed up in 2014.  It was actually in early 2001, IIRC.  I was the North American distributor for Avantgarde Acoustics from 1999 through 2005. Hence the Hornguys username. 

    Carry on!  Don't want to take this thread off track.
Jim